The two guys that make the rockets shouldn't be Steve and Cat. It should be steve and a big man. Cat must know that his role should be the third option. I know we don't have the big guy threat but I am comfortable we will, and when we do Cat better realize this or the rockets will only be a marginal team. In fact if were going to be a guard oriented team and nothing more, I'd rather have another sg like sprewell who plays d and will pass.
Some of you need to give up this homerism. Sorry but it's blatantly outside of Houston that Cuttino Mobley is a selfish and flat out stupid basketball players. The guy thinks of himself as Michael Jordan with the crazy low percentage fadeaways he jacks up when he is at ABSOLUTE BEST an average shooting guard. Screw the damn stats, all you have to do is watch the bum take stupid shot after stupid shot to realize that the guy hurts a team more than he helps it. His passing, on the rare occasions he actually gives up the rock, is flat out HORRIBLE. He's the classic case of a guy who only passes the ball when he's in trouble, as opposed to a team player who will actually pass the ball to set up a teammate. The way Mobley whines on every call is also pretty lame. He should be at best a 6th man. The guy just does not understand the concept of TEAM BASKETBALL. There are many games where he singlehandedly ruins any flow the Rockets are trying to develop offensively. The current Rockets with their disgusting style of selfish, one on one, ISO basketball where ball movement is considered a sin, are a true disgrace to the NBA. Cuttino Mobley is reason #1 for that. He's not in Steve Francis' league period. Francis is a top 5 PG and anyone who thinks freakin Mobley is a good SG is nuts.
I think rather then having Cat drive to the hole regularly. I think he needs to learn to pace himself like Jordan. Get jumpers in the first 3 quarters, and in the 4th, that's when u start driving and getting to the line. Driving to the hole the whole game is stupid, it is just not good for a small guard to get in there with the big guys like that. It's risk of injury etc. He just needs to define his mid range game more to where he has a consistant jumper that he can rely on. He seems to comfortable with his fall away jumpers, but in my opinion, when he shoots his normal jumpers, they aren't in rythme. He needs to catch n shoot more and that will help him get those jumpers.
"Are the Lakers and Spurs a disgrace as well? Same style." -Like hell it is. The style used by the Lakers and Spurs is inside out basketball. Dominant post play complemented by spot up shooters. The same style the Rockets used with Hakeem to win 2 titles, solid fundamental basketball. The "style" the current Rockets use is a true disgrace. Jr. High teams display more fundamentals and TEAM basketball than these Rockets. Running iso's all game long for a 40% shooting ballhog 2 guard is just flat out stupid. Mobley is a very poor man's Vernon Maxwell, without the defensive prowess. To basically design an entire offense that features such a mediocre player is stupid. Since when did Rudy T outlaw ball movement? To even compare the Rockets style of "offense" with that of the Spurs and Lakers is simply ignorant.
I have coached Jr. High basketball for 8 years. I am utterly offended by this statement. A majority of the Jr. high teams i have seen display better Fundamentals than almost every NBA Team. Including the Raptor's DYnasty (although that is an Oxymoron if I have ever seen one). Last time I checked this was a Rockets board. I thought the objective of that was for Rocket "Homers" to post their thoughts on the team. And if you mean by that statement that we should criticize the team for things they do wrong. well just do a search in this forum for the words "Kelvin Cato" and "Rockets Uniforms". You will find plenty of scathing criticism in those threads. Well that is one thing we agree on. CK
Getting back to the question that was originally posed: I think that playing on 2 badly sprained ankles (that may have not ever healed properly) could be a big reason why Mobley isn't driving to the basket like he has done in the past. Also, I have never looked at it as a competition between Francis and Mobley thinking that by tearing down Mobley, I'm building up Francis. They both play incredibly stupid at times but it seems like Mobley does it more often than Francis. That is what drives me and other people nuts....stupid basketball decisions made by a player on the court and done over and over again.
Manny said: I think that playing on 2 badly sprained ankles (that may have not ever healed properly) could be a big reason why Mobley isn't driving to the basket like he has done in the past. Thank you for at last finally stating the obvious.
If this is true, then why did ESPN, a national media outlet, select Cuttino Mobley to the all underrated team? Is ESPN blatantly biased towards Houston?
Does this mean that Cat plays team ball at home, but selfish and stupid ball on the road. Opposing coaches design defenses to try to stop Mobley. He is a legitimate threat to score 40+ points. He plays better D than any of our PGs, while Oscar maybe does it better. He gets several assist each game. He rebounds well for a guard. He averages 20 ppg. He has done all this on two bum ankles. Maybe no one is overrating him at all.
