Ouch, never looked at it that way. So we should be expecting a 39% shooting Mobley in the playoffs? Plus, we'll play one less game at home (assuming we make it to the last game), so it may even be worse. I hope he balances it out, since we only face 2 more Eastern teams for the rest of the season and playoffs. We'll need better than 39% from him and better than 39% from Steve as well.
In recent years, since the East is viewed as the Least, Steve (and Yao) is (are) not really pumped up when playing against an East team. That leaves Mobley, "THE OTHER" main guy, to do more.
That wasn't a knock against the other players. The impression is that the East is the weaker conference, which is evident based on the standings and how well western teams do against the east. That being the case, I believe Mobley has performed as you would expect. So my question was "What factors contribute to the other players not having the same discrepancy in FG% that Mobely exihibits?" A legitimate question, if you accept the premise that the East is the weaker conference.
The lack of dominant post players in the East helps mobes a bunch. Take last night, NO would collapse the lane. Mobes had all the time in the world to set and shoot. Also they tried to go small ball and outrun the rox, that left shammond williams trying to guard him. That wasn't going to work. Is it just this season or did the same thing happen last year also?
That is what I think so. The East doesn't have the like of Shaq or Duncan to guard Yao so they have to collapse on him in the paint (just ask Orlando what happened to them when they didn't do that). You would love to be a periemter shooter in that kind of games.
I think one thing that hasn't been pointed out is the defensive ability of Eastern Conference Shooting Guards in general. Perhaps Mobley simply has a few mismatches in the East that allows him to have huge games(like the one last night). And a few big games can easily skew the "average" stat. Another (farfetched) possibility is that Mobley is a player one can prepare for. So the western conferen teams, who plays him more and watch more tapes of Mobley, is better at shutting him down. Actually, what amazed me wasn't the fact that Mobley played better against the East, but that Francis/Yao AREN'T putting up better numbers against them. Perhaps it's because the east sucks at scoring, so we're winning more to due to defense than a better offensive output. I don't think Francis benefits nearly as much from doubling Yao than Mobley or even JJ. Now if Stevie ever develops the abilit to catch and shoot...
My thought is that CM is star want be. He only has one chance to play at eastern teams home court a year. He becomes more focus, he want to put a show to the audiences. Therefore, he had a better performance.
It could be that there are more big name guards in the East, and that he really gets up for playing against them. Maybe he just isn't excited by the prospect of a Voshon Lenard, Derek Anderson, or Quentin Richardson. Maybe not. Who knows? Games Cat shot under 40% 3 vs. Mavs - Finley 2 vs. Sonics (1 w/o Allen) - Barry/Allen 2 vs. Timberwolves - Sprewell 2 vs. Pacers - Miller 2 vs Lakers - Bryant 2 vs. Suns - Johnson 1 vs Pistons - Hamilton 1 vs Grizzlies - Miller 1 vs Knicks - Houston 1 vs. Heat - Jones 1 vs. Kings - Christie 1 vs. Bulls - Crawford 1 vs. Spurs - Ginobili/Bowen 1 vs. Nuggets - Lenard 1 vs Raptors - Carter 1 vs. Warriors - J. Richardson 1 vs. Clippers - Q. Richardson That 9 games against tier 1 (Bryant, Carter) and tier 2 (Finley, Allen, Sprewell) shooting guards and 15 games against lower tier shooting guards. Against the top 5 SGs in the league (Bryant, McGrady, Pierce, Iverson, and Carter) he has played 10 games and shot under 40% in only 3 of them (2 of 3 against Bryant and 1 of 1 against Carter).
Obviously Cat is not as good as Kobe, Spree, Finley, or Allen, but he's also not being payed nearly as much. Let's see how he does in the playoffs before assuming that his game does not elevate in the playoffs (and FG%) as many others players do. The East has worse teams and worse SG's, that seems simple enough to me. I'm not sure if this post had a motivation to imply Cat would be a weak link when playoffs come, or that it'd be better for Cat's career to move to the East... forget the stats, but it seems to me: Someone has and continues to want Cat to be traded. If you want this so bad, then come up with how the Rockets would benefit. Who would replace him as SG? Better not be SF. Who are we going to get for a better price with similar production? It's not like we'll get a star PF or SF unless he was packaged with another solid commodity like Mo Taylor. So, not looking at salaries, would the Rockets really be better if we got rid of Cat and Mo and got your PF of choice? Say Elton Brand? Same deal with Small Forward of your choice? I don't know...
How do other lefties stack up in match-ups against opposing conferences (versus teams in their own conferences)? I always seem to hear Calvin or Bill mention... "ah, so and so (opposing guard or the team scout) must not have remembered that Cuttino is stronger to his left..." Anyone else think that this might be a factor (since we play the East teams less often)?
Mobley + Cato = B. Grant + C. Butler + Heat 1st round pick. Use that pick to draft Jameer Nelson or Ben Gordon. ROCKETS SF: Butler PF: Taylor C: Yao PG: Francis SG: J. Jackson HEAT SF: Jones PF: Odom C: Cato PG: Wade SG: Mobley
East team - SG Atlantic Division Boston - Paul Pierce Miami - Eddie Jones NJ - Kerry Kittles NY - Allen Houston Orlando - TMac Philadelphia - Iverson Bullets - Stackhouse Central Division Atlanta - Bob Sura, Wes Person Chicago - Jamal Crawford Cleveland - Kedrick Brown, Dejuan Wagner Detroit - Richard Hamilton Indiana - Reggie Miller Milwaukee - Micheal Redd New Orleans - Courtney Alexander, Steve Smith Toronto - Vince Carter What teams above could really use Cuttino? I see: Chicago, Indy, Atlanta, Cleveland, NO Can you make a good package with one of those teams for something we need ? Yeah. more thinkin' from Canada after my flight.
geez fairly sure none of that list will be making the All-Defensive team..... combine that with the Easts lack of size and need to double Yao... the numbers difference is not surprising
