Cat, My man I so often feel the need to spend the time to type up a post about cuttino. sometimes i do, but I am always glad that I can read yours. I am unfortunately a bit more militant than you, and my spelling and punctuation take away from my posts to Yo, and all you other ignoramuses. ARE YOU FREEKIN BLIND(trying not to attack personally) Cuttino is without a doubt a good SG in this league. if you played every player in the entire league at the 2 guard spot for 40 mins(like Cat gets) you MAY find about 10-20 as good as or better. Many of them are better suited as small forwards, or as PGs. what does this say to anyone with any reasoning. Cuttino is legit. Legit as a 2 guard in the league. infact he is almost the prototypical SG. Just be happy you have him on your team. if you dont like him, you better like hius salary. how much will you like steve when he makes the max (2x cuttinos $$) and plays toro defence?? Cat is a good player at ANY price, we got him for a steal!!!! 1.47 per game to be precise Cuttino loves this city enough to take a pay cut, so you should show him the love back. would you rather have larry hughes?? I gotta go, its a beach party game Alan Houston is supposed to be out, and i will ask him if Cuttino is better than him PEACE
He is a horrible team player though. He regularly misses open teammates, which causes the other Rockets to quit moving without the ball. When Mobley goes to the hole, his teammates know that they have NO chance of getting the ball back. You'd think if this were true that his teammates would say something about it, or that his stats would reflect it. His stats show someone who is less than one assist from other star shooting guards, all the while playing with a worse shooting team. If you think that one assist makes the difference between a star and a horrible team player, you are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I disagree. During the 15 game losing streak, we lost to the likes of the memphis grizzlies, chicago bulls, new york knicks, and cleveland cavaliers. Those teams don't exactly have a 12-man deep roster either. No matter how good Cuttino Mobley is, there's not much you can do when your other starters are Kelvin Cato, Kenny Thomas, an injured Glen Rice, and Moochie Norris.
<i>He's big, and you can never have enough big men.</i> This doesn't make sense to me, Cat, since in that <i>same post</i> you basically said that Cato was expendable, because of the lack of C's around. Then you say keep Collier because you can never have enough big men. Anyway, I do agree with your original post. Cat is the only pure scorer on this team, and without that the Rockets would have to rely on outside shooting to win. He is extremely valuable to this team. About the PF glut, I think KT is just going to have to be the odd man out. His contract is expiring at a bad time...we have so many PF's, and have to re-sign Steve. I wouldn't be surprised if he was traded for a future 1st rounder, rather than losing him for nothing. And nobody's going to give up much for Mo and his contract, coming off an injury. Cato still has value on this team, imo, even with Yao. Even if he never reaches his full potential, he's still a valuable backup C.
Cat couldn't "lead" us ... Suggestion: Go to a Rockets game and slip down close to courtside after the half. Make noise and glare defiantly at the stone-faced suits telling you to "keep it down, this isn't some party." After you flip them off, watch and listen to the game. This is what you will learn: Cat Mobley is a warrior and an invaluable leader. He is the steel-minded yang to Steve's lightening quick yin. He is the verbal enforcer to KT's quiet physical presence. He is a cold-blooded, but never silent, assassin. With two healthy ankles (RX: wider shoe base, more tape, year-round rehab), Cat dominates his position offensively. He is a good defensive player. His game has improved each year and is light years from where it was a few years ago. But what impresses me the most is the mental fortitude that is my lasting impression of his URI/NCAA tourney play remains very much unbowed. His spirit, play and leadership will be vital this year. There will be a conga-line of dunkers, intimidators and punks coming at Ming this year. IMO, there is no doubt Mobley will be the one to stand in front of that line, bring it back at them ten-fold, and say "try it and I'll break your mother-****in' leg." (Real quote, btw).
