The Rockets found themselves caught in a trade rumor Thursday when a Boston radio station reported that a deal -- sending Cuttino Mobley, Bostjan Nachbar and Eddie Griffin to the Celtics for Eric Williams and Tony Battie -- was imminent. Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson denied such a deal was in the works or had been discussed. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2176356 But when asjed about this week's Antoine Walker trade, Mobley, in an odd bit of coincidence and timing, talked about the uncertainty in the NBA and the possibility of being traded. "One minute a player is your teammate. The next minute he's not," Mobley said. "You kind of grow together. Sometimes you do everything right and you still get traded. (Scottie) Pippen and them were not untouchable, and (Michael) Jordan, so of course we're not. Eddie Jones, I mean all types of great players, Gary Payton, Ray Allen. What is to be is to be. You can't take it personal. "It doesn't worry me. You want to build a relationship with the staff and the owners. You have to realize certain situations. Do you give your heart, your all to people when the next day they might trade you? Or do you give them that mirror? It's scary. "If it happens, I can't do anything about it. Any of us."
I don't think this trade would go down as is, not at all. But Battie and Eric Williams plus some sugar for Mobley and Griffin isn't so out of the realm of possibility, though Battie is perhaps a Camby Lite, and I don't think it is that surprising that JVG would have interest in him. Eric Williams is a pretty tough guy. Smart team player. Great back-to-the-basket post-up game for a SF. One of the best non-center help defenders in the league. The Celtics, not that many have noticed, win mostly with their defense (once you get past Pierce, of course). They were 3rd in Opp FG% two years ago, and 7th last year. Battie and Williams are definitely the very underrated catalysts for that. People here might not think much of that, but the Celts have a better winning percentage against the West in the last two years than the Rockets do. It counts for something. Most importantly, unlike Griffin and Mobley, those two are role players who KNOW they are role players. And they definitely play a JVG style of ball. With this year's Celtics team, those two are getting squeezed. No question that they are being shopped to anyone and everyone - just like Griffin and Mobley. My personal guess is that a trade involving only those four is SLIGHTLY in the Cs favor. Griffin is a complete headcase, and Mobley (who Yao hates) has an inflated opinion of his own talents. Just like power forwards in the East, shooting guards in the West have it easy. Bring Mobley a schedule full of Iverson, McGrady, Pierce, Carter, etc and he would have gotten cut down to size pretty quick. The sugar is where this rumor probably broke down, IMO. Ainge offers a pick, but now wants Nachbar. Houston says Nachbar is OK, but only if Kedrick is included. Boston says no Kedrick. Houston then says no Nachbar, how about Ameachi? Trade talk dies. But to discount this rumor entirely (when it came from the Cs own radio station) is pretty crazy when the whole world knows the 4 main principals in it are clearly being shopped very aggressively. That's my $0.03, I'll stop before I get to the dime. Peace.
oh hell...here we go... just by saying that in open forum means that others here will start quoting that as yet another reason to hate Mobley....thanks alot jasper.. unless of course you can provide decent sources that agree with that....Im calling BS on that part...otherwise, nice post.
Thought this was common knowledge, but Yao thinks Mobley is a selfish player who doesn't pass enough, especially to him. That sort of selfishness is looked down upon in Chinese culture. Yao ain't one to complain much, but he ain't happy about that one. Seriously, you are a role playing 2-guard with two great players in Yao *and* Franchise out there with you and you take 15 shots a night while only netting 2.5 dimes? Puhleeze. Seriously, you guys have such a gift in Yao, and Mobley is the ABSOLUTE wrong guy to put out there with him.
maybe Im having selective memory loss, others here will correct me if that is so... but considering the sheer volume of native Chinese speakers we have, and the way that members here post every little interview, story, or even snippets off of the radio/tv... we would have heard extensively about Yao expressing that sentiment if it is in fact true. but nothing. I still call speculation and heresay... OBJECTION
jasper, like R2K said, it was a nice post, but please. Source. Please. You're on a board where people watch Yao's every move in every media source on the planet and we've never heard a whisper of Yao hating Mobley. Where are you getting that from? Don't tell me why he would hate him, tell me where you heard it.
Yes Mobley can be selfish and the zones have made it difficult for him to slash and finish at the basket and when his shot is not falling he does become somewhat of a liability but he works hard on both ends and is still the best SG on the team. 17 PPG isn't bad at all even though he takes quite a few shots. Eric Williams needs a lot more shots to put points on the board than Mobley and is older. Battie is a good shot blocker and a fair rebounder but he is not the kind of tough physical defender that Yao needs to be playing with. Yao is a second year player and when he and Francis are struggling Mobley can help them out. If the Rockets want to replace Mobley than they need a better SG and not the kind of players mentioned in this potential trade.
Dangit... Bush has screwed up the word evil for everyone now. I prefer my evil scale to cover a wider range.
Whether Eric Williams needs more shots than Mobley to put the same amount of points on the board (probably not true), is irrelevant because he plays D. Anyhow, not my goal to get into a credibility battle on a message board by "proving" Yao dislikes Mobley. I don't see how a link to some article written by a clown who has never picked up a ball in his life and who probably has less inside info about the league than the average usher or or cheerleader or whoever at a stadium makes for cred. You guys can take it or leave it, and that is fine with me. But when Mobley gets dealt, please don't act surprised, ha ha. I think Van Gundy would like very much to copy the Philly model and get an Eric Snow type (i.e. composed and selfless enough to set a good tone on offense, and physical enough to check 2-guards) play the point while moving Francis to the 2. Beyond that, emulate the Spurs. Tough role players who D it up and fight to the death. Battie and Williams fall under that category. Good luck to the Rockets, guys. And for the sake of the game, please don't screw up Yao. Cherish your gift.
Again jasper, I don't disagree with anything you said. Good enough post. But nobody suggested you needed to prove your Yao-Mobley thing with an internet link. Or at least I didn't. I was just wondering if it was something you'd heard or something you just think is probably true because you think it probably should be true. I'm not making a judgement call there -- I was only asking. You wrote it like it was a known fact and now it sounds more like an opinion. Otherwise, good posts. Welcome to the bbs.
E.WILLIAMS AND BATTIE??? C'mon. I'd rather smoke crack and knock out my front teeth so I can smoke easier than make this trade. CAT AND EG? Heck no. How does this even help? Kill this thread now. If we make this trade after giving up yet another 1st round pick, we need to roll up to school in the short bus everyday. I'm cool with tattoos but have you seen Erik's tats? If I have to see them ugly tattoos every game, I will cry to my mom like a girl whose candy was stolen.
What those posts really mean is that Jasper hates Mobley. Jasper feels Mobley is selfish and doesn't pass to Yao enough. Jasper thinks Mobley doesn't play D. In other words, Yao hating Mobley is a bunch of BS, which is evident to anyone who has ever seen them interact.
I'll leave it. If you dont want to get into credibility battles you shouldn't make contraversial statements without having some kind of proof they are legit. Otherwise your just an idiot making **** up. That is just common sense.
everybody on the post messege boards knew they were getting over .they were saying if danny ainge pulled this off that he was a genius and that cd , was pretty much a idiot
