Just one simple question. Is Rockets building a team around Steve Francis??.. the way Lakers , Spurs, and 76ers were built around their super stars.
Well, if they do in fact pay him the MAX, then you would have to say that YES, they are building around him.
I think there are only a very few Superstars in this league. And a LOT that are just very good. Superstars. Shaq Kobe Duncan Iverson Payton Kidd Garnett Webber* Tmac Carter* I might be missing a few The Very good group Francis Baron Davis Nowitzki Walker Pierce Wallace Ben and Sheed Stackhouse Ray Allen And the list goes on and on............. My point is you don't need to build around a superstar if u have quality players that know how to play the game.
Cat and Steve are fine together, but if we aren't able to get what we need in the draft then we have to consider what we can get for Cat. I love the guys intensity and how hard he works along with how he and Steve feed off eachother, but with our lack of ability in the frontcourt we may have to make a move that isn't desirable. Ideally we'd be fine with Cat if EG develops into the star PF he can be and we draft an impact player at SF (one who makes up for some of the defensive inabilities of Cat and Steve and also adds some scrappiness).
I agree w/ bsb, that our backcourt of Steve, the "soon-to-be superstar", and Cat, the soon-to-be very good player," will be just fine, if not awseome.....IF.....Eddie Griffin eventually blossums into the dominant player many feel he can be at the pf. A star at the 1 spot is nice, but you definitely need another great player to carry some of the load while the point takes care of commanding the team, making the passes, etc. This wouldn't be the case if we had a superstar SF or SG, but since our best player, and team building block is at the point, someone else (a bigger presence in the post) is needed. Let's see if Griffin is the real deal the next few years. If he is, then all we need for a solid line-up is a couple of hard-working, role players with somewhat decent scoring abilities and defensive mentalities! Francis and Mobley are or will soon develop into the most dynamic backcourt in the game, along with EG's help!