My complaint with Mobley, and before I get into it, I would like to say he has gotten better. My complaint is that he has about 6 to 7 turnovers a game. Most of those are not techinacally turnovers, but unnecessarily forced up shots that his teammates are not ready for. Since we are not prepared, we are out of position both to rebound and defend. Mobley jacks up an outside shot, other team gets the long rebound and fast breaks for two, sometimes a foul for three. These types of plays do not show up in the statistics, but they absolutely kill us. You make some salient points, but my problem with your analysis is that it is statistically based. If you remember the Phi Slama Jama days, Drexler and Benny Anders had approximately similar steal numbers. The difference was that when Benny went for a steal, he either made it or gave up two points. Not always his man, by the way, so his stats looked ok. But it caused a break down of the defense, and ultimately a score against us. Now Clyde, he would attempt steals, and rather he got it or not, he didn't give up squat. Similar stats, but one is in the hall of fame (green room) and the other is pumping gas in Louisiana. Back on Mobley. He has a lot of talent, and I am willing to be patient. I think consistancy will really help this team, and especially Steve and Cat. Cat does not pay a smart game that helps to elevate the team. I would compare him to Jerry Stackhouse. Big stats, crappy result. Time and time again. Only this year, when he stopped being a big dog scorer, and subjugated himself to the team did the Pistons start to win. Mobley dramatically improved his shot selection last year, but he still has room to improve. He is fairy old for his years played, and he is one of our team leaders. He needs to cut down his nonchelant "I'll make up for it next time" attitude faster than he has. I believe he is an ok defender, but he has not committed to playing defense. Our whole team hasn't. Kind of a chicken or the egg situation, but as one of our leaders, he needs to buckel down on the defensive end. Both Rice and Williams, neither of which is the one on one defender Cat is, have shown themselves to be better team/rotation defenders. How can taht possibly be, considering the huge gap in physical talent. Summary, Cat has NBA talent, and at a good contract, I might add. He is the second best player on a 50 loss team. If he can move up to second or third, (even fourth) best player on any team, then I'll be pleased. He may, and again I'm willing to wait, but so far I'm not overly impressed by what I have seen, no mater what the numbers are. By the way, Vince Carter is arguably the most overated player in the NBA today. I am not saying he is a bad player, just not one of the top eschelon, which is where he is usually mentioned.
Yo during that 15 game loosing streak Cat was playing on a bad ankle much of the time. On top of that we were trying to win games with 4 rookies (Eddie, TMo, Oscar and Tierre) playing a very large portion of the minutes. During our 15 game loosing streak their were games that cat was not even able to play and Moochie was our primary scoring option. Highlights of the 15 game loosing streak: 11/27/2001 Rockets 84, Kings 89 Rockets starters were: Moochie, Oscar, Rice, KT and Cato. Cat was out because of an injured ankle and Steve was out as well. 11/30/01 Grizzlies 102, Rockets 82 Rockets starters were: Moochie, Oscar, Rice, KT and Cato. Notice that Cat did not play due to a sprained sprained ankle. No Steve as well. 12/1/2001 Rockets 75, Spurs 85 Rockets starters were: Moochie, Oscar, Rice, KT and Cato. Cat did not play due to a bad ankle. Steve was also out. 12/4/2001 Bulls 103, Rockets 75 Rockets starters were: Moochie, Cat, Rice, KT and Cato. Cat is back but only logs 23 minutes due to a bad ankle. TMo is the only one of the 4 rookies to log less than 21 minutes in this game, he gets 13 minutes. 12/15/2001 Rockets 73, Heat 76 Rockets starters were: Moochie, Cat, Oscar, KT and Willis. Starters Francis, Rice, Taylor and Cato were all out for injuries. This was the sixth different starting line up for the Rockets just during the loosing streak because of injuries. The 4 rookies (2 were undrated players) have to play 96 minutes! Can anyone understand the signifigance of that one sentence? Four rookies split 96 minutes and we expected a victory? 12/18/2001 Rockets 92, Trail Blazers 101 Rockets starters were: Moochie, Cat, Oscar, Eddie and Cato. This was the Rockets 7th starting line up of the loosing streak and two of the starters were rookies with one of them an undrafted rookie. 12/22/2001 Rockets 115, Bucks 110 The 15 game loosing streak is over! Lead by Cats 39 pts. Steve Francis was still out with an injury. During the streak we used 7 different line ups and a very large portion of the minutes were going to 4 rookies two of them were undrafted rookies. How many other teams had to go thru that? You can't blame Cat for our team loosing almost every single starter due to injury during that streak. You should also acknowledge that Cat did not even play in many of those games and was not completely healed when he did come back. BTW, The Cat that was a great post by you.
Cuttino Mobley was the last drafted Rocket to make the playoffs with the Rockets, so he is good. REAL GOOD รพ
Cat has game. He is a playa. YOu think about the times he goes and wastes a play by jacking one up, but then you think of the plays when he dishs a beautiful pass (allyoop perhaps) to francis for the slam. he mkaes plays. he is a good player. nice points The Cat. i agree totally. don grahamleonem i agree about MOT. that guy is good, when healthy.
