Though I rarely post, I've been a member for about 3 years, but I've been reading this board for longer than that. I post today because I'VE HAD IT WITH THE FAKE FANS IN THIS CITY.............. I have NEVER......EVER seen the amount of hatred for a player on this board than I saw from some of you people for Steve Francis. Callers on 610 where demanding we trade him, one person even suggested we unprotect him for the expansion draft, getting nothing in return and cutting our losses. Charlie Pallilo said Steve's stock had dropped so much, Utah wouldn't trade us Carlos Arroyo for Steve???????? Trade rumors were flying back and forth before the deadline. Thread after thread critized Steve repeadedly for his selfish play. Yet, many of you wanted us to trade Steve for AI, a much more selfish, and disrespecful player, who was jacking up 25 shots a game and shooting worse than Steve!!!!! A supposed rift between Steve and Van Gundy was fabricated by the media, over the super bowl incident. Regardless of the fact that neither Steve or Van Gundy admitted to a problem between the two. The media was just dying for an AI, Larry Brown relationship between the two. And now, all of a sudden, less than 2 weeks later, and a 5 game win streak...........There's a thread on this board talking about Steve fitting into Van Gundy's sytem?????? You open the thread, and there is nothing but praises for Steve.......The old Steve is back!........The rockets are great!.......we will contend in the playoffs!!!.........I love Steve Francis!!!!!!.........blah blah blah........ It's amazing what winning can do for a team, a person, and fans. Some of you stuck by Steve during the hard times. But most of you people have no loyalty, and should be ashamed. You know who you are fairweather fans.......This is Steve's 5th year, did you people forget what he's done the last 4? Is Steve not allowed to have a bad season? Is he not allowed to have a learning curve with a new coach, new offense???.....I'm disgusted. Yes he's finally getting rid of his bad habits, changing his game to fit Van Gundy's sytem, getting Yao the ball, becoming a leader, and most of all winning. Wow, how many of you didn't think it was possible.
Mark, if I were a gay man, I would kiss you. Steve is unquestionably the emotional leader of this team, a factor which is far too often overlooked.
And how does putting the future of our team over one player make us not loyal? I thought only SOF and YOF should be labeled unloyal
His game has changed for the better because his attitude has. I think most people were bothered by how cocky francis was. "I'd take that shot again"....... sound familiar.......it was after he tried to be the superhero with 15 seconds left in the Spurs game. The boneheaded plays that he consistently tried to go for seemed to feed his ego more than anything... so he could prove to himself or others that he could get that kind of shot to go in. Steve i think is starting to calm his nerves a bit and realizing that they are going to have to win as a team. And most importantly he is realizing that with Yao (because of his great passing ability) it is possible for him to still get his shots off and be dynamic in a center oriented system. Another factor was the Dallas game where Yao came up huge. I think all steve needed was confidence in his big man...that he wasn't going to go soft in crucial moments. I admit i was once for trading steve, but now i see that the future is very bright with him. Steve needs to just continue the team ball and not worry about the perception of who's team it is. He needs to not worry about whether it is his team or Yao's team because now we can see that it's JVG's team. In the end he is going to decide who's gonna play and who is not. I think the "system" is finally gelling. Lets keep it going. GO ROX!!!!
While I agree that Francis is working better within JVG's system, I'm not so sure it changes my position on whether or not we should trade him. In JVG's system, Francis' role is that of a role player, a job many cheaper, average point guards could do. We should not be paying Francis franchise money for what he gives us inside a JVG offense.
The last four years, Steve's been the greatest thing since sliced bread in this city. A week before the super bowl he was voted the most popular athlete in Houston. Now he's a scrub that we can't trade for Carlos Arroyo. That's being unloyal to some one who has been the best player for this Franchise the last 4 years. You people don't realize that Steve is a real person.......He's not some video game or fantasy basketball were you can trade him away as you wish. Bad mouthing a person is unfair, especially when they done nothing but try their hardest night in, and night out.
Support your team, and players when they're down, Praise them when they win. That's a true fan...............Something that you are not.
Mark, You are entitled to your opinion, but, do us all a favor and go back to reading the board instead of posting. If you don't have the sack to post more often, and then come on and question people's loyalty to the Rockets then it is you who are less than a fan. I am NOT a Steve Fan, I am NOT a Yao fan, I AM a Houston Rockets fan...and have been probably longer than you have been alive, in fact I have followed them since they moved to Houston from San Diego. Steve has SUCKED BALLS this year, and has rebelled against the system that Van Gundy has proven time and time again wins games. Finally, in the last few weeks, he has adjusted his role and started playing more under control, GOOD FOR HIM...IT IS ABOUT FRICKEN TIME !!! We have been watching him for 5 years, and YES he pours his heart out on the floor, but his stupidity with his decision making is MADDENING to watch. If he is finally settling into his role and becoming comfortable, great...glad, that after 5 years he has figured it out...my question would be...WHAT TOOK HIM SO FRICKEN LONG? Don't come on here questioning fans loyalty, especially when you rarely post....maybe it is you who isn't a real fan since you don't care enough to come here and talk to fellow fans about how the team is doing....except to bash the ones who have been right all along. Shame on you, now in the words of GREGONOMICS.... STOP POSTING !!! DD
This statement is really not true! SF in his 1st 3 yrs did't have another MDC(most-dominant-center)/Co-captain to play with in his team. Rox was an One-Man team before and SF had to carry his team to fight on the court and to be criticised off the court. Yao is on Rox's uniform for not more than 2 yrs and it is reasonable period for SF to change his play style or adapt to whomever's system.
I'm not a fan beacause I rarely post on this message board????? You have got to be kidding me right???? So only people that consistantly post on this board (as I can see you do) are the only true fans????? That's the way it is, huh. "I have more posts than you, so I'm a better fan than you are".........."I've been watching the rockets longer than you, so I'm a better fan than you are" For some one who has followed the rockets for so long like yourself, you must be older and more mature than that I hope.......... Why don't you judge some one as being a fan on how well they support the home team instead of how many posts they have on this board......It's people like you that keep me from posting here. Oh, and by the way, I find it ironic that the people here attacking me, are Steve haters...........
Hey maybe that's what Francis need to play well. He needs criticism from radio to internet to motivate him. Maybe that's why he's playing well right now. You know if everyone keeps it quiet and not say a thing, things aren't going change, that's why you have protestors out there on the street, that's why you have Martin Luther King speaking out. You can't expect change by doing nothing...think about it!
Mark, if you're such a true fan, why didnt you come to Steve's defense BEFORE he broke out of his horrible slump? It's pretty easy to come now and just say "shame on you" to all the people who have been waiting for performances like these from Francis. Why didn't you speak up when the bashings were at their worst?
I agree with you 100% I was frustrated because I felt the criticism Steve was getting was almost malicious, like people hated him. I couldn't imagine why. I love Steve as a ball player, and just felt like he was having a bad year. But ultimately, that's probably why he is playing better. He wants to show the naysayers up. Also, time is factor.......Some things just take time. Let's hope he keeps it up.
