Ok, egn, no more pointless bashing from both of us. Cordiality from both sides, agreed? Well then, the point I want to make is this: Maybe LBJ really is better than Stevie, maybe he would school him 1 on 1, maybe not. But for now, I think that Steve will fit into the team system better. Under JVG, he should flourish into the point guard that everyone on this BBS wants so badly. So if the question is who do we want on the Rockets, I'd still take Steve for right now. 1 on 1, Maybe LBJ would win because of his size advantage, but I'd never count Stevie out: just look at what he did in the dunk contest without even being able to palm the ball. He's a great athlete, so he might be able to make up for the size. As big as everyone thinks Steve's ego is, I think Bron's will be bigger. Like I stated earlier, he's been touted to turn the whole franchise around. So for whatever mistakes Francis makes, LeBron will probably make the same ones. And the age doesn't matter; they're both supposed to be mature by now because they are in the public spotlight. I don't care if you're 19 or 39, in the NBA, you should conduct yourself with class...although lately it just seems like a bunch of dumbasses doing stupid things. I'm off my soapbox now, you can return to your regularly scheduled thread.
Francis a great player? Nope! He's pretty good but he has a ways to go before he can legitimately wear the "Great" label. His numbers show him to be a contemporary NBA player which means his fundamentals need a lot of work - that's why I don't consider him a "great" player. "Great" players are fundamentally sound which Francis is not. He's a scoring PG because he wants to be period. Lebron is more of a cash machine than legitimate player at this point in time. He hasn't even played one official minute of NBA ball yet he's already a merchandising machine designed to generate dollars from the HS set. Can't wait to see his AMEX commercial...I know one is coming.
Steve Francis would fall in a category inbetween Good and Great. With Yao improving, the offense/defense improving Steve will ultimately be able to make take that step to greatness. Is he there yet? no, but he will within 2 years Lebron James right now is all hype. When he plays his first nba regular season game, then we can talk about how good he is. So far playing against high schoolers and summer league scrubs hasn't proved much to me.
You know, NBA experts can be wrong. Do you remember the "big bust" predictions of a so called 7'6" chinese player? He played in the CBA, a league worst than any high school leagues in the U.S., or was it?? Wasn't everyone ready to jump on this chinese version of M. Bol? Well, they, including Mr. Barkley, got ASS in the face. And didn't they predict that J. Williams was the next best PG to come into the NBA? Wasn't he a sure thing. GUESS NOT. My point is, until King James plays in the NBA and proves he belongs, he is only a rookie. You can predict all you want. It'll be great if he turns into a MJ or Kobe, the NBA needs superstars badly. But if he doesn't, it' ain't the first time brother. As for kicking Steve F.'s butt on the court one on one, who cares, it's a team game. BTW, if you know for a fact that King James will be one of the greatest players in the NBA but will take 3 years to get there. Knowing that, will you trade Steve for him now? Remember that in 3 years, Ming's contract is up? So do you want to risk "allowing K. James to grow up" and suffer a few more lottery years? Will Ming?? And don't give me James is better than Steve right now because he isn't.
That's different. Dicky V, Barkley and a few other media types made those assumptions because they knew very little about Yao's game. The majority of the coaches around the league that had seen Yao play, which includes the Rocket staff, scouted him for the last few years. They knew that he was not going to be a bust. Of course, he would need to make adjustment in the NBA, but that expected for all rookies. LeBron, is different. We've all seen him in H.S. Games, we've all seen him in All-American games. We've all seen in the McDonnall's Classic. We've watched him with our own eyes, looking at his compete game, his NBA body, and his maturity regarding the press. If you take a look at all of that, how can you possibly think that he's going to be a bust? You can claim that LeBron being a "bust" is not impossible...But there's a possibility that meteor will hit your house as well. It just not probable.
hmmm, hou/bos season series averages: steve francis 9-16.5 29.5 pts 9 reb 7 ast 2.5 TO jr bremer 5-11 14 pts 5.5 reb 3 ast 2 TO man steve took a torching for sure. bremer was within 16 points of steve, 4 rebounds of steve, and 4 assists of steve, and within 2 wins of steve. i hope steve doesn't get torched like this all the time next season.
dude, it's clear that he needs to stop shooting so much and lower that even more. instead of averaging his insane ballhog total of 16.2 shots per game, he needs to average jason kidd's pure point guard total of 15.6.
