ESPN Regular Dis of Francis & Stupid East Coast Crap

Don't worry, espn.com will be assimilated once the DUKE OF TRUTH learns how to find their chat rooms.

-------------------
My BBS spoils me on Crisco

cc.net "Loud, Proud, and Battered"

 

I know one thing: I want David Aldridge to pick Elton Brand for Rookie of the Year. If he does that, Stevie's got it in the bag

------------------
Jen
Always defending You-Know-Who

 

Jeff, I am happy the rest of the media is ignoring Francis. He doesn't need the extra attention this rookie year. It will be ideal for him in the long run to not have the national media's magnifying glass on him, picking apart his weak points. I have a feeling he will explode next season. Then the national media will be all over him. I just hope he will be prepared for it.

------------------
"The bigger they are, the worse they smell."

 

Alot of Houston fans think that Stevie is more of a 2 than a 1...

who can blame ESPN for thinking the same?

Incidentally, Brand does have better #'s.

I agree that ESPN has an east coast bias, and I also think Francis should be ROY... but I don't think any of those statements were unjustified. As for the Weis, thing... it was humor, get over it.

------------------

 

I wish ESPN wouldnt talk about Houston at all. I dont care what they think. Just show highlights and scores, you dorks. And get real jobs. Leave Houston alone.

------------------
CriscoKidd ...

the official mascot for the S.F.B.W.C.

 

I don't know...I wouldn't mind working for ESPN.

------------------
If the Rockets had drafted right...and made the right trades they could have had Jordan, Hakeem, and Drexler on the same team...the whole time...REALLY!! Then I woke up to reality.

 

I still believe that in the end, Francis will draw WAY more national attention to Houston than anyone we ever had on our team.

------------------
Live Rocketball. Breathe Rocketball. Die with Rocketball.

 

Okay, let's not get carried away and talk about this as if it's the media's purpose in life to report the news... But anyway...

Obviously Brand has game. He's putting up great numbers for a rookie forward. It would be foolish to overlook that. But Steve is having a great year. The main problem isn't that Brand is getting props, it's that Stevie ISN'T getting the same props...
It's easy to say, sure, well Francis gets good numbers, but look at his TURNOVERS... And that's what a lot of people around the league are saying. Well hey, we ain't the Lakers, but we certainly ain't the Bulls. If you look at total impact on the team, Steve has a huge advantage. That's what's being overlooked...

------------------
"There are three kinds of lies:
Lies, Damned Lies, and STATISTICS..."
- Mark Twain -

 

I think Francis's disrespect is from perception. Outside of Houston there's not alot of people in the NBA who really likes this guy personally. He gets attention (respect) from the opponents, but he is one of our few offensive threats and they know if the double stevie that he is young, and TO prone.
But across the NBA many see him as the guy that complained his way out of Canada. Elway never became beloved acrosss the NFL until late in his career, and only because he failed many times. Pip is not beloved anywhere except in Chicago (who he helped to 6 titles) and Portland (where he currently plays). Guys that have a bad reputation must find a way to overcome this.
Stevie's perception around the NBA was self induced (by not playing in Canada). He did it to himself, and now he must find a way (both on and off the court) to overcome this.

------------------

 

DUKE Of Truth LOVES ESPN chat rooms! I could not get there four a long time, I would type in HTTP;\/www.gotoespnchatroomsstupidcomputer and nothing happened?!!? THEN my secretary said "DUKE you cannot type that in Microsof WORD and expect to get to the Innernet!!"

After I fired Sally for CRITISIZING DUKE, I went to ESPNs chat rooms. That was a waste of time! I tried chat with DOCTOR JACK RAMSAY, here is what DUKE asked:

"DOCTOR JACK, what kind of dumb name is that? DUKE OF TRUTH is has a better name!!!!!"

No answer.

"How old are you, are you OLDER than that Bible guy SOCRATES that lived for 900 years, you know?"

STILL No Answer.

"WHY WILL YOU NOT ANSWER ME?!?!?!?"

Jack kept ignoring DUKE. So I gave up. Those chart rooms suck.


------------------
A HOUSE is not a HOME if it is ON FIRE.

 

It is true... The media is biased towards the East Coast teams, in particular Chicago (larger media market than Houston), New York (larger media market than Houston), Boston (larger media market than Houston), New Jersey (larger media market than Houston), (larger media market than Houston)(larger media market than Houston)...

The point is that I think a lot of it is business, not so much a personal thing. Although it is frustrating that $$$ drives the stories more than actual merit. I think this is also driven somewhat by the NBA itself. They know where the dollars come from - TV revenues in LARGE media markets. It makes more sense to "manufacture" stars in large markets because the returns are that much greater...

This is why:
1. Duncan will not stay in San Antonio
2. Carter will not stay in Toronto
Both of these are tiny media markets. Heck, in Canada, they don't use Neilsen so they can't get reliable ratings there.

Remember, it's a business, so just forget all that BS and take pride in the fact that YOU know Steve Francis is the best rookie, hands down.

------------------

 

Francis is great, but Brand is having a better year. You can argue he takes more shots because his team sucks, so of course he score more. Well, his FG% is better than Francis too. You can argue Francis takes more outside shots which hurts his FG%. Well, Shandon Anderson doesn't seem to have that trouble. Hornecek and Stockton don't seem to have that trouble. You can say he had more turnovers because he plays the point and handles the ball more. Well, you're right on that. But as a PF, Brand is averaging 10 boards a game. That's good for 7th in the league. I don't care how many shots you take to get your PPG up, rebounding is all about skill and desire. You could argue that Francis is losing assists every time he passes to Mobley the Black Hole. You could argue Francis has more impact on winning games than Brand. But there is really only one decisive point:

Brand scores 20 a game with Maloney at the point.

'Nuff said.

------------------

 

To throw a bone to those who think Francis should be a SG and those who think he should win the ROY:

I think, if Francis was listed as a SG instead of a PG and got precisely the same stats he has right now, everyone would say he had the lead in the ROY race. In other words, the reason Brand's winning is because he is a PG still learning to pass without turning the ball over. If that was not a requisite in his job (at SG), he'd sufficiently fulfill expectations to take the reward.

I think this is legitimate. As a PF, Brand is expected to have strong rebounding and FG% numbers and he does. As a PG, Francis is supposed to have good assist and TO numbers and he does not. The award should go to Brand because Francis is behind him in learning his (respective) trade.

So no one misunderstands me, I still do not think Francis should play SG. He will learn the PG position in time and will be great. I'm willing to wait.

------------------

 

BTW-Scoring 20+ PPG with Maloney at the point has only been accomplished once in the ENTIRE HISTORY of the NBA. And that was in 96-97 by the great Hakeem Olajuwan who averaged 23.2.

Right now Brand is sitting at 19.5 PPG. I'm sure we'll all watch his last few games trying to catch a glimpse of history.

------------------

 

Yes, but haven't you seen both the Bulls and the Rockets play? I have, and I think that Francis played better. He has more skills... #'s are useful, but they can give you tunnel vision.

Remember that statistical award they used to give? David Robinson won every year, for a while.... over Jordan and hakeem.

------------------