Could Cato Contribute Considerably?Kelvin Cato has been a huge disappointment in Houston since signing a multi-year, multi-million dollar deal
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My middle brother had a Brown Ford Taurus. That car was huge disappointment -- it never worked, he tried everything to fix it, but it never turned out to be a reliable car.
Even though most car-owning standards indicated that he should have gotten rid of it, he never did. The thought process was something like, "well, I already put so much money into it, it would be a shame to ditch it now because it is probably about to start working. At some point, the law of averages will kick in, and this car will go six months without stalling on the freeway." Of course, the longer he kept it, the more it broke, the more trouble he had, and the more frustrated he got.
But, as Fromobile of the Clutch BBS, my youngest brother, would likely point out, what else was he going to do? No other cars were available to him, and he could not afford to keep OR get rid of it. He was stuck with the Taurus. The Taurus was his, no one else would have bought it, and he could not buy a new car. Essentially, he was at the mercy of a intermittently functional 1987 Brown Ford Taurus.
Seeing my brother struggle with that car reminds me of the Rockets and Kelvin Cato's career as a professional basketball player. This guy should -- in theory -- be functional enough to grab some boards, whip out some outlet passes, drop some hoops, and get us to Fitzgerald's if we have a show to play. He has height, he has muscles, we have seen him do it on occasion ... just by the law of averages, his play should -- one of these days -- become enough to do the trick.
Now, here is where I am deviating from conventional wisdom on both products of the Ford Motor Company and the majority -- if not unanimous -- opinion expressed on KelvinCatoSucks.com, otherwise known as Clutch BBS: Houston Rocket Web Forum.
I am betting on the Taurus.
I hereby predict that Kelvin Cato is going to have a fairly good if not very good year in 2001-2002.
Quote me on this. Seriously, I want to be held to this remark twenty games or so into the season, assuming The Taurus is still on the team seeing minutes this season. Here is my thinking.
The number of people in the NBA, the number of fans, and the number of teammates expecting Kelvin Cato to have a good year are precisely zero. Well, one if you include me.
Cato is a nice guy, I assume. He writes children's books, which is cool. Certainly cooler than DeShawn Stevenson's work with children. But, anyone who breaks out for 20 points and 50 blocks in a preseason, gets a big contract, and then vanishes is clearly a headcase. Taurus Cato is, without a doubt, a headcase.
The point is, things get freakishly bad when a headcase slumps, but Cato is not an overpaid dud a la Big Country Reeves, because Cato has serious, serious upside. Somewhere, dude has it.
I am predicting that Cato's total lack of production the past two seasons will actually work to his advantage this year. He will be treated like the kid who is such a menace that people rub his tummy every day in which he does not set the living room rug on fire. He will be rewarded just for not fouling out of games.
As preposterous as it sounds, it will do the trick. Cato's confidence will respond, and it will build quickly. Why? Not because it should. But because he is a headcase. A headcase with game.
When a headcase with game -- Robert Horry, Vernon Maxwell and Mario Elie come to mind -- gets it in his skull that he is actually better than people think, weird things happen. They start to overachieve, and have confidence they have not really earned. Just like -- on the flipside -- they get irrationally self-doubting and crappy when things go badly. Are these the guys to build teams around? Nope. But, they are easily infected by whatever weirdness infiltrates the locker room, which can be a very good thing.
Malt Williams does not have the same upside as Taurus. I am not predicting wonderous things for him this year. But I geniunely think a good basketball player lives somewhere inside Cato, and I think this year's set-up will catalyze it. That very-good player in him got scared off by something. Probably that contract and the expectations that came with it.
But watch. This year, Cato will be back. All-Star numbers? No way. But he will start to fulfil some of those expectations. Bring back Hakeem, expect nothing of Cato, and watch.
Hold me to it. I am betting on the Taurus.
Gerard Choucroun is the founder and president of the Chucky Brown Fan Club
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