In every game there are a number of plays made by Cat, Mooch and Steve that cause me to shake my head in amazement. They will be driving towards the basket with nowhere to go and no shot to take with someone open on the wing, at the arc or close to the basket and yet they will completely ignore the better option. At other times they will completely ignore what looks like a perfect shot in order to make a highlight reel pass to a teammate that has a harder shot. There are times late in games where they look like they completely forget about their teammates. Maybe it is because they just don’t have confidence in them late in the games, maybe the plays that Rudy calls does not include five players in the offense or maybe they just don’t have the court vision or court savvy or play making instinct to excel consistently in those situations. Since I don’t believe that Steve or Cat are selfish players and you would never convince me that Rudy would call plays with the game on the line that would illuminate half of the team as an option I believe we just don’t have anyone with the type of play making instincts that we need. The Nets are a perfect example of how much better a team can become with someone running the offense that is a natural at getting his teammates involved into the game in such a way that gives them the best chance for success. When the nets gave up Stephon Marbury to get Jason Kidd they gave up one of the most dominant offensive players in the game for a player that has several seasons with a field goal percentage less than .400. Jason Kidd on most teams would be the last offensive option if he were not handling the ball. The difference between Marbury and Kidd is that Marbury makes you better at the one spot while Kidd makes you better at the 2, 3, 4 and 5 spots. Marbury is not a bad passer but Kidd has great court vision and gets the ball to his teammates in the best possible position at the best possible times which gives them the best possible chance for success. Where Marbury is the superior one on one player Kidd makes much better decisions. You almost never have a problem with Kidd taking the impossible shot or running down the clock trying to fake out a defender when one or more of his teammates are in position for a better shot. With the game running down Kidd will get the ball to the player that has the best shot…even if it means he has to take it with his .367 shooting percentage. The things that make Jason Kidd the best Point Guard in the league are the same things that made Magic Johnson and Larry Bird the epitome of team players. Neither of those two were great athletes but both understood that five players performing at their best always beat one player regardless of how dominant that one player was . Just ask Jordan about that lesson as the Celtics and Pistons schooled the Bulls even when Jordan was the most dominant player in the league. In case anyone not old enough to remember cares to know Jordan was accused of the same type of selfishness early in his career that Iverson, Marbury and even Steve and Cat get accused of today. This is not about trading Steve or Cat or anyone for that matter but it is about acquiring through the draft via free agency or by whatever means is necessary a true point guard that makes the rest of the team better and makes clutch decisions not just clutch shots . Personally I think Steve is the most physically gifted athlete in the NBA and would be the best two guard in the league. I think his scoring would go up a bit while his assists and rebounds would stay about the same. The most important thing about acquiring a true playmaker is that he would make everyone on the team better…including Steve
The Nets aren't that great of an example. I think it does help that Kidd doesn't have to play on a team composed of CBA scrubs and a number one pick still rebounding from a serious injury. Marbury didn't have Kerry Kittles--who is a very good shooting guard. Kenyon Martin was still developing and--as Byron Scott himself pointed out last year--Martin played with a little hesitancy, probably due to being fresh off a serious leg injury (which he would later injure again). Along with having Kidd, Kittles and a tougher Martin, these Nets also have solid centers in Todd Macoullough (sp) and Jarod Collins--both fundamental big men who can catch a pass. The Nets also added Richard Jefferson--who brings athleticism, defense and a better fast breaking game--and have a good enough back up point guard. There is a good chance the Nets would have been better under Marbury if Marbury had this type of talent around him. Even Kidd couldn't make the Mavs winners by himself. I do think you have a point, but your argument may not be as strong as you present it. I do think Kidd's style of play is better for winning than Marbury's but at the same time I don't think the Net's would have been as bad as they were if Marbury had these guys. (I don't think they'd be this good either.) Leadership may be the most important factor here. Kidd has it. Marbury doesn't have a lick. Scott and Van Horn have said and insinuated publicly that one of the biggest reliefs is not having Marbury's negative attitude around. Marbury is a grouch who is always down on his teammates--often negatively affecting their confidence--whereas Kidd is Mr. Positivity--always trying to raise guys' confidence. Marbury and the Nets just did not mix. The only team I think Marbury really has ideal chemistry with is the T-wolves with Garnett. And Marbury screwed that up.
