Anyone who actually believes Francis is inthe same class of PG as Kidd must not have ever played basketball. If you have ever tried to get assists playing against a group of people that much taller than you, you would understand that people with the court vision of a Kidd, Payton, or Stockton just do not come along evey day. If you think Kidd is so-so, then there is no way that you could have possibly watched the same games lately as the rest of the world. A PG's job is to run the team. Bring the ball up the court. Penetrate and dish if possible. And, MOST importantly, get your team mates involved. Francis does NOT do that. He is, at this point in his carrer, still a stats guy. He gets his, and it has been to the detrement of the team. I sincerely hope that JVG can bring in team play, which he have not had here since the 90's ended. If SF can learn how to involve his teammates, and realize that when they get theirs it will make getting his easier, then he will be in the same ballpark as Kidd. Until then, he's just another PG. And I still wonder how he was voted to the allstar team. Must only be a popularity contest.
Yeah that was pretty funny wasn't it? No disrespect to Jim and Jamal (they have good, not great careers). I just can't believe some people can diss Jason Kidd and praise Jim Jackson and Jamal Mashburn in the same breath.
They were better than MoTaylor, Shandon Anderson, Kelvin Cato, and Cuttino, Francis's second year. Oh and BTW, Kidd helped ruin that team over a woman, talk about immaturity.
So you think Jimmy Jackson was better then Cat? I disagree. Let me also so I am a huge Buckeye fan and loved JJ in college but he has done nothing in the pros throughout his career. Sy yes I would take Cat in his 3rd year over JJ in his first years in Dallas. And Francis tried to ruin a franchise by forcing a trade after the draft. They were both immature players early in their careers, looking out for themselves.
Kidd is better than Francis right now in terms of being an overall point guard who makes him team better. But Francis has more overall talent than Kidd for sure. I think Steve can be better than Kidd, he has all the tools to dominate this league at his position. Steve in my book is the 3rd best PG in the league right now behind J-Kidd and a hair behind Marbury. But both of the other guys have been in the league longer. Francis has the talent and he will for sure dominate in this league for years to come. The talent is undeniable. His package of being 6'3, strong, quick, aggressive, explosive, a great ball handler, and amazing leaper give him more tools than even Marbury has. Hes the future of the PG position in the NBA once he figures the game out. I have posted before about the Francis haters and I dont get it. He is the best young PG in the league right there with Stephon. He is a starter in the all star game and is the reason we win any games. He is better than Yao right now, and he most likely will be our key to success this upcoming year. Yao will eventually become the dominant force, but his game has not evolved into that yet. But Steve and Yao can form the best PG/C duo in the NBA since Magic and Kareem in the 80's. Lets not hate on Steve, lets thank our lucky stars we have him.
Jackson averaged 25 and 19 his two years with Kidd. He was a better player than Mobley then, but yes his career took a weird turn. And Francis did set back the Grizzlies, but that's a lot different from feuding with your star teamate over a woman.
...no, too many people not understanding Stevie Franchise's stats mean nothing it is what he does and doesn't do that makes this team lose. To be a great player you must have those ghostly intangibles , and not many people truly believe or can convince others that Steve has them nor does he possess much beyond athleticism for that matter.
His last 2.5 years in Dallas (when Kidd was there) he did average 25.6, 19.7 and 15.5 but those numbers are very close to Mobley's last 3 years (15.8, 19.5, 21.7) with Francis. I still say Jackson benefitted from Kidd, since his carer average has fallen to 15.5. I will admit on stats Jackson looks better, but I still argue alot of Jackson's points were a result of Kidd (more than Francis helped out Mobley with assists). So setting back your team over a woman is worse than setting back your team by demanding a trade?
He never was a member of the Grizzlies. Was it selfish, maybe, was it stupid, no. What Jason Kidd did was stupid.
I think the proper term would be fueding with teammateS. The lovely young lady reportedly did not stop with just the two of them, apparently she spent some QUALITY TIME with Mr. Mashburn as well.
Lets compare teamates: Starters: C Huge edge Rockets (Yao over Collins) PF Huge edge Nets (KMart over Griffin) SF Solid edge Nets (RJ better than Posey) SG Solid edge Rockets (Mobley better than Kittles) Bench: Both are good, I'd say edge Nets (DM, AW, RR, LH, AJ over Cato, Mot, Rice, Tmo, Mooch) Coaching: Even (I am not a big fan of Scott, Rudy is at least as good--personally I can't stand eithers rotations/substitution patterns) Team results: Nets two time finalist, in a dog fight with the best of the west for an NBA championship, Rockets--have yet to make the playoffs lead by Francis. There is little doubt in my mind replace Kidd with Francis and the Rockets are as high as the 7th seed in the west, and the Nets would be gone by the end of the 2nd round. I will say Francis potentially can be better than Kidd at their peaks--like Marbury, Francis has explosiveness and shooting ability Kidd just doesn't have at that degree, but I would not count on it. Francis has so much ground to catch up in leadership, discipline and good floor decision making I would bet against him being better than Kidd. I hope I am wrong, I think next year is a huge year for whether Francis is in the direction toward joining the trully elite players like Kidd who in addition to individual stats make all their teammates better and get their team humming along with stings of Ws and Ws.
i think that the descrepancy in the assists numbers come from the style of play, there fore coaching. most of kidds assist come off dunks and layups, while stevie has to dish out to jumpshooters, who may or may not hit the shot. i think if the system is different, stevie can get simmilar assist numbers in time. but you cant really compare the experience difference. give stevie 10 yrs in the league? forgettabout it!
Isn't it funny how much better Steve looks at running the offense when Glenn Rice and Posey are knocking down shots?
You are right of course but if Steve had gotten them in rhythm earlier then it would have been easier all the way around !
Marbury has consistently had high assist numbers (and much better A/TOs than SF) while shooting Js like Francis and often having crap shooters around him. Maybe it is Steve's former coaching, maybe it is him--but he was a ways to go as a leader and as a guy who makes those around him better.
desertscar, i dunno how to work the quote thingie, but to adress what you said, i dunno what starrbury has to do with the fact that alot of stevies assist attempts come on either shooters on the 3pt line or midrange jumpers. starrbury is a typical nyc guard who has played in mostly uptempo offenses. but i think if you put either kidd or marbury in our old iso offense, their assist numbers woul plummet. i actually doubt kidd could play in that type of offense. but whatever, i see where your comin from. i do think stevie will be destroying EVERYONE in 3 more years.
