RocksMillenium: I respect your views and love your posts as much as anybody here. However Achebe and heypartner have made some points that are hard to ignore about Francis. Ever since all this crap has come out, I have been thinking all day why does Francis feel this way? There are, of course, a million different reasons why & we will probably never find out the real reason; however, I can't help feel part of it is this stigma that "I will no longer be the man" of this team which is completely idiotic and immature. But then again this is a guy that in an interview last season kept referring to himself in the 3rd person like he was some character from a Seinfeld episode. He also was talking about trying to entertain the crowd with his play. Well that's fine and dandy Francis, but save that hotdog **** for the Globetrotters. All I care about is you helping the Rockets get back to the playoffs and try to win a championship. But should any of us be surprised that Steve is doing this?? I mean look at how he hijacked the Grizzle? I was really hoping that he had changed from this, but it looks like he hasn't. Okay, I know I'm upset and maybe this will blow over and we all laugh about it someday, but I'm not getting that feeling that will happen. Like NIKE said we need to find out ASAP if Francis is going to sign an extension, and if he isn't, take a course of action NOW! We definitely don't need to get a return for him like we did with Quitten. heypartner: It's funny how you were one of the few people (Dakota was another) that was in favor of trading Francis and this was while the season was still going on. People thought you were crazy, but you showed them that you were as Homer Simpson would say, "Crazy as a Fox!" With Heath's promotion to demi-god, I would be honored if you became my new hero!
Grammatical error!?! How can it be a grammatical error when Steve's sorry ass has been ragging Ming for the past weeks...along w/ his boy Mobley. It surely was no damn error!! His body language and the way he is so disappointed in getting Ming is pathetic. His ass needs to be traded for a quality point guard who doesn't shoot off his mouth...
not sure if you were answered but they asked him what would it be like to share the ball with another player as in yao ming. then he answered with that.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by tozai FOR ANYONE ELSE--I didn't see this, but as I understand, the quote was "I've never been able to play with a guy like that so it remains to be seen how it will help my game" Did they show what the question asked was, and could this possibly have been taken out of context? is appalling -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tozai, where the hell have you been to not hear that?? IT WAS LIVE ON EXTRA POINTS!!! Just come to reality that you haven't noticed Francis and Mobley's true colors when they finally get a player that can help them GO FORWARD!!
the only player out of those 7 who have noticebly better stats than kandi are wright and robinson. robinson and all the others are around the same or lower except for maybe in the %'s. i could see how u could make an argument for vlade and raef but the others and yao ming? come on man quit being a homer he hasnt even played one game in the nba.
We had our chance and didn't take it. Why would we take the 'I wasn't the first pick in the draft pouter' 'I don't want to play in VC' 'I don't want to play with Ming' crybaby? No thanks. I'll take the gamble on Tyson, Bob. ''I tell [Krause] I think certain players fit in and others don't really want to win. But it will be his decision.'' To his credit, Krause appreciates input from players because it reflects how serious they are about winning. ''Tyson and I have a very good relationship,'' Krause said. ''He's a bright young man, and he can be talked to. He makes good common sense.'' Francis isn't making any sense...
Of the first class under the new CBA (Kandi/Carter), the only significant players that didn't sign the extension have been Kandi, Lafrentz, Bibby, Larry Hughes, and Bonzi Wells. None are franchise types. Lafrentz wasn't resigned because Denver was being cheap, Bibby is a RFA Sacramento had to take care of Webber first, Kandi is a RFA because Sterling is cheap, and Hughes and Wells wanted time to prove themselves. Meanwhile the guys who put it up on the court, Carter, Pierce, Dirk, Jamison got their extensions, as well as White Chocolate, Al Harrington, and Dickerson. So, Steve would be the first franchise type to bolt since T-Mac. I think the SAR thing was more of a Memphis clearance out with the old (SAR, Bibby) try to get the new, a mutual breakup. I guess you could say Gasol worked out for them. So far, the trend has been young franchise player for unproven potential franchise player, ie SAR for Gasol, and Brand for Chandler. I don't think we've had enough time with the CBA to really be able to call it a full fledged pattern. Also, usually it has been players with the same position- Chandler & Brand (PF), Gasol & SAR (hybrid forwards), Bibby & White Chocolate. I guess the key is to find a player with similar talent, and with a reason to want out of a situation, like the Kidd-Marbury trade. Marbury needed a fresh start, Colangelo didn't want Kidd after some minor offcourt problems. I think Steve may have picked a good time, as there some resigning questions surrounding Baron and Miller. If you're Cleveland ownership, and you know you won't be resigning Andre Miller in a year, does it make sense for you to trade him for Steve Francis, who's more marketable, and get you probably more via sign and trade? I think so. For New Orleans, is there a city geographically closer than Houston? Your star PG is ticked at your ownership, Houston's star PG is also ticked, your fans probably know him already, would you make that move? Possibly.
I think RT and CD need to sit down and talk to him before the draft about his feelings on resigning. If Steve doesn't want to or says he is unsure, then we should trade him for the #2. JWill IS going to be a better pg anyway. The reason I say if he is unsure, is because he was so emphatic about it earlier in the year.So if he isn't now, then there is probably a problem.imo
if jWill is goin to be the better guard why would the bulls do this trade then???? they get jay williams for cheap for 4 years versus getting francis for one year and then having to max him out then. i've been bitter w/ francis as of late but i haven't exiled the guy. i feel the same way that some ppl here are feeling--that francis needs to grow up or move out whether or not the 'he's pissed off' news are true or not. if he wants to win so badly, he should have thought about how to improve himself and his teammates since he IS the franchise. am i ripping him? no. am i pointing out things that are true and should have been taken care of by our star player? yes.
