you think you had issues, i am still waiting for cato, mobley, mo taylor AND eddie griffin to come back so my name is relevant again. Ah, the good ole days....
it'll be interesting to see francis on a quality team. once he got on the knicks and his contract seemingly made him untradeable, i always thought his career was just going to be 10-12 years of jumping from one lousy/mediocre team to another, like elton brand. but now he is actually on a good team. hopefully he doesn't do something stupid and get himself traded or benched and hopefully we don't have injuries that derail our season and he actually gets to play in the playoffs and maybe even make the second round with tmac. and that's another thing, possibly seeing francis and tmac, 2 guys who were traded for each other and basically our only 2 premiere athletic/highlight-type players ever, on the court together will be interesting.
You, my friend, are an idiot. 1) Francis' Ast/TO ratio is 1.7 to 1. Not the other way around. 2) Can't make an entry pass, easy pass, and doesn't cut . . . then how did he put up 15/5/5 in his first few years and get to the all-star game 3 times? 3) Doesn't defend? When he was with us, he was one of the top 10 defensive guards in the league. You can argue he's dropped off some, but it can't be any worse than Rafer. 4) Who wanted crybaby Vspan or JHoward's huge contract? Morey was able to get those off, I'm sure he can package JL3 off to the Hornets or some other team.
Good luck. There ARE no highlights from his Knicks days. Hopefully, Steve will come back wiser and more mature. The fact that he spoke to Yao and Tracy before making his decision tells me he might have grown up a bit. For those who argue that his knees make him half the player he used to be, I say good -- that's exactly what we need him to be. Last time around, Steve had to do everything, pretty much, because his supporting cast was subpar. Now he just has to execute the offense, get the ball to the open guys, and make a shot now and then. And Adelman will no doubt further tweak the offense to take advantage of whatever game Steve still has left. Getting Francis for dirt cheap is a no-brainer. Regardless of how little he may have left in the tank, he's a major upgrade over Rafer. D.Money is fast becoming a legend.
Francis Going Home [ESPN] Sorry if already posted. This thread is growing faster than I can read it... After three years of struggles in Orlando and New York, the former All-Star guard will return to the place of his greatest glory, the Houston Rockets. Francis was in Houston on Thursday to sign a two-year contract worth roughly $6 million with the Rockets. The club will announce the signing at a newsconference on Friday. "We're extremely pleased that he's going back to Houston," his agent, Jeff Fried, told The Associated Press. "Houston has always been home for Steve since he entered the NBA." The 30-year-old Francis was recently bought out of the remaining two years, $34 million of his previous contract by the Portland Trail Blazers. He received nearly $31 million in the deal. With money being no factor, Francis chose the Rockets over Miami, Dallas and the Clippers. The Heat are believed to have offered him more money. According to a person close to Francis, he chose Houston largely because of his familiarity with the organization and the city. He has kept a home there since joining the club in 1999, and it was the site of his best years in the NBA. As a high-flying point guard for the Rockets, Francis made three All-Star games and was regarded as one of the top players in the league. Francis' career began to decline when he clashed with coach Jeff Van Gundy, who had replaced Francis favorite Rudy Tomjanovich, in 2003. Though Van Gundy helped Francis get to the playoffs for the first and only time in his career, his deliberate style of offense rubbed Francis the wrong way, and his scoring average dropped from 21 points per game to 16.6. Francis was traded to Orlando for Tracy McGrady the following year. But while McGrady was outstanding in Houston, Francis failed to regain his form and was eventually dealt to New York to team with Stephon Marbury in the backcourt. That experiment failed as well, as Francis ended up in a reserve role behind Jamal Crawford while struggling with minor knee injuries. Finally, the Knicks traded Francis to Portland in a draft-night trade that sent Zach Randolph to New York. The Blazers had agreed to buy out Francis as a condition of the trade. Francis returns to Houston in a much different role. The top option during his five-year stint with the club, he will be no more than the third option behind McGrady and Yao Ming. Francis spoke with both players as well as new Rockets coach Rick Adelman before deciding to accept Houston's offer. Glad to hear he talked with Tracy and that they are apparently okay with one another. Not that there was any REAL reason to believe there was any bad blood there...
Can't find much Knicks stuff besides the Wizards game winner that everyone's already seen a million times. I did find this exceptionally good mix, however: <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cDLfvePfHtc"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cDLfvePfHtc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
TO is just as ass. I don't think he even tried to make it work. Thats also a much bigger personality than Francis is.
What's more intriguing is having Francis and Scola lead the offense with the 2nd unit when Yao/McGrady are resting. It'll be a great sight to see that our production doesn't get FUBAR'd when #1 and #11 sit.
And the rest of the Western Conference looks on in stunned silence and you can hear their a$$ess puckering up getting ready for the rosy red glare as the Rockets come for them!
Selfish??? If anyone is being selfish it's all the people saying that they don't want Francis back on the Rockets. $3 mil a year??? That's Moochie Norris money. If Steve Francis were selfish, he wouldn't have picked the Rockets. Miami offered him more money and he would've gotten more time. Some of you guys only harp on negatives. Remember: 1) Steve still called Yao his big man (even after he was traded). Imagine how much better they will be as a tandem now that Yao's game has improved so much. 2) Steve always gives back to the community here. He still held his charity games here for years after he was traded. 3) He spoke to the players and coach before coming. He isn't expecting to come in and be the #1 option. Get real people. 4) He had some great games last season when playing for the Knicks. He still has the talent. Anyone who wouldn't want him over some of the other guys on our team is crazy!
I don't think this has been discussed yet in 30+ pages of replies: Do people follow 610 radio? Adam, Rich, Mark and Matt have been bashing Steve endlessly among wave after wave of callers saying SF would be a good idea for the Rockets. And listening to them today and acting like they thought it was a great idea all along really shows how cowardly talk show hosts can be.
Welcome back stevie. We missed u!!!!! lmao someone bring back that slideshow of yao, stevie and tracy in that love affair
