I'm not counting on much from Steve. I think that the reason these players make it to such high levels of play is that their minds beleive they can do anything. I think most of all it's just mental for the guys who succeed. They have such a solid mind set that they push their bodies to the absolute limit. Steve is going to beleive he can make it. We fans think he can make it. But, does his body follow suit? When the bodies capability diminish, even the toughest mindset won't enable someone to become NBA material, if their body is no longer to that capability. All those great athletes end their careers mostly when their bodies can't do what their minds tell them to. Some need to experience that decline in play to realize that their time is done. Here's to hoping that Steve could come back to his healthy productive self. That would be something if he got come back player of the league or something like that.
A healthy SF3 means we have 4 legitimate stars. The big 4 baby. It's not about believing at this point. We all know what steve can do when he's healthy - and he's healthy. He's taken his time to get healthy, and it's clear from his weight loss to his training regiman. The guy isn't going to be playing 30+ minutes a game, so I doubt the NBA season will wear him down. He'll be back, and a solid contributor.
keep working steve i'm rooting for you I hope tracy can show why we traded for steve and steve show why we shouldnt have traded him. what a perfect world we would be in
Its hard as a long-time Houston Rocket fan to not think of the possibilities of Francis coming off the bench with a scorers mentality, and being the player he can be. Steve Francis driving to the rim results in alot of freethrows and wears down opposing defenses. In the game with shooters such as Barry and Battier it just opens up the lane for Francis bread and butter. These pictures only clarify how dedicated he is this summer to getting ready to help this Rocket team to a Championship run. Not many backup point guards in the league have the abilities that Francis have. I for one, am excited.
I like many Houston fans are not counting on Francs. He is not in our initial plans for teh season, becasue there is a big question mark on him. He is not only returning form an injury but isn't a spring chicken anymore. Sure he is young compared to the Duncan's and Shaq's of the NBA but old enough to be wary of his recovery. If he does recover well though he can be a good spark off the bench.
Considering his competition of Luther Head and Aaron Brooks, and last year Mike James and Bobby Jackson, and before that backups being John Lucas and Vassilis Spanoulis... holding Francis mostly on a standard of "facilitator" and distributor is really almost unfair.
Steve-Tracey-Yao-Artest the fantastic four quad Rockets 4 lead clover 4 R's Rafer and the all-stars it's time it's now it's dynamite! it's star wars. it's razzle dazzle time. time for tinman to get in here and do his thing, because this is going to be a fun year to be a rockets fan. it's fireworks. big fireworks. the rockets red glare is making a comeback.
OMG you got me so crunk right now just reading your message. Please comeback Francis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J1zRzPDMmU
Honestly, it's too early to be talking about 4 stars with Francis. If anything, Scola is our 4th star, not Steve. As big of a Stevie Franchise fan as I am, the reality remains that Steve failed to contribute greatly last season when he was relatively "healthy," so coming back after a major injury with a lot of down time, I doubt he'll be able to produce any kind of 4th star numbers. I hope Steve pops out of nowhere and proves me wrong, but realistically, we shouldn't be counting on him too much.
I don't think you got the bulletin, Homie3. Francis failed to contribute last season because he was injured. He hasn't been healthy since this tendonitis in his knee started when he was still with the Knicks. So the major injury you mention is the REASON he was unable to contribute much.
I agree. Have the doctors cleared him to play basketball yet? I remember it was going to be Augustish before they cleared him to begin full activities. DD
I'm all for giving Francis a chance to prove that he can contribute. However, I'm a little wary of this turning into an ambiguous situation similar to Bonzi Wells under JVG, where a player keeps coming in and out of the rotation, getting some playing time once in a while but not really decisively settling into a role. I thought this really hurt the team's chemistry that season. I don't want something similar happening with Francis. It would not only hurt him but would also prevent the crucial evaluation and development of Brooks as the backup PG.
I don't hate Stevie. He and Yao were my guys. I think I lost a little love for him with the Super Bowl thing. Then I lost some more love for him when I started to feel like he didn't much care about bball anymore. Thinking SF has lost his game is not the same as hating him. I hope he becomes an all-star this year. Unfortunately, I think he is not going to crack the rotation.
why is the super bowl thing such a HUGE issue? he wanted to attend the super bowl, which is in houston after a very long time, and who knows when it comes back. secondly, he caught a private flight to make it into phoenix well before the game time. it was a regular season game. i dont see the problem with this... maybe he should have ran it by JVG ahead of time. but i think this is JVG being his anal self. i love him as a commentator, but he is def no players coach, ie Adelman, Rudy.
Well if you've ever been part of a team, you know it's a big deal. You wouldn't see Steve Novak or Aaron Brooks doing it because they know it wouldn't fly. Much less should you see the leader of the team doing so simply because he's Steve Francis, cuz he thinks he can get away with it. If the coach just lets it fly by he's showing favoritism and though his teammates might not say anything, they wouldn't like it. You wouldn't see John Stockton pulling that stuff. Steve was the leader of the team, but he failed to act like it. If he really wanted to go to the super bowl, he should have cleared it up beforehand and made sure it was OK.
