First, I'd like to apologize on behalf of the one or two idiots who threw tomatoes, lemons, and whatever else on the court. But you people have to understand that it was not 15,000 people, the city of Vancouver, or Canada, but just one or two people who did it. Remember in Philadelphia, when J.D. Drew "returned," and was the target of uncountable batteries? I don't see any reason to boo Francis, and I'm sure all off you want to boo Pippen's @ss off the court for similar reasons as to why all Vancouverites HATE Francis because of the way he dissed Vancouver. Any fool knows that it wasn't a decision based on playing PG. He acted like an immature jerk and trashed our city. Would you be symphateticif the Rockets had the #1 pick in '96 and picked Tim Duncan, and he bashed the city and said he wouldn't play because the PF position was taken? (Just assume Hakeem never existed). If any of you saw today's moronic article by Fran somebody in the Chronicle, you'll probably understand why I'm so frustrated at all this crap Vancouver, and Canada, for that matter, is receiving. I was at the game, and it was pretty darn apparant on why Francis was the #2 pick. He's an awesome talent with tremendous athleticism, and will be a great player, but I still hate him. I was at the warmup pretty early, and was right beside Francis. One of my friends started taunting him, but Francis came up to us, shook our hands, and invited us shoot with him (of course nobody refused). He also told us that he would have played in Vancouver, but wants to play the point. A pretty classy act, but I don't buy his explanation. Also, his post-game comments sounded nothing like the Francis that was once Grizzlie property. I don't understand the guy, but from the way he conducted himself in Vancouver, I do have a little more respect for him. Mobley's a pretty good looking player. Shouldn't he start at the 2? I thought Anderson played like crap, and judging from his stats all season, I'd say he's played like that all season long. I heard Barkley's comments on Francis, and he said that if he was in Steve's shoes, he would have sucked it up and played here, but it's Francis' choice, and "he'll have to live with that decision"??? The last part suggests something negative, but I can't interpret what Barkley's trying to say there.
I forgot to add that it seems really cowardly for him to say "God told me to..." It's just a wimpy way to hide a bad decision or attitude. A few months ago, Francis also said he was "God's child." The guy who threw the tomato on the court could say "I did it because God told me to, that's the only reason."
GrizzFan, I understand your anger and hatred against Stevie. It's similar, but not the same, here in Houston for us to hate Scottie Quitten. The difference is Quitten bashed our players. If he had said he didn't like the city of Houston or what, then our hatred against him would not have been as furious. GrizzFan, let me tell you, Steve Francis is going to be a star in 2 or 3 seasons. I mean SUPERstar!
Maybe he just wanted to play for a team in the good ol USA.Give the guy a break already.Who can blame him for not wanting to go to NBA purgatory ? By the way how many canadians are playing in the NBA ?
Oh, I forgot to add that it's pretty cowardly of you to question another man's faith in God when you're clueless as to what he may or may not belive. And as far as Im concerned you can stick your apology where the sun don't shine.
It obviously doesn't shine much in Vandy. Perhaps that's why you couldn't pay a NBA superstar (and projected ones in Francis' case) to play there.
I guess that was an apology for the bad sportsmanship in Vancouver last night? There was no excuse for things being thrown on the court. Reflects badly on Vancouver, a beautiful city per Bill Worrell. Now booing - and make no mistake it was the whole arena for the whole game - is FINE. Yall can be proud! lol. I hope the Rockets fans will do the same to Pippen when he visits on December 21st. And with the same intensity. But that STEVIE FRANCIS! He plays better with adversity and showed the superstar he can become. Thanks for sharing the story about how nice he was even though your friend was trash talking him. I can understand the Grizz fans pain and rage but didn't Stevie make it clear before the draft that he did not want to go to Vancouver and the reason? When did he bash your city, what did he say? However, refusing to go there is nothing similar to what Pippen did. Not in my book or Fran Blinebury's - who is a very good columnist and pretty much hits the nail right on the head. GO HOUSTON!
Let's not throw any cyber-tomatoes on this BBS, gentlemen (and ladies). It dishonors our team and our city. GrizzFan doesn't sound like a fight-picking troll. And I see GF's point. It's true that Vancouver has every right to detest Steve Francis for refusing to accept the results of the draft process, which has preserved parity in the league and has helped generate the money to pay today's huge rookie salaries. At the same time, it's also true that Francis never went on TV to say that Grizzlies management owed him an apology for asking him to play in Vancouver with Big Country's "sorry fat butt." Francis executed a selfish decision in a diplomatic way. Pippen spat on everyone on his way out, including the guy who took a multi-million-dollar pay cut so Pippen could consume the Rockets' entire cap space. Oh yeah, that's the other difference. Steve is earning his money.
Great post Grizz Fan. Just to clarify: Fran Blinebury is a first-class moron and in no way represents this otherwise fine city. on another note, i think the Grizz have some great young players, particularly Othella, Shareef, and Dickerson. They should be a fun team to watch in the near term and a very good team long term.
