It's true. I too believe that, right now, Payton, followed by Kidd, are 1 and 2 in the league at PG. I happen to think the Nets would have a chance against the Lakers if it was Payton rather than Kidd. Kidd neeeds scorers to succeed. He is a horrible shooter. Payton just does everything. He's brilliant, and it would be a complete shame if he never won an NBA championship. But consider this: I remember certain rankings last year had Baron Davis, Andre Miller, ad John Stockton all ahead of Francis. When Baron was tearing up the playoffs, he kept being mentioned as the leader of the next generation of PG's. What Francis has done is he's left Baron in the second tier of superstar players, and elevated his game to one of the best in the league at any position, rather than one of the best at PG. Personally, I don't want Francis to be pass first. What? You think Payton is pass first? Kidd is pass first. Payton is pass if it's easier, shoot if you have the best shot on the court. Francis will eventually adopt this style. Plus, you can see it in Francis' EYES that he's one of those people that become possesed during the playoffs. Let's see fi Andre Miller has that fire in him come playoff time, IF he's in the playoffs at all.
http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?threadid=45125 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I've long skeptical of Steve's PG ability before Yao's arrival. Yao's instance only further confirmed that Steve is not good at getting teammates involved. Playing buddy ball with Mobley doesn't help as well. SF is a great player, but by no means a great PG to me. He's a scorer, not a play maker. His D is also suspicious although is getting a little better. I'm all for finding a capable and big point guard and move Francis to the 2, knowing it's difficult to find such a player. Hopefully Tito can turn out to be a solid player. Guess these are enough to label me as a Hata. Yao's lackluster start is not mainly Steve's fault, but partially to little extent. The main reasons are Yao's own adjustment period , Rudy's fluctuating substitution pattern and inconsistent minutes, which is not good for developing rookies IMO.
Until Steve pushes his team into the playoffs, the debate will always be, does he just put up good numbers on poor teams or does he make his teammates better. That Payton guy dropped 16 dimes tonight. I still say he's the best pg in the league.
Who really cares if Francis is the best right now or not? I think it's way to early to compare Francis who is still on the upswing with a superstar like Payton who's been around for so many years. This debate can wait. As for making his teammates better, that's exactly what Francis is doing. By taking responsibility and leading his teams to victory, by bailing out his teammates and winning games despite their mistake...he's covering their ass...and they will appreciate it and be inspired to play better. I think we're beginning to see that...especially with EG.
I would say SF is the number 1 player at his position in the NBA, he is playing great. I think he is finally reaching that SUPER star level. DaDakota
Yes you are a hata, and should be M.A.S.H.ed but I digress, you just won't be happy with anything will you. If Yao was dropping these numbers with 5 rebounds I am sure that you would be the one *prematurely ejaculating* right now, talk about weak our team is winning and you still ain't happy who cares who it's against or that it's early in the season? Last I checked a w is a w, and preogress is progress. I'll even take it a step further and ask you to name a single non-big man or Payton who takes over games the way that SF is doing it?
If you're talking all around game, I'd say that Andre Miller is the best PG in the league right now. He is very good at finding open teammates and getting them the ball. This only bad thing about his game is his Iverson-esque 39% shooting, but that should improve over the course of the season. As for best GUARD in the NBA right now, I'd put Steve just a notch ahead of Kobe. What Kobe's main problem is right now is creating space between himself and his defender. For every shot he puts up, it seems that there is a defender right on him. That's why his shooting percentage isn't very good right now. Defenders are so afraid of Steve driving on them, they back up a step, which gives him a lot of open looks
I agree- at this point, there's no doubt who the best point guard in the game is-it's Stevie Franchise.
I agree, he isn't called "The Glove," nor has he made a ton of All-Defensive teams for nothing. At first I was kind of upset that Steve was shooting/scoring so much, but now that I see he is shooting 50%+ I am beginning to urge him to shoot more. Of course he needs to get the other players involved and until he does that we aren't going to be real contenders. I always say that if a player is shooting over 50% and taking a reasonable number of shots then that is very respectable shooting. As long as he isn't like Iverson taking 30+ shots a game and shooting in the low 40's I'm happy. He just needs to remember that being a Point Guard usually leads to assists as well Pugsly8422
I would have to say that the GLOVE is the best point guard right now, Dont get me wrong I love what SF is doing for our team but GP can post you up , beat you off the dribble and help his team by giving assist and not to mention he is averaging about 10 assist a game or something like that and 20 ppg. And his team is doing well.
What is the job of a point guard? I always thought it was to initiate the offense effectively. Bring the ball up to court and build offensive rhythm. That's really it. Assists are great, but that's really not the primary goal of a point guard. It's really to protect the ball and set up the offensive. With that, I think Francis is an "ok" point guard...but it's irrelevant, he does the job well enough. It's his scoring which makes him valuable. The whole reason to move him to Shooting guard is based on the idea he will score more being free of the duties of bringing the ball up the court. Well, if he can do that and score 30 a game, I say he's fine at the point. Who cares if he doesn't have many assists.
