Has anyone else noticed how Francis abuses the bigger players, while he gets abused by the smaller ones? Traditionally, the players that destroy him are Marbury, Parker, Raul Lopez, and last night Leandro Barbosa. Steve doesn't play any better defensively against bigger players or smaller players. Besides, how many more Guards in today's NBA can post his man up? I'm not proposing that we trade him, or that we permanently move him to the 2. But I do think it's absolutely necessary for us to be able to COMFORTABLY move him to the 2 when necessary. I.E. Have a backup PG who should be a starter on most teams and can play the quicker Guards. Francis and Mobley are playing too much considering their inability to sustain stability. When Francis goes up against Kidd, Cassel, Payton, Bibby and Baron, he never has trouble. This team can succeed (championship) with Francis in the backcourt, but not with Francis playing 40+ minutes at the PG position. Has anyone else noticed how much his performance drops when facing quicker players? I know DaDakota has comented on this before (right?).
One the first ankle break he recovered with a steal. Francis didn't score on either crossover. You gotta put the ball in the basket... otherwise fancy dribbling means nothing.
Those 2 plays were fun to watch, but a couple of flashy plays don't win you games. "Slow and steady wins the race", and consistency is key. Steve's shooting has been inconsistent (bordering on consistently bad actually) this season. Barbosa definitely had the better game, which is evident in the boxscore. I did enjoy watching those 2 ankle-breaking plays and the forearm against Amare, but I would've enjoyed the game even more if Steve had played better and helped us win it.
You've got to be kidding. Sam Cassell can light him up like a Christmas tree. Bibby, Payton, Baron, and the rest have all lit Steve up. By the way, one of the problems Steve has is also the problem Kenny Smith had during the championship runs : neither of them move their feet laterally well on defense. They both would get destroyed routinely by opposing guards who exposed this deficiency in their games.
You must be referring to the Barbosa who outscored SF despite taking 9 fewer shots, had the same number of assists and rebounds, had five steals, and only 2 turnovers. D R D R
Francis can not deal with quicker players Or smarter players Or players that get under his skin Or 7'6" Chinese players Or....
actually if u have noticed, JVG must see the same thing becuase he has began putting mobley on the quicker guards, like vs the spurs he put mobley on parker for a long stretch of the game, and yesterday, I'm not sure if it was strategy or the rockets switching on dribble handoffs but sf was standing by marion alot (marion rarely had the ball when i saw this so i cannot say he was really gaurding him) while joe johnson was vs jj and barbosa vs mobley.
I'm speaking offensively mostly. When Francis has a quicker player defending him, he's hopeless. But when he's up against Kidd, Payton (THE GLOVE), Baron, etc... He can match them point for point all day. Francis was 3 for 15 against possibly the least experienced PG in the NBA yesterday. That doesn't worry you? Barbosa is no stud, but he's quick as lightning. With his frame, he is perfect for the pressure defense. He's also good from 3-pt range (judging by stats). If we face the Spurs in the playoffs, I'm pretty damn sure we're going to get sweeped.
Don't feel bad. Lopez has been giving other PG's fits all year and Barbosa has too since the Marbury trade. BTW, I heard the Suns might be willing to part with Howard Eisley.
dear sane, 3-23-03 francis 38 bibby 23 12-29-02 francis 23 baron 14 12-25-03 francis 22 payton 13 3-5-04 francis 25 cassell 25 1-3-04 francis 17 arroyo 08 lopez 04 1-8-04 francis 27 marbury 06 2-9-04 francis 18 parker 07 1-31-04 francis 26 kidd 21
So am I allowed to pick one game against each of these players during the course of his career to support my argument as well? Also, may I conveniently leave out assists and TO's just like you did? I don't care about the boxscore. These guys are just able to give Francis fits when they defend him. Has Francis ever had trouble scoring on Jason Kidd or Gary Payton, two of the best defensive PG's in the league? He has more trouble against Tony Parker IMO. We need someone like Jeff McInnis, Brent Barry, or Eric Snow off the bench. Someone who we'd feel comfortable with for 30 minutes a game, and would allow us to move Steve to the 2 and put Mobley on the bench.
aww. dont get sour. you just said him him him and everbody else can light francis up like a christmas tree. thats an idiom referring to scoring. so i had to check you. dont be mad. its give and take between francis and all those guards.
I somewhat agree with that statement, but for the most part, Steve's game has been sucking all year. I think someone above also pointed out something else - it's not as if Steve doesn't go off on those guys. Except for this year... his FG% has sucked. Not for the reason you stated. Francis' sorry FG% worries me - but I don't just attribute that against who he's playing. His game overall has suffered this year irrespective of the defender he's faced. So the fact he had a bad shooting night against an inexperienced player doesn't make me worry as much as he's had bad games against everybody this season. When Steve was owning Jason Kidd and his glorified defense in years past, I'm sure NJ fans were worried, too. While that may be true, that doesn't bother me. I don't expect much from this collection of players anymore. If JVG assembles a team based upon guys he wants and still can't get the job done, that's when I worry.
Sane, every player has a good or a bad game with other players. Steve doesnt dominate any one player, but no one ever dominates him consistantly. because Barbosa or Lopez had one game that they did better then him, doesnt mean they dominate him every single time. your just looking to deep into this.
I pretty much agree with most of what you said. It still brings us back to - we can't have Steve playing 40 minutes at the Rockets PG position, especially while Cat plays 40 at the SG position.
