The best PF solution is to plug CATO in there. Yes, CATO. He is a monster defender/rebounder, and yet doesn't need a lot of scoring attempts. Jason C can then be the backup center to Yao who should be playing around or more than 40 minutes anyway next season. No frustrating trade deals needed. Can you imagine a lineup of: CATO / MoT / EG Posey / Nahbar/ Norris Yao / Collier Francise / Mobley (?) (New PG from perhaps a Mobley trade) / Hawk ( No more Moochi...Please...) Ouh !!! Conference Finals, here we come...
I think I would have to close my eyes and pray if I knew that Cato was out on the perimeter/high post tryingto guard other 4s.
Won't work. Cato has no jump shot and is extremely limited offensively (he has no game facing the basket). Teams would simply drop off him and dare him to shoot the jumper consistently...which he can't.
it could be done in certain matchups, but for the most part he would get killed by the duncans, garnetts, dirks, malones...i think he could take madsen or robert "the nut slapper" horry. against certain teams it could do well though. maybe even move eddie to the 3 for a lineup w/ 3 seven footers.
i totally agree, cato doesn't need to shoot jumpers...we dont need five scores on at the same time, cato can block, rebound... lots of big men are put in to be just big, they dont need to score... bo outlaw, pj brown...
With a matchup of Francis, Posey, Rice, Cato, Yao, not many teams would be able to take the in/out game. Cato doesn't have the quickest hands in the game, but Yao would be able to maneuver tight passes to Cato in the post off double-teams. Cato would be happy for those xtra 8-10pts per game. If anything else, outlet pass to Rice/Francis fer an outside jumper, or penetrate/dish w/ Posey.
And what exactly do you think teams do with Eddie standing at the 3 point line? If teams are gonna lay off the 4, then move Yao out there for a couple bombs, and let Cato stay down low. If Yao was throwing up 18 footers out there, he'd hit them and so much for laying off him. It is what the Rockets do when MoT and Yao are in the game together. They let MoT operate on the low block and move Yao out high. Only difference is that Yao and MoT can switch spots and still operate. Unless Cato develops a jump shot, you'd have to leave him down low and keep Yao up high. If you are looking for a shooter at the 4, then we can write off a whole lot of 4's. We'd have to be looking at Rasheed or Kurt Thomas or perhaps Malone because most of the other 4's I've seen discussed here ain't no better shooters than what we already have. I think we are looking for some defense and a lot of boards at the 4. If we get some shooting, that is just a bonus. But what this team needs is someone that can defend, bang the boards, and throw the outlet pass to Stevie and whoever. If we get that out of the 4, then Stevie can start to cheat toward the offensive end, instead of fading into the paint and picking up rebounds because we are weak on the glass. We might have a chance to run the break then. That's why I'd like to see Cato at the 4, if he isn't traded for another stud 4. He can rebound, he can defend, and he's a good shot blocker, who will also work the offensive glass and will cause the inside defenders to pay for double teaming a driving Francis. Cato gets all of his points off dunks when the defender leaves him chasing the guards. Yao's man ain't coming off him. Steve and Cuttino's man ain't leaving them when they drive to the hole. That leaves Cato's man and Posey's man. And they are both good at going backdoor on the defender. If we ain't gonna trade Cato, they we oughta give him significant minutes at the 4 and the 5. Then bring MoT and Eddie off the bench................or trade them for other parts, ie shooter, playmaker.
Duncans, Garnetts, Dirks, Malones..................you know they only kill the Rockets, everybody else shuts them down. Dude, those players kill everybody. Because they are the total package on the offensive end. But, I'd still take my chances with Cato defending the post as to Eddie or MoT defending the post. The Duncans, Garnetts, Dirks, and Malones are either gonna hit the 18 footer or not, most of the time they are gonna make them. You can't stop everything. You just have to lower the percentages in your favor. I'd still rather those guys be shooting 18 footers than posting up 5 feet from the basket. And Cato would give us the best chance of pushing those guys outside.
