Well, that could be a possiblity. But I will say this, If Steve Francis has anything to do with his marketing teams statement about his having to tend to personal family matter all the while knowing damn well he talked to JVG from the superbowl parking lot and admitted as much to JVG over the phone, then he has just bought a one way ticket out of Houston. Because with that statment(if its from him), what he's doing is calling his coach a liar and trying to make him look like an idiot. I rank that right up there with Pippen begging for a trade by calling Barkley a big fat ass on national tv.
Fried said he had begun an appeal of the suspension and automatic fine but preferred to wait until the team returned to Houston today to discuss the matter with Rockets management. "There obviously is a misunderstanding, since Steve was dealing with some fairly urgent personal family matters, which have now been resolved," Fried said. "He will be at practice with his team and his coaches (today). Steve was dealing with these family circumstances and was not at the Super Bowl. "I was on the phone with Steve last evening from his home during the Super Bowl. We were dealing with this issue. If the decision was based upon the belief that Steve attended the Super Bowl as opposed to these serious family matters, that's something we would want to address with the coach and the team." The suspension would indicate the Rockets considered Francis' absence willful, rather than unavoidable. Fried would not elaborate on the family matters Francis had to address. His agent spinned it not for the Rockets to see, but for the rest of the NBA--obviously they can not fool the Rockets. They are preparing in case SF is to be traded in the near future.
I just want to echo this. I defended Steve ealier, but after reading that article and learnt that he openly defied team rule, then questioned the coach's punishment ... this is more serious than I thought.
I honestly start to feel that way about Francis. I've defended him countless times on this board but I feel that it might be the case this time. When he first came into the league, he had a horrible rap for what he did in vancouver, and every one of us felt it was a little scarry getting a player that might be a head case. Instead, Francis carried himself like a true model professional for the four years that he's been here (alleged dwi not withstanding) and all our fears were quelled. Now with his recent action, those questions are raised again, and it's a possibility that he is asking to be traded, away from the spotlight and away from the pressure of playing with Yao and having to change his game. I don't neccessary blame him, it's hard playing for the team when most major media outlets disses you constantly about not passing (as I've said before, it's not all his fault either). But if this is a plan to get out of Houston, or if he really wanted out, he should've kept it behind closed doors, but if he wanted to make it public then he really really f*cked up. Now I wouldn't put it ont he same level as Scottie (who not only wanted, asked to be trade it, but made the situation into a definite no win for the Rox). Steve hasn't done that it, but he's not to far of unless he gets his act together.
Letter to Franchise. Dear Steve, I have no problem with you partie hard and got hammered during the Superbowl parties. MJ and Barkley went to Vegas during the damn NBA Finals. I am sure the Lakers partied damn hard during the showtime runs. I could handle the 3 game losing streak when there's so many distraction in H-town. Heck, party hard! play hard! Nothing wrong with it. But damn it Stevie, stop making damn excuses! If you missed the trip knowing full extend of the punishment, accept the punishment and get on with it. When one makes a mistake, rectify the situation by acknowledge the damn situation. This lattest spat is going to be blown out of proportion with the team suffering the most! Rockets need you on the court and take charge of the situation.
If Francis was at the Super Bowl, shame on him. Don't give me any of this "once in a lifetime" BS. Yeah it's a "once in a lifetime" chance to PLAY in the Super Bowl, but does Steve play basketball? No. He's on the court playing basketball. Last time I checked basketball was played in a 19,000 seat arena on wood, not a 75,000 seat stadium on grass. And hey, Steve is a MILLIONAIRE...he can attend ANY Super Bowl that he wants. So no, it's not a so called "once in a lifetime".....for Steve at least. He's the 'leader' of our team and he has responsibilities that he needs to own up to. Being there for your OWN TEAM & FAMILY outweighs a huge media extravaganza by a long shot.
God it's late, sorry for all of the typos. (That's why I want the edit feature) That was supposed to say FOOTBALL.
JVG should have been angry with Francis for at least 1 week after the Miami game. Remember what the LA Times said about hanging out until 3:00am? So this missing flight gave JVG a pretty good excuse to bench him. As a grown man rather than a spoiled boy, he should pay for his mistake. It won't bother me if Steve could figure it out and become more involved in a team play, which is less likely though . The Rox is no one's team except JVG at the mean time, not Steve's, not Yao's. If you like them accomplish the playoff, or even the finals, be a little patient with the "growing pain" - BTW, what is their averaged age?
