How is he going to learn when everytime he does something wrong, the fans call for Bryce Drew to start.? You can't learn when you're on the bench. Guys, I agree with you that Francis has been making a lot of mistakes. What I am saying is that he needs to be in the game to learn from those mistakes.
I agree with DaDakota - our halfcourt offense consists mostly of isolations when mobley and Francis have the ball. They are good, but i cant help thinking how much better mobes aNd Francis would be if they would learn the right times to choose to iso. The two could be so much more effective using screens and driving and dishing, etc. I do believe we will reach that point, in time. But for now the faces are still pretty new to each other and they are learning, albeit slowly, to adjust their games. Its just very hard for the fans when all we see is isos and losses. [This message has been edited by CriscoKidd (edited December 12, 1999).]
To all you Drew bashers. Go hope on the Bandwagon and go root for the Blazers! We need less people to diss are players and more to say good job and bad job. And saying Bryce Drew suck IS JUST PLAIN IGNORANT! I see him as another Sam Cassell that we had once before. One thing the Rockets are good at doing is picking draft picks. Starters should be C- Cato PF-anyone who shows he can play SF-Shandon Anderson SG Steve Francis PG Bryce Drew either that or switch Bryce Drew to SG it don't matter. Give this guy a chance! and stop bashing him!
I have never said start Drew. I agree Steve needs to learn, and the best way is to play him. However, if he is out of control, Rudy needs to pull him and let him watch a bit. Rudy is trying to teach him how to win. I think Rudy is trying to get him to see how a less talented player (Drew) is running the team more effeciently. Francis will catch on, but when he is out of control he needs to come out of the game. Last night he was 5-9 and said something like he thought he was playing well. I disagree !!!! The role of a PG is to get everyone involved and score at opportune times. He had 0 Assists last night ZERO !!! It is not all his fault. I think the players are trying not to get in his way, where as when Drew is in the game they know they need to contribute and play team ball. Isiah Thomas once said he could score 50 every night if he wanted, but that he knew his team would lose. Steve needs to learn this lesson. He will learn it, I like him a lot. I just don't mind him sitting sometimes when he is hurting the team. DaDakota "Grab some pine bub"
lol-- BryceDrewFan, you are hilarious. You're not actually serious are you? Another Sam Cassell? ------------------ now -WE- are the underdogs
With the simple statement he sees Bryce as "another Sam Cassell", Brycefan has just shown us that he is the one that is truly ignorant. Might as well call Kenny Thomas the next Malone/Barkley. Or we can call Cato the next Olajuwon. Or we can call Cassell the next Magic Johnson. Give me a break already. ------------------ Live Rocketball. Breathe Rocketball. Die with Rocketball.
Interesting debate, but the fact of the matter is we should be happy that we have 2 good, young point guards. I would like to see both of them on the court at the same time though. Drew could take some of the ball handling pressure of Francis. Here are some stats from the last 10 games that each has played in: DREW 27.2 Min; 45.5% FG; 53.7% 3pt; 100% FT; 2.1 Reb; 3.6 Assists; .9 TO; .7 St; 11.1 Pts; 2.2 3pters/game FRANCIS 35 Min; 42.9% FG; 30.1% 3pt; 69.4% FT; 5.1 Reb; 6.1 Assists; 4.7 TO; 1 St; 18 Pts; 1.5 3pters/game You make your own conclusions. I think that we are blessed to have both of them. Bryce has become more efficient, but cannot do all the things Francis can. With all 4 of the talented guards we have, there will definitely be some moves made...there is not enough playing time to go around.