True enough. I know this doesn't really have much to do with the Rockets, but by declaring himself eligible for the draft, he told people that he wanted to play in the NBA. He never said he wouldn't play in Vancouver. He never worked out in Vancouver. But he did allow the Grizzlies to work him out in D.C. If he never wanted to play in Vancouver, I don't understand the popular notion that he made it crystal-clear that he wouldn't play south of the border through his pre-draft actions. Keith Van Horn, on the other hand, made it absolutely clear that he wouldn't play in Philadelphia in 1996 by refusing to work out, and going public about not playing in Philadelphia. I know Francis has rights not to play for the team that drafted him, but it's just not right for a rookie who leaves university early to be able to choose where he plays. If it continues, there's no way small market teams like Utah, Minnesota (although they do have KG), Vancouver, and Portland will be able to thrive in the future.
JR - I also think that the Grizzlies have a good starting lineup, but the only consistant players are Othella and Shareef, in that order. The others are really struggling. To add to the misery, Francis would have been the perfect catalyst for some success and much needed emotion. Nobody on the Grizzlies plays with a lot of emotion or confidence. Francis reeks of it, but that kind of attitude could do wonders on a team like the Grizzlies. To me, it seems like the Nets situation, where a major change needs to be made, either with the coaching or personnel.
Man am I proud of Old Stevie for confronting adversity and thriving on it. He played great under pressure and thats a great sign from a rookie PG. But I just read Fran Blienbury's article and I was totally dissapointed and shocked. I used to enjoy his articles -at least moreso than that Robertson guy. I can understand some of his points, but the basis of his collumn was making wise-cracks stereotypes about Canada. He went out of his way to bash the country (and our national pastime to go with it), which was completely irrelevant. If its something that makes me furious, its sheer ignorance. I realize that one close-minded individual does not represent 18 million Texans or 280 million Americans, just as I hope you don't percieve those tomatoe-throwing fans as regular Canadians. But Blinebury went way to far. Azim da Dream ------------------ "Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress undeniably requires change." - Motto of the Houston Rockets [This message has been edited by Azim da Dream (edited November 30, 1999).]
I actually agree with GrizzFan. Those fans in Vancouver had every right to "boo" Steve Francis. He made a selfish decision and jumped ship at the time, and he paid for it. (However: throwing food is completely unacceptable and distasteful.) It's just like we are going to "boo" the hell out of Quitten when he comes to Houston. While we are doing that, some idiot in Portland named Stan SplineBerry will write an idiotic article about the city of Houston. That's just the way it happens. Instead of letting our emotions get the best of us and trying to just defend our guy, we need to look at the situation from an unbiased perspective. I love Steve Francis, but the fact of the matter is that he jumped ship just like Scottie. It may not have been as bad as Scottie's situation, but it was pretty much the same deal. He didn't want to play there, so he said some bad things about Vancouver, and got out. I see no reason to bash Vancouver or the people of Vancouver for letting him have it. In this case, he deserved it. There's nothing wrong with admitting that. You will still be a fan if we admit something as plainly obvious like that. You don't need to go out of your way and blindly defend the Rockets/Houston whenever they are criticized. If it is valid criticism, then just accept it. You don't need to publish ridiculous articles in the newspaper backlashing at the fans of Vancouver....that is just stupidity. Same thing. People of Portland should be smart enough to understand Scottie's situation in Houston and accept it.
If Steve Francis played on any other team in the league, he would be branded as a punk in this BBS. The guy demands a trade before he plays a single game! Unbelievable! He then tries to tell people that God didn't want him to play for the Grizzlies (not much more that can even be said about that). This doesn't even begin to speak of his actions on the court, where he's flung a guy into a basket support by his shirt, received T's for taunting, and does that ridiculous high-step when he dribbles (even Barkley said he needs to stop that). Of course, none of this matters to me, as I hold professional athletes to a lower standard than most. I won't be blind, however, and pretend that what he did is okay simply because he plays for my team. The hypocrisy around here never ceases to amaze me. Maybe I just don't speak Canadian.
GrizzFan Question: Othella is the most consistant player . . . ahead of Sharif? Could you please elaborate on that. . I haven't seen many games but i head Sharif was a Phenom [or as some here said. . A STUD] I appreciate your inside on the situation from Vancouver. Rocket River Still a OTHELLA MY FELLA Fan
I love that High Step thing he does when he is coming up the court. Its awesome. Give him a break... He is a nice guy, he just got to into it last night when the crowd was booing him so he went for something good to show the crowd off and then he said something REALLY NICE to the bench and he gets a technical. The Grizzles should of known that Francis plays Pg and Francis and Bibby at pg will not work. So francis wanted to leave. I would of done the same if I was in that situation. Grizzles are dumb, they got themselves in the mess by getting a Pg.. DONT THEY ALREADY HAVE ONE. BUt Im glad they did, because now we have him. The only good player we let go was Othella. Dickerson sucks. He has turned wild over there in vancouver. Out of control kid. Price is the same. Wont get alot of time and Carr is a b**** like he always was. Wanting to fight someone.
Example: A close friend of yours has unjustly murdered an innocent man. Do you turn him into the police? You love your friend, but a crime [w/out just motive] is a crime. He must pay the consequences, regardless. It's hard to admit it, but he was wrong.
