I could tell that after watching preseason games last year. Boki is the best entry passer by far on this team.
I think we can tell a few things about what Van Gundy said. I agree that there is a good chance that Mobley and Taylor will be traded during the offseason. Van Gundy is a straight shooter and will tell you exactly what he thinks. Therefore, I think he is telling the truth about Francis. I think he wants to keep Francis and Yao together. He seemed to make negative comments of the play of Taylor and Mobley so I think they are as good as gone. Whereas, he made good comments about Francis, Jackson and Yao so they will stay. The other players he did not even mention I think he could probably go either way. For example, Cato can have his bright spots, but then again he can't really score at all. I would love to see the following go down... Trade #1 Houston Trades: Mobley & Cato Houston Receives: Elton Brand Trade #1 Houston Trades: Maurice Taylor Houston Receives: Erick Dampier Free Agent Acquisition Brent Barry Line-up PG- Francis/Jackson SG- Barry/Pike SF- Jackson/Nachbar/Griffin PF- Brand/Weatherspoon/Padgett C- Yao Ming/Dampier I'm not sure if Houston would be able to get either of these guys, but I think we need to trade: Mobley, Taylor and Cato...and then we need to get two bruisers one at center and one at power forward. Also, I think Barry will be an awesome pickup for our team and can be had for relatively cheap.
Dampier's likely opting out. If he doesn't, I doubt Golden State would look to deal him, especially for MoT. I do think he'd be a good fit here, and at PF. He has shown the ability to guard post up PFs very well, and does a great job against Shaq. He's basically Cato with more consistency: Big, strong, athletic, sometimes lazy, bad (but improved) hands. Really top notch defender though, and he can put up 8-12ppg depending on his minutes. I'm just concerned that he only had a great season in a contract year. If he opts out, I'm all for a sign and trade. LA already have Kaman and may trade down and draft Podkolzine. I don't think they want Cato, and I've realized that they really aren't looking to trade Brand in the first place (despite what Chad Ford may say).
If JVG is as thrilled with Francis as some of you suggest, then everything I thought I knew about him (JVG) is wrong. I would think a player like Francis would drive JVG crazy. When I think of JVG I think of system, structure, discipline, fundamentals. When I think of Francis I think of freestyle, streetball, one on one, hops, dunks, lack of fundamentals, and unforced turnovers. If JVG thinks Francis "is just the tops," then he isn't the basketball purist that I thought he was.
More Reasons why Mobes and MoT are expendible. As much as the Rox had offensive difficulties this season, I think the defensive lapses (especially late in the season) drove JVG nuts. MoT was kind of a Catch-22 for JVG. On one hand MoT wasn't the best defender or rebounder that you'd want on the floor, yet JVG was compelled to play him b/c he needed to put points on the board. Mobes, on the other hand, was inconsistent, at best. Although he made great strides this year, he is not your natural catch and shoot kind of 2 guard. In fact, if one were to make a case as to over-dribbling, I can make a bigger case that Mobes is a worse offender than Steve. Cato, sadly, is the odd man out. This team needs a real FOUR. Not a backup center turned four, but a real FOUR. Cato would be a good pick up for any Eastern conference team needing center help. The undersized East would glady take Cato and see higher value in him than say Mobley. theSAGE