No way Bryce Drew is playing better than Francis, using 3 games stats don't tell the whole story. The problem of Bryce Drew is that he doesn't seek to get the teammates involved aggressively. He just kind of toss the ball around, instead of driving and slashing, what a lazy ass. Outplaying Jason Kidd was a fluke. Playground players outplayed pros in a bad night. The aggressiveness is in direct proportion to turnovers. Drew doesn't know how to get his teammates involved, that's why he has low assists and low turnovers in this season. Francis plays 1.5 times longer than Drew each game in the season. If Drew played the same amount of time, he would avarage 3.45 assists per game. Far from Francis' 6.2 assists per game. The problem of Francis is that he tried to do too much sometimes, and that results in unnessesary turnovers. But I would take that over the lazyboy and dumbass in Bryce Drew anytime. The assist/turnover ratio for Francis is 1.5, 1.8 for Drew, as I said, the disparity is the difference between aggresiveness and laziness, or inability. Francis gets way more steals, blocks and rebounds than Bryce freaking Drew. Drew's defense is full of holes. Drew is a defense liability, just look at last night how Sherman Douglas lit him up( only one shot from Sherman was a fluke, others were capitalized on Drew's lazy defense.). Score 2 points and get schooled the other end for 2, that's a waste of time and possesion. The Freak, Francis didn't play the whole first qtr, he played 11 minutes last night, and he returned to game in the third qtr and played a while. We were leading when Francis played in the first game, and slipped into a big hole with Dr.ew in the game. I can't agree with the "this is actually the first season of Bryce Drew" as well, the fact is, Drew got more minutes in the last season than most rookies in the league. He played 18 minutes in a game last season, and took the last shot, only he stepped out of bounds and the shot was canceled, you can't ask too much from this dumbass.
I didn't say exactly like him. Just the help we got from Sam Cassell during the 93-94 94-95 seasons. He will be like the Sam Cassell on the Rockets. He has devolped way to much to be compared to Drew. BY the way who got rid of him is a moron. He got 12 assists last night. A spark on the bench like Cassell was. Same with mobley. But since Walt Williams is playing like my mother. I think either start Drew or Mobley and put Anderson at SF. If Rudy is going to piss of Francis he is going to demand a trade like Pippen.
*sigh* This thread has got out of hand. I apologize if anyone truly believes I was claiming Drew should start over Francis... I do think think that perhaps Drew should start instead of Williams (moving Williams to the bench). I don't agree that Drew is a Cassell... I think he's either a good backup, or a mediocre starter. However, Francis isn't playing well at the 1. Thecabbage: I know that Francis will need time at the point to become a great PG, however, I think that right now, he needs to develop more sound fundamentals, and dispaly more team work. I think this goal could better be accomodated by playing him at the 2.
Some of you guys are hilarious. Here we have a ROOKIE point guard who is averaging 17 points, 7 assists, 5 boards, 1 1/2 steals, and a block every other game. He did that mostly with either Hakeem, Barkley or both in the lineup. Yes he has lots of Turnovers. But look at the rest of it. Jeez. Now there's no Barkley, or Hakeem. Who do you guys think should be the scoring leader every night? Walt williams? At this point, screw what position he plays, he is the only, and I mean only true scoring threat on this team.
thedreamshake99 -- Please don't use the "ROOKIE" thing... it meant nothing to you when you said Drew should be cut because "anyone who shoots 35% should be cut". In my opinion Francis is without a doubt your starting point guard, but why can't people be happy that Drew is showing progress? Some of you look like you want Drew to fail. ------------------ Clutch http://www.clutchcity.NET SPREAD THE WORD
I agree with you Clutch. We want both to succeed. I just think the Rockets are in for a few years of rebuiling. (Sigh) Unless we get some veterans in here to show the young guns how to win in the NBA. DaDakota
"Some of you look like you want Drew to fail." What do you mean, 'look like'? "I can't wait til Drew has finished his 15 minutes of fame. Then we can go back to leaving his ass on the bench where all scrubs belong."
