Too bad that isn't true (I know you were not the originator of the statement...just the most recent).
Thanks for the correction (assuming you're right); I didn't check the stats on that before quoting it. I'm really not trying to bash either Francis OR Mobley, just pointing out why it's not crazy to say that combination has some structural flaws, which the Rockets may need to address before they can be a serious contender. A team where nearly every starter is a below-average ballhandler for his position is going to be less than the sum of its parts. I live in a city where they learned this the hard way last season.
I love Mobley's fire and gumption. But his individual stats have always wildly exceeded his effort to involve teammates and enhance the performance of the team as a whole. Some of you want to blame Rudy and his isolations for this. Fine. Change the offense this year. Tell Mobley that unless he's got a truly open shot or lane to the basket, his job is to get the ball to Yao (or Griffin, or whoever's open) and plan his jump shots and layups around return passes. If Mobley begins to involve others more and to choose his shots more wisely, keep him at SG. But if he dribbles and dribbles and jacks up crap with a hand in his face, don't try to bench him. He won't stand for that. Trade him for somebody who will play the role we need. I'd miss his personality, but with his nice contract, I'm sure we could get better passing and defending in exchange.
Maybe the Rockets should utilize a triangle offense type of system since Nachbar is reportedly a very good ball-handler for a SF and Ming is an excellent ball-handler for a center. Those two should be able to generate about 10 assists between them. That way the team doesn't really need a pure point guard, kind of like the Bulls during their title runs.
1) Cat, I suspect that a lot more responsibility is being put on Mobley's shoulders here due to the fact that, as noted, he spends so much time with the ball. Those people you compare him to are almost all primarily catch-and-shoot /drive types, and don't handle the ball for the same amount of time as does Mobley. And to state that Francis handles the ball EVEN MORE is a misleading argument, for two reasons...A) He's a point guard, of course he does...By that logic it would be almost impossible for any teammate of a legit pg to be accused of handling the ball too much, there would always be somone doing it more. and B) Another half of your argument is based on the fact that Mobley had no teammates while he was carrying the team without Francis/Taylor/Rice et al...If part of his defense is that he had no one to pass to, as you maintain, then it can then hardly be argued that during those times he wasn't handling the ball a lot more. In other words, it's a specious argument: When Steve is in there, of course he doesn't pass that much, Steve has the ball...When Steve isn't in there, of course he doesn't pass that much, there's no one to pass to. When you consider the degree to which he handles the ball, as opposed to Finley, Allen, and Szerbiak, and the fact that he plays a ton of minutes, those assist deficienceis as they relate to them seem even more of a problem...If he should have MORE, and he's up to 1.5 LESS, then easy math might suggest he is serving up roughly over 2 assists a game less than his catch-and-shoot contemporaries, and that would imply there is a serious problem. But I DO agree that this is not Mobley's problem alone.
Have you ever seen a beast with two heads? Do you know why not? they eat themselves... Or, as Napoleon wrote, it is far better to have one terrible general than two excellent ones.
A body has one head, but it does have 2 legs, and those 2 legs carry it in the right direction, and as Le Grouper Said, Rudy is the head of this montser
Mobley's assist to turnover ratio, or shot to assist ratio, is monumentally less important than Francis'. It's not a shooting guard's job to pass. It's his job to shoot and create. Also, I'm not sure where everyone is getting the idea that Mobley handles the ball more than Finley, Allen, or others. Have you seen how often Moochie dribbled until the end of the shot clock? It's the same scenario with Francis in many instances, or KT. Mobley does not handle the ball more than these other stars; if anything, he handles it substantially less. Sorry about the mistake in the assists statistic... Clutch previously did some research on Mobley's stats to close the season, and he was up in almost every category in terms of efficiency. I assumed this included assists, but apparently not. It is worth noting that Mobley's additional assists, which came in the first 29 games, came primarily when he actually had teammates to pass to. Here's a good thread for previous discussion on this topic: http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37249
When did I say that??? I'm thinking what's best for the whole team in the future instead of just one or two players....my point is based on Cuttiono's type of game (putting up numbers in bunches), if we ever find a true point guard, this move will not be out of the question if you ask me...what's best for the rockets as a whole might be making him a spark off the bench, making the rockets more potent...who's saying he should be benched right now?
