I loved Steve Francis as a Rocket. He did alot of bonehead things but he allways seemed to give 110%. I thought the Rockets were beginning to turn things around before the trade. Now in retrospect I think I was wrong. Steve is a selfish player with not alot of basketball smarts. He wants to win but thinks he can force the win -- not involve everyone else. I am now glad he is gone. What are your feelings about our former "Franchise"
awaiting pgabriel's defense of stevie.... I hated Steve as a player. For five years he infuraited me and made it tough for me to watch the rockets. As a person, he would say (until the superbowl incident) all the right things and leave you salivating. The he'd drop a spectacular game on the lakers or anyone as long as it was nationally televised and leave you thinking he had turned a corner, only to follow up his brilliance with 6 games of mediocrity. IMO, Mobley completely outshined Francis in their last year with the Rockets.
Probably one of the nicest, most down to earth athletes I've ever met. As far as basketball goes, however, he just doesn't get it. He's been in the league for 6 years now, with no tangible improvement. He's still erratic and turnover prone, and his jump shooting has regressed somewhat.
Francis was the only reason we were able to be competitive in the 2004 playoffs (aside from Jim Jackson one game). I know we lost the series 4-1 but most of the losses were extremely close. Francis had been given free reign of this team since day one and it wasn't easy to defer to someone else, especially considering that in the past he usually had to be scoring a lot for the team to have any chance. I will admit that I was upset when the Rockets traded him, Mobley and Cato for McGrady. I thought that Francis cared most about winning while McGrady cared most about making Sportscenter, and though my opinion hasn't changed about Stevie, I think I was wrong about McGrady (although I do still believe him to be arrogant).
Good post. I loved Francis when he was here and it is still fun to watch him play. But he doesn't know how to play the game right, not for winning atleast. It was great watching him cross people over and catching alley-oops, but it wasn't fun watching him turn it over and dribble out shot clocks. Francis will be an all-star just because of what he can do w/ the ball, but being a superstar means getting your team better and winning games.
He's still a ridiculous talent, one of the most athletic guys in the league, strong at drawing fouls and getting to the line (huge in close 4th quarter games), and is fiercely competitive on the court. His drawbacks are that his game isn't best suited as a PG, because he needs to dominate the ball to be effective - freezing others out. Pretty similar to AI in that regard. He's also resistant to coaching and wants to play the game his way. He'd do well if Orlando traded him straight up for Paul Pierce. He needs to be surrounded by strong role players that don't need to be fed the ball as much as be able to feed off his forays. Evan
Dude, give it up. He wasn't even in the top-50 for assist-turnover ratio, as he averaged 4.1 turnovers per game, 4th in the NBA.
I love how everyone gets upset because I defend him. Get a freakin life. I never said anything about his ballhandling, I was addressing a specific point that someoe said he was selfish. Assist to turnover ratio has nothing to do with someone being selfish. Calling someone selfish who is constantly in the top ten assist while also being asked to be the leading scorer on his team is ludicrous.
OVERRATED statistic. As if anyone would take Brevin Knight, Antonio Daniels, Rick Brunson, Jeff McInnis, or other scrubs like them because they are near the top of that list. He's still an All Star caliber player, he just lost his way last season, maybe he'll get it back, maybe he won't. That "Franchise" nick name doomed him from the start, why couldn't his last name be Johnson or Williams or Smith? Everyone must have expected him to take over where Hakeem left off, that set high expectations that he wasn't ever going to reach. I think he did a good job with the Rockets considering what he had to work with as a player and the players he played with, he was never as good as some thought and the players around him were never as good as a lot of people thought. His first season with the Magic was terrible, IMO, he had the stats, raised up his and other player's games, but he couldn't raise the team up, now there's talk about him being traded again. If that happens I hope he gets traded to a team that already has an established super star, like the Wolves, he and KG would win 50 games a year together. Or to the Nuggets with a solid front court and Carmelo Anthony as the guy that is counted on to win games, Nuggets vs Rockets would be the hottest ticket in town. Or just stay in Orlando and see if Dwight Howard is ready for the big time, he's been tearing up the summer leagues, and if Grant Hill is ready to play point forward again. They could easily get back into the playoffs if he's focused on winning, but I would bet on them missing the playoffs if he's traded. Good luck to him.
See, not only did he share well with teammates, he shared with opponents too! I'm just playing, I love Franchise.
I think Steve Francis is all-star, potentially superstar. Great talent. Effervescent personality. All heart. Sure he does some boneheaded things some time, but he's the type of guy the league drools over. He's gotta make nicey-nice with the refs, though, 'cause he gets NO calls.
I agree with pgabriel. When has the (real) knock on Steve Francis ever been that he was too selfish? He doesn't take care of the ball. He doesn't play well without the ball. But come one guys. It's not like he's ever freezed out his teammates or only wanted the shots or the glory for himself. It's just that he's not a very good off the ball player, and he's not a good enough to lead a team as the primary ballhandler. But he's not selfish.
I pick both 2 and 4. Fancy is the type of flashy player and numbers player that draws all-star votes, but I don't think his game is condusive to winning, and eventually every team he goes to will realize that he is not a point guard and that he is not a top tier shooting guard. The Magic already figured it out and started putting Nelson in to start the games at the point.
...Steve will never be an all star again unless he gets put on the team (and I don't see th coaches doing that since he is starting to get the label of "coach killer" LeBron and Wade are shoring up the East votes Tmac (listed as a guard) and Kobe will dominate the west
You mixed up the roles. Francis is about making Sportscenter while T-Mac is about winning. I actually wish T-Mac was more arrogant
I will always be a Steve Francis hater. He was a cancer to this team in my opinion. He might be a good person, but he sucked as a team player. Bringing T-Mac here was a Godsend and a compliment to Yao. I miss Mobes.
I agree 100%. He's not selfish. He's just narrowminded. Great players have "vision"--before the game (strategic planning) and during the game (game plan execution with a touch of individuality and spontaneity). Steve has a lot of individuality, but doesn't have the vision to be great. He's far from selfish. He wants to do well and he thinks that his way is the right way. He fails to grasp the big picture i.e. being the extension of the coach on the floor/expressing individuality as long as it conforms to the coaching philosophy. T-Mac may do spectacular plays/dunks etc., but you never see JVG pull his hair, because the great plays are a result of executing what Van Grumpy wants. Francis is a rebel, he wants to break out and do his own thing, because he frankly doesn't think. Oh, one little thing--called talent--I forgot to mention. T-Mac is one of the most physically talented players in the history of the NBA. His skills, size, agility, passing ability and vision are unsurpassed.
