Stevie, Stevie, Stevie... 7-13? that's a great game for a role player, an average game for a star, and a miscoached (sub-par) performance for a soon to be superstar... 6 rebounds for a rookie pg? amazing 7 assists? great... great... w/ 6 points at the half and the same amount of assists, i thought you had done a great job of getting everyone active, etc. i was sure that you would come out on fire. in fact, whiney mouse sat down w/ 4 3 minutes into the 3rd... awesome. it was time to take over... ahem... time to take over. quit acting like a true point guard, you're the franchise now. besides, noone on the rockets cares who gets the damn assists, read rudyt's system for the past 9 years. ahem... time to take over
Stevie should be going to the line 10-15 times agame and putting up big numbers.With the injuries to Dream and Chuck(in fact they should have made him the number one option just like in the preseason and take control.They were turning the corner) it IS time Rudy let him strut his stuff.There is no way with the new rules that Stevie should not be getting to the bucket at will.The only person holding him back is RUDY.Before it was easier to swallow under the auspice that he was learning the pt. guard position,but now........let him rock! HH
RUDY,RUDY,RUDY TIME TO DROP THE REIGNS AND LET HIM GO GO GO!............and start Cato with him.....MAN!
is it just me, or was francis playing better/scoring more/dishing out more assists w/ barkley? there's nothing wrong w/ stevie's line tonight... in fact, it's a career night for someone like drew... it seems like he just needs to stop playing mild mannerly... get an attitude, remember... this game isn't for readers of "i'm ok you're ok" 19-24 shots a game is entirely fair for someone of his caliber, besides, when there are no leaders on the team, he needs to impose himself upon that role. instead, cuttino is taking over... which is great, but cuttino's spice is more will than skill... we'd better not hear cuttino say in 13 years "if i only had steve's talents and my guts, the rockets would have won several post-dream titles"
The kid is being overcoached,ACHEBE.Rudy wants to get these young guys involved when alot of them won't be here.He is stunting Stevie's growth nowIMO.
hardwood: maybe... just maybe, in rudy's defense, he wants the whole team playing explosive fast paced bball, so that when dream returns, this team's future will be set in stone, and dream won't be able to sway them... but along the same lines, a couple of 35 point performances by francis would have alot to say too... francis could so easily take over the game though... his skills seem in paradox w/ his ability to share the ball... TAKE OVER
Of course he had more shots with Barkley there. They had to honor Barkley and that left more room for STevie. Since Chuck and Dream are gone, who do you think they double. Stevie! He is a rookie and had only one year at top college level ball. So I think he is doing well. If he were shooting more everyone would (like we did before) be saying he is a ball hog and needs to get his teammates involved. I like team ball and let the leader emerge naturally. I still did not see enough passing around tonight and I don't know why cus that is when we do better. Back to the point, Stevie will be the leader. I would like him to involve others but do his thing if he needs to take over when maybe no one else is hitting, like in the 4th quarter, lol. Otherwise, a point guard needs everyone else involved to have done a good job. Good effort tonight, Rockets. Let's stop the mental mistakes like shot clock violations. Yall are professionals after all.
I feel if unleashed Stevie would have many 25-35pt. games....and I believe we would see some triple doubles.In fact, as is, he loses about 5 assists a game because of guys who can't finish or mishandle silver platter passes.There is no reason he can't average 20 and 10 as a rookie that's scary.On the other hand there is the mini M.J.factor.The pure scorer in him is so strong it begs to roam free.I honestly believe if left alone,he can work magic.I would like to see the addition of a stud power forward,a backup veteran point(as Drew would be in a deal),and another 3.I have full confidence that the Rockets will acquire this talent via trade this year,free agency,and the draft next year .Either way Stevie needs a little more help.I do think the future is extremely bright..........more titles eventually! Go Rockets! That is an interesting paradox Achebe. HH I think it should sort itself out naturally if left alone.He is that good.
