Cuttino Mobley: Where Do You Stand Regarding Him???

It looks like kid rock here has gone and made this kind of an incindiary thread after all your pleading.
I however have a comment on your words Kid. You say Cuttino dosnt listen, you say he chooses who hees gonna listen to. but if you know anything about his career as you say you do you wouldnt make than comment.
Cuttino has always been a terrific basketball talen, but everyone has always said that he would be good if, he is good but not good enough etc. His entire career from highschool collage and now even in the pros he has never gotten any respect. he has had every expert in the world tell him he wasnt tall enough good enough smart enough. Cuttino has NEVER been the star on a team. the closest he got was during his senior year at URI, and even then he was still in Tysons shadow. when he was picken in the draft it was totally because CD and rudy like risky picks. no one was high on Cuttino. everyone said he was too short. no one thought he was good enough for the pros. Cuttino was told by everyone that he shouldnt be playing(a rookie starting at point??!!) SG in the NBA. everyone said he was a bad PG. everyone thought he would endf up right out of the league, but he didnt he became a force. because he didnt listen to them. when he proved himself all the detractors said he should just come off the bench. the 16th leading scorer in the NBA should come off the bench. so if you were cuttino would you listen to ANYONE?? no i think not!

 

I think you might be over anayalizing this a bit now . Im sure Rudy is aware of the lack of respect Cat gets publicly, and as a coach he is doing his job in keeping his playeers happy, and keeping things even. he is giving Cuttino the props he deserves, not so much building him up. it is aparent to me that Cuttino deffinately knows his worth. So its not about building up a fragile ego. I think that rudy is just proud of the kid and wants him to get some of the celebrity he deserves.

I doubt he is playing psychologist. but just playing coach.

PEACE

 

Other than PPG, those are good #'s for a 2 guard.

 

Why do people say Rudy specifically pumps up Cuttino's ego? As a player's coach, I bet he pumps up a lot of his players' egos. Why do you guys single out Cuttino in particular? If he shows a lot of confidence in Cuttino, I think it's warranted, because Cuttino is our best scorer. Can he better? Certainly! Are there deficiencies in his game? Sure! Should he be listening to his coach? Absolutely! Making his teammates better? That would be nice. I think a lot of the criticism of Cuttino is warranted, but I question the validity of this.

 

The only ones I say are definitely better are

Iverson
Kobe
Pierce
McGrady
Stack
I probably forgot 1 but that's about it.

!!!

 

I think Cuttino is the most underrated player on this board, and one of the most underrated in the league. He can blow by anyone, has a solid shot all the way to the 3, a nice arsenal of moves, can finish like no one else, and is as mentally tough as anyone. Cuttino's decision-making is not the best, but honestly, I think he's gotten A LOT better in that regard. I'd say that he doesn't take any more dumb shots than Moochie or Steve do. When Steve and Cuttino are playing in sync, there is no backcourt in the league that has a prayer of stopping them.

 

We did this on another thread awhile back, right?

Here's the VGM rankings for shooting guard (page 1)

Your Current Shooting Guard
KEEP PLAYER NEXT GP FG% FT% RPG APG TPG SPG BPG PPG VGM* RATING LOCK
Kobe Bryant, LAL CHA 59 .474 .822 5.5 5.9 2.8 1.5 .5 25.9 24.9 18.9 18.9

