Steve is the #2 pick and Baron is #3. 1) Rockets missed each of four years of playoff(West), Hornets made all four years playoff(East). 2) Team Chemistry: New Orleans > Rockets( past four years ) 3) Players Stats: Steve == B. Davis 4) Basketball IQ: hard to say. 5) Play Maker: Steve < B. Davis 6) Their Backups: Moochie < any 2 string backup PG in the league.
A major flaw in the comparison you're trying to make is that the Eastern Conference is much weak than the Western Conference. If you just take the Rockets' record from last year and put them in the East, they would have been the 7th seed. BUT, you have to take into account that 52 out of the 82 games the Rox played were against the much stronger teams in the West (the Hornets played 54 of 82 against East teams), so the Rox surely would have had a better record if they had played in the East and could've very realistically been the 4th or 5th seeds. How do you measure team chemistry? I don't think the Rox had bad chemistry last year at all. They just didn't play in the most effective system to maximize each team member's talents. That's all. Nobody complained. Everybody got along. Suggesting that Baron's stats is comparable to Steve's is blasphemy, although I would agree that Baron may be the better playmaker. There's absolutely no contest though in scoring, 3P shooting and rebounding. In terms of Moochie, unfortunately, I'd have to agree with you, as I can't think of any worse backup PG off the top of my head.
You can't say last year's Rockets got much better result playing against eastern team comparing to western teams. They lost once to Heats, Bulls, Hawks, Cavaliers, Bucks, lost twice to Knicks.
It is easy to judge a team chemistry. If you see a lot of forced shot instead of passing to wide open guy, you know it is a bad chemistry team. Just take a look at the value of assists/turnovers. No one say Kings is a bad chemistry team.
True, the Rockets didn't play particularly well against the East last year, but they were still better against the East (17-13) than the West (26-26). If they had played 54 games against the East as N.O. did last year, assuming the same winning % against East and West foes, it would have given them 2 more wins, which would put them in the 6th seed in the East playoffs. I suspect if the Rox really did play 54 games against the East though, their winning % would have been better given the larger sample size, because the West simply was much, much better than the East last year. They were 250-170 for a winning % of 0.595 against the East. That is simply dominating. You also have to take into account that the Midwest division, against whom the Rockets play the most of their games, was by far the strongest division in the league. They had the 1st, 2nd and 4th best teams in the NBA last year. So I don't believe that playoff appearance is a good indicator for the strength of these 2 teams. The Rockets' record last year was good enough to make the playoffs in the East without any corrections for the weakness of the East.
Baron is a better player now, he can give you 20 points, 10 assistants almost every night, which Steve can have in 1 of 10 games probably. Steve has a lot to learn from him. For now I will take Baron, he could be a better teamates for Yao, they can make the other better.
Well remember, we will get to see how New Orleans fairs in the ole Western conference next year with the new realignment due to the expansion Charlotte Bobcats. Baron Davis is a great player but next we will get to see how great. At this point though I will still stay with Steve. Baron Davis also always seems to get hurt a lot.
I saw Baron play the Lakers last night. He was unstoppable. Had like 23 pt and 12 assists. I'd say he's playing better than Francis right now. That doesn't mean he's a better player though.
I'd still take Steve. Steve is still tryin to learn a new offense, where Yao Ming is the focal point. While in New Orleans, Baron Davis is really the only good player they have w/ Jamal Mashburn out
I live in New Orleans.... Rox still my favorite team.... having lived in H-town 17 yrs. Francis is playing decent ball right now.... still has problems with TO's, playing out of control at times, and sometimes taking ill-advised shots. B Davis is the best point guard in the league right now.... I know some of you are going to make an argument for JKidd and marbury, francis.... just look at the stats, standings, record.... B Davis right now is the best point guard in the league IMHO. PJ Brown sure does remind me a lot of Otis Thorpe.
Steve- better shooter and scorer, more consistent. Baron- a better PG, but gets injured too much. I wouldn't want him cuz of his knees.
Baron has had a better season thus far, but Francis was MUCH better than him last season; I'd wait a little while before making this judgment.