HH- Usually I agree with your posts, but this time I disagree. Seems like you want to create another Allen Iverson, shoot first then let the other 4 guys rebound. Steve can be a great player w/o shooting 20-25 shots and scoring 25-35 points. He needs to keep everyone involved in the offense. Remember his statement when he got traded here about leading the league in assists? That is what a great player does, makes his teammates better, not scores a ton of points. Jordan as always is the exception. But imagine how many more points Magic or Bird could have scored with a shooting mentality, instead they got everyone involved. HH- We need Stevie to lead the team, not necessarily lead the team in scoring or shots, although that will probably happen naturally with his ability. Basically with Steve ability he can get his own points, and create many more open shots for teammates. It just worries me when I hear people telling him to shoot more.
hey 4chuckie: for stevie to turn in to allen iverson, he'd have to shoot 35 times, hit 10, shoot 15 free throws, dish out 4 assists, 2 rebounds, a couple of steals, etc. francis, i think, had 4 assists last night in the first 6 minutes... his intuition, it seems, is to get other people involved, i have no doubt that he knows that he's a great... i may be jumping the gun, b/c i know that this team is developing 'go to plays' etc., but teams seem to fare better when there's a single player that steps up and says "we lost b/c I" did or didn't do something... my point is that on a team w/ a sg that can dish out 7 assists, stevie's role isn't limited to that of a scorer (since shandon is the antithesis of a scorer, somebody back there needs to shoot ) orlando seems to be on the same track that the rockets are... a bunch of good players, w/ no true ball hog in the sense of the word... everyone shoots, but check out these stats: http://www.nba.com/games9900/991220/UTHORL/boxscore.html the player that shot the most... was darrell armstrong (22x actually), their point... i have a sneaking suspicion that francis is a better player than darrell armstrong (as good as darrell is )
Steve is an amazing athlete and budding superstar and your call for him to take over really preaches to my choir. However we must not forget the fact that the best basketball is smart basketball. Like when Francis last night forgot about the shot clock once or twice last night. Usually it's carrying, or dribbling FOREVER that disturbs me, but there has been many a situation where I feel that he neglects to see people. All these will iron themselves out though with time and experience. Mobley last night seemed extra emotional and took some poor shots because of it. I'm all for isolation plays for him but we need to teach him to move without the ball. My big question for Mobley is: How many times do you see him shoot with less than 3 dribbles? Not very much.
Steve is the leader of the team and What i was really mad to see last night at the game was that Steve didnt shoot the ball alot. Rudy needs to find a way to let steve take over the game. Steve Francis can drive the ball in annnny time and he will either make it or get fouled. I want steve to shooot the ball more, Forget about the other stuff. He needs to shoot the most.
4CHUCKIE, I totally see where you are coming from.I didn't really elaborate enough and we might differ on this anyway.I once said something along the lines tha Stevie is a little bit like a mini Mike and Magic .I know this is an outrageous statement,but I think he has some of both of these guys quality's.Stats aren't everything,but winning means a heck of a lot.I felt that he was being brought along pretty well,learning the toughest position on the court and getting teammates involved.When Chuck went down(a moment of silence),I think Stevie's role on this team needed to change.As it was,I thought especially with the rule changes,he should be at the line 10-15 times a game.Now,he is the major scoring threat and I think he should be given a bit more carte blanche out there.I'm not saying that Rudy shouldn't still reign him in some if this happens.I don't think Stevie will turn into another Iverson.Rudy won't let him and that's good. I just see the enthusiasm,the great passes,yet also the ability to take over when needed.I'm just saying he needs to be allowed to do this sometimes......not all the time.....I think he just needs a little more freedom to do his thing right now,for the good of the team and his benefit.....albeit tempered...I do think he will have the talent around him in the near future,but right now it isn't quite there. We'll get there together, Bring on those titles! One more thing,Stevie is SUCH a special player that I don't think we've seen anything but the tip of the iceberg. HH I think Stevie has that ability to separate the two(being distributer and scorer).....He won't fall into the trap(nor do I think he has the same mental makeup)like Iverson. He's like Mike! [This message has been edited by Hardwood Hammer (edited December 22, 1999).] [This message has been edited by Hardwood Hammer (edited December 22, 1999).]
