Are we giving Stevie enough credit?

Great post. I agree with everything you say. You just cant do a lot when you dont have too much to work with. We expect too much of Francis because players like Carter and Nowitzki have quickly turned around their teams. Guess what, they have a boatload of other talent and fewer injuries to deal with (and even in Toronto, we see that they've had a weaker season than expected due to changes in the team).

 

What gets me is that some people forget that he's only in his third year, and that he's leading the team in assists, points, and rebounds. People love to compare him to other guards, but again, forget that the guards we want him to be have more experience.

Francis will end up being one of the all-time greats, if his first 2.5 seasons are any indication.

 

Francis is only in his third year plus the Rockets are going through a rebuilding process. I think once they find the right pieces (I think they have three very good ones in Francis, Mobley, and Griffin and all are very young) and the talent they have now fully matures then the Rockets will be ready to challenge for the NBA title just like Iverson did with Philly and look at what little he had to work with.

 

He is a talent for sure, I just get frustrated seeing him make the same mistakes over and over.

He is probably just trying too hard.

DaDakota

 

Great post Wink, I agree that Stevie isn't getting enough credit, but we are a young team. Once we decide to grow up, we'll be awesome and Stevie will bring the Rockets more fame than ever before. I can't wait till he gets his 50+ scoring nights.

 

Hey Wink, your website looks pretty nice.

 

I love Steve too, and I know he makes mistakes, but I definitely won't rag on him about them.

If Cato would just practice catching the ball over and over, it might improve his handling and Steve's assists would go up. Also as Griffin develops his inside game more, that will help too. Add to that Steve learning a new position for him as a PG, and experience in the league, and we really do have a great franchise player to build around.

I know a lot of people are pointing a lot of fingers at various Rockets and coaches right now, but don't forget that the team exceeded expectations when healthy, and with a ton of injuries and constant lineup changes they've started piling up losses. Give Steve and the guys some credit, and give them all a break. It will come for them.

 

I'm worried about one thing. Griffin is 8 years younger than Mobley. Aren't you guys worried Mobley will be a little too old when Griffin decides to explode?

 

While the Rockets do better with Francis.

Does Francis really make the players around him better?

 

Griffin will hit his prime when Mobley is too old. But by the same token, Griffin will still be really really really good at the age of lets say 22-23 and Mobley will be in his prime. So we should be title contenders in about 2-3 years if everything pans out.

 

I don't know. All I know is their record is better with him in the line-up.

Steve frustrates me with his TO's, but then again, some of his TO's are from not being able to save a ball from going out of bounds. He hustles, and his stats are spectacular. We are a better team with him in there.

As for his assists, it seems as if Oscar or Walt costs him a full assist a game. He's set both of them up inside the paint only to see them miss the lay-up.

 

I think Francis is our best player "And 1!". People just expect too much from this team "And 1!". This is not a playoff team, by any stretch "And 1!". People are too spoiled from the championships "And 1!".

 

He definitely makes the players around him better. Mainly because he commands respect from the defense, and that means his teammates get better looks at the basket. People have talked about Cat or Moochie taking the last shot instead of Steve, and it's because the defense collapses on Steve, and one of the other guys is open.

Sure Steve can sometimes get a nice dish to a teammate too, and as Steve gets better at learning the PG and improves his defense and passing game, his teammates will benefit even more, but already the guy makes his teammates better.

 

Francis is a special player but he clearly needs to be put in a room to watch 20 hours of Stockton, Magic, Kidd, and Thomas. He has to understand that Stockton cannot dribble like him, but as a point guard Stockton is more effective. Tinsley or Parker cannot dribble like him but are more effective pg than him. Kidd in
NJ has the same talent pool that we have and Kidd has them running and making Mac look like a world beater.

Mac/Collins.......................Cato/Willis
Martin/Jefferson...............KT/Morris
Van Horn.........................EG
Kittle/Harris.....................Mobley/OT

To me Francis assists and out shooting % would be higher if he had better pg skills.

 

I think Francis' assist numbers would be higher if Cato could catch and didn't miss half of his wide open alleyoops. I think his shooting percentage would be higher if the offense wasn't so predicated on his scoring ability. Francis is shooting 44.3% from the field. Kidd is shooting 37.1% from the field. Miller is shooting 44.6% from the field. Davis is shooting 43.2% from the field. From these numbers, point guard ability has very little to do with a players field goal percentage. Kidd is the best point and the worst shooter of the bunch.

I personally think Steve Francis is coming along fine. He shoulders a different responsibility than any of those other point guards. Steve is his team's primary scoring option and chief distributor. Only Andre Miller comes close in having has much responsibility on his shoulders. Steve's numbers may not show it, but he is a better point guard today than we was last season. His passing is more accurate and creative. He does a better job reading defenses. His assist numbers remain low because (like TheFreak keeps pointing out) the Rockets just aren't that good right now. Francis can't be blamed for every problem the Rockets have.

Personally, I think that when Griffin begins to assert his personality on the team and Rudy T makes Griff the number 2 or number 1 scoring option, the Rockets will become consistent winners. Griffin is the franchise big man. He is that paint presence Hakeem said the Rockets needed. It is time to get him the ball. Up high, down low, wherever. Just get the kid the ball. It is time to take some of the pressure off Francis.

 

Actually I really meant the team's (our not out) fg% which is close to last in the league.

Not including Cato, there are four players around Francis who can score 20 pts on any given night. He is the main scoring option partly because he can be and not because he does not have good scorers around him. Going into the season, everyore said the scoring was not going to be a problem. I believe that if Kidd was playing with this group he would make them way more productive with or without the crossover dribble. That to me is the bottomline. I was at the Boston game and the passes I saw Francis sending for Cato were ridiculous. I mean Cato has never shown the ability to get those, so why was he sending them. In addition, if Francis was great at making decisions on the break we would have been running more which would up our fg%. It is those skills that Stockton, Kidd and the Glove bring that I want Francis to excel at.