I've been quiet this year on SF, hoping JVG would be a good influence on him (or at least control him). But this was a flat out stupid move by a very stupid person. If you want to be a leader act like a leader. Trade him. Do us all a favor and trade him back to Vancouver, I'm sure that would make him VERRRRY happy.
JVG showed his horse's ass mentality. You will bow before me, I am the little Hitler - he even tries to look like him - just paste on the mustache..... A plane flight to Phoenix takes about an hour + Every sports and media dignitary from all over the world was here Steve Francis was supposeed to be with those like him. Not sitting in front of a TV in a Phoenix Hotel watching it on some 27" TV so some horse's ass coach could massage his control freak ego... JVG got what he deserved.... to watch his mistake lead his Knickets to a 20 point loss over a rebuiding team. Does anyone think that Steve's boys were going to dishonor him over JVG with any effort? JVG is a cancer
That's not disrespectful, it's stupid. Dissect it and show me why then your not being stoopid, with all disrespect of course....
Then you are being disrespectful and/or stupid. That's fine. Point taken. Now go back to work and quit losing your company money or you'll get suspended....
I think every one here should ask themselves this question. Say that you have a 9 to 5 job and one day after work you decide to have a few beers with some friends and you end up out until 2 in the morning. Your boss finds out and say that you're not dedicated to your job. You didn't miss any time or show up late. How would you feel? Or say you worked for a company and you had made arrangements and spent a lot of money bring people down to Houston for the big Superbowl celebration. Then your company gets sold. And your new boss just decides on a whim that he doesn't want his employees going to the superbowl and he schedules for them to travel to a sales meeting before the game. You call your boss and explain your situation to him and promise to take a flight out - at your expense - and be there in plenty of time so as not to miss any preparation time or the actual sales pitch itself. And your boss says, don't bother. You're suspended. You guys have to understand that this is these guys jobs. It's where they work. And just because they work for an NBA franchise doesn't mean they don't have a right to a personal life. I mean if JVG ever told the team that he was taking a later flight because his daughter was having a recityal and he wanted to be there, I'm sure no one would say that he's putting things ahead of the team. You would understand becuase it's his personal life. As long as he shows up for all of the scheduled times, what he does outside of business hours is his own business just like Tim, the ballboys, the ticket counters, and all of the rest of the Rockets' employees. I definitely wouldn't want to work somewhere where I was expected to only think about my job 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
Show me the 9 to 5 job outside of running the NYSE that pays you 90 million dollars over a few years. Company travel is part of the job NBA players have. And they do not travel uncomfortably. If Francis was planning to do something like that, he should have inquired with van Gundy beforehand. One thing Francis should understand is that if he wants to be treated like the superstar he thinks he is, he'd better play like one, too. If you want respect, treat others with respect. By showing up the coach and intentionally missing a flight with the rest of the team, he is not showing respect. The discussion took place beforehand, when JVG was still in Houston. The boss made it clear that this was not the way to go about it. Just taking another flight later does not change anything about having openly and intentionally disrupted team discipline and chemistry. Basically, it just means you got your way. I'd say you are the one that has to understand that. Cry me a river. They have what, five months offseason? Stop making up irrelevant, hypothetical scenarios to support your ridiculous attempts at relativizing what Francis did. Give me a break. If they did that, they would have a better record than they do.
Suspend Yao for going to China this summer. Or better yet schedule him to take a flight here this summer.... It's a set up. The SB is probably the biggest event in Houston/World sports. I would think the owner of the Rockets would want to showcase his stars all over the super bowl for media and sports attention and therefore revenus possibility. To shedule a 1 hour flight so players and the Rockets missed the opportunities is pointless. Unless the point is to f@ck with somebody and deny them and the team this opportunity. SF gained a lot staying here and he paid monetarily. JVG caused the team to lose opportunities and the game by not scheduling an after flight or allowing players to make their own flights. If it was scheduled so they could watch it together that's stupid. How many of you attended mandatory bus rides 28 hours before work to attend the mandatory hotel viewing of the super bowl with your co-workers? That's the point.