Bingo, However, maybe Steve can be a Gary Payton type PG. Of course, he would have to START playing defense to have that happen. DaDakota
JeffB, Actually Kidd did have success in Dallas. In his rookie year the Mavs record more than doubled to 36 wins from 13 the previous year and 11 before that. Both Jackson and Mashburn were starting to look like all stars that year. So what happened? First Jim Jackson got a high ankle sprain that he never seemed to recover from while he remained on the Mavs. Mashburn ended up missing a lot of games with tendinitus in his knees. And last but not least was the Toni Braxton fiasco. She dated both Kidd and Jackson. When Kidd was first drafted by the Mavs him and Jackson were almost like Cat and Steve...until Braxton came along. After that Jackson became very isolated from the team (although he continued to say all of the right things in public). Most of the players supported Kidd and felt that Jacksons ankle was fine but Jackson would not play and when he finally did come back he did not play anything like he did before the injury. Shortley after that the team was sold to Ross Perot, Dick Motta was fired and Jim Clemmons was hired. Ross brought in some real-estate buddy to be the general manager. One of the moves they made before hiring Don Nelson was to trade Jason to Pheonix for Sam Cassell, A.C. Green and some guy that plays guard for them now. Don Nelson later said that he would not have traded away Kidd. As far as the New Jersey example goes they only won 26 games last year and this year they have already won 29. At their current pace they will finish with more victories then they have had in the three previous years combined. Coincidence? I think not.
Just give me a healthy Steve Francis, and I'll show you a true point guard. Any questions? Have a nice day..
I find it weird that when Steve Francis was involving his teammates a lot in the plays and not shooting quite as much, you all said he needs to shoot more and be more selfish, but now that he is taking more shots, you all are saying he needs to be more of a team player.
You missed the point. I have no problem with what Steve is trying to do. He tries to get his teammates involved but he just does not seem to have the ability to get the ball to his teammates at the best times. He seems to miss the open man a lot of times. Even against the Nets and Mavs where his numbers looked all world there where times when he looked to make passes at the wrong time or not at all. The ally oops to Cato were a thing of beauty the other night but even with those he seems to not see other teammates sometimes. I just think that the best point guards in history did not look at teammates and see a shooting percentage. They looked at their teammates and saw a good shot or a bad shot and passed the ball accordingly. I just think that the ideal point guard should make the most out of the passes he does make. Steve turns the ball over once for every two assists thats not making the most out of your passes.
Francis is my point guard you nimrod. Just because you live in Dakota does not give you an excuse to be a idiot. You better recognize the FRANCHISE!!
I also find it weird that people b**** about Stevie's defense and then say they want to move him to the 2 spot. Cedric Boseman is only a freshman, you guys...so unless you want Stevie playing the 2 on both sides of the court, it might be best to keep him at the PG. I know the fans are doing the voting, but Steve's a freaking all-star and people want to jack with him.
RocPaint, I live in Austin Texas, nimrod !!! And you missed the Irony, Francis is not a good point guard right now. He is an excellent 2 guard though. DD
DD Maybe you should move to Dakota and take up farming, because your so called basketball intellect on the Rockets has been way off lately.
After reading Crash's posts, we'll know the **** will hit the fan when we hear Beyonce mentioned in the same sentence as Cuttino.
Forget a true point guard. All this team needs is to commit to playing defense for 48 minutes. If this team works on that, then the offense will fall into place, and wins will pile up.
Francis will be a true scoring point guard in the next couple years. He is still young. Francis likes to work on his game. He is a still doing street ball in the offseason. Once he learns that in the offseason he needs to work on his passing and dribbling he will start excelling as a point guard. We need to be patient and not ask for a true point guard yet. I would rather have a scoring rebounding point guard like Francis than a playmaker pointguard like Kidd. The Nets have alot of talent around Kidd. They are all high first round draft picks..Kmart, Kittles, Van Horn, Kidd are all top 10 picks...The only ones we have are Francis and Griffin. The rest are either too old or second rounders. We just don't have the talent needed to win...
At least Dadakota is using his posts to talk about basketball as opposed to bashing on your weak posting. Dadakota is one of the more established guys around here. And for a reason. I happen to agree with him about Francis being a 2, and I would trade Francis for Kidd anyday.
Talking about a pg needing to make his team better, what was the rockets record without Steve? and what was the record with steve? There is ur answer.
