I'm getting to the point where I'd rather see Francis take a 15 ft jumper than try his acrobatic double pump layups while falling down. His FG% is like 42 or 41% this year. I think this is due to Francis driving and being stuck in the air with nothing to do but jack up a bad layup. Last year, he rarely missed anything inside of 5 ft. Now, he's probably shooting only like 50% or so from anything inside 5 ft. With that being said, why is he doing this? I think it's because he has NO ONE going to the basket to bail Francis out. It's either that, or Francis is trying to be on Sportscenter.
I really hate to say this, but I think Steve might be lacking a little bit of confidence this year. I dont know if it's because of all his injuries or what, but he definitely has a hitch in his wheel-house right now. I still think he is the best point though.
Sooner or later (hopefully sooner) Steve and Cat are going to come to the realization that an NBA zone has to many obstacles on the way to the rim. Can someone close to the team sneak a subliminal recording of Calvin Murphy repeating the phrase "Stop & Pop" into both of their residences?
I've been a big Francis supporter in the past. No one on the Rockets gives it their all more than Steve during a game. But, the ball was also made to pass... not just shoot. If you're going to be a PG you can't be the only one with the ball. It's a team game!!!!
IMO, The migraines are making it difficult for Stevie to shoot his outside shot, making the drives a necessity. As such, he is not over a series of games able to get in a comfortable shooting groove and has to rely more on the drives. As a result, bad habits are forming that may take a while to get out of. Bottom line, get rid of the damn migraines and then I think Steve will be able to work on his game and take it to another level. Until then, I think he will plateau for a while, through no fault of his own.
I'm afraid STEVIE IS A SLOW LUHNER He drives into a colllapsing defense, one on four or five, and then gets a T when the refs refuse to bail him out after he misses another layup and/or gets hammered. Sometimes I think he'd rather be spectacular than simply win D R
Lol, in the same day we have one thread criticizing Steve for settling on the jumpshot, while another is criticizing his drives and lack of shooting jumpshots. I make no value judgement of either, since I cannot see the games...just thought that this was kind of funny.
rimmie: I think both critcisms have the same root - not recognizing and taking advantage of what the defensive gives you in the flow of the game. My recollection was that Steve and Cat were going thru the Spurs D with no problems until they switched to a zone. Then Steve forced the action and...well, you've seen other games, right?
I was sure if it was just me, but it seems like Steve was a really good finisher last year while lately he can't hit any of his lay-ups. he even seems to have trouble on wide open ones. I have to disagree on Cat however, I think he should go to the rim more. He usually hits his lay-ups, especially being a lefty. I just wish Steve will learn to trust his teammates. It's one thing to say they can't score, but I'd rather see him find the open man than hog the ball and drive into quadruple team. That's what sucks about this team. I think we have good players, but they play like idiots.
I don't know, but last game looked like Houston Rockets bobblehead doll night . Or, at least that's what they were after the Spurs were done with them...
I don't mean to sound out against perceived negativity, but Mobley is averaging 21.45ppg on 43.64 FG% this year as opposed to 19.47ppg on 43.41FG% last year. Incidently, last season his figures were a career best - that's obviously been eclipsed by his numbers from this year. Francis is averaging 21.43ppg on 41.54FG% - compared to 19.89 on 45.12FG% last season. While Steve's FG% is down, his ppg are up; I think part of the reason his % is down is his recent shoulder injury, he said himself that he has had trouble shooting recently (and if you look at the last 2-3 weeks worth of his shooting numbers they are not real pretty!). But overall, not what I would label a 'slacking off' of his numbers!! I think Francis and Mobley have adjusted to the zone defense rules pretty well! They can find their shots, manage to score more and are both still really dangerous! If they cut their attacks on the rim then I fear that limits their game somewhat!
Not sure if this is their fault or not, but why haven't rest of the team adapted? Cat and Francis must realize that the Rockets will go nowhere if they don't look to create scoring opportunities for the 4 other guys on the court. The only example I can think of, is Francis setting Cato up with alley oops. For the most part, that is the only time in which our guards help a role player score. The great teams all have players who do a great job setting up teammates. Why do you think LA is so damn tough? Kobe and Shaq are two of the best at finding open shooters/slashers. Kobe and Shaq are tough as hell to defend to begin with. Then, when you have to worry about their teammates getting open, it's a catch 22. We had that situation with Olajuwon back in the day. Double down, and you pay. Now, it's trap Francis or Mobley, and you get a turnover. Francis and Mobley are 2 of the worst guards at splitting the defenders to score, or passing out of the double team to the open guy. If they can improve upon this, we can be a 50-win team.
DrN - Not sure what you mean by "perceived negativity". Actually, I'm not sure what your point is. Are you saying that because Cat's PPG is up he has adjusted to the NBA zone? If so, then it is worth noting that to get his PPG avg up, he has done this by making 54 more 3ptrs than last season. Is this because he is so much better a long range shooter or because the zone has forced him to get more of his points outside? I am not suggesting that Francis or Mobley stop attacking the basket..my suggestion is (and has always been) to take what the defensive gives you. This is smart BBall. Steve & Cat use incredible athleticism to get to the rim when often a more simplistic approach (stop & pop or drive and dish) would work just as well. I don't have a statistic to back this up, but I do not recall that Steve and Cuttino spent as much time on the floor after getting hammered (and then complaining to the officials) last season as opposed to the current one. You say that Francis has a sore shoulder? We all know about the migraines and the foot injury. An ancient Michael Jordan managed to score more PPG this year than Cat or Steve and I'll bet he had far fewer floor burns. Apparently, I am the only person on this BBS that sees a cause and effect relationship to Steve's reckless abandon drives to the rim and some of his injuries.
I don't have a problem with Steve and Cuttino taking all the shots.....but.....If they are going to do so we need to WIN games....Jordan and Iverson average a billion shots per game, but they also were capiable of leading their teams to the finals...Unless these two bring there game up just one more notch, it is going to be hard for us to be a NBA final contender.....
I think I agree with you Gater! I object to those who say that Francis/ Mobley cannot compete as well this season because their path to the rack has been closed down by more defenders cramming in there. Obviously they both score more and, Mobley's case, score in a better way! I would like to agree that the 2 of them could utilise the stop & pop (perhaps more applicable to Francis...) but cutting off the drive to the rim breeds the bad habit of forcing the stop and pop. Room for improvement in their games is graet - it always breeds more hope for the future!
Good point. However, the refs never seem to bail him out. More often than not, it leads to turnovers or missed layups.