Oh ya, you are right. Seing someone in high school games and McDonald's classics gives us a very good impression of a players ability to play in the nba right?
Uh, yeah it does. Just merely playing in those game isn't the deciding factor. It's what he DID in those games. How he performed. And you are blind if you don't recognize the talent level play within those games. He didn't just squeak by in H.S. games. He dominated. This doesn't mean that he will dominate in the NBA. It means that he will do well. Forecast? Probably 14-16 ppg. Again, this will be a 18 year old rookie that already shows skills that make his teammates better. By the way, I was talking about why some media experts said that Yao was a "bust" and why LeBron's situation was different that Yao's.
Oh yes, thanks for enlightening me. Dominating at the high school level ensures you a status for future stardom. Well, if dominating in an inferior league guarantees superstar status in teh NBA, then Yao Ming definitely should have gotten the label as the best player to ever play in the nba. This is because Yao Ming's stats from teh CBA are much better than Lebron's stats from high school. Yao averaged 32.4 points, 4.5 blocks, and 18.9 rebounds, which is light years ahead of your beloved lebron james, who avereaged just 30.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks. In fact, Yao dominated the CBA just as much if not more so than lebron dominated the high school ranks. you are a fool if you cannot admit to this. Unless your are so stupid as to think that teh chinese professional league is worse than a high school leage, you should admit that yao ming had better stats entering the nba than lebron james.
OMG!!! He went to check if hes freakin block counted!!!! Jezzuus crist!!! The MOST SHELFISH PLAYER IN THE ****ING PLANET!!!! thats why steve is a work aholic right. Hes known for being first at practice everyday, working on his game the hardest out of everyone on the team. He wants this team the playoffs. Thats what he always talks about. If Steve Francis is shelfish, hes shelfish about getting his team to the playoffs.
the whole wave of "lebron mania" may have been overhyped; but the kids talents were never overhyped. his ability to see the floor combined with his size will allow him to make and easy adjustment into the nba. playing in hs has no comparisons to the nba game (other than the obvious) but if he can get a bunch of toddlers involved then what do you think he do with players with skills. court vision is not learned...........it comes natural!! this is why LJ is the cavs point guard. if they had someone with better ability to see the floor, they would be the point. this is part my reason why steve is terrible at point; ZERO floor vision!!!
I have eaten both lobster and crab, and, therefore, I feel relatively certain that Steve Francis is not a "shelfish."
This not that big of a deal. We only play the Cavs twice a year and King James won't play the point full-time. Not an issue.
Did't you know there is a direct correlation? The less shots you take, the more assists you will automatically get and the less likely you are to be called shelfish. Of course there's the neversatisfied phenomenon which states that if a player, such as Steve, became a pure distributor, negating his god given talents, people will be pissed again and accuse him of being to chicken to take more shots. EGN, I'll say it again, how do you know Steve told them to make sure they recorded a block? Were you sitting right there? And besides, how can you make such a huge deal over a block? Would you be more satisfied if Steve averaged over 20 shots per game as long as he never made sure the scorers recorded a block? If that's your only reason for thinking Steve is an ego maniac who only cares about #'s, completely avoiding the fact that his shot attempts went down, well than it is clear that you have other reasons for disliking him and you don't feel like sharing those. CASE CLOSED! (it's kinda cool doing this, hope T_J doesn't mind)
First off, LeBron is NOT better than Steve. LeBron could score 80 in a summer league game and still not be better than Steve. LeBron is taking on teams that will probably invite 1 or 2 players on those respective teams to camp. LeBron has talent and unlimited potential, but that has also been said about many others every year. Remember, Jay Williams as supposed to be the 'can't miss' player out of last years' draft. And look what happened to him. JWill was so used to winning at Duke, he couldn't stand losing and it affected his play. Let's see how LeBron does after only winning 25 games(if that) this year.
yeaaahhh.....no. Lebron is hyped more than those damn star wars movies. I think it's ridiculous to even compare Stevie and "Queen James". Steve has the college/ NBA experience, while Lebron had a great highschool career. There's a major difference. I see the upside for Lebron, but I HIGHLY doubt that he will ever be on the same level as MJ, Bird, Magic etc... Cod
Nope if the Rockets are smart should Lebron play point is to put someone of eqaul height on LeBron.And then have someone else guatd LeBron on d and break his lil rookies ass down
