I think the point of this thread was to remember him for what he was - a player who was very exciting to watch and gave it his all every game. Especially in light of some of our recent players' performances, I think we took his passion for granted a little bit. But anyways, no point in pointing out the man's obvious shortcomings, which I'm sure we're all fully aware of, in an appreciation thread.
If you like a ball hog who helped his buddies get paid (Mobley/Morris,Moochi) then Francis is your man. Francis set the Rox franchise back into a hole they are just starting to dig out of. If you like winning BB then the Francis years were a waste. How many plyoff series did Francis led teams win? 0 If you're a Francis fan you prefer style over substance. Francis played hard but didn't work hard to improve his game. Of corse it's hard to work on your game with a hangover. Francis even put going to a SB over traveling with his team to Pheonix. When the Rox were in the middle of the playoff seeding chase. In short Francis was a loser. Who wasted an enormous amount of god given ability.
The thread is titled "Beyond the Glory" and beyond his glory days, there was nothing but disappointment and regret. If this was suppose to be an appreciation thread, it should be titled something more appropriate.
Upon reading your post I thought you were talking about Tracy, then I realized you weren't so I fixed for you.
Forgive me, but I don't understand where you are going with this? T-Mac has nothing to do with this thread?
Your post needed some fixing too. It's funny how you can take out Steve name and put in place Tracy's, and it all fits so well.
I don't particularly care for all the Stevie bashing when he played his heart out and Tracy came in earned the title "heartless". To this day my gut tells me if Tracy and Stevie played a game of one on one, Steve kicks Tracy's arse, just my opinion. Steve leaves it all on the court, Tracy would just make excuses.
Talent wise, Tracy was a complete player. Effort wise at times, not so much. It's too bad he didn't have the drive like his contemporaries because he had all the physical gifts. Steve had the heart but was clueless on how to win. Talent wise not up there with Tracy, main reason didn't have the size/length nor the passing vision. Should have been a 2nd fiddle player instead of the top dog, because IMO not good enough to be a topdog for a winning team. And that's where he (and his fans) overrated himself, he thought he was capable of being a franchise player to a title contending team but in reality just good enough to lead a mediocre team. The Tmac/Francis trade still needed to be done as that current team at the time was going nowhere. Sure history has shown to repeat itself as Tmac quit on his team again and that Tmac was a Pandora's Box, but it was worth the gamble and we were still able to get value out of him thanks to Morey. At the end of the day: Rockets' team success > Francis' or Tmac's individual accomplishments/accolades
Same here, Francis made me a Rockets fan. I am so grateful that we had Francis, he helped Yao feel comfortable in this league and really guided him in his first couple of years.
I like SF3 a lot too. He was one of my favorite players with how hard and passionate he played each game. That is why it is so disappointing that he never matured and evolved. Instead, he stayed the same player and in the end, ultimately paid for it. LOL I figured it out afterwards. I thought it was a thread discussing his post glory days.
Before saying anything I LOVED the Tmac trade when it happened, I thought Tmac + Yao was gonna equal at least a title and easily could be more (I thought this is a Kobe + Shaq combo). Tmac's talent/bball IQ/court vision is undeniable. Guy was just as good as Kobe Bryant, but he had not heart which is really sad. BUT I've had this SAME question. Fact is year before Tmac got here we got to the playoffs and lost in 5 games to the eventual champion Lakers, who were so much more talented than we were. Yao improving year after year, and IF Francis could've avoided injuries, maybe we could've at least gotten out of the 1st round one of those years (which sadly is considered more than we did w/ Shemac). And hell at least we would never have to question his heart. His bball IQ was average at best, but he would have been loved for his effort by most Rockets fans.
Growing up watching Hakeem win two championships, it was pretty painful watching this selfish dribbling joker try to take over our team when he couldn't get his own head outta his ass. Thank god he got lucky at the draft and we got Yao, making him expendable.
so back to the videos.... thanks for the links, I never got to watch it during its first run on FSN I know he's not playing anymore, but I want that "Francis 3:16" shirt, that was epic..... and now back to your regularly scheduled bashing of Francis/Tmac
