There were more than a few folks who walked out of General Motors Place on Monday night feeling a little surprised to have learned just how special a player Steve Francis is. Vancouver Grizzlies rookie forward Obinna Ekezie wasn't one of them. As a teammate of Francis last season at the University of Maryland, Ekezie found himself regularly shaking his head at the exploits of the young guard. "I'm not surprised," Ekezie said after Tuesday's Grizzlies practice in Richmond. "You guys haven't seen anything yet. He's for real. Just give him a while to get comfortable. He's going to be tough." There were two reasons the Grizzlies selected Ekezie in the second-round of last summer's NBA draft. They liked his size and skill and realized he likely would have been a first-round pick had his senior season not been cut short by a serious Achilles tendon injury. But general manager Stu Jackson also knew he had a reluctant lottery pick on his hands in Francis. In drafting a fellow Maryland Terrapin, it was hoped that Francis might come around. No one was more disappointed than Ekezie when Francis forced the Grizzlies to trade him to the Houston Rockets. "Having such talent like that, that would have helped us tremendously," Ekezie said. "That guy's special. You see a player like that and you start licking your chops. Players like that don't come too often. You have to keep those when you get them. Personally, I would have been like, 'you come here or you go sit at home, I'm not trading you.' http://www.vancouversun.com/newsite/sports/991201/3228579.html
There was a period of three days ... that Eke the Squeek ... was included in the Francis deal. He was only hours away from being a Rocket. We ended up with Nyiade(sp)instead. By mutual choice! He has been released, and is presently taking college courses and not playing ball anywhere in the world. Any questions from the peanut gallery on that one?
%$#$%# showed what a classless ass he was when he was in school and he has no game.Obinna would have gone top20 if not injured.GOOD GOD!Are you serious Pops?
