For those here who's blind faith in Steve Francis, leads you to believe that he would be a solid shooting guard, you are sadly mistaken. Proof: 1998 University of Maryland (2) versus University of Kentucky (5) This match-up, aired on ESPN Classic on Monday, was one for the ages. No, not really, but it was a match-up consisting of Maryland's athletic, first year junior college transfer, Steve Francis, and Kentucky's senior, star forward Scott Padgett. Other players included were U of K's center, Jamal Magloire and frosh. forward Tayshaun Prince. U of M's talent included frosh. point guard Juan Dixon and sophomore forward Terence Morris. In this epic battle Maryland came to the court with an athlitic three guard line-up where in which Francis did not have the duties of the point and was allowed to be the playmaker and create as an off-guard. Coach Gary Williams designed many plays for Francis to come off screens, ala Iverson, for an isolation setup. Francis used his quickness and ability to change direction to lead the Maryland attack to a tune of 25 points. Although he led Maryland in points, it was the invariable Steve Francis that has been indicative of the last four plus years as a Houston Rocket. His game, despite not having the point guard resposibilities, was riddled with all of the mistakes we see now. This takes me back to my point as to why Francis would still be the same "Francis" even if he was placed in the shooting guard role. The problem with moving Steve to this role is that he must have the ball to create. Some may think it is a good thing to allow him to create, but in reality, it is the exact opposite. When Francis has the ball, and is given the green light to create, the offense is stagnant and all ball movement is virtually dead. This is because the green light for Steve, in his head, gives him the go ahead to create for himself, and the thought of creating for the team is not an option. It is only a last resort. This is clearly seen when Francis drives the lane, and even though the paint is filled with defenders, he jumps in the air looking to score. And if that option is not there, his deliberately slow reaction time only allows for uncontrolled, off balance and sloppy passes. This was extremely prevalent in the aforementioned college game. And although he is entering his fifth NBA season, this poor decision making is still a common practice. There are a number of players: stars, role-players, rookies and second-year players and athletically challenged players alike that have a far greater decision making ability. Another problem that plagued Francis in this game, as usual some five years later, were the ridiculous turnovers. There was an array of bad passing, traveling calls, and you guessed it, the all to common, dribbling the ball off the foot, that resulted in a number of Kentucky's points. At a point late in the second half when Maryland, after trailing all game, was gaining momentum and looking to make a run at Kentucky; a critical momentum stopping call was made. Francis, trying to single handedly take the game over, was called for traveling. He decided to take a little hop before putting the ball on the floor on his way to the basket. The ref was all over it, as were the Kentucky fans. As a result, Kentucky's senior small forward Heshimu Evans, who led the Wildcats attack with a carrer high 31 points, hit a big three-pointer, swinging the energy back in the Wildcats favor. The Terps never recoverd. Actually earlier in the second half the Kentucky fans were clamoring for Francis to be called for carrying as a Kentucky player had been called for that same thing earlier in the game. Dick Vitale mentioned on several occasions that Steve should have been called for this, but he never was. Along with taking his teammates out of the game with his bad passing (or not passing), countless turnovers, ill-advised drives to the hoop (one in which he tried to jump over Magloire but was sent the other direction), and overall selfish play, he eventually made his biggest mistake by taking himself out of the game by fouling a breaking Wildcat for his fifth and final foul with some two minutes remaining. This wouldn't have been so bad if the other players on Maryland were involved and scoring, but they weren't, so they lost. Don't get me wrong, Steve was leading the scoring for the Terps, but turning the ball over and taking his teammates and eventually himself out of the picture resulted in Maryland's downfall. And also, I don't want to fail to mention the blown fastbreaks. Steve ruined at least two fastbreaks that I saw. One, of which was a three-on-one where Vitale yelled "HE'S GOT NUMBERS!!!", was one of the worst executed breaks i've ever seen. It was a fastbreak that a blind man could have easily executed. Francis was leading the break down the center of the court and had Terence Morris on his right and had the Terps senior point guard on his left. Instead of passing to wide-open streaking Terp on the wing, he decided to take this one himself. He missed the lay-up but was lucky Morris was there to clean up his garbage. And all of this despite not even being a point guard. If you move him to the off guard, all of the problems will still occur, as he has to have the ball in his hands to create. And once he has the ball in his hands you will see the same problems. And judging from what I've seen from him in this role, the problems will be worse, as he is in a position where he is forced to create, much for himself, as well, eliminating his teammates. Not to mention his horrendous defense and physical inablities. It is a Catch 22 with Steve and has been since college. You get the scoring ability and physical, leaping and change of direction ability, but on the other hand you get the turnovers, poor decision making, and a selfish mentality that sacrifices the team and single handedly sabotages the offense. He will put up solid numbers, but that will come at the expense of the team. The negatives greatly outweigh the positives, imo. In all honesty, judging from the inconsistancy he displayed during his one-year stint at Maryland, that was enough for me to know that he is not the player you build a team around. Rudy and CD share the blame for this poor decision. This was Rudy's guy and CD made it happen. They have shown they have very little competence when judging players and now it is clearly visable, with the zone defense and adaption of a system, that requires solid decision making. How long are we going to pay for these inabilities? It is already clearly obvious that Francis needs to be moved.
THis is a excellent article, i dont think people are clicking on the link becaue of the title. Where did u get if from?
Fantastic post. Very well written. I'd still run steve on the backdoor out of the triangle. That's a naturally effective position for him to use his skills. Bad thought - is JVG too proud to trade? Pride is a sin. It is the greatest of the seven deadly sins; and the proud earn their eternal damnation in the lowest circle of hell.
