The NBA as well as the media has already practically proclaimed Lamar Odom rookie of the year...I think that sucks!! Francis is a better player in my opinion even though I have a biased opinion towards the Rockets!! I love Houston and I havent been so excited about a player since Olajuwon got drafted. But all I ever hear those announcers talk about is how Odom is the man and how he is gonna be the next Jordan..geez cmon!! Francis leads all rookies inscoring and assists...and not that far behind in rebounds...and hes only 6'3"!!! Anyway, Francis will probably get robbed this year because they want to kiss Odoms butt!! All I see with Odom is another Danny Manning or Cliff Robinson for real!!
At least ESPN is giving Stevie his credit. Every month, they name the top couple of rookies so far, and this time, they named Steve Francis #1 and Lamar Odom got #2. I agree with you full well emoreland. And you forgot to add the fact that Odom is playing on a team where he is the man. Francis is playing on a much more talented team, where he can't get the ball as much as Odom can. Sure, Francis is one of the main options here, but he's got to make time for Bryce Drew, he's got to give the ball to Cuttino and many other people. And plus Hakeem is coming back, so that means that Steve will have lesser opportunities to ball hog like Odom does. But Odom is really talented. He played point guard when he was younger, then he went on a tremendous growth spurt. So now, he's a big man with the ball handling skillz of a point guard. He's got a pretty good shot also. But I still think Steve is better. He's got more well rounded game with the assists and all. I envision Stevie to be a more explosive Jason Kidd. Stevie already has a better offensive game than Jason does, and with a few more years of experience, Steve can start to rack up a whole lot of assists due to his play making ability. And Francis is not a small guard by any means. Plus with his leaping ability, he can rack up a lot of rebounds too. So, I think that Francis will get a lot of triple doubles in his career, and that's the main reason that I"m comparing him with Jason Kidd. Heck, he was a few rebounds away from 2 triple doubles this season!!
I would trade Francis for Odom right now. I think talented big men win championships. DaDakota PS. I really don't care who wins ROY, I just want my Rockets to win..PERIOD !!! [This message has been edited by DaDakota (edited December 26, 1999).]
DaDakota - YOu are really crazy. Odom is not a leader. Francis is the player that can lead a team. Francis has alot more talent than odom.
If I'm not mistaken I just read the words "trade" and "francis" in the same sentence withoutthe word "not" attached. Now I truly think we fans have reached the bottem. The one true light in this dark seasoon, a franchise player, an exciting point guard who the rockets have craved for god knows how long, and someone wants to trade him. It doesn't matter for who, I think you shamed all of us with that one.
EMORELAND, i think steve will get robbed also. i believe the NBA is mad at Francis for refusing to play for Vancouver... and to inhibit future draft picks to do the same thing, they're punishing francis. i truly believe there's a conspiracy in the NBA. because truthfully, the NBA is a business, out to make money. steve is clearly the best rookie so far of this class... but who do we hear more about from the media? odom, and even griffin. i watch alot of basketball shows... nba inside stuff, nba action, nba2night, nba today, this week in the nba, and including sportscenter, fox sports news, and cnnsi. out of all of the francis highlights he's had so far, only one has made nba action's weekly courtside countdown. not since he's become a rocket, i haven't seen one of these shows do a story on him, unless it's to talk about vancouver. you can also see it in the decreasing coverage of the rockets. for example... today, i missed the wizards game, so i watched tv, hoping to catch some highlights. sportscenter and cnnsi's this week in the nba only mentioned the score, while showing highlights for all other games. fox sports news showed only two highlights from the game. not to mention nba2night jipped the rockets in their latest win by showing no higlights also. i hope i'm wrong about this though... because francis deserves the ROY and i want to stop believing there is corruption in the nba.
