'Franchise' arrived with much fanfare, departs unfulfilled

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2640447

'Franchise' arrived with much fanfare, departs unfulfilled
By FRAN BLINEBURY
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
RESOURCES

He arrived as the hope of a new generation. Stevie Franchise they called him.

Big reputation. Big burden.

In five seasons with the Rockets, Steve Francis went from the celebrated budding star who would take the championship torch from Hakeem Olajuwon to the excoriated focal point for all of the shortcomings of an underachieving team.

He could make the impossible basket to win a game and fail to make simple plays, losing two others. One trip down the court, he could jump over the moon. On the next possession, he could jump up and down on his coach's game plan.

He could make a blind pass out of triple-team coverage to an open teammate in the corner. He couldn't make a simple bounce pass or run a fast break.

Whether wearing the wild stripes of the old uniforms as the Rockets shut down one era inside the venerable Compaq Center or wearing the classy red-and-white redesigned uniform while beginning a new age inside the shining Toyota Center, Francis was breathtaking and heartbreaking, too fast and too furious, beyond restraint of a defense and out of control in his own offense, stupendous and stupid, and all that and more.

Steve De'Shawn Francis was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1999 draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies, and his first official NBA image had him wearing a scowl as he walked across the stage to greet commissioner David Stern because he did not want to play in Canada.

Two months later, Francis came to Houston in exchange for four players and a first-round draft choice, part of a three-team deal that at the time was the largest trade in NBA history.

He joined a team that revolved around aging veterans Olajuwon and Charles Barkley, but Francis immediately showed flashes of what the Rockets hoped he could become.

"Watch this kid," said Barkley. "He's got the raw skills to be something special."

"I am feeling good about coming to the end of my career with the Rockets," said Olajuwon. "The future is in good hands. This isn't my team anymore. It belongs to Steve."

Francis was named NBA co-Rookie of the Year with Chicago's Elton Brand in 2000 and dazzled the crowd at the 2000 All-Star Weekend in Oakland, Calif., where he finished runner-up in the slam dunk contest to Vince Carter.

Francis became a Western Conference All-Star starter for three straight years beginning in 2002, assuming the mantle of leadership on a young team as he was both its top scorer and quarterback.

"That's where the game should be going," said Hall of Famer Walt Frazier at the Washington, D.C., All-Star Game in 2001. "I see Steve Francis and, because of his versatility, he does remind me of myself, an Oscar Robertson, a Magic Johnson. That's what he's doing. That's where the game needs to go again."

But for all of his physical talents and gaudy statistics, Francis also bore the onus of disappointment as he failed to lead the Rockets into the playoffs during his first four NBA seasons. At the same time his No. 3 uniform was becoming a popular seller around Houston and across the nation, his name was always at the center of talk when it came time to lay the blame.

Was he an unwilling pupil under head coaches Rudy Tomjanovich and Jeff Van Gundy? Or simply the product of an upbringing that had him bouncing through several high schools, three different college years at three different schools and then early-entry jump to the NBA?

To some, he became the symbol of everything that is wrong with Generation Next in the NBA. To others, he was a young man who cared about winning, who always tried hard — too hard — to win but didn't understand the game's nuances and tried to cover up the missing knowledge with gravity-defying moves along the baseline and rim-rattling slam dunks.

During an hourlong meeting with another Hall of Famer, Robertson, at the 2003 All-Star Weekend in Atlanta, Francis listened in rapt attention as the Big O tried to explain what it meant to be a point guard, a quarterback, a true leader of a team. But from the questions Francis asked and the comments he made, Robertson might as well have been talking in Farsi for all of the message that got through.

When the Rockets won the draft lottery and added 7-6 center Yao Ming in 2002, it was believed they had their inside-outside combination and that Yao and Francis would hang more championship banners from the rafters. Yet they often struggled to coexist.

Nobody ever questioned Francis' intensity. He played through injuries and a bout with migraine headaches that were eventually diagnosed as Meuniere's Disease. He was a whirlwind of energy and emotion on the court. He was a raw nerve ending, pretending he didn't care but deeply pained by the criticism he received.

It was expected that Francis' personality would conflict with Van Gundy when the new head coach took over the job from Tomjanovich at the start of last season. The biggest sparks came when Francis chose to remain in Houston on Super Bowl Sunday — he denies he attended the game at Reliant Stadium — instead of joining his teammates for a flight to Phoenix in advance of a game against the Suns. He was suspended by Van Gundy.

After Francis' worst season in the NBA from a statistical standpoint, the Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in his career, and he played well in the first-round 4-1 loss to the Lakers