Chron: Rockets' Francis Invites Criticism With Celebrity

Are you kidding me? Francis has been a system player for a whooping 33 games. Rudy did nothing to break Steve of his streetball ways, but now that Van Gundy is running the show, he is forced to adjust.

Francis is too valuable for us to trade after 33 games of a season where he's been asked to do stuff he's never had to do before, All that crap you saw in the past was a product of Rudy's teachings and moldings. (Let's keep this on Stevie, not JVG vs. Rudy, please The important part is Steve isn't fighting it anymore, he's believing in the system and the Rockets are showing improvement.

We both agree that his TO's are too high, but you have to understand he is no ordinary PG at the same time. Ward cannot do half the things steve is capable of. Ward is the mold of a JVG system player. Steve is going through that transition.

If you're going to factor in TO's into his stats the past 2 weeks, you have to factor in the other intangibles like his rebounding, when he passes to teammates and they get fouled (no assist credited). The rockets are beginning to mold together; I don't know how so few see this.

You used to complain SF was not a winner; all about stats.
Now you complain his stats are horrible; so what we're winning

Francis brings too many intangibiles

 

I don't want him to lose sleep. In fact I don't wish any suffering on his part. I just don't want to see him in a Rockets uniform any longer. And it's not something I'm really worried about because IMO, he will eventually have to be traded - it's only a question of time at this point.

 

I was arguing with people after the GS game about this, Steve is not putting up the #'s he should be putting up. I am not saying to trade away your star player, but I think the coaches need to work with him and coach him into being the player he needs to be. He is a very talented player and can dominate a game at any time. I don't think there are many defenders that can stop him when he is HOT. What about moving him to a 2 spot and letting Ward take over at the 1 (if we get him). Maybe then his game will change for the better.

 

Sorry, what I meant to say was this...

Better in terms of over-all leadership. That's why I said, Raise the BAR. Set the standard.

That means, that he can't have a bad shooting percentage. He can't have a high turnover rating. He can't lead the team in mistakes.

With leadership, you are set to a higher standard. Blemishes don't show up on lesser players (what do you exect from them?), but they do should up like a sore thumb on "leaders."

Let me put it to you another way. Lets say you have boss that is forgetful, sloppy, and unorganized. And that boss comes up to you and says, "You need to organize your desk!" or accuses you of being "sloppy." What kind of reaction would he get from you? You'd call him on it. You wouldn't respect him. But if the boss was neat, organized and had a great memory. He'd have the ability to set the standard. And people couldn't question his standard. And you'd be much more willing to take direction from him.

Leaders should have an sense of excellence. Like TD.

 

rice,

There is no reason to think that JVG cant get it done IMO. I think you need to give him at least a full season or two to prove otherwise.

The slow tempo is a player problem. JVG has said this many times:

JVG - "I think the biggest misnomer in this league is that coaches are the ones slowing the pace of play down. It really comes down to the players saying they want to run, but when you watch the games, very few run. What they're really saying is: "I want to shoot whatever shot I want after I jog up the floor."

Having the offense flow through SF is not the way to go obviously. I agree. The question is, is Yao ready to have the offense flow through him??? Right now, I say no, because hes just not consistent enough. There is no need to force things through him when hes clearly not ready. All we can do is go through what works best in the mean time, and thats Steve and Cat.

 

That was pretty much the consensus on ESPN if this "experiment" this season fails. It was insinuated that SF or something would break after this season (after) if the Rox didn't improve and if they did not make the playoffs....

 

I agree that Steve is in the middle of learning to be a floor leader which is totaly foreign to what he has always done. I think as he becomes comfortable with this roll that he will again become comfortable scoring and creating offensively. Right now Steve has a split personality and is allowing the JVG controlled grind it out PG to domminate. Steve will only be worth his max contract the day he figures out when to be Stevie Franchise the incredible highlight machine and when to be Steve Francis the top three PG. And if they ever become the one and the same he may find himself in the HOF with some really nice jewelry to go with his Rolls Royce.

 

He needs to look at Kobe, McGrady, Carter and god Jordan and see how they took over a game. Make things create thru him. He needs to be a true leader and make the Rox HIS TEAM. Which I think they are but, he needs to make things happen. The only reason we are in the position we are in is because of play from Cato, Mo T & JJ. Overall Steve has not had a break thru year like he should have at this point in his career.

 

Just for the record. I don't care if Francis scored 14ppg, 17ppg, 22ppg, 25ppg, or 29ppg. As long as he's efficient and plays smart.

Signs of a high-standard for a guard....

Shoot near 47% Yes, it can be done; Cassell, Payton, Arroyo...(Parker and Bibby are at 45%, which is not bad)
Turnover rating of 2.5 - 2.9.
Assist of 7 or more.
Play defense
Shooting around 85% from the FT line.

One note. Ask yourself how guards are able to shoot 47%. Is it because they are blessed with incredible athletic ability and skill? No. They know how to get easy shots, play smart, and use the system / teammates to their advantage. They are masters of DECEPTION! (Heh! Sounds like a video game! )

When I look at the above stats. Names like Payton, Isiah, and Kevin Johnson come to mind.

 

markman, don't forget that those players you mentioned had an innate ablity to get their own shots because they HAD that physical talent to do so.

Francis does not have the large hands, long arms, and extra height that gave those guys an extra edge in getting those points, or rather, "Take over games."

