Cato: Article Reprint

[rjm <robert900@hotmail.com>]

I still don't get why all the fuss about this guy. Anyway, here's an
article reprint:

Cato may move up in NBA draft

(c) 1997 Copyright Nando.net
1997 Scripps Howard

(Jun 19, 1997 - 09:38 EST) -- In the people's case for the weakness of
the 1997 NBA draft, it offers into evidence as Exhibit A one Kelvin Cato
of Iowa State.

Known for his defensive skills but criticized as merely an average
rebounder, the 6-foot-11 Cato showed the shooting touch of Fred
Flintstone in his Big 12 career, making barely half his free throws
(.540) as a senior.

And yet, the Denver Nuggets, who hold the fifth pick in next Wednesday's
draft, worked him out Tuesday as they look at candidates for that pick.
 
Nuggets vice president Allan Bristow said he wouldn't call Cato a
project but ...

One thing Cato proved he can do in his Denver workout is block Bristow's
laboriously slow baseline jumper. Whether that's enough to get him
drafted by the Nuggets is unclear.

Whatever attractions Cato might hold for the Nuggets brass, he brings
almost exactly the same attributes and drawbacks as Denver's incumbent
center, Ervin Johnson. Why, then, would the Nuggets even consider him at
No. 5?

"That's a good question," Bristow said. "You're duplicating that spot,
but you've got to look at what you've got to choose from, what your
choices are, and whether you feel like down the road, potential-wise, he
can reach another level."

Cato's most endearing quality is visible only off the basketball floor.
He is remarkably self-aware, ranking himself lower in the draft than
most scouts.

"They tell me I fall between four and 13, but in reality I think I'm
four to 20," he said. "So many different teams want the same thing, and
I don't know how many teams are willing to put forth for a player like
me, who needs a good year of work and a good year of working out with
pro players. But any team that drafts me is going to get a hard worker."

Bristow compared him with John Salley, the rangy forward who became a
defensive stopper off the bench for the NBA-champion Detroit teams of
1988-89 and 1989-90. Salley was the 11th pick in 1986. How much higher
than that Cato goes this year will be a measure of the weakness of the
draft.

Cato ranks himself among the top three centers and power forwards in
this year's crop, and few scouts would disagree. There's Tim Duncan, the
consensus No. 1 pick; there's Tony Battie of Texas Tech, who might go
second and might go sixth, and there's Cato. Colgate's Adonal Foyle,
once considered in that group, is falling like a stone.

Once again, Cato provides the objective analysis:

"Duncan is an all-around. Battie is a scorer, but we're not too sure
about his defense. Adonal Foyle can score, but we're not too sure if he
can play against the bigger, stronger guys that he didn't play against
in his conference.

"And me, I played against bigger, stronger guys, I've got great
quickness, I play good defense, I can block shots. My offensive game
isn't where the NBA scouts might want it right now, but with my hard
work, I can get there."

Maybe so, but when you've got the fifth pick in the NBA draft, you're
hoping the player you take helps out pretty quickly.

On the other hand, the year Salley went 11th, Kentucky forward Kenny
Walker went fifth. Even at 11 years old, Cato might have been a better
No. 5 pick then.