Francis is obviously our best player, but Rudy is turning this team into Yao's team way to quickly. Yao has played great, he will be a star, but we go to him way to much. He gets the ball almost every single play, and we hardly ever run plays for SF anymore. I would be pissed if I was him. Francis should take 20 shots a game, but his fg attempts per game keep dropping and we keep lossing. Everyone complained when he took 18-20 shots a game and we were winning. Now it seems like Steve hardly ever shoots, especially in the 1st half.Francis is obviously our best player, but Rudy is turning this team into Yao's team way to quickly. Yao has played great, he will be a star, but we go to him way to much. He gets the ball almost every single play, and we hardly ever run plays for SF anymore. I would be pissed if I was him. Francis should take 20 shots a game, but his fg attempts per game keep dropping and we keep lossing. Everyone complained when he took 18-20 shots a game and we were winning. Now it seems like Steve hardly ever shoots, especially in the 1st half. In the Rockets last. In the Rockets last ten games Steve has averaged just 14 shot attempts per game. How can a superstar that averages 20+ points per game be held to 14 shots per game by his coach? That is insane. Just because Rudy wants to get Yao involved more, doesn’t mean we have to forget about Franchise. Before that strect SF averaged between 18 and 20 shots a game. In those games he consistently got the ball and was expected to shoot the rock. Now it just seems like Steve only shoots on the break, when he’s wide open, and when the shot clock is expiring. It is insane! We can’t by just going inside to our big men.
Steve is our PG. The shot is there for him to take if he wants to take it. The reason he is taking fewer shots now is because he was hurt on his back. At least that is what I believe.
Both Steve and Cat are having to sacrifice some of their game to incorporate Yao into the offense.....but when the three of them get it together, this will be a championship level team. With the current rules allowing zones and combo zones, good teams will need more than a two man game to compete. Better teams, like the Mavs and Kings, have 5 shooters on the floor most of the time. Perimeter threats like Steve and Cat, keep defenses from ganging up in the paint, stopping post play. The Rockets are putting a team on the floor now that when mature ...that will stretch defenses and allow Steve, Yao, and Cat to get the most out of their games.
We could build contenders with Francis, Yao and Cat, but it won't happen if Yao gets the ball every play and Francis is forced to take under 15 shots a game.
Even though Steve is shooting around 38% since the allstar break, he's still getting as many shots per game as Yao. and when you go back and look at the stats remember to count 2 free throw attempts as a shot. Go fine something much more worthy to b**** about cause this is lame.
this is not insane. the reason why our offense is better when it's run through Yao has been discussed many times. have you been reading the board?
Running the offense through Francis and Mobley (for them to each take 20+ shots) didn't get us into the playoffs for the last 3 years. There is no reason to continue this type of not getting us anywhere offensive tactics especially with the rule changes which limit the effectiveness of the ISO game of the guards.
Dont think its so much about b****ing,,Steve is giving up a lot of his game to make the Rockets a better team,,,and seldom gets credit for it. But it will pay off for Steve and Yao in the long run.
I don't know that helping your team to win and become better is "giving up your own game".I think helping your team win is the No. 1 target of any basketball player and not something you need to get credit for, no?
A real franchise player is expected to have a "franchise first" attitute. Your "me first" philosophy may work well in street ball game, but will not bode well for any team which aspires to succeed. As a franchise player, SF's potential greatness will be defined by how many titles he leads his team to win but not really by how many points he jags up per game, especially when his role is defined as "point gurad" or team leader. Certain signs are showing that SF may gradually start to "get it". Obviously you haven't. Do yourself a favor by giving the Franchise a break.
What Steve is doing is making the team better..for the future. Its not clear we are winning more while changing to an inside out offense....what is clear, is that it has to be done to reach a championship level. I dont think Steves game will suffer..after our guards and Yao learn to play together. Neither Steve or Cat have to cut back on shot attempts..they should get better looks as Yao becomes more proficient.
Like someone said earlier having Francis be the man hasn't exactly gotten the rockets into the playoffs ever. I still don't know why his nick is Franchise. Is a franchise player supposed to lead his team to the lottery every year?
I remember a PG named Johnson who played for the Lakers a while back. He avg 13 FGA, 6 FTA a game for some 13 yrs.
You guys can be pretty ridiculous sometimes. Francis lead the Rockets to 45 wins in 2000-01, just his second season as a pro. Most years that would have been MORE than enough for a playoff spot. #1. Most franchise players don't lead their team to the playoffs in their rookie season without MAJOR contributions from others. Even Shaq missed the post-season his rookie year. #2. Most franchise players do not miss the playoffs when their team reaches 45 wins in their second season. #3. Most franchise players can't lead their team to the post-season when they're injured. In 01-02 Francis was injured, THUSLY he couldn't lead them anywhere. #4. The Rockets were WINNING when Francis was scoring BIG. How can any of you deny this? #5. Stevie is CLEARLY a franchise player. And the evidence is so obvious, anyone who doesn't agree must be biased against him to an extreme degree. Though I don't really agree with his whole post, JamesPosey55 has a point. (even though the post is all muddled up). The Rockets need to find a balance between Stevie, Cat, & Yao & when one of the trio is misfiring the others need to step up. It would seem those three guys are learning to do just that.
Francis is our franchise player but he's not in the leauge of great franchise players of Shaq, Duncan, KG, T-Mac, Kobe and Kidd who can carry a team deep into the playoffs. He's an All-Star but not a superstar, at least not yet.
Rudy has forgotten Francis? Francis needs more shots? Very simple solution. Since the Rockets are near the bottom of the league in field goal attempts (22nd of 29) but near the top in defensive rebounding (5th) how about they just get their young arses to the other end of the floor before the defense gets set. That way they'd get more FGA's as they improve on their current 15th in fast break points and 27th in points off turnovers position. The number of shots we take might also improve if we weren't the 11th worst team in TO's. We also have the leagues turnover leader...but I won't mention any names....
You guys must be stupid or something. We were always 5-8 games above .500 when Steve scored and shot big. We even, at one point, had a 60% winning percentage. Every since we've run the offense threw Yao we've been lossing. You all have talked about how it benifites us when we run the O threw Yao, and every since we started doing that we've turned into a team that was 6th in the west to the 9th seed.
I love Yao, but he does make a point. Ever since he started being the primary focus, we've struggled as a team. In future years, the only way to be dominant as a team will be to run through Ming, but right now Steve should really be the primary focus. As strange as it sounds, we really do run better when it's through his hands. The record speaks for itself. (But I really really wish he'd cut down on his turnovers. Well, the whole team is turnover prone.)
Blame Steve's injury on Yao. Blame Steve's shooting 1-13 on Yao. Blame Cat's 4 - 13 on Yao. Yes. we sucked because of Yao. nothing else.