So, Francis has to do it another way. Play smart and efficent. That within itself can be a form of "taking over a game."

But Francis role might be able to be more of scoring type game, as long as we have a very good PG to play long side him.

 

Steve is the man. How could anyone be tired of him and his play when its the coach that told him to play the way he has since he came here. So yes throughout this time he did his street playground iso ball and his scoring numbers have been high. But so has his rebounding something that is usually overlooked when bashing him on stats. He is learning he wants to win he is adjusting to a new system and a hardliner coach that has told him to change his game around. The Rockets dont have Bullard anymore or guys that are just spot up shooters for Francis to have large assist numbers Mobley has been doing it this year but everone else is inconsitent. So if the other players dont score or choose to drive to get a shot his assists arent going to be what they should. Just wait til we make the playoffs this year Steve is going to turn into an animal and everyone here is going to be surprised. Go Rox!

 

Continuing what DavidS was saying. Those players all play in systems that are designed to make opportunities for them. Steve's roll is to make oppotunities for everyone else first and get his points second. These players never had to worry about getting somebody else to score. When Steve becomes the player I hope he becomes he will make the players on the floor with him look better than they are. Look at the GSW game, Steve did his job well. All the truely great players make their teamates look like stars and on the list of players you presented only Jordan has done it. Maybe Kobe to a degree but it is still not their primary function because they are not running the point.

I have been on Steve some this year but I think he is coming around.

 

Dang it, people.

When Steve gets out of this shooting slump, starts averaging 18-20 points a game and 8 assists you'll suddenly start calling him the next Gary Payton.

It'll happen this season. When his shot starts falling again, defenses will spread out even further. The past month+, Steve's been playing MUCH better team ball. Yeah, he still makes some boneheaded turnovers, but his asst:turnover ratio has been hovering around 2:1 and will only get better. Then when he's hitting 40+% of his shots, look out Western Conference.

 

Good post, I agree. despite JVG, or in SPITE of JVG, SF will excel. Just let MoT keep coming on....

 

Change doesn't happen overnight. A player doesn't wake up one day and have a new style. It is a gradual process.

 

Mo Taylor is another example. When he gets the ball he turns to the defender usually makes a drop step and then creates his shot. No assists there.

 

With MoT, we are starting to see another wrinkle in taking pressure off SF, Cat and Yao. Once they get more used to developing that, we will score more.

 

DavidS,

I was arguing that Francis is in the middle of this transition of what you call the high-standard point guard, but you fail to understand:

-Yes, I admitted he's in a shooting spell. But we know who Francis is, we know what he can do. This isn't normal for him, and it's only a matter of time for him to jump out of it. Then he'll be lethal, and ya'll can move on to another stat category to complain about

-Turnovers are and have been a problem. But I don't see how you can rule him out in just 33 games. Remember this is a completely different system, one with more sets. I expect his TO's to regress as the season goes on, we'll see.

-My bet is Francis will average 7 assist by the end of the season. But you also have to look at personel. He dumps it into Ming, Yao dribbles, backs in, fades - no assist. Dumps it into Mo, he squares up, backs it in, no assist. Cuttino? Mostly will drive to the hole - no assist. Although to his credit, and thankfully for the team, he's becoming more of a spot-up. That leaves Cato and JJ. Basically saying, SF only get's his assist off ally-oops to Cato, or JJ spotting up. As good as JJ's been, he's no sharpshooter for Francis to bank on. The point guards you see with high assist, look at what kind of tempo team they are. We are not a high tempo team, we come down and set up, and work to get a good shot. That's why the leaders of the fundraiser got fired for thinking they'd actually make money off of Rocket's fast break points. What do they get like 6 per game?

-One thing you cannot bash Francis on is his defense as of late. Francis has been playing great defense, he's far from the weakest link as many like to say. If there's penetration, you want to lead them into your big man for help. Exactly. Yao and Cato have owned the paint, with Francis doing a good job leading them into this trap. That is the reason we're such a good defensive team, other teams are forced to shoot from the outside because they can't get anything inside. On another, more specific note, I believe Francis is taking pride in his defense. The last game vs. GS, Francis got caught in the paint, NVE popped up and hit an open three. Francis grabbed the ball and slammed it down and cursed. While that may not be significant to you, think about this: we were up 15. I'm becoming a believer in Francis more and more each game. Be patient.

-He's shooting 76% from the line. Though this can easily be blamed on his shooting slump, it shouldn't be. Agreed this needs to improve.

 

I think everyone needs to relax.. we have a winning record with SF and Yao (our 2 best players) struggling and have one of the top defenses in the league. Personally I think the rest of the league needs to worry about us. Imagine this.. near the end of the season.

Yao starts to breakout like we all know he is capable of..
SF finds his shots and starts firing in high % shots.

I think most teams in the league would fear facing us in the first round.

Once Yao, and SF start to pick up their game I think we will become an unstoppable force. We are doing well without full production from SF and Yao but we are still close to the top of our division (in terms of record) and playing great defense. Once our Offense begins to roll we will be a monster!

Who agrees with me?

J

Go Yao! Go Rox! Go Super Duper Backup Bench Brigade!

 

i still think rox had a better offense last year than this year, when steve got the chance to do all the one-on-ones. the only change this year is made on defense