Yeahhhhh... I know. Recalling that Krause had passed up Francis in the past I've begun to realize that the Rockets are kind of screwed on trading him. That's one of the reasons that I think the Rockets should be totally content in just getting the #2 pick for Francis... but I still doubt that Krause would make that move. I don't know where the best place is to ship Francis. I doubt that he'd resign in Cleveland... .pretty much invalidating that trade. Hell, I'd think we should ship him to LA for Odom + picks if I thought that Sterling would pay him $$$. I'm afraid that Francis is a Rocket for good. I'm also afraid that he got happy joy joy talk before he submitted himself to the knife a few weeks ago. Somebody's piping sweet talk into his ear; otherwise he wouldn't run his stupid immature trap so readily. Holmes is arrogant, and I assume the only reason is because Les et. al. have made a monster out of him.
Argh, this is driving me crazy! "you're" = "you are" (You're going to the store.) "your" = possessive your (Your sister is going to the store.)
'tis Cwisko! 'Tis!!! You know, whenever I leave this thread I see countless threads titled "stop hating", "leave Francis alone", blah blah blah. What a bunch of stupid bullpoo. So many people here want to give Steve the benefit of the doubt. Fine. But since we all know for a fact that had Cuttino said this stupid crap 93% of the board would be demanding that he shut his stupid trap, or that we trade him immediately, or better we'd have huge declarations about how none of us were aware that Cuttino was the new general manager of the Rockets. Why the inconsistency? I think Cuttino is an idiot and I think Francis is an idiot. I know for a fact that neither of them carry the title 'General Manager of the Rockets' and yet they both input their opinions. Fine. Cuttino acts like a simpleton by changing his mind with phrases such as "well... Steve and I now think". And now we have a statement by Steve insinuating that he doesn't think Ming will help his game. And we have Clutch and Doc adding that Steve is pissed. All that being said, it seems as if some of the big Cuttino bashers are pulling their punches when it comes to Steve. Where's the beef? You Cuttino bashers, count thyselves!
hey, leave Cutty out of this bastid!! I know how it tis thusly. Postersth cannot take hearing faults of their idols, even if they are legit faults. What makes me laugh is when people call Francis a "proven" player. He hasn't proven anything yet, imo. He has a ways to go, and is a work in progress(at least I hope so). We need a new scapegoat, Walt is gone.
Last year - Hakeem sucks, get the hell out olajuwon, this is Steve's team. This year - Steve sucks, get the hell out francis, this is Ming's team. This place can be very amusing.
Jerry Krause selected Elton Brand over Steve Francis three years ago. David "Beezelbub" Falk helped Krause make that decision, i.e., I'll steer my clients away from you if you don't take my boy (paraphrasing). Priorities and views change over the course of three years. If the Bulls are so hot on Jay Williams, why not Steve Francis, a 3-year veteran? Maybe Krause is interested, maybe not. But I don't think we're "stuck" with Steve if he puts us in a bad spot. Hopefully, the clouds will part, and Steve will look heavenward and see the radiant light. (I had to put in some Pollyanna two cents' worth.)
I think it's serious to think about trading Steve. Rather than write an essay, here's a bullet-point-style summary, - He doesn't have great court vision - How many times have you seen Steve make a great pass? Not too often. Even his alley oop passes to Cato are more the result of Cato's ability to move without the ball than Steve's court vision. The end result is that the Rockets rarely get easy baskets. Not good for a PG. - He can't run the break - If you watched the Rockets last year, you don't need an explanation. If you didn't, let's just say the end result of most fast breaks run by Steve was a charge and not a basket. Not good for a PG. - Turnovers - This is the result of the afore mentioned lack of court vision and his tendency to lose the ball when doing his playground tricks. Not good for a PG. - Clique attitude - I don't think it's an exagerration to say that only certain players get the ball from Steve. Granted, some players don't deserve the ball much, but only passing the ball to Cuttino or Moochie isn't going to win games. Not good for a PG. Defense - Steve is a sieve. Not good for any position. Steve=Cuttino - Not saying they're necessarily equal in talent, but can anyone name something that one player brings to the team that the other doesn't? Their strengths and weaknesses (one on one moves, no D, similar shot preferences and FG percentages) are pretty much identical and that leaves us with a very porous and one-dimensional backcourt. When you look at the great backcourts, the players tend to complement one another and fill in the gaps of the others games. The fact that Steve has a good shot and great athleticism won't mean jack if he continues to suck in all other aspects of the game. And the fact is, he hasn't shown improvement in "basketball smarts" at all during his 3 years in Houston. I'm trying to think of a PG who started his career with a low basketball IQ but eventually became a smart (and successful) player, and I'm drawing a blank. The last four PGs who led their teams to the finals (Zeke, Payton, Stockton, and Kidd) all came into the league as smart players. Granted, they all needed some time to improve various facets of their games, but none had the glaring weaknesses that Steve does (especially with their court vision and defense). And I don't think Steve's athleticism is enough to balance the scales - Darvin Ham is a freak but nobody is treating him like a franchise player. Not to mention the fact that athleticism isn't eternal - time or one injury could make Steve another Penny Hardaway (a whiny little b**** who never learned enough about the game to compensate for his lost hops). It's time to see what we can get for Steve. We don't have to trade him necessarily, but it might be good for his ego to be taken down a size.
When the Rockets win their first game, there will be no more problems. When Steve avgs 11 assists a game (passing to Ming for a dunk), and when Ming gets double team and passes out to Steve or Mobley or Rice for the three or jumpshot, all will be forgiven. Winning cures all, look at Kobe and Shaq, exact same deal, and now they are calling themselves a dynasty.
