Steve's crossover takes Iverson out of the game

The crowd sure loved it at the end. You could see them all jumping up yelling at them. They really liked it. I think its great to have a team like the rockets , they entertain you everynight and we get to see them all the time. Other cities I bet love it when Houston comes to town because they know they will put on some show.

------------------
"Break off the block like Maurice Green" --- Steve Francis

President of the Moochie Norris fan club.

 

Man the Globetrotter stuff really got me excited. It was almost like it was planned and they pulled off some spectacular play almost non-chalantly. Steve's no-look pass to Kenny was sweet.

------------------

 

espn and fox didn't show the Iverson deal though. TNT did. I liked how Steve stood up to Brown, he's got alot of fight in him.

------------------
"We don't have any plans. We just plan to win." Mack Brown

 

Somebody wouldn't happen to have that crossover on Iverson on video and available over the net would they? I saw Iverson crossover MJ and now I've seen Francis crossover Iverson. It was awesome.

-Turbo

 

The crossover wasn't all that on Iverson. He strained his ribcage when he tried to kick the ball on the crossover. But the one on Lynch was Niceeeee...

------------------

 

Yes, I agree with Da Man. Iverson strained his rib cage trying to kick the ball.

The big cross-over that produced the sweet 20 ft-er was on a some nameless fodder.

 

The only problem I see with his crossover is that it always leads to a jumper. I never see him him use it in combination with a drive to the basket. He needs to learn how to use to get past his defender not just create space for a fadeaway jumper. He needs to stop relying on his strength and first step to get to the basket. Other than that, I think he's the sh*t.




------------------
"Stranger things have happened, but none stranger than this" - Commentator after a parachutist landed in the ring of a Holyfield fight

 

not in the open court.

He has oustanding one-on-one dribbling skills. Personally, in the larger picture of historically great dribblers, the cross-over is highly overrated in my book. The cross-over works first because Francis is so incredible at shooting and jumping, that you cannot get in his face. You are caught between playing him close to stop the shot or backing off to stop the drive. Every dribble that he makes could be the one that he uses to drive or square up and shoot. That gets the defender shaking his ankles, not the actual dribbling display by itself...imo.

It is all his other skills that makes the cross-over work.

Fundamentally, dribbling between your legs through traffic on a fastbreak is more difficult. And the vintage Magic move of showing the ball on the fastbreak only to spin 180 and shield the ball with his body at full speed while not losing forward momentum or the location of his wingmen is rarely seen anymore.

the cross-over is more about toying with a single defender who is afraid of your jumper and your jumping. Great dribblers toy with an entire team of defenders, and make everything look effortless.

Right now, Francis is a great showcase one-on-one dribbler, but far from being a complete package dribbler. I'm withholding judgement on saying Francis's dribbling "is best in the league" until he shows David River's style dribbling in the open court. Remember him Keeley, Bob*.

 

I've noticed that, too. That could be just a reaction to the defender, though. As in, why drive if you have them on their heals, and they can't jump. Just square up and shoot!

He does seem not to get around his defender as easily as Mobley does. I don't think this one-on-one stuff makes someone a hall-of-fame dribbling, though. Maybe it is because I have the utmost respect for all the dribblers before Francis, that I'm not willing put him in their class. Mobley and Francis both can freeze their man to not know when he will make his move. Mobley uses a first-step to get them on their heels. Francis uses dancing with the ball to do it. Both are effective.

Can someone tell me what makes a cross-over (in and of itself) so difficult to do?

 

Nothing, I have a mean crossover. I just don't threaten anything b/c I don't have amazing steps to get around the defender.

------------------

 

Depends on what you mean by handles. If you mean the "shake and bake" aspect, he is up there, but not the best. But as HP said, he is not the best in the open court.

My favorite open court dribblers (some of them) are Kidd (probably the best), Van Exel, Travis Best, Stoudamire, and Mark Jackson. Jackson is not the fastest, most exciting player to watch, but he is one of the smartest and most efficient open court handlers in the league. In a word, effective. If I am not mistaken, he is leading the league in assist/turnover ratio right now.

As far as "handles" or flashy, ankle breaking dribbling, Stevie is good. Moochie is phenomenal!! I have seen him do some things with the ball that make me say, "How'd he do that????" Same for Jason Williams, he is exciting to watch, and Iverson, well we all know what he can do.



------------------
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

 

Yeah HOOP-T,

When you consider that Moochie doesn't have the height or leaping of Francis to make stopping his jumper or drive more difficult, it is amazing to me how Moochie can get separation from his defender like he does with less raw athletic skills than Francis. It is because Moochie is a better dribbler than Francis, imo.

 

Steve HAS an outside shot that he hits consistently, so he can use his crossover and hesitation dribble to set up the outside shot. Aren't you guys seeing him breakdown the defense, slice through the lane, then dish to a wide-open 3-point shooter? Just because he isn't finishing every drive doesn't mean he can't get by his man. the guy is a point guard, and he's doing what a PG should do: have a good outside J, create for your teamates, and hit the big shot whenever we need it.

As for handles, how the hell are you going to tell me Damon Stoudamire is up there??? They guy is always jacking outside shots, and when he does go inside he has to do that annoying jumpstop plus a hop (travelling) because he has no hops. Iverson was THE FIRST to unleash the new age crossover, so pay him his respect, but Steve is definitly a better ball handler than most gurads in the NBA.

------------------
Kobe ain't Jordan, unless you listen to NBC.

 

Primetime,

You are absolutely correct that Francis shouldn't look to go all the way to the rim as much as a shooting guard like Mobley can. When Francis gets into the lane, we are a much better team.

Problem is, Francis does not get into the lane or free-throw line area as much as we need. In all fairness to Francis, the opposing defenses are doing everything possible to prevent him from getting there. They always aggressively trap a pnr with Francis. It is very hard, and arguable futile to try to get around that trap. But, Mobley does get around it and into the free throw line area. Francis either shoots over the pick, runs away from it baseline, or waves the pick away and ISOs (often against the now established double-team).

This is somewhat off topic, as his success on the pick and roll is not really relevant to his dribbling, but I just wanted to respond to Primetime's comment that he gets into the lane and has success. Yes, he does indeed have success in the lane, but I'd like to see him beat the pnr trap more to get into the lane or open up the roller. He seems to give up on the pnr when he sees that trap.

 

Respect for being able to carry the ball without getting it called?