Pass first do not meant more assist, it meant more ball movement, more ball distribution. You do not want Mike James and SF3 taking the same number of shots as Yao and Tmac. Only PG in the team that do not think "ball in hand=shoot" is Rafer alston and AB, with AB still so raw, i say Alston should be the better role player. SF3 need the ball to be effective, James can be that energy guy, but with him starting, i would not be surprise to see Tmac and Yao sulking at the court. The only reason he did well the last time at rox, its because of players like Sura, wesley, barry who provide balance to the team.
Francis still a good piece for Rockets By RICHARD JUSTICE Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4987188.html This was a basketball move. Nothing more. Steve Francis is back with the Rockets because he makes them better. "He was one of the top 10 players in the league in his ability to get to the basket last year," Rockets general manager Daryl Morey wrote in an e-mail exchange Friday evening. If Francis is healthy, he's almost certain to start at point guard. He's no longer a franchise-caliber player, but he has a skill set the Rockets need. Like the ability to penetrate the lane and create shots for himself or others. In today's NBA, that single skill never has been more valuable. Competition at guard It's why Aaron Brooks might be part of the rotation by playoff time and why Rafer Alston might no longer fit. Francis also brings a raging competitive fire to the floor each and every night. He hasn't always channeled that fire in the right direction, and that will be one of the tests of how this signing works out. He's one of those players who can't be measured strictly by the numbers. Don't focus on his shooting percentage or assist-to-turnover ratio. He'll test Rick Adelman the way he tested Rudy Tomjanovich and Jeff Van Gundy, but it's unlikely anyone will question his heart or desire. Now a team player Francis said all the right things about being able to accept a different role this time around. He said he'd had enough SportsCenter highlights for one career and that winning is the only thing that counts. There's no reason to doubt him. If the last four seasons haven't changed him in some fundamental ways, nothing will. Amid the injuries and arguments, amid the losing and embarrassments, he can't be the same player the Rockets once believed would be their ticket back to the Finals. His challenge will be adjusting to a lesser role, to fitting in and doing what's asked of him and nothing more. He's The Franchise no longer. He surely senses the Rockets look like a team capable of winning in the playoffs. There'd be all kinds of sweetness if Francis was on the floor next spring when the Rockets finally got out of the first round. Indeed, Adelman's challenge is going to be keeping a happy home. Mike James and Bonzi Wells might also get fewer minutes than they've had other places. It's unclear where Luther Head fits in. "We have, one could argue, excess talent now," Morey said, "but coach (Adelman) has generally led very talented teams with great success. He is very strong at getting players to buy into a team concept." Because his name is Steve Francis, he's the most intriguing of all the moves Morey has made in his remarkable offseason. Morey probably can't comprehend that part of the story. He simply can't know how invested fans were in believing Francis and Cuttino Mobley would be part of a third championship. Francis eventually came to symbolize an organization's failures rather than its successes. Yet his failings were those of a spoiled kid. They were never malicious. So he skipped a flight to see a Super Bowl. Big deal. Check this week's headlines. Skipping a flight seems almost irrelevant. Still, some people don't remember him fondly. Within hours of the news that he was returning to the Rockets, e-mails flowed in, perhaps a third of them critical of the move. Many more were positive. If they didn't know him in Orlando and New York, we know him here. We watched him grow up, make some mistakes, learn. We saw him play as hard as any athlete has played in that series against the Lakers three years ago. When it ended, the pain and disappointment were carved into his face. His exhaustion was physical and mental. A lot has happened since then. He's 30 and coming off four seasons of frustration and pain. He appears to have been aged by more than years. When he sat down for a news conference, he looked twice at the Rockets' logo, seemingly trying to remind himself that he finally was back home. He was given No. 3 back, and the Rockets scheduled the news conference for 3:33 p.m. "I never thought that this day would come where I would actually be back here," he said. "It's been overwhelming. I still can't come to grips with it." In some ways, the whole thing seemed surreal. And absolutely perfect. richard.justice@chron.com
That means they payed more attention to what he did for the Rockets than observed his abilities and health over the last 3+ years he has been playing in the league. -Portland after all bought him out for nearly his full pay check just to have him leave. Then they signed a poor man's Rafer Alston in Jeff Blake for a lot more than their cost of just keeping Francis. -Francis TO proneness continued with other coaches/destinations and different role. Got to like a lot of things about him, but he doesn't take care of the ball and in undisciplined, always had been. I hope he is an outstanding 6man for us and his health holds up. I say James and Brooks are the main PGs and Francis gets most his time as back-up SG and occasionally back-up PG when we need a creator (even at the cost of TOs).
