Francis has to go for this team to win consistently

As much as Yao needs to build up some upper body strength in the offseason, Steve needs to practice jump shots bigtime. I think he may be too involved with extracurricular ventures. I think he has a lot of businesses. He's not improving his game at all. Kobe shot 2000 practice jumpers a day in the offseason after the 1st Laker championship.

 

You know what I think of SF's problem. He let it become personal. It's me shooting, scoring first. Although with 11 assits, he is simply screwing up this team. He is so frustrated at not scoring that force every shots.

 

Whatever drives him to play better, i dont care if he takes it personal. Maybe he felt threatened by MJ and took it personal and thats why he got 13 assists tonight?

 

Holy shiznit, you're right! How did THAT happen? Seriously, he had nearly twice as many assists as points!

 

He should have had more. I'll admit that he played great for 3 quarters but when the fourth rolled around, the Rockets had nearly no set offense. Francis should have been riding JJ and MoT in the fourth. Instead, he got caught up in the Kings' game. If you want to fool yourself that Stevie had a good game because he had 13 assists, then go ahead. I'll remember his 1-6 in the 4th, including a couple of times he was bailed out by the refs.

 

I did notice after Bibby hit that big three that put the Kings up(I think it was 84-83 at that point), Steve immediately came down the floor and forced up a bad shot. He has to learn that this is not a one-on-one street game out there. There are 4 other players on the court. Ignoring them in order to get yours is not the way to win in this league.

 

Which begs the question: Why didn't JVG have Mark Jackson in there near the end? Sure, he's no 3-point threat, but SOMEbody has to be in charge out there, and Francis clearly wasn't.

 

Jackson is great back up, and I think we did great picking him up. But even with him there are times when the offense just isn't the same.

I don't think Steve is a great floor general, but I do think the offense knows their roles better when Steve is on the floor. It also keeps the defense honest.

Even a slumping Steve still commands some respect from the defense.

 

JVG needs to start coaching out there. His 2-man rotation is starting to take it's toll, and who know what kind of effect it will have come April. The fact is Steve can't be playing 45 minutes a every game.

Sure, Pike wasn't shooting well, but how long is JVG going to sit this guy? Padgett is probably the only Rocket, besides JJ, that is earning minutes, yet Padgett isn't getting them. The guy gives energy, shoots the lights out, and does everything that he can do, yet he doesn't play.

 

Look, JVG can coach all he wants but when his maximum-contract player is absolutely lost out there, afraid to shoot, screwing up when he does....

Does anyone else think that Steve's collapse has coincided with the arrival of Mark Jackson? (The "slump" started with the departure of Rudy; put JVG in there and poof!, add that to the zone defenses and Steve is a ghost of his former self.) Basically JVG is saying, "Steve, you can't play point for shiznit, I'll bring in someone who can."

It's the truth, but aside from that, it has to affect the player.

Yao has shown improvement. Steve has shown the willingness to do what is needed (with some prodding along the way) but he has been completely emasculated. His laissez-faire coach is gone, his team has been usurped, someone is calling him out, people are saying he sucks, he has a new max contract and is having the worst season of his career.

The offense needs to go through Yao. I think Yao is hesitating too much because he knows the team also belongs to Steve. But Steve....well, all this is messing with his head.

Steve Francis can be a healthy younger less profane version of Allen Iverson.

Washington. Chicago. Milwaukee. Love to have him.

Cato? Even better. As long as we get a backup center in the deal.

 

Steve threw up 17 shots. He wasn't exactly deffering to his teammates. He got 13 assists because Jackson hit 11-12 shots. That isn't an improvement in passing, it is one guy shooting 100% for most of a game. Steve played like crap tonight. Half the time he just charged into the middle of the defense and prayed to get bailed out by the refs. This season, Steve is not giving us anything that a guy like Charlie Ward, someone making 1/10 the money could. That is why we should trade Steve for a forward or two. Don;t worry about getting back a point guard in the deal. Later you can trade Cato or Taylor for someone along the lines of a Lue, or you can just sign a veteran in free agency.

