If SF is patient and wise enough, he should not worry about his playing time on this team because there is going to be a very big chance that: 1. Alston still can not shoot or create. 2. Yao and TMAC do not have enough heart. 3. Mike James and Head are just SGs. SF will be in the rotation. If not....., which means none of 1 2 3 happens, it's good too.
A good kick in the pants never hurt anyone! he just needs to regroup and understand that injury is a part of the game and he could see some time. The season never ends the way it starts. Ala Battier our starting power forward of last season's opening night.
francis should be worrying about playing time, he needs to worry more, and he needs to get his butt in gear. noone is going to just hand him a job because he is steve francis.
Fatty, have you watched the games? I'm more than willing to cut him some slack, but I've been, like a lot of people here, stunned that he showed up as out of shape as he is. Later in the thread, B-Bob mentions that perhaps his knees prevented Steve working out like one would expect, if he expected to play. Who knows? Francis isn't saying, but he DID say he was planning to "play his way into shape." If this was last year's team, with no depth at the guard spot, you wouldn't like that, but might put up with it. That isn't, thank goodness, what we're facing now. Francis probably thought Rafer was gone, and the starting or 2nd point off the bench was his. Who cares? You're supposed to show up in shape. Camp and preseason are for learning the system, chemistry, and getting into NBA game shape. Steve has, for whatever reason, not done the basics. The good news is that he doesn't appear to be in last season's Bonzi shape, or this preseason's Butler shape. Just not at all where he should be. It's on him. Is it the knees? We haven't heard that. Whatever it is, he should work his ass off so he can make the rotation. Healthy and in shape, he should be a valuable player in the rotation. Francis needs to get there. Kudos to Adelman for not handing him anything.
i just love how everyone is talking about how "out of shape" francis is right after adelman mentioned it. noone seemed to be talking about his "chunkyness" when he made that amazing dunk on the hornets. seems to be all the francis huggers are trying to come up with every little excuse why he's failing. point is, francis just isn't good. he never was, and never will be. he was overrated by an entire city and franchise. there's a reason why he was traded four times in four years. orlando didn't want him, knicks fans rejoiced when he was gone, and portland didn't even look at him.
You might try reading the board, with all due respect. The condition Francis showed up in has been a topic for quite some time. I won't repond to the mumbo-jumbo.
Out of Curiosity, I thought Steve had this intense workout program over the summer to get in shape? He had a personal training and all and flew out of Houston every week to get ready? Was this a joke or he was doing something else? I can believe he is complaining about being left out of the rotation. He is not better at this point than any of the other guards. He should be greatful he is not on the injured list. Steve, you were an all star before, so you know what it required to succeed in this league. Swallow your ego, work hard and you will get back in the rotation at some point in the season. HOPEFULLY IF YOU ARE STILL HERE! - DA
how many championships did Harper win? Who won that series? There's something wrong with you if you only remember negative thoughts of the Rockets CHAMPIONSHIPS> but then again, you are probably not a real fan, so you wouldn't know.
Out of Curiosity, I thought Steve had this intense workout program over the summer to get in shape? He had a personal trainer and all and flew out of Houston every week to get ready? Was this a joke or he was doing something else? I can't believe he is complaining about being left out of the rotation. He is not better at this point than any of the other guards. He should be greatful he is not on the injured list. Steve, you were an all star before, so you know what it required to succeed in this league. Swallow your ego, work hard and you will get back in the rotation at some point in the season. HOPEFULLY IF YOU ARE STILL HERE! - DA
i like your debate style. Here is my: there's a reason why he was picked as 2nd selection overall. raptors wanted him badly but unfortunately he didn't want to play over there. houston got him with huge cost. he won co-ROY in his first year NBA career. rox fans was thrilled when he joined rox. i like my response
I second that. Just recall what TMac had to offer, "he's a step slow. He's aged..." These could be translated into "he showed up out of shape."
You think Francis is the one to take us to the next level? The guy couldn't even take any of his teams to the playoffs and your hoping his presence is going to take us all the way?
see how blind some fans are! before responsing my post, please read the original post that i reponsed to. here quoted is from the orignal post:
btw, rafer has been our best pg among our pgs we have since the training camp started. he should be the starter just based on training camp and preseason games. but think about it a little bit deeper. don't you feel really bad? all these bashes on rafer last season suddenly gone and disappeared. wow, what happene? he is not our weak link anymore? now. let's talk about sf. as far as i know, ra mentioned sf is not in the rotation due to his playing shape. nothing else, why hell all those bball experts on this bbs trash sf unless you know more than i know. i doubt it is the case.
c'mon people, Steve is not out of shape. He still has that explosiveness, can dunk, can rebound. The problem with Steve is that his game is not effective when there are other good players in the team.
