Dude, not one of those reasons above will make the Rockets better. How would Francis make this team any better? Stuart
Your probably right, it could spell the end of our hopes, based on stats. I just see something different in steves game, something that impressed me, he just works so hard. I have been impressed with alston, and pg isnt our strongest need. knowing our luck, we would still miss the playoffs, get a top 13 pick and lose it to orlando, while they run to the playoffs next year. Im not giving up on the team, not even close, i expect another second half similar to last years. thats just the way houston is. Look at the astros, last years rockets, the texa....scratch that last one. i will stop dreaming, and realistically another small deal or two like last years, and we can make a run at the 8 spot. francis would be nice, but a backup swingman another big man for DA will be sufficient.
We don't need his ego and the potential for a disaster on our hands. Francis is like a little girl. I love the guy to death but we all know when he's not happy, you're going to hear about it. Theoretically, what if we traded for him and he didn't like his role here? He's not going to just suck it up and accept a diminished role, he's going to cry and pout about how he's being under utilized...blah blah blah. It might be worth the risk if he was on a moderately sized contract such as Artest's or Ricky Davis's, but not at full max value. With the way our roster is shaped up now he's simply not a good fit in a line up that features T-Mac/Yao. (Notice: I said features T-Mac/Yao, no room for a 3rd feature player) Francis doesn't even have a position when you think about it. He's too unreliable to handle the ball and isn't a good enough shooter to play the off-guard. Sure he can ISO and break people down, attack the basket, etc but that also involves him having the ball in his hands which is always something to make you nervous anyways. We already have two All-Stars, the objective now is to place the proper supporting personnel around them. Adding a thinks-he's-better-than-he-really-is, max contract, combo guard that's mentally weak and has potential to be a cancer doesn't make much sense regardless of how good he is.
The only way Steve's having a role on this team... the only way he could even be a possibile FIT on THIS team.. is if he had a smaller contract and came off the bench as a major spark plug.. There is just no way you put a T-mac and a Yao on a team and make, Steve-must-have-ball-in-hand- and-iso-to-be-effective-Francis, the main ball distributor... no way..
It looks like most think we are better with Alston as PG. What if the deal was Swift + Head + expiring contracts + pick, and we kept Alston to handle the ball. Does anyone think Steve could be transformed into a catch and shoot SG? Would he be happy as a SG and not the primary ball handler, and as a third scoring option?