 

You know what? It helps he he doesn't take so many bad shots, missed layups, and turnovers. When JJ, MoT and Yao are on, it helps if he can simply knock down a wild open shot, or knows what to do next when he comes in to the lane.

SF is one of the major reason, as long with transition defense, of why we lost today, period.

 

here we go

 

why are people asking for mj to play in this game?

he had as many turnovers (4) in 12 minutes as steve did in 44, including a stupid behind the back pass that didn't get there, he had 10 less assists, and he bricked both of his shots just as badly as steve. at least steve was challenging bibby and bobby's shots, mj had no chance.

and SM, now when steve racks up asts it's b/c his teammates shoot good? i'm sure you're right there to say he has low assists b/c his teammates shoot bad right?


as far as bibby torching francis? yeah, i could see if he just kept beating steve off the dribble and was disrupting the entire defense, but he didn't. he pretty much took jump shots off picks that our big men never show on and he was hitting like crazy. steve can't possibly get around a pick and still challenge the shot well enough on his own. and bibby took a bunch of shots that were challenged (his last 3 steve would've fouled if he was any closer). the only bad play i can remember was when steve sagged off, then ran out at bibby, got pump faked and bibby drained the jumper. other than that, what wide open shots did bibby have that weren't off picks where no one helped?

oh, and if i recall the first quarter correctly, bibby hit a 3 on jj (off a pick), got a 3 pt play on jj, got a 3 pt play on boki (not peja aceman), and a ft after mo fouled him about 28 ft from the basket. so i count at least 10 points of his 12 that didn't involve steve francis guarding him. but i guess he still torched him.

and as was pointed out, his total contribution was 7 pts plus 13 asts X 2 plus 3 pts for 3 3's hit on the assists for 36 pts. bibby had 28 and 2 assists. but i'm sure if steve had 28 pts and 2 asts and we lost everyone would be happy, right?

as for his shooting, steve is atrocious right now and we need to let him find some sort of comfort zone. you can tell he's not sure if he should pass or shoot so much of the time (maybe it's just part of the process) but you can't shoot well when you're indecisive like this. let him iso some, isos are not all bad like people make them out to be. they do produce things like layups, drive and kicks, and getting big men in foul trouble. it's just moderation is the key.


oh, and get the syrup cuz dadakota's waffling again.

 

What's all the fuss about...the explanation for the loss is simple:

"Steve Francis didn't make the shots he normally makes" .

 

If his teammates consistantly shot at under 30%, I might agree with that statement. Jackson shot over 90%. Outside of Steve, the starters shot about 60%. You would have to be a r****ded multiple amputee to not get 10+ assists when the players are shooting like that. Normally, the Rockets are pretty good shooters. Cat and Jim both shoot around 40% from beyond the arc, which are all usually assisted shots. So no, he doesn't get low assists from his teammates shooting poorly, he gets low assists because he shoots too much. He shot too much tonight (if you miss 14 shots, odds are you shot too much), but the other players were on fire, inflating his assist total. I know you are a big Steve fan (why else eould you want him to be president ), but you don't need to be a genius to see that he is one of the worst playmaking PGs in the NBA.

 

Bibby hits wide-open shots; SF sometimes makes very athletic shots after bouncing off 1-3 bodies in the air. It's the difference between a billiards champion and a trick shot artist.

 

interesting statement. . . .because to the CASUAL fan
it is exactly what they like

The Casual fans like Dunks and ONE ON ONE etc

The Die Hard Basketball fan
the ones watching WNBA, College and high school
Breaking down game tape etc. . . .it ain't for them

Rocket River

 

If Steve Francis could hit a curve ball, he'd be roaming Center Field for some MLB team.

If intercepting passes and returning kicks was as glamorous as crossingover a defender and dunking over them, Francis would be in the NFL.

Steve Francis is a great physical specimen who happens to play basketball. Steve Francis is a better athlete than anyone in the Kings' rotatation. Everyone in the Kings' rotation is a better basketball player than Francis.

Francis loses his BYC status this summmer. Not sure the Bucks would do it, but TJ Ford, Tim Thomas and Michael Redd for Francis and Cato + $1.3m of the TE works capwise.