Did anyone see this? On "Inside The NBA" tonight, Barkley made some crack about how Yao Ming didn't score in his first game and then went on to say "Pass the ball Steve Francis" several times. Looks like Barkley seems to agree with many of the Francis haters here.
He said Francis and Mobley, then he said that Ming needs to grab more rebounds. People have to have patience with Ming. Barkley didn't mention it, but several times Francis and Moochie passed the ball to Ming and he turned the ball over. Ming has to get those nerves out of his system.
this is not the first time barkley has called out francis and mobley for not passing. He did it last year too. And imo he's correct. barkley made a joke at last year's slam dunk contest. Mobley tried to alley opp it to francis on one of the dunks. It was a horrible pass. Barkely said, something like, well what do you expect, cuttino's never passed the ball in his life how's he going to throw a good alley opp
barkley is wearing out his welcome... when he retired...everyone knew hed go into broadcasting...but i dont know.... he seems to say stuff, and expect to get away with it, because he knows hes charles barkley...like he realizes the stupid shtick he has created...its like "im charles barkley...listen to me say something contraversial, so i can be charles barkley and make some money"....look at his face after he says something...its like..."yeah...what do you have to say to that, im charles barkely, and i just said something no one else would say"...i dont know...its just tired...i see right through the guy..
I doubt Barkley even watched that game and just wanted to poke fun at Steve. Remember how Steve always talked about how he looked up to Chuck and was glad that he was there his rookie year, then Chuck came out one day talking about the problems of the younger players and he called out Steve and Mobley saying that they never listened to him? I think Barkley doesn't like Steve all that much. By the way, should Jordan have given the ball up to Kwame Brown last year? Same situation if you ask me.
I'm definitely not a francis hater! In fact, he has become one of my favorite players, and I love to watch him play, but he DOES need to learn how to play the point guard position. he has to get his teammates involved every chance he gets, and he has to set the game tempo. Otherwise let him become a scorer......a shooting guard, if you will? Seriously....you've all heard this before, and I actually just thought of it, but why doesn't Rudy sit Francis down and discuss with him an ultimadum saying: "if you [Steve Francis] do not start playing the point like a point guard, then I have no choice but to start you at the 2 spot, and find a capable point guard via free agency or the draft." I know Francis only wants to play the 1, so don't you think he would hear what Rudy is talking about and begin to act like a point guard? I still love Francis, nonetheless! He's an NBA superstar.....you can't discredit that....the only question is if he wants to remain a star, in essence, as a shooting guard, or does he want to be the superstar at the position in which he calls himself, the point guard?
I'm as confused as you are. It is becoming more and more evident that Francis is a scorer and not a passer. Look at his latest commercial for NBA Live, all it has are plays of him over and over again, SCORING! Not one fancy pass or an assist. If this is what he does best, then why does he have such a problem moving to the two spot? He either is trying to protect Mobley, doesn't want go back on his reason for not wanting to play in Vancouver, or just wants to be in control of this team at all costs. I don't get it, the Rockets may make the playoffs this season with Francis at the point, but in the future I think the team could take a huge step forward by trading for or drafting a point guard that will get everyone involved.
don't know what's with the fuss. it's just one game. the moment boki and ming start hitting their open jumpers, francis's assist numbers will go up and i suspect ball movement will improve dramatically. even if it takes boki and yao all season to get consistent, mo, kenny and rice are coming back soon. they are all consistent, high-percentage shooters. ball movement will definitely improve if and when they return. bad outside shooting has a tendency to exacerbate bad ball movement, cuz penetrators lose faith in passing the ball back out to lower-percentage shooters, and poor shooters don't have a chance to work out their kinks, in a vicious cycle. what we get then is a bunch of one-on-one play like we saw. what i notice with teams like sacramento is that 1) their shooters are awfully consistent, and 2) even when they have off-days, their lack of a superstar scoring-oriented PGs prevent them from falling into this cycle. Basically they'll giving it to the shooters until either they work out their kinks or until they lose the game. As with any tool, the more you use it, the better it gets, and our possession of a perfect alternative (Francis versus our shooters) is then both a blessing and a curse... when we were on our winning streaks in the past, confidence in every link of the game made cooperation attractive. when that confidence isn't there, everything kinda falls apart.
I think you can always get John Stockton for Steve Francis! Maybe it has to be a stockton/Ostertag for Francis/Ming trade. Sounds fair to me!!
My advice to fans of Steve Francis and the Rockets is to stay away from the topic. Steve's good, Chucks good, Chuck knows what he is talking about and Steve knows what he is doing.
I am sorry Guys but Barkley has a valid point because 2 seasons have gone by that we should have been in the playoffs but We cant do that without proper distribution of the ball. Dont get me wrong, Steve is a great OFFENSIVE PLAYER but to be the complete player we need . His assist must come up, He needs to forget about the scoring title right now, We need wins. As far as barkley goes, He was great when he was here with us, We would have been playing the bulls for the championsip if he wouldnt have torn his Tricep muscle that last round in the playoffs. I know this might stir things up a bit but if we dont make the playoffs this year, It's probably a good idea to beg New jersey to Please trade Jason Kidd....A true point guard Who dishes out 12 assist a game.
Who cares what Chuck has to say about the Rocks? Obviously he didn't watch mutch of the game. Hell, Ming only played 11 min. turning the ball over a couple of times, missing a shot, and not grabbing any offensive rebounds. Did Chuck mention any of that and did he mention that Steve and Cat were and are our best two players and the only 2 that looked like they could do anything Wed. night?
I wish Chuckster is still in the Rox uniform. If then, at least, our guards will have to share the ball with him and will not have the freedom like they have now to do whatever they feel like doing.
I've been sitting back and reading all this stuff for years and I can't take it anymore. First off, these MASH member's have got to take off the rose colored glasses. Francis looks to score first and ask questions later. Secondly, those who routinly critisize Francis for not passing the ball need to remember their Rocket's history. This is the most individually talented club I've ever seen. The depth and potential is unbelievable. Les is right in saying this may be one of the best teams ever assembled. Francis's ability is unbelievable. Cat's offensive ability is up there and his defense may start to pick up, leaving him as one of the best all around players on the team. KT, right now is probably the best all around player. It floors me when reading about how everyone wanted to trade him just a few short weeks ago (and probably still do). Eddie is going to become a great player if his offense becomes consistent. Yao Ming, if he is able to develop quicker feet, will be a basketball god. You look at the support players like MoT, TMo, Boki, and Hawk and you've got a heck of a team. But they are all individual talent. They are not a team and whether they become one or not remains to be seen. I think if Rice can get on the floor, he will help to bring a stabilizing influence. It's got to be subtle, though, because what Barkley was trying to do by intimidating the team into playing together was like taking a two-by-four upside the head. Cat and Francis both told Barkely to take a hike. It's been noted here before but worth bringing up again: When Olajuwon first became the focal point of the offense, he scored at will but the Rockets lost consistently. Even as they began winning, they din't seem to get over the hump. It took Rudy, once he assumed the HC role, a year and a half to get Olajuwon comfortable in passing to open team mates and trusting them. And that was with a veteran team! Stop predicting championships for the Rockets in the next year or two. It's taken them three years in getting this team together. There is still some tweeking to do and they're going to have to find out in the next season or two who is here for the long haul and who is here for the stats. Once that's determined, they'll make some trades to stabilize the team and then and only then will they begin to win consistently. Getting back to Francis. I cringe everytime he brings the ball up and starts the dribbling-dribbling-shoot-run back on defense offense. It's painful to watch. But it will take time. Either Francis buys into the team concept in the next year or he doesn't. If not, he'll be one of those traded.
