D Rose, I cannot argue with you on anything you are projecting. I am really at odds with those who insist we have a glaring weakness and want to bring in everybody and their brother. I am definitely a KT fan, bid time. In fact I would not have a problem with him being a SF full time. He is the only rocket that has the ability and the smarts to pull off some the Dream's moves.
Is Matt Geiger still in the league? I think he was last with the Sixers and I believe he used to play with Charlotte. I didn't think he was that great of a player buy he seemed to fit the enforcer role pretty well.
KT has improved every year he has been in the leauge. Why trade someone still progressing? You don't know what you are giving away. I like Kenny in there scrapping. Kind of like Othella with better offense. As for who to add... not sure if I would call him a sf, but I love Bo Outlaw's game on this team. You never have to call a play for him and still gets his points. He could be a great garbage man with Ming taking the shots, slipping in for layups and dunks.
I think we have to look at going big in the front court against the Western Conf. final four: Dallas, Sac, L.A. and San Antonio. As much as I hate to say it... we need Cato !! When you start looking at L.A. and San Antonio, we will need the sheer size and, dare I say it, defensive presence that Cato provides against the bigger bodies in the league. I don't think D.Rob could do much against Cato, and E.G. can give Duncan fits on defense as well as make him play away from the basket on offense. I also believe that playing against the "big boys" is one of the few things that actually gets Cato motivated . I remember him blocking Shaq twice in a row a couple of years ago, and giving him a legitimate challenge. There aren't too many guys around who can do that. So, to sum up, our regular and playoff rotation will depend entirely on who we are playing, (and of course injuries...), but I can see merits to both of the arguments above regarding minutes. K.T. has got to stay because of his versatility and salary. I would like to see Nachbar start in the season opener to get a real sense of whether he can become a playoff rotation guy. And Mooch also needs his minutes be it regular of playoff time (although I can see his minutes in the playoffs getting reduced, ala all second stringers...)!! Thats all for now, thanks for providing a forum for my stream of consciousness posts
DANNY FORTSON. We need a power rebounder that doesn't need the ball to make an impact. I don't know whether Fortson can play any defense, but if he's average on D, I'd trade for him in a heartbeat. He's an upgrade over MoTay and KT. MoTay is the most expendable b/c his most attractive asset is scoring ability, which we don't need nearly as much as rebounding. KT fits our team much better. He can get involved without scoring. He plays defense and rebounds. We need to pump up MoTay's trade value and then dump him. Ming and Griffin will have to command the low and high post opportunities. Question: could we get Fortson for a MoTay?
I don't know if we can get Fortson for Mo-T,but I wouldn't do it,because Fortson would only improve our rebounding and not our overall defense and certainly not our offense.KT is a better overall player than Fortson,and Mo can still score off the bench if he gets fit.
LMAO. Cato has no offense beyond wide open gift wrapped dunks from Steve and a jump shot every other game. As far as defense and rebounding, he is mediocre at best. Why would a team try to take him out of the game?
You should ask that question after you have removed Cato fg% from that of the rockets and see what the rockets % is then. Or see if you can replace the shots that he gets at a higher %. When Francis beats his man which we does regularly, Francis has the option of taking it himself, passing to an open jumper shooter or passing to Cato for a dunk. The option with the highest percentage is Cato's. Can someone else do the same thing? Yes but Cato is pretty good at it. It is all about balance. Regarding his rebounding and shot blocking, I would simply say that he is one of the best on the team and at times is the best on the team. When he is the team is scary. Just ask Dallas, not Memphis. The key is to get him to do it regularly. The fact that he is sighted in the gym may be a good thing, hopefully.
KT needs to stay. He proved himself last season and Rudy knows that. Hes not gonna get rid of him and also you never know what a person is gonna play like after comming back from an injury.For example ( weak and old Glenn R.) Mo Taylor probally still smoking for all we know. I could see KT starting and Eddie at back up. I think our team doesnt need to be a team that has to bang with others. I think we can do it with flat out finnesse.
