Drewdog, He was not acknowledged in the Top 200 high school prospects. If you want to know about college, ask RockenRam5; he was at Rhode Island with Cuttino. I'd like to add another thing about the in-yo-face dribbling that everyone hates. If Mobley has learned to shake his head like that by reflex, it can have some advantages. Disrespecting your opponent In Their Face while ISO'd can make people overplay you...which is a mistake. Mobley is likely sizing up the opponents feet and picking his moment when one foot comes forward or back, which means he can attack the forward foot. When a guy accepts a challenge from talking **** to them, they often overplay you. My feeling is, Mobley is getting pretty damn good at getting players to overplay him one way or another, and they don't need to make much of a mistake for him to get by them. My feelings about Francis are that all his showing off has little to do with gaining court advantages.
It kind of makes sense now why Rudy would go to Cuttino so much. All of those jacked shots, airballs and turnovers - as well as layups, 3's and oops - served their purpose well. We have the makings of a backcourt of historical significance. Webber who? J/K! ------------------
Why do we have such a hard time complimenting Mobley or Francis with out trying but down the other. Drewdog and HP, its ok to love both Francis and Mobley. Its also ok to like one better than the other with out giving back handed compliments. Both players are young and are still maturing and learning the pro game. Both players are all star calliber and we are lucky to have both. We have the best backcourt in the game. Period. Both have skills that have won them players of the week. ------------------
4chuckie, No, they say Steve doesn't have the assist numbers, because he is a hybrid PG/SG and Rudy's system precludes it...like Marbury/Payton aren't PG/SG hybrids. Plus, if they really believe the system precludes big assist totals (which I believe is spot on), then why all the dissing that Mobley doesn't have 4-5 assists like unselfish SGs like Kobe and Stackhouse, for crying out loud....because the system precludes it in this early stage of team growth.
Didn't Cassel goto San Jac too? San Jac put out some ballahs. Rocket River That is Rudy's real secret ------------------
While I have certainly been one of the harshest critics of both Mobley, and Francis, I am REALLY glad they are on my favorite team. The truth is that all GREAT players are cocky, now I am not saying either Cat or Franchise are great....yet !!! However, to even have a chance at greatness you need to feel you are better then the other guy. They both do immature things that make me just cringe, but then both of them do some amazing things too, and I for one am happy as heck to be 9 games over .500 this year. My only regret, is that I wish Dream could have stayed healthy to help this team with it's playoff push. GO ROCKETS !! DaDakota ------------------ If you like RTS games, check out this one. www.frontierwars.com coming soon to a PC near you.
HP, I could'nt agree more about all the Mobley bashing titles, especially after he wins player of the week. I think Mobes has made huge strides in improving his decission making since moving into the starting line ups. We will still have to live with the occassional bonehead decissions such as running out the 24 second clock but such is the life of many a young guard when asked to take on such a large role in the offense. Besides with all the other intangibles that Mobley brings I can easily live with the natural growing proccess he will continue to go thru. There is no doubt that Mobley and Francis are good for each other. It is hard for a team to concentrate on Mobley for fear of Francis and it is like wise hard for a team to soley concentrate on Francis for fear of Mobley. And there is no doubt that teams respect Mobes ability to brake a defense down off the dribble. The Rockets have a true once in a life time backcourt with Francis and Mobley. But they are both young and we all need to be patient with their growing proccess and really appreciate what we have while we have it. ------------------
Reading these posts have given me a greater appreciation for the two best starting guards in the NBA. In my opinion, both have faced adversity, and both have overcome them in great fashion. Perhaps this is the reason behind Francis and Mobley's close kinship on and off the court? Thank god they get along. Unlike the so called superstars of the Show-time Lakers. Swisher ------------------
Cuttino won the award for his fabulous numbers OTHER than scoring. Why would he start jacking up after earning the award for good all around numbers? ------------------ "That's been a lifelong dream of mine." -Vince Carter, after laying it in on a breakaway, much to the Vancouver crowd's displeasure.
Man, some of you people on this board are just KILLING me with these threads. It just pisses me off how they always evolve into a Francis vs Mobley conflict. Let me just clear this up, in no way do I agree with Drewdog's post, because it was wrong and ill timed. 4chuckie, I don't think anybody would put a player's stats over the state of the team. It was more that some were very surprised with the rebounding numbers he was putting up. I'd rather enjoy both players, than analyze a players negatives to an exaggerated extent just to hype the positives of the player I'm arguing for. HP, Now you're just surmising Francis' mannerisms. I sit RIGHT there, and trust me, he doesn't disrespect Rudy. Obviously you will see them argue more, which might be why you said that, but this is due to the fact Francis is telling him what he sees on the court, and how the defense is playing the offensive system. As far as Francis being a show off with a big ego, I don't agree. Most NBA players obviously have big EGO's for one thing, so that is not some tragic flaw. Like others have pointed out, there are no "screaming crowds" of junior colleges. They have both been disrespected. I'm sure pro scouts told Mobley he was undersized,and scouts told Francis he was undersized if he played the 2. As far as some of the things Francis does out there, EVERYBODY on this team does those kind of things, EVEN Moochie. They all do the wolfpack symbol. Also, Many people are quick to throw it in the faces of Cat bashers after a big game by him, and that's fine,but I think some people have beef because Francis is often underappreciated when he has big game( game winner vs Hawks, clutch free throws to seal games, and showing up at Milwaukee when Cat was out.) Sure, he is prone to dribbling TO's every so often,like his bad dribbling display versus the mavs, but not to the extent you are claiming. To be fair, Cat has had many careless TO's off the dribble in recent memory as well. As far as people liking Francis because he can "dunk", from a national perspective that might be somewhat true, but Rockets fans love him for his ENTIRE game, not just his dunks. How many dunks did he have versus San Antonio? NONE, but I sure as hell enjoyed watching him . You are not giving the Rockets fast break enough credit. Francis and Cat have both been pushing the pace of late, and the Rockets run ALOT. I'm pretty content with the break for now. WE have two of the best, and most consistent guards in the league. EMBRACE THEM! If someone is going to criticize a player, do it constructively. Anybody who watches the Rockets because of one player is not a TRUE fan of the team. ------------------ [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited March 20, 2001).]
