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What's the price of keeping a family intact?
For the Houston Rockets, it was $31 million dollars. That's what they'll pay to keep sixth man Cuttino Mobley in the fold for the next six years.
It was a no-brainer for the third-year guard, too, despite the fact that he could have made double that on the open market.
Mobley chose to stay in Houston, where in only two seasons he proved to be
the perfect complement to last season's co-Rookie of the Year Steve Francis
and alter-ego to starting two-guard Shandon Anderson -- as well as an accurate
shooter and fearless big-shot taker.
The former Atlantic 10 Player of the Year at Rhode Island struggled a bit
during the strike-shortened 1999 season, manning the point in an all-rookie
backcourt in Houston's forward-oriented, low-post dominated offense.
But last season things changed. First, the Rockets acquired Francis to play
the point. Then circumstances forced head coach Rudy Tomjanovich to shift
the focus of the offense and increase the tempo to take advantage of the
skilled backcourt. Francis and Mobley finished 1-2 in
scoring, the first time two guards led Houston since the 1975-76 season.
Nicknamed "The Cat" for his quickness, Mobley was so effective that he
finished second in the league's Sixth Man of the Year award voting. He also made
believers of Toronto, Chicago and Orlando, which went out of their way to
try to sign the free agent.
But, in the end, Francis' prompting and Mobley's family values made the
difference.
-- Jon Cooper
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