Freak...Regardless, Drew isn't a rookie. He got alot of action last year. He's seen alot of action this year. You can't just say he's all but a rookie. Look, it's already been proven that you're only going to point out who and who's not a rookie when it's convenient for your argument. Drew played 442 minutes all of last year (I would wager a good percentage of that is garbage time), Francis ALREADY has played 657 minutes. In his career, Francis has started way more games, and played in more game situations than Drew, garnering more meaningful minutes, and also has the same amount of NBA training camps under his belt. Compared to Drew, he is a rookie in NAME only. Im alittle confused as to your assesment that he plays better as a starter than a reserve. Hey playing is playing. Performing is performing. Under that set of circumstance every opposing team would have a simple game plan when Drew was in. Play a 2nd stringer. Like I said, starters and reserves play different roles. Maybe he gets into the flow more when he starts, I don't know. Anyway, it's not my assessment, it's a FACT. His numbers are better when he's started. How exactly would Francis' assists go down if he came off the bench with Cuttino 'Shoots-a-lot' Mobley???? It doesnt make sense does it. What doesn't make sense about it? When a guy is constantly running isolations, how is anyone else supposed to get assists? Mobley isn't exactly a catch-and-shoot type player, in case you hadn't noticed. So what if its 1 percent difference does it change the fact that he actually shoots better from the field??? I don't know. You seem to have a different position when it comes to free throw shooting: With Francis your talking about 1 more miss per 10 shots. And like I was saying, considering he gets to the line 4 times as much, Ill take that one more miss per 10 shots. Gotta love the way you twist numbers around. Ever heard of being consistent? When Francis shoots 1 percent better than Drew from the field, "so what if it's one percent, he still shoots better", and when Drew shoots 10 percent better from the line, "well, he doesn't go to the line as much as Francis, so I'll take those extra misses". Gee, I hope that one extra miss every 10 attempts doesn't come when we're down by 1 in the closing seconds of a tight game. Now Francis does give the ball up more than Drew. But considering the difference every where else, Its not enough to give Drew the reins over Francis When did I say Drew should start? Ill agree with FF. You guys are trying to use one good week to determine someones ability over anothers. What I did was even up the score. Yeah, we really need a few people to even it up. After all, the number of people that defend Bryce Drew is just OVERWHELMING.
Clutch...Francis isn't shooting 35 percent either. Even as a Rookie. Turnovers are something that usually goes down with experience. Its a much harder thing to become a better shooter. Although I did say anyone who shoots 35 percent should be (key word here) CONSIDERED for a cut, I don't ever recall saying Drew should be cut. Maybe I have. But then again, Drew has increased his shooting. So that would eradicate him from my original point anyways. Freak. I can't even begin to have a discussion with whatever it is your calling counter points. I guess all those minutes Drew has played don't count your right, He's a rookie. I see your still not understanding the Free throw thingy, I dont see it as that difficult man. You say how Francis may be a liability at the Free throw line because he misses one more per ten shots, Let me make it simpler for you. Francis gets to the line lets say 20 times and makes 15 of them Drew goes 5 times and makes 4. This is a true ratio since Francis goes 4 times as much as Drew Who's free throw exploits would you rather have, for the night? My point was simple. Drew doesn't deserve to start over Francis. I gave fact and numbers to support my claims. Alot of you claim how Francis doesn't get his teammates involved. The guys is averaging close to 7 assists a night. Once again Freak. You haven't discounted anything I said in my post. Beating around the bush, seems to be more like it. Doesn't Francis get way more Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Points, and Blocks. Drew has less turnovers. Yes. Free throws: See above I suspect though, If Drew were starting, Freak you would be the first one to claim how he should be Right?
I admit it, I doubted Drew every step of the way. He has turned me around. It's pretty strange admitting that right now Thomas Hamilton and Bryce Drew are your two most active players. with apologies to Rogers.
Look, I have no problem with Drew. What I don't understand is people complaining about Francis "not getting teammates involved" or "being a ball-hog". This is simply ridiculous. Our rookie point guard is averaging 17 ppg, 7 boards, and 5 assists and we have people complaining?!?!!? People outside of Houston think Steve is the second coming of Isiah Thomas!! Frankly, Steve Francis is the only consistent weapon we have right now. Yes, Bryce Drew is developing, but does that mean he should start at point guard!??! Hell NO! The point guard position takes time to learn, and Francis needs all the training he can get so he can master it.
