haven, for the purposes of this thread all I was trying to say, at least with tonights post, was that Francis was much improved defensively from last year, as is almost everybody on the Rockets. I think that that is such a no brainer that barely merits discussion.
Perhaps that's all you meant to do, but your annoyance evidently caused you to expand the topic a bit . And since you brought other things up, the rest became fair game.
Excellent post YM. I could not agree with you more. Steve seems to be the the player that stands out the most when the Rockets play bad. When the rockets play well it's b/c of the play of guys like JJ, Cato and Yao or even Cat or MT. But, I can't recall to many games that SF has taken over and will his team to a win like Dream or Clyde. Let's face it Steve is not living upon to his contract as a max player or his nickname.
There was a stretch earlier that Steve played good defense. It seems he might have regressed recently. Terry, Nash, Blake, Bibby ... all abused him. For the season, effective FG% from 82 games http://www.82games.com/0304HOU5.HTM shows that our PG's position allows opponent a 47% EFG while avg 41%. Compared to our other positions where opp. avg around 42% EFG and we avg from 46% (PF) to 54% (C) Steve is still a weak link this season. He needs to improve. If he doesn't, there is a good chance that he will be gone this off season.
but that's just it; I didn't bring anything else up as a substantive matter, except for the fact that I am sick of the ceaseless bashing that occurs, day in, day out, win or lose.
You are the one looking at the wrong stats! 1) Steve rarely if ever matches up with the opposing SGs so you can throw the SG's numbers out. 2) You ignore the fact that the opposing PG's eFG% were basically the same, 45% this yr vs 46% last yr. The point difference was cause by the drop in FGA and that is true for the whole team. 3) If anything, this yr we play help defense more and other players (Yao and Cato) cover for Steve's mistakes even more. No way can you argue that Steve provided much help to others if you watched the games. 4) The rest of the team lock down their counterparts much better this yr and Steve has not done so. He is still the weak link.
You're not looking at the right stats. I don't really care to get into this discussiion with you, I've said all that's needed to have been said on this issue. Must suck to be a Rockets fan if you have terminal hatred for Francis, since he is such a large part of the team. I feel sorry for you guys, it must make it difficult to enjoy the game. Maybe you can take up a new hobby until he's gone then. I heard macrame is cool.
I looked at the stats you quoted. I pointed out the stats your links provided but you chose to ignore. I feel sorry for you 'cause you can't see facts from fictions and label anyone who points out what's wrong with Steve a hater. I've watched the Rockets for 20+ yrs. I imagine I will watch them when Steve is gone too.
I ignored them because I have made the case that I intended regarding defensive improvement. I set out to prove a liimited subset of facts and I did. You set off on a different tack, because you need to keep on bashing, I guess in order to make yourself fell better. I hope it worked. Note: if you actually wanted to prove your case, please post the eFG% for his counterparts vs. Steve Francis. By that, I mean post the opposition eFG% for Nash, Bibby, etc, and the rest of the WC point guards. Then we can see how good or bad he is on defense compared to the rest of his counterparts. If you want to prove your thesis, go for it.
only thing steve is good at is dunking, and hustling. He cant shoot, pass, turnover over the ball to much, etc. We could get a much cheaper player for what he does.
Is it his defense? Or can we apply your theory of fewer possessions a game here as well? You would think that an objective person would see that it works both ways.
From your post earlier, I didn't know that you had since come to the realization that you were wrong.
What I have realized is that no matter what happens, some people see and hear and believe whatever they want. No matter what. Now, do you have any statistical evidence that shows that Francis is playing worse on defense this year? I'd like to see it if you do. Also, I'm inviting anybody who wants to bash Francis' defense to contrast his defensive stats that I posted with those of his counterparts. Thanks.
In response to the question, no. But I never made a claim that he was playing worse on defense this year in the first place. You are generalizing and it is "your" contention for someone to prove that he is playing lesser defensively. I don't recall anyone making that statement. Again, your statistics are irrelivant as by your own, albeit, involuntary admission, you disproved them.
Again, you obviously didn't read the whole thread. Please read the entire thread and then take a clearly define position so that I can be sure where you stand. Is it your contention that Francis has not improved on defense this year from last year? Yes or No?
The first comment is pertaining to what? That someone mentioned that he was playing worse defense than prior years? Please elaborate or cite the exact comment. I stand on the grounds of objectivity, and it is my contention that you were not objective in that you disproved your basis of information with your own theory.