A few years ago we were whining that Maloney's stat line was 35-0-12-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0. Man, I enjoy this so much more. Maloney could go an entire game without going to the basket once.
How is Francis underappreciated? The fans dubbed him "The Franchise", and for some reason, most people consider him the leader even though he is to young for that status. ------------------ Meow!
Yes, Sam went to San Jac as well. I saw him there one season when he was with the Rockets, but had hurt his leg (or something), and he refused me an autograph... I have hated him ever since. There is more to the story, but I won't go into it here. Other than Sam and Steve, Alton Lister and Walter Berry are the Ravens' only real claims to fame. They also had a huge, fat guy named Dink Peters who never wore matching socks and was basically one of the most slovenly people you will ever see on the court. He had good foot work, though. He now plays on the Globetrotters... or he did last year. ------------------ "Any event, once it has occurred, can be made to appear inevitable by a competent historian." Lee Simonson
Underapprecitaed in the sense, that not many people make a big deal when he makes big plays(hawks game, clutch free throws vs warriors and spurs, and stepping up at Milwaukee in the absensce of Cat). I'm not trying to say he's GREATLY underappreciated, but sometimes I think people take what he's doing out there for granted. If you feel he's too young, that's fine, but I don't agree. Age has nothing to do with it. It's about how you accept your role.I feel he is A leader on this team, not THE leader. ------------------ [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited March 20, 2001).]
TPL, If more objective people like you would not allow Francis exaggerations and Mobley dis-aggerations to go unanswered, I would not be saying what I'm saying. Sure, I'm being brutally honest about Francis, but what is this thread title all about? As for Francis not having crowds, I meant he had great respect on the league courts, always since he was 14 yrs old (apparently), all because he was gifted with hops. That's all I meant, not the small crowds at a minor junior college. As for the fastbreak, I brought that up to say Francis's assist numbers would be higher if he ran a fastbreak. I agree with you that our fastbreak is better since about mid-January...but that had little to do with any PG improvement brought the team, aside from Moochie showing the starting PG how to push it. The team improved as a whole. If you want to talk about the fastbreak alone, maybe we should start a new thread. I think it is overdue, and key to our development overall, not to mention selling more tickets!!!! The stats are showing that our secondary break is what is improving (because of the pushing). We still don't have much control on the initial attack.
I agree on the fastbreak. It has nothing to do with one player, but the team as a whole. It seems like the entire team has made a consistent effort to run the fastbreak more. I still do wish Francis would just turn on the jets sometime, even if he doesn't think anything is there, just to see if he can create an easy oppertunity. Somebody should start a thread about the fast break. Maybe keeping track of number of times the Rockets push the ball, success rate, and that kind of thing. I never agreed with the thread title either, but was merely giving my thoughts on what has become commonplace around here, the whole evolution of threads into Mobley vs Francis. I just thought you were mistaken in saying Francis was a show off. His dribbling is a big part of his offense, because it gets defenders on their heels, making the jump shot easier to release, and making a head fake that much more deadly. It's not any different that Cat's jab step at his defender, which like Francis' dribbling, is very important to his offensive game. And I do agree that Mobley has a chip on his shoulder. His career, thus far, has been about proving naysayers wrong. ALSO, the reason Cuttino was taken so late in the draft was because he had a very poor predraft camp.Lucky for the Rockets, they drafted him based on what they saw of him in the NCAA tournament. They saw his true character, and the clutch player we know today. ------------------ [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited March 20, 2001).]
Sorry this just bugged me... Walter Payton never skipped. Walter just crushed people upside the head with his forearms. I bet he's up in Heaven right now stiff arming Jerome Brown. Rest in Peace #34 ------------------ ``It's bigger than chalupas,''.....Wesley Person
Watching this game right now, I see where some of you are coming from more clearly. Francis is having a bad game, and if it was Cat in the same situation, I'm sure alot of people would look at this game, and make generalizations about his game that were false. Hopefully Steve can turn it around. Cat is having a nice game. Kelvin Cato, be a big man DAMNIT. My god, it's like he was purposely trying to piss off the coaches. ------------------
scarface, I'm from Illinois and lived every Sunday to see Walter. I was referring to Walter's high step to prevent ankle tackles, which Francis has turned into a show-off skip.
