Steve Francis Interview(s) - did this strike anyone else?

I Totally Agree with you on this one, plus remember how steve almost picked a fight when someone fouled yao in a game? thats clssic, maybe and we all know he has a close relationship with yao, maybe thats just it, nothing more.

 

we traded SF3 for T-Mac
now both are on the same team
we traded MJ13 for Alston
now both are on the same team
hmm...

 

Rudy gave SF too long a leash and when JVG reeled him in, SF made it plain he didn't like it. AI is a very extreme version of what SF used to be while comparing him to psycho Starbury is unfair. Look, if he gives up the ball and doesn't dribble around too much and try to break people down off the dribble like he's the alpha dog, everything will be fine. He's more mature now hopefully. Adelman doesn't run an iso offense.

If you want to let SF off the hook and say he didn't have teammates worth sacrificing for, fine.

 

Yes I noticed the mention of Yao > Tracy.

But really, it's proven that championship caliber teams run their team more with the big man than the wing (exception with MJ and etc). However, today's game is becoming more about guard play. Hmm.

Is there tension b/w T-Mac and Francis? Maybe. Maybe not. I don't think Tracy has tension with Francis but it could be the other way around. Who knows ... But really, all that's important is that Francis stays true to his statement of having the offence go through Yao first and foremost. There is a little pride in Francis believing his ability is at the level of the superstars and I do believe there's some of it in him still. But he just must make sure not to led his pride translate to the court.

 

I think he's right on. Tracy is a much better option but this offense is much more team oriented. Doesn't matter if he thinks he's a better option, if all the players play as a team.

 

I also don't like how Steve cuts off the reporters before they finish asking their questions. Other than that I don't think we need to worry about anything else regarding Steve's relationship with Tmac.

 

They're not friends, no, they just try to be 'diplomatic' to one another, and that's fine enough by me. They don't have to love each other and wear rings to play together on the court and do something positive. The ONLY relationship I care about on the team is Yao and McGrady's; those are our two stallions, the rest are disposable and they better understand it or they won't be around for long.

Stevie is not the subtle type, it's plainly obvious in his interviews that he tries to 'prop up' Yao and make subtle statements about how things 'should be', usually lumping T-Mac in with comparisons to himself in the past (I have no idea why, but Stevie is under the impression that he was EVER on the same level as T-Mac during any point of his career; he often alludes to it too, if anyone cares to remember how he said that he and T-Mac "lead the league in scoring"...may be his posse are keeping him in the dark about his real averages), and making statements that he and McGrady need to play by those rules, as if they have some kind of agreement in place.

It's cool, I won't judge until I see them play together on the court, I am pretty sure anyways that Mike James will end up getting most of the minutes at the PG position, because I just don't think Stevie's poor outside shooting will be a good fit with the starting unit, although his style of play is a plus with the reserves when Yao/T-Mac aren't on the court because he can drive and 'freelance' a little more.

Let's just wait and see, no need to rush judgement...

 

I was alarmed about the exact same thing in the interview, and was concerned by that more than anything I heard today. Steve didn't seem too happy in his interview. Perhaps it was because some of the reporters brought up the trade, and tackled him on the glut at PG right off the bat.

Clearly, Adelman, Morey and Les made comments to be supportive of Steve.

But, if Steve lets this get to him, his career will probably never recover. Rick's comments about him being a combo guard were interesting too, so I'm not sure he's penciling him in at PG.

I'm hoping Steve buys into Adelman's approach. It's his best chance to not only a championship, but recovering his career.

 

steve never played w/ tmac so it's hard for him to comment much.

on the other hand, he's played w/ yao for his first 3 years and have a great relationship w/ yao.

if he doesn't know the ball will be in tmac's hands 85% of the time, he's still living in the past.

 

i agree, i think the guy might be w/ the least minutes at the PG position might be francis. he's not a great shooter like james. he turns the ball over more than alston. he holds the ball too much.

francis might play around 18-20 mins a game, james around 25-28, around 15-18 mins.

james suit this team more b/c he can shoot very well (standstill or off the dribble) and he can drive. plus, he has experience playing w/ yao and tmac when they actually were great together.