Available Shooting Guards
ADD PLAYER NEXT GP FG% FT% RPG APG TPG SPG BPG PPG VGM* RATING CHNG
Tracy McGrady, ORL -- 59 .441 .764 7.6 5.1 2.6 1.5 0.9 25.0 24.3 19.5 -0.1
Ray Allen, MIL CHI 55 .465 .870 4.6 4.2 2.3 1.3 0.3 22.1 21.3 17.8 -0.3
Vince Carter, TOR @NJ 57 .432 .792 5.3 4.1 2.6 1.6 0.8 25.1 21.0 17.5 -0.1
Allen Iverson, PHI @NY 54 .395 .808 4.5 5.5 3.9 2.8 0.2 31.2 22.6 16.4 0.2
Eddie Jones, MIA PHO 60 .438 .830 4.8 3.0 1.8 1.6 1.1 19.3 18.8 15.2 0.0
Michael Finley, DAL -- 49 .456 .828 5.2 3.7 1.7 0.9 0.4 20.1 18.4 15.1 0.2
Jason Terry, ATL -- 58 .437 .833 3.5 4.9 2.3 1.9 0.2 18.9 17.9 14.6 0.0
Jerry Stackhouse, DET -- 56 .402 .865 4.1 5.0 3.6 1.0 0.6 21.9 17.2 14.3 -0.4
Wally Szczerbiak, MIN -- 62 .504 .828 5.0 3.3 2.3 0.9 0.2 18.9 18.0 13.5 -0.3
Brent Barry, SEA @HOU 62 .510 .844 5.7 5.2 1.9 1.6 0.4 13.8 19.8 13.4 0.0
Cuttino Mobley, HOU SEA 58 .434 .847 4.2 2.6 2.5 1.5 0.5 21.3 16.8 12.7 0.3
Anfernee Hardaway, PHO @MIA 61 .420 .814 4.9 4.4 2.7 1.7 0.5 13.8 14.3 12.3 -0.4
Bonzi Wells, POR -- 56 .463 .767 6.1 2.8 2.6 1.4 0.3 16.5 16.2 11.8 0.3
Reggie Miller, IND GS 60 .451 .902 2.9 3.2 1.5 1.2 0.1 16.4 15.6 11.5 -0.4
Doug Christie, SAC -- 60 .447 .845 4.6 3.9 1.9 1.8 0.4 11.9 15.1 11.4 -0.2
Shane Battier, MEM @SA 58 .419 .688 5.4 2.9 1.8 1.6 1.1 14.8 15.3 11.3 0.1
Richard Hamilton, WAS -- 44 .438 .901 3.6 2.9 2.2 0.6 0.2 20.0 15.4 11.2 -0.1
Allan Houston, NY PHI 61 .445 .863 3.2 2.3 2.1 0.6 0.2 20.8 14.9 11.0 0.1
Mike Miller, ORL* -- 57 .440 .769 4.6 3.2 1.8 0.8 0.4 15.8 14.9 11.0 -0.3
Wesley Person, CLE -- 62 .500 .820 3.8 2.3 0.9 1.0 0.5 14.9 15.3 10.8 0.2
Jason Richardson, GS @IND 58 .422 .654 4.1 3.0 1.9 1.3 0.4 13.4 12.1 10.6 0.5
Larry Hughes, GS @IND 59 .425 .741 3.7 5.0 2.6 1.7 0.4 13.7 13.9 10.4 -0.3
Kerry Kittles, NJ TOR 62 .469 .730 3.3 2.7 1.4 1.6 0.4 13.7 13.5 9.7 -0.2
David Wesley, CHA @LAL 47 .400 .762 2.2 3.8 1.7 1.2 0.2 15.1 11.5 9.6 -0.4
Ron Mercer, IND* GS 41 .398 .778 3.8 2.9 1.9 0.7 0.2 16.4 11.0 9.6 -0.5
Aaron McKie, PHI* @NY 37 .456 .805 4.6 4.1 2.0 1.3 0.3 11.8 14.4 9.5 0.0
Bryon Russell, UTA -- 46 .387 .825 4.6 2.3 1.5 1.0 0.2 9.7 10.5 9.1 -0.2
Desmond Mason, SEA @HOU 56 .458 .845 4.6 1.3 1.4 0.9 0.4 11.3 11.5 8.9 0.2
Steve Smith, SA MEM 62 .452 .891 2.7 2.0 1.4 0.7 0.2 12.0 11.0 8.7 0.1
Derek Anderson, POR -- 51 .397 .851 2.8 3.2 1.4 1.0 0.1 10.6 10.7 8.5 -0.3

Cuttino has climbed from a number 16-18 guard at the start of the season to no. 11. His recent play with Francis and two good ankes has been much more efficient. Someone noted well Cat could be more efficient with help from back screens, but I suppose that also requires a SF and PF that can set the pick. I'd like to see KT use his big butt to bump Cat's man.

