Steve has had a string of bad games. In fact his bad games far outnumber his good, at least statistically. I do not mean to argue what is up with him here. I do want to ask the question, if we trade SF, will we lead the leader of this team?. If so, do we have some one with Steve's ability to lead or would it be crucial that we trade for someone who is also a leader?. A lot of the TP's involving SF bring assume that replacing SF with a quality PG or players complementary to the team will be good enough. I can't help but wonder if we would become a rudderless ship. MoT seems to have the personality to lead but doesn't figure to play enough. JJ is a possibility or even Mobley. Do we need to bring back a leader if we trade SF?.
After Tracy McGrady saw Yao play in that last game, I think he wouldn't mind going to Houston. Tracy McGrady's outside range has really gone up. He shot 8 3pointers in the 1st half of last night's game. That's a zone buster right there. Steve is possibly the worst outside shooter of all the max contract guards. He has to get his shots too close to the basket to be effective all the time. If Orlando offers up TMac and some scrubs for Steve, Cuttino, and Cato, I think the Rockets would be foolhardy not to consider it. If TMac is a threat from outside, he becomes basically as good as Kobe.
#1 and #11, together, that would be too good to be true. I highly doubt it would happen, dunno why orlando would want to be the yr 2000 Orlando Rockets. Francis is really going to need to pick up his game, otherwise no one will want to trade for him.
I don't know. It seems the hype around Steve is alive. I think Orlando would at least consider it. What other options do they have if TMac demands a trade?
Steve is obviously the butt of this... Wait a minute, Steve is really the heart and soul of the Houston Rockets (if you're listening, potential trade partners). He's a do-everything, All-Star, franchise guard who'll take whatever team he's on to the Championship! In fact, he would have led the Rockets to the title long ago if not for that Meniere's condition and that SELFISH, ALL-STYLE, NO-SUBSTANCE center that he plays with. He's THAT GOOD!!! So if you want your NBA Championship, ACT NOW!!! If you call now, we'll even throw in a proven VETERAN leader and scorer (Pike) and a MONSTER on the boards (Spoon)... all of this for FREE!!! So CALL NOW!!! Please include $19.95 for shipping and handling. Sorry, no CODs please.
I don't know what it would take to get McGrady. The league would probably Shiite if yet another WC team got stronger and an EC team weaker. Steve + Cato + ? for McGrady and Howard? I don't know. McGrady would have to promise to leave before Orlando would entertain trading him. The Magic is already a pretty pathetic franchise. As far as Steve goes, is he pushing too much now that he has his max contract? Is he spending his energy on the defensive end? Is he utterly spent and confused now that a coach is actually asking him to concentrate on team play?
I can tell you, Steve's game will rise a whole lot, if he is traded to an eastern conferance team, where he is the main focus. See: Stephon Marbury, Jason Kidd. Also he could possibly become an Iversonesque scorer. Plus I would take steve shooting the 3 over AI any day, Probably even over Shaq If we do get McGrady, or someone at that level,,, F*** Steve
Yes, Steve is the heart of this team and this is a good thing. Steve became the captain of this team earlier than expected, and he has done all he could to help this team. Ya'll were pissed about the iso's and the dribbling and etc... when that's what Rudy drew up. Steve has done everything the coach has asked him to do, including JVG. Steve has stepped up his D for JVG, has been trying to be a better PG for JVG. He is having a career-low season in all categories and yet he seems to be the happiest. He knows that Yao needs the ball more and he is being vocal about it.
Steve is the heart & soul of the Rockets as long as he is with the team. Without a NORMAL Steve, the Rockets can only go as far as they did in the past several seasons without Yao. JJ is a good addition, so as Mark Jackson, but we need both Yao & Steve to play up to their potentials to be a contender in this league. I think this is the toughest time in Steve's short NBA career. The guy used to be THE OFFENSE of the team, had the ball in 90%+ time when he was on the court. Now, he has to give up the ball, be the 2nd fiddle? That's not an easy transition. Plus, playing demanding defense like he's never done before also cost you some energy at the other end, you know?! Steve is just confused. I'm not really sure if he can be the player he was, a high scoring GUARD, with the system the Rockets are running, I don't think he is certain either. Heck, I doubt JVG is even sure about this. But, let’s be fair with Steve & JVG. The Kings weren’t this good until their core players played together for a few years, the same goes with the Mavericks. Even the Shaq & Kobe Lakers didn’t win the title in their first few years together. I have faith & patience with the Rockets, and I’m willing to give them the whole season, maybe even next one, to make the transition. --daoshi
I think some of you are confusing "high-scoring guard" with "efficient scoring guard." They are not necessarily the same thing. They can be (Payton, Isiah, Kevin Johnson...etc...)...but not in Francis's case... Francis only knows how to score a certain way: Free-style. Now, he has made an effort to play within the JVG system, and if played well, he could score more easily than before. But that's not happening. The few consistencies we have seen from Francis has been his FG% (below average) and TO% (same). Both pretty much the same as before. So, the "NORMAL Francis" is what we are seeing now, except he's not shooting as much. But "scoring more" for Francis means more ISOs. I'm not sure we want to go back to that system. If I was Francis I would dedicate myself in the off-seson to work on my PG skills and shooting efficiency. I'd hire a PG coach that I could train with. I'd spend more time in on court alone working on technique, rather than pick-up games. This would help him regardless of what position he plays. If not, he'll be traded. He's holding the team back as much as he pushes it forward. We'll never see a breakthrough unless something changes in his game. I wish we'd just move him to the 2 already. Enough with the "let him develop as a PG." We've seen almost no improvement in five years.
could not agree with you more. Only one thing though, he has played for 5 years, but he probably only got the pressure to improve his PG skill in the recent couple years, I am not sure, I think so.. So, maybe, maybe he got a chance to improve. I doubt that though, because IMO he is just a different type of player than a normal PG.
Except... he had that opportunity up until (and somewhat during) last year. And he didn't show these "Iverson-esque" abilities. He's at the age where he's not going to improve that much more. People buy into potential myths more in sports than in anything else. Players don't always improve at all. And once they reach Steve's age, it's rare that they "break through" in the way a lot of people on this board expect of Steve.
Haven, EXACTLY....Steve is what he is...and our hopes of him getting significantly better after the age of 27 are pointless. Once his athleticism begins to fade, he will be even further exposed..... I guess people would not laugh so hard at my Andre Miller for Steve Francis trade thread of a few years ago...now... DD
ill still laugh at it. Just see what happens if steve moves to the east... good thing he would only play us twice. Think of james posey playing against us only 10x better.
Correction. He'd try. In one of those games, his shots would probably fall, and he's score 33 or so but only have 3 assists and 6 turnovers... and we'd win by 3. In the 2nd game, the shots wouldn't fall (and just try driving consistently against Houston)... and he'd go 4 of 17... score 10 points, and we'd beat them by 27.