The bulls won 6 championships with a BIG guard...MJ was 6'6". Don't get me wrong gentelmen, I love Steve Francis. I just think that talented small men are easier to find then talented big men. Almost ALL NBA championships are won by dominant players 6'6" or taller. Yes Detroit won a couple with Thomas, but there are exceptions to every rule. I like Francis, a lot, I just don't see like talented small men leading their teams anywhere...EX..Iverson, Marbury, etc..etc.. DaDakota
DaDakota- I agree with your statements about good big men vs good little men. My problem is I'm not entirely sold on Odom yet. He has a nice game and he is a potential ROY, but I'm not on his band wagon yet. However I would no doubt trade Francis for a proven, young big man (Duncan, KG, Webber, Shaq) who a franchise could be built around. I would really have to think about Francis for Odom straight up, especially since we have been so troubled in finding a PG the last few years. And as always the point about the Bulls is Jordan is the exception to every rule. The Bulls won because he was the best ever, regardless of size.
DaDakota... LOL. Your funny dude. I mean you are joking right? You can't be serious, can you? I mean you do know that San Antonio won last year with a 5'11" point gaurd. They beat teams with large gaurd rotations (Lakers, Seatle, and Phoenix). Also the team that everyone thought was the next best team in the West (or the league for that matter) was Portland. Hey Dadakota how tall is Damon Stoudamire again? (hint: they don't call him "Might Mouse" for nothing). The point is that at the point gaurd position Steve has all the physical attributes to excel at the position. The only part of his game that is weak is the mental aspect. And I beg to differ with you on the point of being able to find a point gaurd of Stevies talent. Guys like him are few and far between. By the way, the first three of Chicago's championships were won with smaller gaurds at point (John Paxton and BJ Armstrong).
4Chuckie... I guess the Detroit, Boston, and LA Lakers championship teams are exceptions to the rules also. As well as the Portland team with Drexler that challenged the Bulls in the finals, and the Phoenix team with Barkley that went to the finals. All of the aforementioned teams had decent big men but the offense was centered around none of them. All the Rockets needs is a bigman that is a diffensive prefence and has at least some post moves help in a half court offensive set. I think you and Dadakota are puting to much emphasis on the size aspect instead of focusing on the player. The Rock's can build around Francis and be successful, you just need the right players to compliment him.
Perhaps I did not explain myself well enough. I think that NBA championships are won by teams whose BEST player is not a smallish PG. That is what I meant. I agree that Steve is an awesome talent, but I would prefer if our BEST player was someone with a bit more heighth. Yes A. Johnson is 5'11" but he was not even close to the BEST player on that team. As for finding another Francis..you are right they are few and far between, as are talented big men like Odom. However, I will take an Average PG and a Highly skilled big man, over a Highly Skilled PG and an average big man...ANYDAY !! DaDakota "I love Francis, and will cheer for him, but he needs some talented big people to help"
O-Dawg- Boston's offense was the big men (Bird 6'9-Parish 7'-McHale 6'10 w/ 7'2 arms) not DJ-Ainge. Lakers were Kareem & a huge PG (Magic 6'10) Detroit is the exception because they won with 3 small guards (Isiah-Dumars-Vinny) Phoenix's offense was mostly CB, with Majerle hitting 3's from double teams, Ceballos cutting to the hoop from double teams. KJ did play an important role but it was Chucks team, who is a big man in a 6'4 1/2 body. I am not saying Francis won't be great because of his size, but I agree with DaDakota that I would prefer a good big man over a good little man.
http://sports.excite.com/nba/news/991227/sl-sports-nba-1795425 Sportsline says it's a toss-up right now but agrees that Francis is the more complete player right now.
One more thing, if we could trade Mobley and Rogers and pick up McGrady. I would do it in a heartbeat. DaDakota
I think Francis3 has the best answer. Let's keep Steve and draft a talented big man. Heck if our season gets any worse this definitely will be a possibility. We'll have to just agree to disagree on the rest. As for what started this post... I must agree that the media appears to be snubbing their collective nose at Francis and basically handing Odom the ROY. I think Francis is defenitely more deserving of the ROY if for no other reason than that he is making his stats and still getting others involved as is his job as a point gaurd. Odom's job is to score and rebound, and he and Stevies stats still close.