 

I'm not letting him of the hook. That's just the way it was.

If they aren't worth sacrificing for that means that Steve "reining it in" for them to have more opportunity works to the detriment of the team. Otherwise, they'd be worth sacrificing for. Over the years Steve was here, there honestly was maybe two players (Cat and Yao) that could be said to have needed the ball in their hands instead of Steve on a percentage of offensive possessions. And even that's pushing it.

And still, Steve did sacrifice his game for all those guys, because honestly, with the casts we were putting out there, he could have been jacking up 25 shots a game and no one would've complained.

(On a side note, Rudy and SF never got enough credit for leading those teams to 45 win seasons, IMO.)

 

actually i tracy has played 3 seasons with yao compared to steve's 2 season with yao. but the # of games they've played in together may actually be really close since yao and tracy have been injured the past two seasons

 

let the game speaks itself, are pre-season games on TV?

 

Agree with everything Astrorocket is saying, i distinctly remember the years where we all wished Stevie would shoot more, back when he was a somewhat efficient scorer and would routinely defer to mo taylor, kenny t, and co. With the emergence of Yao and the arrival of the gundy yao-centric offense Steve definitely was able to subjugate his game for the good of the team (perhaps not happily). But in regards to the original posters point, i am picking up a similar vibe, seems like steve has no qualms about deferring to yao, but feels like him and tmac should be options 2a and 2b, that sort of thing.

 

francis is 2b? we will not succeed.

 

To be perfectly honest, that wouldn't be the worst thing. Looking at Adelman and how many points a game are scored there is no way he will consistantly get 60-80 points a game from Yao and Tmac alone. No way, it won't happen, but in Adelman's offense his teams score in the triple digit range or near it, so there are points to be had for all. And realistically, I am getting sick and tired of seeing Tmac bail us out of games. That is the reason he ran out of steam against the Jazz. Who knows, maybe Dr. Shaq may have to come in and help T and SF3 establish a relationship. Dr. Shaq is like Dr. Phil on crack.

 

i agree. but again, everything will go through tmac and yao.

francis/james and other simply benefit. we won't run too many plays for them when yao and tmac are on the court together.

francis won't have the same role when he was w/ houston before. he's not gonna be on the ball a lot. that's all i'm saying.

for him to think he's option 2b, then he's still thinking that he'll handle the ball a lot and creating a lot of plays. that just aint gonna happen.

but if u look at sacramento, most of the plays ran through webber/divac/bibby. the rest benefited.

 

As per 82games players pair data:

Code:

[B]Steve and Yao[/B]
           min    +/-     W    L    W%
02/03     2177   +4.0    46   31   59.7%
03/04     2199   +4.8    50   28   64.1%
[I]Total     4376   +4.4    96   59   61.9%[/I]

[B]Tracy and Yao[/B]
           min    +/-     W    L    W%
04/05     2032   +3.4    47   28   62.7%
05/06      800   +5.2    19   11   63.3%
06/07     1009  +13.2    30    9   76.9%
[I]Total     3841   +6.3    96   48   66.7%[/I]

The +/- is per 48 minutes. Steve and Yao have actually had more court time together in the regular season, despite only playing together for two years. Interestingly, both pairs have the same number of "wins". Wins, in this case, refers to any game in which the Rockets outscored the opponent while Yao and Steve/Tracy were on the court together.

 

With the new mix of talent and personalities, it's going to be a very interesting season. Of course, interesting can mean a lot of different things, and not all of them are positive. Still, I'm excited, and it's the same kind of excitement you feel while waiting in line to ride a roller coaster, which seems fairly appropriate when you consider who our new starting point guard will probably be.

Good luck Steve!

 

damn 76.9%??? now extrapolate that to 82 games. and then have tmac and yao REALLY healthy (or as healthy as they can be). we can really challenge for the best record.