Interesting point about trading Cato instead of KT. Even though Im not that gung ho about KT's game, I would much rather deal Cato than him. Even though I feel that KT's skills are somewhat overrated, I think he is light years ahead of Cato. I agree with Cat, that Cato's need for this team is completely overrated, and (my opinion) Kelvin's potential is totally overrated. The assumption is made that Kelvin Cato can become the enforcer this team needs, but I have to disagree with that. Cato is basically an athletic 6-11 player with long arms nothing more. He really doesnt understand how to play position defense and simply does not grasp the concept that rebounding is about boxing out and positioning as opposed to being able to jump high. The only real attraction of Cato is that he is a "center" by definition and has this perceived potential due to his athleticism. Being a good defender and rebounder has a lot more to do with understanding and fundamentals than simply being athletic. Out of the three players mentioned, Taylor, KT and Cato, I would even go so far as to say that Cato is the worst one on one position defender of the three. Its amounting to the point where Ming, Griffin, Taylor and KT are the four best players at the PF/C positions but there appears to be this need to keep Cato b/c he has the label of a center. I would be pefectly content with either Mo or Griffin matching up against any of the BACKUP centers in the NBA. Who are we scared of? Samaki Walker? Sean Rooks? I would be perfectly content if the Rockets could unload Cato for players with shorter contracts and/or draft pick(s).
I disagree. Being a good all around player is not necessarily something that you just look for in a guys stats. It is in his defense and also in how well he gets his teammates involved and makes them better. A guy like Cuttino Mobley might in the future but is a far cry from making his teammates better. All he has proven is that he can score alot of points on a bad team. He might develop into more but Hell Ron Mercer scored 20 a game on a bad bulls team. Whose to say Mobley is better than Mercer, I sure as hell dont.
Mobley is a lot like Mercer. A player with good stats but who is just not a team bball player at all. "The Cat" failed to mention a couple things. Mobley was second in the entire NBA in minutes played by guards but something like 300th or so in assists. That's freakin pathetic. Also, this idea that "all a SG needs to do is score" is ludicrous. I don't care what position you play, if you don't have a good basketball IQ, have good fundamentals, and play the game the right way, you are no asset to your team, regardless of what the stats say. Like one poster said, the negative effect from some of Cuttino's ridiculously ill-advised off-balance heaves with men in his face doesn't show up in the stats. It DOES lead to fast breaks for opponents due to the multitude of terrible shuts that Cutturnover takes. It also frustrates teammates to play with such a blatant ballhog who only passes when he's in trouble, not to make plays. Does anyone remember the 99 playoff game 1 against LA when Hakeem was 10-12, mobley was a rookie and tried to drive the ball against Shaq for a layup which obviously was not there instead of passing to a WIDE OPEN Olajuwon for a potential game winner. It was one of the stupidest bball plays I've ever seen in my life. That series, Barkley also threw a chair on the Rockets bench and glared at Cutturnover after one of the million stupid shots he put up. Cutturnover is also the MASTER of racking up garbage time stats when the Rockets are down 20-30 points. He can't pass, can't defend, has a very low bball IQ, is a TO machine. Some people here need to take off the homer glasses. Cutturnover is NOT a good NBA SG. Cutturnover is like that hot-dogging ballhog in pickup games who thinks he's a bada$$ and who's sole purpose is to try to "get his" and show people up, not to WIN the game. I honestly feel if he were cut from the Rockets today, the Rockets would be that much closer to the playoffs because they'd play as a team. They used to say about Robert Horry that he did all the little things to help Houston win that didn't show up in the box scores. The exact opposite is true of Cutturnover.
Couldnt' have said it better myself. If Mercer were on the Rockets last year he would have produced nearly identical stats to Mobley. I don't think any of us would consider Mercer an upper tier shooting guard, would we?
Come on guys, don't make the Cat lovers cry........ Just admit if a player can get off on NBA2k for 60 points, then he must be able to replicate the same stats in real life. I'm still waiting for this "upper tier guard/top 5 guard" to take this team to the playoffs..
finally some guys that agree with me. Cuttino seems to have a huge cult following. Probably the biggest I have seen. Maybe we can deal him for Mercer. Mercer would get injured some and we would'nt have to deal with him for most of the season, not to mention no Cat. Just start Nachbar at SG.
I guess "horrible" is a poor choice of words. I think I get so frustrated watching Cuttino, because anybody can see what a GREAT player he could be if had the ability and desire to find the open man after he breaks down the defense. There are not 5 guys in the NBA with a better first step, but Cuttino just isn't smart enough (b-ball IQ, not human intelligence) to really take advantage of his physical talents. Like I said, he is worth the money the Rockets pay him. When his contract is up though, I think the Rockets need to investigate a trade if Cuttino asks for a big raise.
Mercer is paid around 3 million more. I hate comparing ourselves with Sacramento, but we really need a good team defensive scheme. With all our athletic players who don't run the ball, at least they can run within halfcourt and make some stops. Just call MoT, Webber Lite, not as filling with just as much headaches.
