The biggest difference between the two players is that Steve palys for a team with a poor frontline, in a conference stacked with talent, and Baron plays for a team with a deep frontline in an absolutely pathetic conference. If Davis was better, with the superior supporting cast he has, Francis wouldn't hold a 4-1 edge on Davis in their head to head matchups(and the one game Davis won, he played only 17 minutes, scoring 2 pts, grabbing threee boards, and dishing one assist - Francis had 24pts, 8 assists, 6 reb and a pair of steals.)
What the hell is this "attitude" crap? Name one instance where Steve has displayed a really bad attitude. Anyone.
Drexler, How about not listening to his Doctors and cutting out alcohol and salt from his diet? He was told this for WEEKS and he ignored it and the migraines continued. DaDakota
Do you realise how hard it is to cut salt from your diet? Its not like giving up rutabega's, salt is in EVERYTHING, and things you don't think salt is in are high in sodium.
Pued, Stop making excuses for him, many people have cut salt out of their diet.....it is not Rocket science it is SALT !! The point is that Steve did not act like a professional in this instance and continued to ignore what the Doctors were telling him. Now, does that mean that we can't forgive him? Of course we can...but at least admit that he sometimes does not do what a dedicated professional should do. Steve talks the talk, but does not always walk the walk. He is young and at least he is not AI. DaDakota
Francis gets his share of stupid t's. Lats yr during the 45 wins, guess who was behind Rasheed? Guess who didn't go to the international games? Do you think its a coincidence? Does not having your leading scoring constitute not playing with injuries? Mashurn missed 45 games and the 1st rd of the playoofs, but somehow his team was a number 4 seed. Both are good, Baron just has more control at the pg spot right now despite riding the pine his rookie yr and only being 23.
Its not excuses, cutting salt from your diet is extremely hard to do, because Salt is in Everything. Its not something thats done overnight - and it appears that he did manage to cut the salt from the diet, as his migraines didn't appear to be a problem towards the end of the season(though I could've been too distracted by our abysmal starting lineup to notice).
DaDakota, not taking doctors' advice is very different from having a real attitude problem. After Larry Bird had his first round of back therapy, he felt great. The doctors told him that he must continue with therapy, but Bird didn't bother because he felt great. A few months later, he started having back problems again. Anyone think Larry Bird has an attitude problem? Furthermore, Baron has never been put in such a situation before. Response to medical advice CANNOT be used as a comparison. I ask again: Name one instance where Steve has displayed a really bad attitude.
How can you guys knock Stevie like this as far as I am concerned he has the greatest upside of all of these pgs mentioned. His numbers really weren't bad this year ever I think that he tries to do too much perhaps because of his support. I also think that the Rox will have a good draft this year and win more consistently next year. I would do anything to draft well this year even mortgage future picks. We have some really special players already if we don't add this year and keep getting young players after this year then we will be in trouble. How ever I do believe that Franchise is the best point guard out there now and has a chance to be among the best ever. Put it this way as far as upside. 20+ points 5+ rebounds 5+ assists This in an off year, imagine that.
For some reason, I have a gut feeling that he will. I will pick him very early in fantasy drafts next season.
Using your reasoning(Which is logical, don't get me wrong), you could say that Steve does not get as many assists because of a weaker supporting cast. Steve did turn the ball over way too much this season, but those numbers are actually up from his second season. I think Steve knows that he never completely bounced back from his injury, and will (hopefully) work at improving upon this season.
For those people who say they haven't seen improvement by Steve have to give the guy a break! It is agreed that people think Baron, Kidd, and Payton are better players (not by far) because they have learned to play within the framework of the team's offense (especially Davis) rather than one-on-one. Now tell me how is it possible to do this when you miss 30 something games here and there and when you finally comeback you play in a different lineup! SOMEONE tell me how?!!