I'm a sixth man supporter, because I prefer balanced threats and offensive sets, and I want Steve to be the man in the back, with Cat the leader from the bench. I don't want the ball staying in the backcourt, it needs to move between the back and a frontcourt threat to open the defense and get better percentage shots. I've been impressed with Cuttino's play lately though, so perhaps I'm wrong. I hope the dynamic duo can share the ball with someone else, but I just have trouble seeing it. Three stars is one too many from 5, I think.

Smarts - I'm going to say thats : High percentage shots, using your teammates, getting the best option, avoiding defensive traps, using the clock, setting defensive traps, avoiding t/os, getting steals, getting assists. I think you can name a lot of players on the list above who are "smarter" that way. btw, y'all keep forgetting Wally. That's a high percentage, smart player. Brent Barry and Wesley Person shoot pretty hot from top assist men, too. From a former pg, I expect Cat to have better court vision and play a lot smarter than he does. It probably is trust, like someone else said, but geez, get over it. I hate, hate, hate the pull up 3, the top left corner fadeaway with 4 sec. and a two man trap, the unfinished drive, etc. I hope that's not a permanent part of Cuttino's makeup - I think he can do better.

How about a list of players that are dumber than Cuttino ?
For starts :

Bonzi Wells
Larry Hughes
Jackhouse
Vince Carter ?
Ron Mercer

etc.

p

 

Here's my $0.02 on Cuttino:

Cuttino is a very solid, well-rounded offensive player who won't realize his potential until he's in a system that utilizes all of his offensive abilities. As pointed out earlier, as good as Cat is in one-on-one situations, he is ideal for an offense where he can come off picks and screens.

For example, can you imagine Cat popping out off a screen at 18 feet and the problems he would instantly pose? If a defender tries to close on him, one of the league's best slashers now has the defense off-balanced and could either penetrate or pull up off the dribble, which is an underrated part of Cat's game. If the defender decides against closing in on Cuttino he can just bury Js all night long, being that he's also one of the league's more underrated spot-up shooters as well. Cuttino has really made himself into a terrific offensive player, and the most impressive thing about him this season has been his consistency.

However, there is a bigger reason why this team is one of the worst in the league, and Cuttino is as much a victim of it as the rest of his teammates are: IMMATURITY.

Where some see Cuttino as not being a "smart" or "heady" player, a player who makes bad decisions, I see another immature player who's part of an immature team. I actually think Cat is a pretty intelligent, albeit inexperienced, player, but he's still caught up in having great numbers, making "sweet" plays, and "breakin' ankles." But in Cat's defense, the entire team has this mentality, which is a contributing factor to this team's one-dimensionality.

If anything, Cat is the typical Rocket:

Talented, athletic, flashy, and totally one-dimensional and ineffecient. Superb offensively and good for at least 2 highlight-reel plays a night, but horribly inconsistent defensively, on the boards, creating turnovers, and\or fitting within the team concept. Good ball-handling is over-shadowed by the tendency to "do too much", to play outside of limitations, to make the "money" play. Will be a terror when he "grows up" and starts to value effeciency over flash, as will all the rest of his teammates.

 

I think that when Rice and Mo are back, Cat will be more comfortable passing the ball. Just the fact that Mo proved what he's worth on offense last season, and Rice is someone Mobley respects, that would lead him to trsut them enough to pas it to them.


Mobley has got to average 3.5 assists next season, and at least TRY on defense. I'm not worried about our inside presence. I'm very comfortable with Cato and Griffin inside.

 

Some folks are talking about Mobley as a sixth man. There is one situation where I think that would make sense and that is if the Rockets were to pick up a guy the caliber of Jason Williams in the draft.

Even though we do not need Williams, if we were in a position to draft him, I would. I would move him (or Steve, whichever but I think JWill has more of an SG game) to SG. This would allow you to bring in Mobley as a sixth man playing either PG or SG or bring him in on your 3-guard offense. It also opens up Moochie to be traded for a backup center.

I really think that we need to reduce the minutes for Mobley and Francis and I think this would be a way to do that. If he was on the bench getting 30 min a game, I would have no fear whatsoever bring Mobley in for Francis or JWill at any time.

I do think it would take a player the potential caliber of JWill to move Mobley to the bench. As many others have said, Mobley is one of the top 10 guards in the league so he is not what is hurting this team. But he could be absolutely devastating as a 6th man, on par potentially with the best ever to play that role.