Note: this poster comparing Mobley to Mercer is the same one that said he would prefer Tony Parker to Steve Francis. Mercer has never had the stats that Cuttino Mobley did this season. His only really good season came the season after Jordan retired, when he was the only option on the Bulls. He proved he couldn't be a star on a winning team. Mobley's done that, when the Rockets were 45-37. Mobley played 42 minutes per game, and averaged 2.5 assists. Finley played 40 minutes per game, and averaged 3.3 assists, on a team that shoots the ball much better than the Rockets. Finley's talked about as one of the better all-around players in the game. Can you please tell me how 3.3 assists in 40 minutes is an all-around talent, while 2.5 assists in 40 minutes is pathetic? Also, if Mobley's teammates are so frustrated, don't you think they would've said something by now? Why is Bostjan Nachbar thrilled to join the Rockets? Why did Mo Taylor sign for under market value to play here? Why does Rashard Lewis want to play here? If Cuttino were such a ballhog that they would never get to touch the ball, why would players want to play here? Unfortunately for you, the effect of any ill-advised shots is reflected in his stats. Ill-advised shots are factored into shot attempts, which are factored into the points per shot ratio. Let's say you're right for a minute, and that Cuttino does take a lot of bad shots. (not saying I agree) Even INCLUDING those shots, Cuttino is as efficient a scorer as Michael Finley, Allen Iverson, Allan Houston, and Tracy McGrady. If you suggest that Cuttino shooting less, remember that he would be giving it to players that average less points per shot, thus hurting team output. You can cling to the hate all you want, but the facts are against you. Does anyone remember when Hakeem was a young player and his reputation around the league was that of a thug, picking fights all over the place? Not really. People make mistakes when they are young. The fact that you are bringing up an example from 1999 to try and prove Cuttino as a bad player NOW shows the blind hatred you have for the guy. If Mobley can't pass, then neither can Finley, Houston, Allen, Wells, or Szczberbiak... unless you think 1 assist (on a better shooting team, thus more opportunities) is the difference between a good passer and one that can't pass. Mobley can defend if you'd take off the hatred glasses. And, there's a stat for 4th quarter statistics... if Mobley was so good at scoring in situations where it didn't matter, why doesn't he lead the league in fourth quarter points per game, since we were in so many blowout situations last year? If Mercer were on the Rockets last year he would have produced nearly identical stats to Mobley. I don't think any of us would consider Mercer an upper tier shooting guard, would we? Mercer, on the pre-Brand Bulls, couldn't average those stats. That team may have been the least talented team in the history of the league. Nice try, though. This doesn't make sense to me, Cat, since in that same post you basically said that Cato was expendable, because of the lack of C's around. Then you say keep Collier because you can never have enough big men. DHR: I mean big men that won't command minutes. I'd love to keep Cato around if we could sit him on the bench and only play him 6 minutes a night and/or whenever we need a center. But, with his contract and ego, that's not going to be happening. If he's on the team, he's going to at the least get 18-20 minutes, and I feel like against 95% of the teams those minutes would be better served going to Mo and KT. To get minutes for everyone, we need to trade one of Cato, Mo, and KT for future considerations. I would prefer it to be Cato, instead of dumping the better player and instead trying to fit some position mold.
Things I can't stand : # 1 : The pull-up three pointer on the break. Clang. Two points other way. # 2 : Eddie waving his arms down low - Cat dribbles into two defenders, crosses over, over again, pull-up, falling-down fadeaway w/2 sec. left. Clang. # 3 : "It felt good leaving my hands. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't. That's just basketball, I guess." # 4 : Cat dribbles into two defenders, stops, pivots, pivots, pivots; three defenders - forced shot attempt, turnover. # 5 : Cross court pass on the break - to no one. # 6 : Smart Interior pass - unfortunately, other team gets ball in the numbers. # 7 : TV has perspective to show play developing - open man to exploit other team. Cat does not have tv. # 8 : Matador defense. Ole! # 9 : Jacking. # 10 : Fast break other way. 4 point turnarounds. Enough of that. Cuttino only frustrates me so much because he is otherwise so good. Given the ball in the right spot and with help, he can score on anyone. When he makes his move quickly, he is a league force. When the clock goes tick, tick, tick ... well, my prayer beads get a workout. I hope his offseason workouts go well and do believe he will show up with a better mental game, based on his program, aging, and comments to date. It's still in the Rocket's best interest to use him at his strengths and not ask him to be something he's not. Picks - good. PG responsibility - bad. Best wishes next year, Cat.
