In all my years of watching basktball, I think this is the deepest i've seen the point guard position. I mean its probably real close to the 4 spot as being the best position in the league. I think when people look at our team, sometimes they underrate other teams pg's to the fullest. I know people will blow me up, but i still think Francis is behind Payton and Kidd as the best pg's in the league, but with that in mind, he's not head and shoulders better than the others on the list. If you look at the pg's that are behind Steve in my eyes, they are right behind, not long behind. I look at the list and see Cassell,Van Excel,Bibby,Marbury,Miller,Nash,Davis,Brandon, and Some may throw 100 yr old Stocton in that mix, what you have is guys that can and will score on Steve and put their teams in good positions like him. Now you have guys like Parker, Claxton, and Tinsley coming up and this is a very deep position to say the least. Steve will have his work cut out every night, just like Thomas and Rice for the most part. Every night there are guys who can bring it and he has to be ready. Although this is considered our strongest position, on most nights against the list above, they'll play him to a draw. That is why I think it is vital for us to get more than what we are getting from our 3 spot that much more important. If those guys play him to a draw, more times than not, we're in trouble. Its still early in the season, but this stretch will tell us a lot about which direction our team is going and for those screaming respect, win some of these games and we will get it.
i read this and wonder, "you consider yourself a rockets fan?" Stevie is head and shoulders better than the rest of the pack that you mentioned. I Francis played for Cleveland, for instance, as Miller does, he would be putting up all kinds of gaudy numbers. I agree Payton, at at this point, probably has a better all-around game that Francis. Kidd I am not sold on but I guess an argument can be made. If Steve were to go down with an injury, God forbid, we would 100% cellar dwellars.
DJ, what does being a Rockets fan have to do with anything? Do you think Cat is the best 2 guard in the league? If not, you must not be a rockets fan. Do you think Cato is the best center in the league? I'm a big Francis fan, but that doesn't mean I can't look at him objectively as a player. I doubt Steve would put up much bigger numbers in Cleveland, because everyone could concentrate more on stopping him than they can in Houston. Even if he did, Cleveland would still be a loser team. Don't you see how much better New Jersey is with Kidd than with Marbury? Kidd truly makes everyone else better on his team. Steve is improving and hopefully, will one day be as good a point guard as Kidd, only with a better shot.
because being a Rockets fan is strongly correlated with irrational player comparisons. And so what if I think Cato is the best center in the league thanks for the reality check Moe sometimes Rockets fever makes me take offense to plausible arguments
It's true, until Francis steps out of the Marbury-type mold, he won't be able to make his team better. No, I'm not drawing a comparison, cause Francis isn't as selfish. But Francis still isn't a premier passer in this league. Out of a 10, he may be a 7.5 and Kidd is a 9.5. But, cato did say in an interview that Francis is working on being a real PG, and that will make him the most complete PG ever, literally. In 2 years, if he succeeds, his passing skills and his experience-enhanced defense will make him incredible. Speed, quickness, passing, rebounding, scoring, going inside, long-range shots, jumpers, everything. I tihnk Steve is too determined to let this small problem getin the way of his potentially incredible career.
I'm not bashing Stevie by no means, I'm just saying Rockets fans on this board think he is clearly head and shoulders over some of the others and I'm saying he's not. I'm simply saying that the depth at the pg position is very strong at this point and it may be the strongest that I have seen since the early to mid 80's pg. I mean even on a sorry team, Miller is at 19.7 and 9asst on that team. Marbury is good , so is Cassell,Brandon,Bibby and so forth. My point is like this, Duncan is the best 4 in the game, but when he plays Garnett,Webber,McDyess,Brand, Rasheed,Malone and some of the other 4's in the west, they tend to play to a draw. The same can be said with some of the 3's in the west also. Thats all I'm saying, I'm not bashing the Franchise at all.
Stevie is right behind Kidd and Payton. Period. please don't get me started on a Duncan vs Garnett argument...Garnett blows him away in all around ability
I'd rather have Duncan at the 4 than Garnett. his D is better, his rebounding s better, his shotblocking is better, and he's much more intimidating. Garnett has athleticism and ballhandling over Duncan, that's it.
