Steve Francis's leadership under scrutiny

OK then, let's start Moochie at point guard...

 

OK so Steve had a stat line like the following:

31 pts
6 rebounds
10 assists
8 steals

and from this you determine that he is no leader.

The last few games have been very telling for Steve. His assists have steadly gone up and the passing offense seems to be taking root with the team. We are missing our 2nd leading scorer yet we are in every game we have played since the Dallas game ( in which we could have very well have won that one too).

Yesterdays game was lost due to a turnover and missed foul shots ( both by the same player ). Steve's shot at the end just missed.

You are not going to win every game and the Rockets are still a very young team like it or not. They are learning to play together and trying to institute a new offense AND a new big man who missed training camp.

SF is one of the elite guards in the league and one of the top PG in the league. The numbers speak for themselves

 

"Yao is great, SF needs to improve his game by learning from him."

He's a rookie that's played a handful of NBA games, with some nice patches of play. But at this point, that's all they've been. He'll get more consistent, and that's something he can learn from Stevie. I think that Francis has shown himself to be effective, even when he isn't on his game, like getting to the FT line in the Clippers game. And Francis knew when to get the ball to Rice when he heated up.

Honestly, it seems like there are more Yao Ming fans here than Rockets fans these days.

 

What about the 8 steals?
Trash him for screwing up..ok
but at least give him credit when he does well...

Francis will be fine..he wants to win and will do anything to make it to the big game..even change the way he plays..

once again, I implore you to learn patience grasshopper..

 

Gee, how about we call the NBA and see if we can get some of the turnovers taken away??

As long as he LEARNS from his mistakes, then it's OK. Hell, Jason Kidd has had turnover totals of 7, 8, and 7 this year, and he's considered the best point guard in the NBA

 

The problem with Steve at the moment is the type of turnovers he had(Moochieitis), they were really stupid turnovers. He should soon cut those down to half.

 

jlaw,

SF would not be a passing PG, and trust me, he won't want to learn from Yao. Every player has his own personality.

I think you probably want SF to pass the ball to Yao a lot more. That's not going to happen, because SF is a shooting guard in his heart. You try to make him a passing guard? That would only make things worse because you make him play in a way he doesn't like to, thus lower SF's efficiency.

We would need a real PG, but there's no way you could change SF into one. SF is like Iverson, just with better FG%.

 

If Yao switched teams, saaay.. the Grizzlies, how many ppl here would drop the rox and become "Grizzles fans". How bout the same for Francis, how many ppl would switch? You guys aren't true rockets fans then!
Ming seems to have brought in a plethora of Yao-only fans, which is why many of the true rockets fans are getting annoyed. You don't support the team, you support Yao. I think Francis has established his role on this team as a leader. Stop harping on Francis for having 8 to's, and yes although everybody agrees he should do better and cut down on some stupid to's, not all of those to's are his fault. Also remember when Francis had those games when he had a grand total of 1 to? I didn't hear you yelling your head off then. Yao is smart, but he's a f'ing rookie in a new system. You want him to come in and automatically take the reigns of the team, put the team on his back and carry them? He's got enough pressure already and he's still on a learning curve. He may become a leader in the future, and that may be a very good thing for the rox, but quit your whining for now. In 02-03, this is still Steve's team.

 

That may appear that way but SF still averages more assists, rebounds, steals, and less number of shots than Iverson.

Remember that Steve is the one who wants to play PG. He wants to get better and be more of a team player. Steve has made great strides toward that this year considering he never had as many weapons to pass to then now.

Yes , you are correct that his turnovers are a concern but that is all part of the learning process. Also true that he has been around for a few years but argueably this is the 1st year he had the team around him to REALLY start to learn how to be a team leader and floor general. Give him a little time before you judge him.

Look it took even the great Jordan many years before he figured out how to trust his teamates and then the Bulls took off.

 

Wow, I had no idea that turnovers were separated into "stupid" and "non stupid" categories. Did the NBA just come up with this new stat, or has it been around for a while?

 

Yeah, didn't you know? If a player commits a non-stupid turnover, the opponents aren't allowed to score from the ensuing possession.

 

Honestly, a person can one or both. I happen to be both.

I feel the Rockets are a much better team with Steve than without...period.

One more thing of note...Steve is not yet as good as he can be, which is not good news for the rest of the league.

 

Why don't you go game-by-game and look at Jason Kidd's numbers in the turnover department. The last time I looked, his TO/game was higher. Why not question his leadership abilities? Oh that's right, his team's winning. I guarantee that if the Rockets were winning, nobody would give a flip about Steve's turnovers or his "leadership abilities". Is Steve the decision-maker that Kidd is? No. But don't just point to his turnovers and somehow question the game he had. That's insane... the guy nearly had a quadruple double (quintuple if you count the turnovers... ).

 

Kidd averages more turnovers in less minutes than Francis as of today. Kidd must suck.

 

SF was not in the right mood yesterday. I think he can pay attention to these two things:
first, don't show his frustration. he was slaming the ball in the first half. he could have got a technical. it also frustrates whole team. A leader should not do that often.
second, don't go airbone without knowing what he is gonna do. That caused two or three turnovers yesterday.
Don't put more pressure on Yao. let him play his role, a rookie for now. when he had hot hands, pass the ball to him more. he was quite consistent on D now.