Only way I do any of this is if we get a high pick, can't deal it, and Ming is already gone. Ming and Williams are the two potential superstars in this draft who I think you draft and accomadate rather than trade if you want to win it all. Everyone else in the draft, I have no problem dealing.

 

Mobley is unfairly maligned. Maybe it's because he doesn't have tattoos? I don't know.

Some Mobley myths:

Mobley takes too many bad shots

Mobley is the best-shooting perimeter player on the team. Here are the shooting percentages for all Rocket players who play predominately on the perimeter:

1. Cuttino Mobley 43.4%
2. Steve Francis 42.8%
3. Oscar Torres 42.6%
4. Tierre Brown 42.5%
5. Moochie Norris 41%
6. Walt Williams 39.7%
7. Glen Rice 38.9% -- injured
8. Eddie Griffin 38.7%
9. Dan Langhi 37.1%
10. Terence Morris 33.3%

Mobley is clearly the player you want to shoot right now. Rather than complain about what you think are 'bad' shots, why not complain about those who can't make shots?

Mobley makes too many bad decisions

Mobley is not leading the team in turnovers. That honor would go to Steve Francis, by a quite convincing margin (4 a game to Mobley's 2.5 a game). Mobley should never be the first person mentioned when talking about bad decision-making on the Rockets.

Mobley is one-dimensional, and therefore shouldn't start

Mobley leads the team in steals. He's the best percentage shooter on the perimeter. That's two dimensions, offense and defense. He's not merely 'instant offense', he's the most consistent offense the Rockets have from the perimeter. A player leading the team in the most important offensive and defensive statistical categories from his position is a complete player, not a one-dimensional one. Those kinds of players do not come off the bench.

Mobley refuses or doesn't know how to pass

Mobley does what the coach tells him to do. When he played point guard in his rookie season, he rarely shot. He's the best catch-and-shoot player on the team, therefore that eliminates the option of him having many assists himself off of catch-and-shoot plays (take Mobley away and Francis' assist numbers likely suffer). There are no frontcourt finishers on the team. Moreover, the Rocket offense is not conducive to assists. Just because you don't have good assist numbers doesn't mean you don't pass.

Mobley thinks he's "the man"

This goes back to the tattoo thing. Some people clearly have a problem with a non-glamorous, 2nd-round pick who doesn't have tattoos taking a lot of shots. Well I'm here to tell you that tattooed basketball players will always suck more than non-tattooed ones. Plus, Mobley can dunk with flair, exhibiting great 'hops', so I really don't see what the problem is.

 

See, thats exactly what I'm saying. Whenever someone mentions about 2 guards being better than Mobley, someone brings fg% or points out there ass. Based on ppg, I guess Mobley is the best player on this team? Its further than shooting %, I can name a few 2's I would be willing to trade Mobley for, but thats not the point. I'm just saying, until he starts or Rudy starts to put him in better situations, he will never realize or utilize his full capabilities. It has nothing to do with Taylor or Rice, its Rudy and Cat.

Cat has a very quick step, can shoot over guys and finish in traffic, but the key is making the game simple as possible. I don't really want to compare the two, but look at Kobe. It was a time when he used to make the game hard on himself by trying the most difficult shots possible when he could have just made the simple plays. Now that he's making the game simple, he has blossomed into a top 5 player in this league at the age of 23. Once Cat makes the game as simple as it really is, his game will take off like it has the last 10 games or so. Use his quick step, get in range , and shoot the pull up or go to the rack, thats it. The excess dribbling or stare downs with the fade a way jumpers are un called for. The good thing is like I stated before is that he's still young enough to learn, but his window of becoming a elite player is closing. He doesn't have to be a elite player for this team to be successful in the future, just a consistent leader type that the other players can see lead by actions and not by his mouth.

Note: Even though Mobley is shooting better Jordan, would you take him over Mike? I didn't think so. Wally is the best shooting 2 guard in the league, but that doesn't mean he's the best in the league does it? Its more than fg% and coring when you're talking about a player that suppose to be one of the best on the team.

 

i can't believe i'm going to do this, as it would end my moratorium on responses to TheFreak...

but, but, but, damnit TheFreak, that was right on the moolah!