Chad Ford on Mobley Trade

[Heuge]

Chad Ford: read at your own risk. Facts and prudent study have nothing to do with writing national columns. Here is his take on the trade...

A Snippet of his good, bad and the Upside weekly articles
Sacramento Kings: Everyone was talking about the defensive upgrade that the Magic were looking for when they swapped Mobley for Christie last week. But the truth is that defensively, Mobley is closer to Christie than people realize. Christie's defense has slipped the 1½ seasons while Mobley is more than capable of defending on the perimeter when he wants to.

Factor in that Mobley is miles ahead of Chrisite when it comes to putting points on the board, and this trade was really a no brainer for the Kings as well.

Cuttino Mobley
Mobley

As we just discussed, the Magic really wanted Christie so they could play him some at point and break-up the buddy-buddy relationship between Francis and Mobley.

The Kings needed Mobley because they realized that they were a bad defensive team that couldn't outscore the elite teams in the West. They also knew there was a great chance that Mobley would opt out of his contract this summer, shaving nearly seven million off their cap next year.

The question is whether Mobley will be enough. While he certainly adds the scoring punch they were looking for, his addition raises two problems in Sacramento.

First, Mobley loves to shoot the three. However, there are two much better three-point shooters on the team – Peja Stojakovic and Mike Bibby. Every time he launches one, he's taking a shot away from a guy who has a much better shot of making it. With Stojakovic, in particular, not getting the ball as much as he deserves in the offense, adding Mobley to the mix could cause more chemistry problems down the road.

Second, the move did nothing to address the team's bench problems. Darius Songaila is the only guy on the Kings bench who has any business playing more than 15 minutes a night. Eventually, rookie Kevin Martin might be good, but he's too young to make an impact right now.

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His disrespect for Mo, Tag, Martin, and Barnes frustrate me.

 

[4cwebb]

I don't mind his disrespect for Barnes, and will acknowledge that Martin is probably a year or two away from deserving 20 minutes per night. Hard to figure out how he can ignore the contributions of Mo Evans, though.

 

[funkykingston]

His disrespect for Mo, Tag, Martin, and Barnes frustrate me.

I like Barnes and Ostertag, but I really don't want either one of them playing more than 15 minutes either. Greg just seems to play better in short stretches which may be a matter of stamina and Barnes is still inconsistent. For all the positive things Matt can do, he still makes some maddening mistakes on the court.

I agree on Mo Evans though. He is clearly flying under the NBA radar right now. And I assume he's talking about the bench in the short term, since he doesn't mention Bobby who instantly upgrades the quality of the Kings bench.

Shockingly, I actually agree with Chad Ford about something - Peja SHOULD be getting more shots. However, this confused me:

Every time he (Mobley) launches (a three), he's taking a shot away from a guy who has a much better shot of making it.

Hmm. Not that I'm a big stats guy, but Mobley is tied for fourth in the league in three point percentage, shooting almost 7% higher than Peja. He's also shot about half as many treys as Stojakovic. I have ZERO problem with Mobley shooting an open three or a long ball in a clutch situation. The shots that Mobley needs to learn to pass up are off balance ones off the dribble. Very few players have a higher 3pt% than FG% but Cuttino does. I think the open looks he'll get in this offense will help that.

 

[VF21]

Chad Ford continues to amaze me. I still find it so hard to believe he's been paid really good money for writing that stuff.

He takes the obvious, stretches it out, throws in some convoluted logic that defies description and gets paid for it! And he doesn't let recent events - such as the two games Cat has now played - get in the way of his theories. In fact, if events don't match his idea of what is going on, he simply ignores him.

Chad Ford - Ostrich of the NBA

 

[bibbyweb]

Its difficult to believe that he doesn't even consider Tag and MO, espeically Tag. Thats just unacceptable

 

[funsc]

16 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, with Magic

16 pts, 5 rbs, 3.5 assists, with Kings

any further improvement?

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I don't mind his disrespect for Barnes...

I do.

 

[nAj jAn™]

16 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, with Magic

16 pts, 5 rbs, 3.5 assists, with Kings

any further improvement?

Just 2 games so far!

Wait till April if he still average numbers like that....

Still I am not high on Mobley; I never liked him since he was a Rocket! I have not seen his game in a Kings uniform, so I am not yet impressed. Just my Opinion....

 

[slugking50]

Just 2 games so far!

Wait till April if he still average numbers like that....

Still I am not high on Mobley; I never liked him since he was a Rocket! I have not seen his game in a Kings uniform, so I am not yet impressed. Just my Opinion....

Why not give him a second chance? Open your eyes and you may see that you were wrong all along...


I thought he was a selfish player. I can clearly see I had him pegged wrongly.

 

[twocents]

the first few games do not really mean much. what mobley is made of and what his contribution to the kings will be known only after a score of games.

 

[NME]

the first few games do not really mean much. what mobley is made of and what his contribution to the kings will be known only after a score of games.

How about we compromise and say we'll know in a fortnight?

 

[twocents]

How about we compromise and say we'll know in a fortnight?

now you have done it; i have to go back to the bard.

 

[profit]

Chad Ford continues to amaze me. I still find it so hard to believe he's been paid really good money for writing that stuff.

He takes the obvious, stretches it out, throws in some convoluted logic that defies description and gets paid for it! And he doesn't let recent events - such as the two games Cat has now played - get in the way of his theories. In fact, if events don't match his idea of what is going on, he simply ignores him.

Chad Ford - Ostrich of the NBA

He gets paid because his garbage can apeal to those uninformed or those that merely dislike the teams he writes about. Real fans know better. Most "journalists" know far less than the average dedicated fan

 

[Circa_1985_Fan]

'I agree on Mo Evans though. He is clearly flying under the NBA radar right now. And I assume he's talking about the bench in the short term'

I think we need to play LA on national TV or something for people in the national media to discover Mo...hey, it took how long for people to discover guys like Mario Elie, Tashaun Prince and actually come to think of it, Bobby Jackson. Mo is playing out of this world right now, and is gaining respect one team at a time...much like the rest of the NBA in regards to our whole 'new' team.

 

[PFFFT!!]

pfffft!!! Ford.

 

[Kingsgurl]

Second, the move did nothing to address the team's bench problems. Darius Songaila is the only guy on the Kings bench who has any business playing more than 15 minutes a night. Eventually, rookie Kevin Martin might be good, but he's too young to make an impact right now.

Actually, he was probably just too lazy to even go look who else was on the roster. I doubt he takes in many Kings games and he has never been one to let things like stats get in his way. He probably has no clue who Maurice even is, or how he has been playing, dismissing him as a former CBA player. Mo and Darius are the only two bench players averaging more than 15 minutes anyway. I'm worried that he said semi-good things about Kevin.

 

[FullAB]

I know that B Jax is injured and all......but the last time I checked he's still on the roster.....and due back in uniform by the playoffs......so maybe he should be included on the list of guys who has any business playing more than 15 min

 

[Rowdyone]

Ford's suck...always have always will.

 

[love_them_kings]

I hesitated to read this because it mentioned Chad Ford in the title, but I finally reconsidered. Obviously my first instinct was the best. Chad Ford amazes me because he seems to know so little & he doesn't mind showing his ignorance. I think I might do a little research before I started throwing comments around, but nope, not Chad Ford. Oh well. I can't take it too seriously because I stopped worrying about anything he had to say a while back.

 

[Joel]

The only reason Chad Ford even knows Songaila's name is the fact that he was a Celtics draft pick.