Statistically I don't think cato played much better than Yao. MIN FGM-A 3GM-A FTM-A OFF DEF TOT AST PF ST TO BS PTS Cato 33 6-7 0-0 2-6 4 2 6 2 3 1 3 6 14 Yao 15 3-8 0-0 5-5 1 1 2 0 4 0 0 2 11 Just give the big elephant a little bit more time. He will recover from the slum. If start Cato right now, it will really hurt Yao's confidence.
Cato has never averaged as much as Yao in points, rebounds, or blocks in his entire career. He fouls more easily and has hands of stone. His offensive game consists of dunks and putbacks. Cato sucks as a starter.
Actually, I do. I think most Rox fans should. Sitting out a whole year usually does not do wonders for confidence. However, Yao's confidence and more specifically, the skills he brings to the court are key to the ROCKETS MAKING THE PLAYOFFS THIS YEAR. How can anyone not see that?
pcheung, you obviously haven't seen bobododo post before. Just ignore that braniac in the future. Theres no use in responding to him/her. Stuart
Wow, I took a look at some other threads... rational thought seems to have left the building. OK here - these are the rest of our games: What's our remaining record without Yao making an impact (either playing badly or benched)? Away: NJ, Mil, Philly, Utah, Denver Home: Orl, Port, Seattle, Memphis 3-6, 4-5? We need YAO to make the playoffs, period.
I would love to see Cato to start rest of the season so that stupid L.Smith will not be the coach again next year! Otherwise, our ring dream will be delayed forever.............!
Yeah the coaching staff need to get that fine balance between installing the discipline and developing young players. Young players are bound to make mistakes. If you want to develop them and build your team for the future, you have to let them play through their mistakes. Benching them after every single mistake would destory their confidence big time and confidence is the most important thing for young players.
Yao has hit the wall big time, some of you need to open your eyes and see that. Anytime you can get a night like this from Cato while giving Ming some much need rest should be reason to rejoice, not cry about your favorite player not getting enough minutes in a win. Mr. Mean is a ****ty coach, but he got it right tonight, so get off his back. Ming needs another shot of energy, not an ego boost at the expense of the team.
I'm sure Yao understands why he was benched......Cato was playing so well that he deserves the time. Everyone faces 2-3 games of struggles, even the super stars. Even a dummy can answer this question: Yao is a better center than Cato. Therefore Yao is a starter, not Cato. case closed.
IT'S CATOTIME!!! CATOMIC!! The better play is the guy to play! This might be good for Yao to be a bench player. Cato has been great as of lately.
Cato should start. Eddie Griffin could use a little time on the pine. Cato can jump center to start the game. He can dive the lane from the weak side on a Yao post for an easy dunk. He grabs rebounds and blocks shots. He is the highest percentage FG shooter on the Rockets because he gets easy buckets. When his playing time is increased he just gets more easy points, rarely forcing anything. Cato can start at the four and slide over to the five just like Steve at the 1/2. Our next four games are against teams without good centers, so Yao should be able to pull himself out of his funk. If not, there is always baseball season.
As much as it pains me to say it...being drafted by the Rockets was one of the worst things that could have happened to Yao Ming (one of the worst...he could have been drafted by the Clips or something ). One incompetent coach after another who each will take his chance at failing to utilize Yao to his full potential. One coach after another who lack the balls to make a change to the team offense to make it at least LOOK like we're playing like a team. I ponder everyday about how Yao would do if he were on a team that has a coach who knows how to run a team....a team that plays like a team and utilitizes each player to his full potential...instead of just throwing it into him with 10 seconds left on the shot clock and expects him to save the day. Lately it almost seems like Larry Smith is praying for a reason to take Yao out so he can play cato. It's like...Yao makes 1 or two mistakes...sit your ass down man. Smith is looking for a crutch to blame his playing Cato more than Yao on. It pisses me off to see teams that are way less talented than us yet it's so much better watching them because they play so much like a team. Our offense is so bad and stagnant that I can almost predict what play the Rox will run before Francis even crosses the half court line. Sheesh...and I thought the Barkley post up offense was the worst offense I ever saw. This current Rockets team will never cease to amaze me of how incompetent their offense is. Like I've said before...there are high school teams that have more offensive sets than the Rockets.
I find it hilarious that this controversy has been caused by Cato playing well. Who would have ever thought that would be an issue coming into the season?
Who do you think played worse against Nuggets today, Cat Mobley or Yao Ming? Who kept jacking shots after 0-10 FG? Who kept playing in the court until the last minute? Do you think Smith always benches players who play bad games? Forget about benching Yao for playoff, we won't make it into playoff.
Yao's confidence shouldn't be shot because of one coach. Mr.Mean is a "results" coach as far as I can tell. It doesn't matter whether you're the future star on this team or not, if you're not producing you're getting benched. All those of you who praise Musselmen from the Golden State Warriors are getting a good taste of what kind of a coach he is, in Smith. Musselmen with the rare exception of Jamison will bench any player if they're not being productive that night. I don't necessarily agree with this form of coaching, but I understand why he does it.
You probably didn't read my post just above yours. Explain your theory again to me for Cat Mobley's play today against Nuggets. He kept playing and jacking up shots after 0-10 FG. Talking about "result" coach, and benching players who aren't producing.
