I first want to say that I know many people here have been frustrated with the play of Cuttino and Steve this season (as a duo) and the people here vent and vent and vent, and typically I respond with, "cmon, these are good solid players that are only going to get better." I've seen every Rockets game this year, and I feel the play of both of them has finally gotten under my skin, to the point where I am losing confidence in the Rockets ability to win vs the better teams of the league. I watch with more pessimism now than I did in the past because of Francis and Mobley. I can't help it. both seemed to have not learned much even though they have been the nba for a combined 10 years. There is no cohesion between Steve/Cat and Yao Ming because neither seems totally willing to sacrifice their game. I'll start with Francis first. Is it me? Or does it seem Francis has more difficulty just dribbling the basketball this season. He can't even dribble anymore!! When I see him literally dribble the ball, it looks like he is about to lose it every time. This downgrade in his dribbling ability has made him less effective in penetrating to the hoop against his defender. Next is the fact that, despite his high assist numbers at times, he isn't a good passer either. He's a cautious passer, he always makes the safe pass, and assist numbers will always been at a reasonable level when he makes the cautious passes. And some of Francis decision's he's made this year have had me yelling at the screen, with his most recent blunder being dribbling out the clock to end the 3rd quarter vs Seattle on Sunday. The guy is in is freaking fifth season and he is still making rookie mistakes like that. Plus he is still taking those turn-around 20 footers off balance that just nick the front of the rim. Finally, If Steve still thinks he is the man on this team, then it;s time to ship him out after the season. Mobley ticks me off as well, not as much as Francis, but he is just as dumb. How about when Mobley dribbled out the clock in the 4th qtr vs the Hawks, when there was just one second left and a jump ball went in his direction. That irritated me to no end!! Yet, another rookie mistake in his sixth season! I am sick of both of them driving to the hoop and not "stopping and popping", and as a result, they get called for offensive fouls. That also happens way to much. And our "fancy" guards can't even run a fast break, one of the "fanciest" aspects of basketball. I guess everybody is allowed a vent or two, this was mine.
you know? francis wasn't that bad tonight. i think he needs 12 shots a game, at least. he deferred when he had to. and those lobs to cato were good. also good defense and shook the checks off payton's nike's a few times. but besides yao, cato, and pike, everyone shot much below 500... we just need better shooters. also, mark jackson, 5 minutes, 4 assists. he needs to play more. i'm not really convinced we should trade francis. i mean if we could get a steve nash that would be awesome. but seriously there's not that many available upgrades out there. deeper bench, athletic power forward. that might help us more.
Nothing will change unless we get rid of Francis. We are in limbo until that happens. The parts just don't fit. The Rox are a average/good team. But that's about it.
so am i...ive been asking for a real pg the whole year. And steve just seems to excell aganist the lakers only dont know why.
The annoying thing about their game this time was they played just fine - until the 4th quarter. Then, they both decide they had to "lead" instead of just getting the ball to Yao, who was playing better than either of them. If they can't lead without taking shots, they're not fit to lead. Yao = best scorer on the Rockets. Francis = the only one besides Farhan and pgabriel who don't realize this.
yao is the leading scorer of the rockets is more of a result of francis having an out of wack year, instead of yao having a awsome year, non?
If Rox don't make the Playoffs this year....they better trade Steve for Jason Kidd or something. Steve is overrated in my opinion. I have give him ample chances to prove me wrong. I have give him the benefit of the doubt over and over and he prove nothing this season. If anything, he's proving he's a turnover prone player. He proves he is not a SUPERSTAR in this lead...cuz a superstar would fit and play like one under any system!!! He ain't one cuz he ain't got the tool to mesh into the system!!!
he said "BEST" scorer. are you going to argue that one? i'm going to bed but i think someone else will definitely have answer.
we will see about that. yao sure had some stellar games where he has scored 30+ pts, but in francis first 2 to 3 years a 30+ pt night was another day at work, instead of a "break out game" for yao.
in the "freeze out" of yao, i have mobley taking one shot, and francis taking 2, one of which was the alley oop. then there was piat, mo with one, and jim jackson with 2 shots plus 2 free throws. how did the guards take this game over? seemed like the ball was pretty damn spread around at that time of game. i'm not saying yao shouldn't have shot, but how was it a concerted francis/mobley effort to keep it from him.
The Lakers are the ONLY team to play Yao one on one every other team double teams him immediatly. Not Steve, not Cat, not JJ, Not Cato...they DOUBLE Yao......so.....who do you think the Rockets best player is...... Tell it to our guards when you figure out what all the other coaches in the NBA have figured out. DD
It was NOT a freeze out, more of a loss of focus on Yao as the main cog of the offense...and it cost them the game. The team panicked and lost. DD
all i'm saying is, for some point guards, playing with a dominant post presence makes their stats go up. i thought francis played well tonight though... he has game, someone else needs to run the offense though.
look at shooting percentage and clutch time efficiency, SF has never been close to Yao's level. And don't say it is because Yao only takes sure shots, because Yao's shooting % is higher in games he makes many shots. Yao is a better scorer, period.
Farhan007: If he had so many 30+ games... why did he never really average all that many points? . Francis scored a lot, but not as much as you seem to think. His fg% was never close, as well. No, watch the game tonight. There were 4 consecutive possessions in which he didn't get the ball. The Rockets had a 10 point lead. It was reduced to 2. They failed to score on each possession.
it wasn't only SF and Cat tonight. I know I sometimes refer all the perimeter players as guards, just to make life simpler. However, I suspect SF and Cat called plays not for Yao in that stretch. if that is the case, they are to blame for not calling Yao's number, and whoever bricked took their responsibilities too.
