He's like Baron Davis. I doubt Baron Davis would be lighting up the arena tonight too if he was on the Rockets instead of Steve. Baron Davis, Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, and the rest of the streetballing point guards play in the Eastern Conference. Steve Francis is trying to play against the likes of Mike Bibby and Steve Nash. It's not even a contest. Bibby and Nash kill Francis almost every time. Nash usually outplays him 2 out of every 3 times. Bibby outplays Francis every single meeting now. It's the same blueprint to win against the Rockets which Don Nelson used after the 1st quarter: 1. Defensively surround Yao to take him out of the game offensively. 2. Prevent the dribble penetration by Steve in order to force him to shoot the jumper. 3. Use the pick and roll with the point guard and the big man. Does Steve Francis fit on the Rockets in this inside-out offense with his poor jumpshooting ability? I don't think so. Would he fit in the Eastern Conference like his streetballing point guard brethren? I think so. I disagree with the fans who say Steve's attempt at adaptation to the new offensive system is a reason for him staying. He does not possess the skillset to fit the role asked of him. Doug Collins said "the pieces do not fit" on a recent TNT telecast of the Rockets-Spurs game. Is he right? I think he is.
I dont know.Maybe he is really not fit for the team.I will be sad to see that happen. Steve is talented,sometimes hes amazing and so impressive.Hes 27 and Yaos 24.They would be the future of Rockets .I sincerely hope they can play together and help each other.when they did a good job in ASG,Im even able to smell the atmosphere of a champion. There still have 29 games on the road,I'll wait and see. If steve have to go,I'll face it.so does Rockets,i guess!
Steve Francis and Yao's game conflict with each other. Yao needs a good shooter at point guard who can shoot the 3 in the inside-out offense. Steve's offensive game is very close to the basket, and he needs to have a fast, uptempo to take advantage of defenses before they can get set. There's no way Yao can play an uptempo offense.
i agree steve is an uptempo type player just like any backcourt player, but it seems to me this is your first year following francis. He was a way better jump shooter his previous four years. Infact he averaged 44% and like 40% from the 3 for some seasons. Thats exellent.
Not every backcourt player in the United States plays a fullcourt game. There are actually some guards who can actually play well in the half-court. Steve just isn't one of them.
He was talking about his first two years when his FG% was 44-45%. It is kind of sad when a player peaks in his second year in the league.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/statistics?statsId=3325 Where do you see 44% from 3 point land? You said in an earlier post that Steve shot 44% for an entire season from 3 point range.
Fancis...great player, wrong system. As much as I hate to admit it, Francis isn't adapting to JVG's system. He's playing like a fish out of water and I'm sure he won't be around next year if he doesn't adapt before the playoffs.
great talent that about it; not great player. Next time someone talks about steve notice how they always say TALENT and not player. My opinion is he just sucks though.
It's less that Steve must adjust to a system as the fact that the system is not set up for his talents. Paying him a max contract is a waste if all we expect from him are 16-5-6. I have my problems with Steve but they're not so insurmountable that I would want him traded. But I believe we need to put our max contract in a power forward, and we need a guard who passes and plays respectable defense. Therefore, Steve will be traded to an EC team in the summer. No need to cry. We'll get back somebody good.
Steve isn't ideal for our team, but who could we realistically get that is? AI isn't any better from outside, T-Mac is a big stretch as far as availability, so who else would be available? Forget available, think of all the players in the league that could work well with Yao. Kobe, Bibby, Nash, Davis, Pierce, and that's about it. You can cross out Bibby and Pierce because they're not available. Kobe would be interesting, but Nash is lacking defensively (though offensively he would be perfect). Davis could be available and provides a lot of what we want, but he also isn't much of a shooter. Every other G is lacking somewhere. Miller can't shoot, Tinsley can't shoot, Cassell is too old, etc.
I didn't intend for this thread to be about trades but rather a discussion of Steve's abilities meshing within the Rockets' offense. Many trade threads don't get to the underlying issues why the trade even needs to happen. Look at what happened when Rockets management figured out they couldn't beat the Sonics due to the illegal zone defense killing Hakeem. They got swept in the 1996 playoffs. It precipitated a trade of Sam Cassell and Horry for Barkley. Trading just to see new names on the roster accomplishes nothing. Trading to get players who fit better within the system should be the goal.