my mistake...but he's basicallly saying the same thing as myself, he's not saying he should be the 6th man now... Quote from artical: <i>Mobley (again)..." <b>Might someday</b> be more valuable as a sixth man as the team begins to build around Yao."</i>
Nobody seem to be dealing with the question I found both the most original, and the most interesting...the statement made (more than once) that this should be, from this point on, Yao's team. The offense should be run through him, in a similar fashion to how we ran it through Dream...The comparison with Walton, and needing a sytem designed to best use Yao's unique skills, rather than Francis and Mobley's less original, albeit extreme talents...And the forcefull statement that we need to get the pieces to fill in around Yao rather than try and fit him in with what we're already doing... I'm not saying I agree or disagree, but nobody seems to be really addressing this, and I thought it was well worth discussing...There has been one comment against us "re-building", but I'm not sure that's what this was meant to advocate..I think it's meant to recognize the talent level and potential impact of a no. 1 ovrall pick, especially when that guy is a center, and even more so when that center is potentially a game changer. Those guys come around a lot less often than physically astonishing but still learning point guards, and they win more often as well...Additionally, their teams are almost always more successfull when they are the focus, and there is probably a reason for that, Walton, Dream, Jabbar, etc. being prime examples...
Interesting article from MacBeth. It just brings to focus how the dynamics of the team changes significantly with the addition of Yao Ming. I don't agree with all of the predictions the writer of the article makes, but it makes for good reading and discussion. After seeing the Yao Ming videos provided by this great website and the world champship articles, this is my personal impression of the team with and without Yao Ming. Last year, we basically had no post up player (Cato-Hater) and even if we had Mo, he would not have been a post up player either. So, the strategy against the Rockets was stop Francis and Mobley, win the game. With Yao Ming, we have a legitimate post up player who can score consistently and pass the ball to the open man. Sound familiar? The defense has to pick its poison stay on Francis/Mobley or double up on Ming. When playing against a dominant center like Shaq, Ming can come out to the top of the key to shoot and this would also open up the lanes for Francis and Mobley. Add to all this the more experienced Eddie, we should have a good running game as well as a good half court game. I guess by now you know that I believe Ming should start, but he probably won't. Rockets are paying Cato too much damn money! A couple of comments about Francis and Mobley, I think Francis should stay at point guard. He is too dominating of a player not to have the ball in his hands. Plus, he does look to get his teammates involved even Cato (Slam Dunk!). Mobley is a good shooting guard. Not doubt, he put up the points quick. However, Mobley could be a great #2 guard if he would just not dribble out the time clock in clutch situations. If he does not a have shot or a move to the basket, quickly pass the ball. Also, some of his shot selections leave something to be desired. The good thing is that Mobley can correct this if he wants to. Lastly, I have faith in Rudy T. He will put it all together.
This notion was implied. More on Mobley-( In Things To Look For for the upcoming season)..." Cuttino Mobley will return to his role as sixth man at some point. Add that to Murphy's comments on the team being better off with Francis at SG and a more pure PG, and one can infer that Murphy is implying Francis shifting over to SG and Moochie starting at PG at some point in the season.
I'm talking on the floor...I assume you've heard the phrase 'floor general'? My point is, or at least my interpretation of Murphy's point is that you need a defined focus, or else you are often caught trying to go in two directions at once. Also, a clearly defined leader, and by that I mean someone who is the focus/instigator of your offense, might ruffle a few feathers in the short term, but in the long term it defines roles and saves ego battles, a la Portland...Take any winning team, and it had a defined leader... Lakers...Shaq Bulls...MJ Rockets...Dream Celtics....Bird Lakers...Magic Pistons...Zeke Etc....I'm not concluding that Yao should be our focus, although I can see the merit of that argument, but the old Let It Sort Itself Out argument is just procrastination...At some point Rudy will have to say " This is our guy." I'm not saying he hasn't said that, who knows? But as fans, I'm asking your opinion of who The Man should be...I can see legit arguments for Steve, or Yao..and would even be interested in those suggesting Eddie, although you'd really have to be convincing...But to assume that we don't need a focus doesn't have much history to back it up...
Stevie Focus aka Franchise is fine with me. And he can focus on making all his teammates better. Yao opens options for him, as does Mo's 'O' threat, and Rice's spot-on spot-up shooting. Nothing wrong with the PG being the focus, right Magic? Isiah? Right Derek Fisher and Jayson Wms???
