Kobe's a good defender, but give Cuttino his props. The guy's far from perfect and still has a lot to learn and improve, but the Cat's one of the league's most effective scorers. No one may be able to stop Kobe, but very few people can stop Cuttino also, and I don't think Kobe's one of them. Screw Christie and the obsession of some posters with getting a Kobe-stopper. If I can't have a franchise player at the 2 like McGrady or Pierce to go to war against Kobe and the Lakeshow, then I want Cat. It amazes me how people insist that we'll never go anywhere with Cat at off-guard. Really, if not Cuttino, who else? The problem isn't Cat at the two-guard. It's who we have at the other positions and if they can knock down their open shots.
re:Lakers versus Sac comparison, Hedo was a bench player and Peja was the starter and all-star game starter for a reason. Hedo choked big time for an extended period early in the series. Cuttino wouldn't (not couldn't) stop anyone in the WNBA, forget the NBA. The other guys won't get too many open shots because (at least last year) our guards either a.) dribble for 20 seconds on the ISO then pass with about 1 second left on the shot clock, b.) make a desperate drive and a wild pass to save their ass from getting rejected and posterized, or some combination of a and b.
Except if things go right, Cat can turn Kobe into basically a jump shooter, and fastbreak player. The Lakers can't open things up by pulling Shaq away from the basket. Even if they use Horry at PF, you'll still have Griffin or Ming able to hang around the basket. Having 2 guys with such great shot changing ability makes shutting down guards a lot easier. Can anyone name any better shotblockers under the age of 25? Potentially, these 2 could find their names 1 and 2 on the shot blocking list when they reach their primes. This team needs time to gel. We have the requisite pieces to be able to beat the Lakers-we have a center who will do something, a PG that can wreak havoc, and forwards who can score.
I don't want to burst anyone's bubble about Cat, but when i saw the games against the Lakers, Kobe put the clamps on Cat. The one game when he scored those points, the Lakers were way ahead and it was basically garbage time from late 3rd to the 4th qt. Kobe was on the bench. What Cat can do against Kobe is make him respect him and use energy on defense which is key. Man to man, the lakers aren't that good, but they have 2 of the best players in the league on their team ,so the rest is meaningless. The hope for the Rockets is basically having 5 players on the court you have to respect which gives no one a break on defense. They can say what the will about Ming, but his attitude is great. Why haven't Cato said anything like that?
All this talk about the lakers and they are not the only team to be worried about. I think the Kings should be feared just as much if not more. They are the ones who kicked our ass by 25 every time, not the Lakers. We will get there though
I don't know, Kareem Addul Jabbar had a pretty good career as an undersized center, don't you think? DaDakota
Ming's gonna be fun as hell to watch. I bought season tickets for the brash joy of watching this guy. He'll be blocking shots with his forehead. I dunno, though.... my gut tells me that it's too good to be true. But it's gonna be awesome to watch that brute step onto the court for the first time. Poor sob, think of the pressure-cooker that's gonna build over the next 3 months! He's gonna need prozac by Christmas..... everyone'll be pissed if he goes off one night for 20/20/8, then has 6/10/2 the next. Mingo'll be fine and might turn out to be the real McCoy one day. In the meantime, aren't you glad we're not sitting here analyzing what to do with a 4th, 5th, or 6th pick? Wouldn't it suck wondering if Tzitzlizki (or whatever the hell his name is) is gonna turn out to be a Dirk; or if we're gonna have to move EG to the 5 to make room for Gooden; or figure out what to do with the 15th pick (probably would have been Woods) to make room for Dunleavy at the 3? We're lucky as hell and we otta enjoy it.
Good attempt, but that game was when Shandon Anderson started at SG and when he was the one guarding Kobe. Oh, and Kobe wouldn't be second team all defense if he didn't have Shaq behind him to erase his mistakes.
Exactly, I dont know how many time I have stated that. That is why I think our guardds will become better defenders now that Ming is in the middle. They will be able to gamble more once they trust him. And Kobe cannot hold Cuttino, period. I have the tapes from last year and the year before and if you watch them Cat got to the rim anytime it was just Kobe and him. This year they would also bring someone from the weakside to stand in the paint before Cuttino could even get started. Pretty good help defense by the Lakers I might add.
Nothing against CAT, I really liked him when he came out. But in all honestly no team will win a championship with him as a starter, well unless he plays with the Lakers. A guard playing 42 minutes who get thes same number of assists as turnovers. Jeebus. Btw, that game everyone had turns guarding Kobe. Or was it just SA the entire game? I don't have it on tape.
Not sure who was guarding Kobe that game(obviously no one) but for the most part no one can hold Kobe either. My rant has always been that Kobe is overrated on defense. He is a good defender but not a great one in my opinion. MJ used to dominate on both ends of the court.(and i am not trying to compare). I have watched this last season's games and Kobe didnt really dominate by getting to the rim, he shot a lot of jumpers or that fadeaway in the corner. Cuttino never let him just blow by him(most of the times without help defense) but on the contrary Cuttino did it several times to Kobe. I disagree about no team winning a champiionship with Cuttino starting because I would put him in the top 5 or 7 SGs today. He has elevated his game each year. He has one of the quickest if not the quickest first step in the league. The Lakers can talk right now because they are the 3-time champions. You gotta respect that but look out is all I gots to say.
eh? if the rockets won a title with Mad Max at the off-spot, exactly what disqualifies Cuttino from potentially winning one? And admitting that if he played on the Flakers, won't that automatically contradict your gratuitous assertion?