No it isn't. The option with the highest percentage is Francis taking it himself with the defense staying at bay guarding Ming. Besides, you assume the slam is always there with Cato, and the pass always succeed, like you can run that play for the Cato slam anytime you want. You can't. Not even close. What makes Cato so special on recipients of freebies? He actually makes the play more difficult for Steve. The reason for that is Francis can rarely beat his man, because they cheat on him with help. They cheat on him with help, because Cato is miserable at offense. Cato is not a threat. Francis should be getting less pressure and more Murphy-esque stop and pops in the center of the lane. He can't because the defenses rotate off of Cato. Calling a Cato dunk a threat is inverted logic. The threat is Francis. Cato only gets his a piddly amount of dunks, only because sometimes Francis actually can beat both his man and the rotation help. Replace Cato with Ming, and the defenses have to play Francis honest. The Rockets field goal % as a team will go up with Cato off the floor, despite Cato's 58%, which is skewed by his freebie dunks. It will go up because Francis and Mobley will get easier shots. A better center makes the guards life easier. How can that not be correct?? That is why everyone drools about Duncan being paired with Francis.
HP, can you explain to me why EG, Willis, Collier and KT last year did not have those plays much less succeed at them. EG has range, why didn't he go down there and cause the defense to stay with him so that Francis can pop and shot. I think you are being dreadfully unfair to Cato. There is Dallas game in Dallas that I have recent looked at again from last season that really showed me what Cato can deliver with both Moochie and Francis. Yes it would be great to have Duncan but when Francis is dominant, he makes Cato look like Duncan. To me whether Francis is dominant or not has nothing to do with Cato. Once Francis is healthy and he is not playing with a bunch of rookie he dominates. If he stays away from the excessive one on one stuff, he dominates. You need outlets for him when he dominates and I am saying Cato in the low post is as good an outlet as any. I hear the point you are making but centers will never stay with Ming if Francis is on a breakaway down the lane. Yes it would be nice for Cato to have more range but I am not too excited about a jump shot with little chance of a foul compared to a dunk. Most importantly, I would like to know why Cato is the only one with those plays and that level of success? I truly expect Ming to get those plays too. Do not forget the "and 1" part of the play too. To me it is when the stay home because of those dunks that Francis should pop. I want to make it clear that I am not calling for more Cato and less Ming. I am just saying that Cato is infinitely better and more valuable that folks think. Now we have the luxury of Ming we see Cato as IR material? The focus of this thread is to have power next to Ming. You cannot find better accompanying power for Ming that Cato. And by accompanying I mean both playing together and substituting for each other.
I too, HP, is looking forward to the high post 'center' offense which Ming would be great at, based on you outlined it some time ago. Of course Cato has no place is that setup but I am all for going into this long and demanding season with serious weapons, the more the better. The mind set is more like Sac and Dall who offer and array of weapons rather than Sixers.
Most people here would agree that Cato is a solid BACKUP center. The reason why we all make fun of his talent is b/c of his fat contract. If you are paid like a starter, you are expected to have starter talent which Cato doesn't.
What about Todd Mac, Jerome James? Cato at this point is being paid like a backup or starters are not what they used to be. Boy would Memphis love to start him tomorrow. As for New York Knick!
The play starts with EG, MoT, KT and Collier setting picks. The play is 24-high. Francis gets a pick. It is weird to call that play a Cato/Francis play. It has nothing to do with whether Cato is on the floor or not. If you want to say Cato is a better low post flasher to the basket, fine. But don't call a High PnR a Cato play. Willis was equally a low post flasher to the rim on that play, but Francis gave him the more common dish to the waist. imo, you are overrating the l'il oop to Cato by discounting the times it was tipped out of the air by a center who was already close to Francis and ready to jump. But the main thing you are not hearing me say is that PnR will gets a higher percentage with Cato off the floor. We are actually better at it with 2 PFs. Then you have someone like MoT flashing to the rim. Cato is not on the floor to make the PnR a higher % play.