Steve played 1 year of high school ball and 1 year of college ball before making his move to the NBA. His athletic ability and skill has made him into one of the most elite players in the league. Yes, I do agree that he doesn't make the best play making decisions, and yes, I do believe he isn't a true PG. But the Rockets have yet to make a deal for a true PG. I truly believe that taking off some of the pressure off of SF to make plays will open back up his offensive game. Steves numbers are down and he's not playing the best basketball, but you can't say he isn't struggling to get into JVGs system. He's trying to, and he is getting stuck between both worlds, thats part of any learning process.
Sorry, but you are incorrect in a number of ways. Steve never played basketball in high school. He played at San Jacinto Junior College prior to one season under coach Gary Williams at the University of Maryland. And his athletic ability has made him into just that! Athletic. Not elite by any means. He may be the popular vote for the All-Star game, but that is what it is....... a popularity contest. Steve continues to prove year after year that he is one of the most overrated players in this league.
After San Jacinto, he went to Allegany Junior College in Maryland then on to the University of Maryland.
I was watching that game as well. Even though you make it sound like Steve had all the same problems, Dick Vitale said that he would be great, so there you have it...you're wrong and Dickie V is right
egn's act is old. He thinks he's going to prove to us how overrated Francis is, but because he is so obviously biased against him, the minute one of us begins to read his post, we tune him out. He's getting the exact opposite effect of what he intends. Rather than justifying his thesis, he's building up more support for Steve Francis, unbeknownst to him. Great job, egn. Way to turn the tide into SF's favor.
I didn't watch that game, so I can't comment much. But if Steve were making all those "array of bad passing, traveling calls, and you guessed it, the all to common, dribbling the ball off the foot", wouldn't those TO show up on the boxscore? According to the boxscore, he had only 1 TO. Boxscore: http://www.ukfans.net/jps/uk/Statistics/Games/19981212Maryland.html However, Steve's Assists to TO ratio at Maryland is actually similar to his NBA career at an aweful A/TO of 1.4 (4.9apg, 3.5to/g.) But if you look at all this other stats, you can understand why he was thought of so highly in the draft. It's interesting that Steve had only 1 year of high school bb, 1 year of junior college bb and 1 year of college bb. There are many other NBA players with even less experience, but it leave me wondering if he ever had any good coaching on the fundamentals?
dandrotik, You are so full of sh*t! There are people, including myself, who agree with egn. There are a few of you dumb---es who want to point egn out of the masses that can't stand Steve Francis because his posts go deeper than what we see the little punk do on the court and what he says in his interviews. I actually feel sorry for Steve. He thinks he's great, he's been told he's great by a few who obviously could care less about him or that wouldn't blatantly lie to his face - one day it's finally going to sink in and he's going to realize he's just not all that he's hyped up to be. It's going to take a real man (maybe JVG isn't it) to let him know his game sucks. I actually find it quite humorous how you and a few other dip****s like to single out egn when these types of posts come up. It could only mean one thing.....you're jealous!!!!! HA
Well, you have to remember that it was Francis' first year at UMD. But I got to disagree with ya if you think that game is indicative of what Steve's career is going to be like as a shooting guard. Shooting guards are supposed to score, its their job. I'll give Steve the benefit of the doubt that he will get some assists at the 2 spot. Steve has a barrage of moves, decent shot and get blow past 95% of the league's defense. nobody is perfect and Steve is no exception. Steve might not be Kobe but I think he'd be one of the top 5 SGs though. I'd really like to see Steve at the 2 spot. Maybe Mobley can come off the bench or, as much as I hate to say it, get traded for the likes of Brent Barry.
I can tell you that the boxscore is clearly wrong. I watched with my own two eyes and I can name at least 4 times off the top of my head that Steve turned the ball over in the second half alone! I am not mistaken. I am not making this up because I want Steve to be traded. If you have ESPN Classic, look for the game, and watch it yourself! That is about all I can say to this matter.
So a steve-basher wrote and article bashing steve This is O SO SURPRISING Rocket River good writing . .almost seemed credible
Actually, Steve did play 1 year of high school basketball. Steve showed GMs something other than athleticism to land him the #2 pick in the draft, 1999 was a great draft class (Brand, Davis, Odom, Marion, Magette). Only 1 player out of those names have made the playoffs before last season. Are you saying all those players are overrated? Yes, I do agree that SF is playing the wrong position right now, I feel like his offensive ability is being hindered by playing PG, but you can't blame him, the Rockets have yet to make a move for one and still believe that he is a PG. You believe he is one of the most overrated players, based on what, his publicity? his endorsements? how they always talk about him on SC? Steve was considered one of the elite players, only 3 players have averaged 20ppg 6rpg 6apg, and yet you still think he is overrated. Everyone has their opinion, I believe that we shouldn't punish Steve for what the Rockets failed to see (that he isn't a PG). I hate drawing comparisons to other players, but it's too close not to: Philly finally realized AI wasn't a PG and brought him a real one, just imagine what they were going to give up if they decided to trade him.
Quick! Somebody find the boxscore to a game where Steve played superbly as a PG because that would be proof that he is a great PG!!! How about that game against the Lakers last year where he torched everybody including Kobe (proof, by the way, that Kobe has no defense, right?!)! By the way, Heshimu Evans and Scott Padgett were the leading scorers for Kentucky in that game. That's proof that they will be unstoppable if given the ball in the NBA. If I'm trying to build a case against Steve, I'm not going to try and pull one college game from 5 years ago and use it as the basis for the defense of my position.
