when you consider the future of the rockets, and our (hopeful) chances of competing for a championship, i believe everyone will agree that we will have to be led by a true superstar. i don't want to concentrate on yao ming, right now, so let's try to leave him out of the conversation. let's just concentrate on who is presently our best player: steve francis. when i think of superstars...first tier superstars...i can easily identify one thing that they do exceptionally well. tmac, kobe, shaq, & duncan are all exceptional scorers. they can, literally, drop 40-45 points on any given night, and probably do so 8-15 times a year. jason kidd is an exceptional passer, capable of making his teammates better, while dropping 10-12 assists per game. most impressive is kidd's ability to absolutely dominate the tempo of a game. steve francis??? is there a single dimension of the game that steve francis dominates at? steve's career high is what, like 44 points versus the lakers last year? and that is his only 40 point game ever. so i don't know that i can - at this stage of his career - call steve a dominant scorer. this concerns me, because i believe that in order to win the big dance, you have to have a dominant first tier superstar. at least in today's nba you have to have one. and, right now, steve is our best player. but can he elevate any portion of his game to elite status...superstar status? there are those that will say that the move to 2 guard will free steve to be the dominant scorer...the superstar scorer. and i hope they are right. but there is a part of me that wonders...where was this superstar scorer in the games where no one else could hit the ocean from the beach, and we were losing by 20+ points? where was this superstar scorer in games where we'd score 75-80 points? maybe it's all a part of a maturation process. at least i hope so. but it does concern me. anyway, can anyone identify a part of steve's game that is absolutely exceptional? and if you cannot identify one, doesn't this place him in a category much closer to a "cuttino mobley" than a "tracy mcgragy" or "kobe bryant"?
I would be more inclined to say that Steve excels in many areas then to say he is the ultimate in 1 area. His averages in scoring, rebounds, and assists combined are better than most of the players in the NBA. I would consider him a more complete player than say Cat, definitely more along the lines of Kobe, Tmac, or Kidd(they just do it better). I think the role of a dominate scorer is a bit over-rated. I think a team with more balanced scoring is far more successful than a one man show. Look at the Spurs. Duncan is literally a one-man show but the team only wins when someone else steps up. Duncan did not have to score 40+ points for the Spurs to win, he required additional help such Drob, Steve Kerr, malick Rose, etc. to be a winning team.
Whining? Flagrant fouls? He has a bit of the angry child in him, to be sure. A bit spoiled. He is a dynamic player but needs to understand that he should be a better version of Iverson. Wanting to run the show and be the show makes the rest of the team stand around too much.
the burden of creating for his team, and being the distributor doesnt help at all. if steve were a 2, and we had a point who was a distributor, steves scorring would jump up. all the scorring points avg closer to 20, than 30. iversons avg jumped from 22-27 with the addition of eric snow into the point slot.
Steve excells in many different ways, steve can score on will if he has too, rebound the ball and distribute as well. Only Jkidd can put that kind of product on the floor.
I think a lot of people have the impression that he is a dominant scorer because he is so amazingly explosive. But really, he's a low 20 ppg scorer, not a guy like Paul Pierce who goes off every other game. I totally agree with ya, except his much better than Cuttino.
Dennis2112, the reason guys like malik rose, drob, steve kerr, etc. can get off is because duncan can score 40 points if you don't respect him. that's the role of a dominant scorer - to present the threat of being able to drop 40+ on a team. it is not overrated in the least. true, but that just makes him above average. that does not mean he excels at any one area. do you remember grant hill in his heydey? he as a better version of steve francis, yet was never considered someone who could lead his team to a championship...largely because of his inability to dominate in any one area. you say he excels in many areas? ok. list your excellent scorers, then tell me if steve is in the top 5. same for passers. i don't think steve lands in anyone's top 5 in these categories, at least not yet. my concern is whether or not he is capable of reaching the top 5 of these categories....and i'm not talking about "stats". kobe is a top 5 scorer, whether he's ranked no.1 or no.10. watch the game and you know that he's one of the top scorers in the nba. another example is scottie pippen (w/the bulls). the year michael left, scottie pippen had to change his game. no longer was he the "jack of all trades". he remained a wellrounded player, but elevated his scoring prowess. he knew that he had to be a 40+pt threat in order to make his teammates better. and that got the bulls all the way to the ECF that year. do you believe steve has the ability to do this? and if so, what in the last 4 years has led you to believe so?
Francis is a great player. He won't score 30 a night, but I think his assists will pick up this year. It's hard to get 10 assists when the other 4 players stand around! I think JVG will put some motion into our offense and Francis will get some more assists because of it.
i addressed this in the opening post: there are those that will say that the move to 2 guard will free steve to be the dominant scorer...the superstar scorer. and i hope they are right. but there is a part of me that wonders...where was this superstar scorer in the games where no one else could hit the ocean from the beach, and we were losing by 20+ points? where was this superstar scorer in games where we'd score 75-80 points?
Maybe its just me, but I'm more impressed when he does multiple crossovers mixed with a few between the legs and behind the back dribbles while the shot clock is winding down. But I will admit, he does excel at the hop step.
what's wrong with this topic, Jeff? seriously, i think it's a damn fine topic. apparently you don't. care to explain why?
Verse, that was about as well as it can be said. I hear people describe him and I am not sure what they are watching. He does not finish any more. He drives the lane and tries to hang in the air until he gets fouled or throws up some wild shot. That is why you always see the circus shots he throws up. He does not actually attepmt to finish. In seasons past he was a regular highlight reel player with a quick move and a dunk. Now he attempts to get his points from the line. That will not work when you have a 7'5" center who needs the ball on the block. ...out the 24 second clock
I agree that Duncan cannot be ignored or he will light you up but comparing a Dominate front court player with a PG is kind of like comparing apples and oranges. Although I see your point.. The list of players that average more points, rebounds, and assists are very small. He is close if not in the top 5 for combined stats. Steve is a pg. His job by definition is to run the team. That includes among other things getting other players involved, Scoring when need be, protecting the ball, etc. I know he does not do these things as well as other PGs in the league but other pgs have players that actually finish. Also Steve showed toward the end of the season that he was starting to get it. I believe that his turnover to assist ratio was much better in the 2nd half than the 1st. If Steve averaged 20 points and 10+ assists , would you still be asking this question about being a top scorer? Steve's role on this team has not changed nor is it required to do so. Steve needs to do three things: 1. protect the ball ( stay away from turnovers) 2. play better defense 3.learn when to take over the game. Steve may never be the scorer that say AI is but he can be more efficient with his scoring and do it when needed.
ONE area francis truly EXCELS at? Of course. Dunking! That's all he excels at. He is such a good shooter and passer and ballhandler...but I don't know how he has never scored more than 44 points even when he had the ball all the time. Weird...he's still a shooting guard..but slowly adjusting! Dunking is all that he excels at. Yeah...he's good at that too. That's what Boki seems to do... Overall, Steve is a good player in all aspects of the game... lol..>LeGrouper is is the master at harrassing people on this BBS. And the moderators here are much nicer than these horribles ones at caviesgalore.com! I posted just one time asking a question...and the ADMIN said Get a life and go away! Ahahahaaha. Too funny...and there were only 2 people on their board. So sad...
Most posters dont like to face the reality of such a scientific approach in analysing the leader of the Team, who is so highly regarded. Such an analysis can only lead to a better use of the teams talent and should be done more often.It helps to clatify the situation and should help to reduce needless criticism of Players.
