Old school, When asked about Ming, why does Francis feel it necesarry to over-emphasize the importance of Cato. This is twice he's done this! A question concerning Ming seems to automatically direct his thoughts toward the importance of Cato. When asked about Ming Francis is the only teamate that goes off into a sick future fantasy that involves Cato being an important factor. Stevies over-valuing of Cato when confronted with a Ming question leads me to believe that Troy is not talking out of his ass when he passionately says that Francis will not be happy if Ming replaces Cato in the starting lineup.
As if Cato actually earned the spot. He's just been keeping it warm for a real basketball player. I'd be surprised if Cato even cares whether he starts or not.
feelgood, feelgood. 20something people in this thread are calling Clutch a liar. Clutch wrote "pissed". Clutch didn't say "Francis doesn't have an opinion on the matter". He wrote "pissed". Now Francis has seen a video, and he's suddenly stoked... or he accepts the fact of Ming or whatever.... but the guy was "pissed". Since he didn't have a well informed opinion of Ming, apparently, to become pissy, he seemingly makes stupid judgments off of no information. The guy is an idiot. Or he just talks out of his ass (like Chuck, lov' him). Regardless, I can live w/ Francis being a moron... hell, we have to deal w/ Francis and Mobes and Mooch being a few watts shy, but I just want him to go to inordinate lengths to make the new guy's transition smooth. If the team opens their arms to the guy, and protects their man, then he can grow. Or, the converse can be true and him being a bust can be a self fulfilling prophecy on Francis' behalf. Please Francis. Please, you injured, wing running fast break "somebody else running my duties and 'it is over'", speaking in the third person about your big ugly head dummy self... please stand by the new guy.
Another thing -- if Francis is going to pout and whine about this, it just proves that he truly is a crybaby (going back to when he was drafted). I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt for now, though. I just hope Steve doesn't become the next Stephon Marbury -- thinking he's the greatest and that the whole team and management should revolve around him. That kind of attitude just breeds failure. Stephon is the perfect example of that. Amazing talent, bad attitude. Like I said, I'm giving Francis the benefit of the doubt because I like the guy and haven't seen anything that would make me think he is actually upset. But, his history (when he was drafted) makes me nervous about what he might do in the future when things don't go his way.
No, patience. Im not bitter. Just a little disappointed that Steve doesn't seem to share the same enthusiasm for Ming that his teamates showed last night.
"Lean on Me" when your not strong, and I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on. Let's hope Steve is singing this to Ming on their way back from the airport, because we know Steve could easily Lean On Ming.. Go Rockets!!
Life is strange. Sometimes opinions change. I hope Steve gives Ming a chance. If he does, we will be fine.
Heres a bitter thought: Could the addition of Ming mean the end of that pre-game ritual where all the Rocket players get jiggy with it around Moochie while he acts like a human beat box? If this is why Francis is having second thoughts about Ming then I can understand that. Id much rather have that cool pre-game act and have players who wear towels on their heads while being interviewed instead of two foreign players who mean business.
On Jim Rhome They showed Moochie talking to a reporter. Moochie said, "Everywhere we go people keep asking are you going to get ming are you going to get Ming. They got what they wanted. " Don't read anything into that, Moochie seemed enthused when he spoke. But my point is for someone like Francis who loves the spotlight may feel that Ming is taking away some of it. And I think that annoys him a bit. The thought is probably rolling through his mind, "I am the Franchise... I'll give this guy a shot but don't forget I am the Franchise... And the Franchise says he will have to earn his spot but until he does Cato is are starting center. The Franchise has spoken..." That sounds a little arrogant but isn't that what you want from your star player, some arrogance. All the superstars have it... Magic Michael even Hakeem although he was a little more humble about it. But remember what he did to Robinson after they handed Robinson the MVP. He took it personally. So I think Stevie's comments are fine and should be expected... We are not just going to hand over the team to him. And that's the way it should be. And in the end what he will find is that Ming is a team player and he will do the things that rookies are supposed to do at first like carry the other player's bags etc. and after that he will be part of the team. And once he sees they are actually getting more attention with Ming around he will become his biggest supporter. Just wait and see.
Has it occurred to you that Steve expresses the importance of Cato because Cato IS important to this team? Maybe you prefer Ming to play 48 minutes per night and get burnt out by the all star break? Add to the fact that Collier is probably gonzo from this team, Cato's presence becomes even that much more vital. No matter how much this board hates him, Rudy isn't going to let him sit down and do nothing...
This is exactly what I was thinking. It's almost like Steve realizes that Cato might get his feelings hurt after Ming was drafted and is taking it upon himself to keep any dissention from starting. The Rockets will only benefit from Cato feeling like he's an integral part of the team.
From what I understand about Cato, (real detective work here), he's only motivated when someone else lights a fire under his a$$ (My use of dollar signs for the "s" is ironic, because not even money has motivated him to get better.) Basically, he's a tall, oversensitive, lazy, maybe artistic type (didn't someone once write in the BBS that he likes to write children's books?) He just happened to grow tall and large, so of course he got into basketball. And he could be good at it. But he's sporadically good because that's how often he works at his game. The drafting of Ming sends a statement to Cato: You could have had the starting job but were never inspired to work for it. So we went out and got someone else. So here's Francis sticking up for the guy because it's probably been his second job, keeping Cato's chin off the floor. Yes, Steve probably didn't get his first wish when the team drafted Ming, but he now understands the guy can play, and now needs to do his part (as difficult as it may be for him) to keep his team together. Probably Cato has talked with Steve behind the scenes, prior to the draft, maybe after the draft ("I can play, I've shown them I can play, why they keep dogging me?") Is this just Steve's way of playing peacemaker? He can help with the people he knows. Getting to know the new guys will take some doing. I just hope he and his backcourt buds make the effort. Steve, Cat, and Mooch can be just a little, er, parochial.
Although he didn't say it particularly gracefully, I think Steve is just trying to remind the media that Cato is still an important part of the Rockets (which he is). If I had been in Steve's shoes, I would probably say something like "I'm very excited about how strong the team's center spot will be with Ming and Cato together." And I think that's what he meant, even though he did sound somewhat anti-Ming in the process.
First of all even Clutch said that his information came from a source inside the Rockets organization. So again it's hearsay. But my own personal opinion is that Francis was probably upset. 1.That being said, there was no real proof that Francis was upset. 2.Francis can be upset if he wants. Some people on bbs were upset that the Rockets took Nachbar instead of Woods. No one is bashing those people now. Everyone including Francis is entitled to an opinion. 3.Steve never went to the press, or publically made things difficult for the Rockets organization, even if he was upset. He kept between him and the organization like a professional. 4.Also as has been pointed before, because someone is upset one day doesn't mean they're upset the rest of their lives, or the rest of their career. I've previously mentioned Robert Horry and how upset he was when Thorpe was traded for Drexler. Horry even did go to the press about it. However, he changed his mind, and the team won a championship. Francis appears to have changed his mind before Ming is even here. That sounds great to me. I don't think it's revisionist, I was just troubled by people's overreaction to a rumor. The rumor that sais he was out of here if the Rockets drafted Ming was more upsetting than hearing he was angry about a future draft pick. Either way it turned out to not be such a serious issue, and plenty of people jumped on the bashing Steve bandwagon.
I definitely don't believe Troy to be Steve's buddy. I can't think of any single BBS member that has done more damage to people's opinion of Steve Francis than Troy. It's because of a silly rumor that Troy posted, that everyone started the weeks of Steve Bashing. And Troy continues to do that kind of thing, but fortunately it seems like less and less people beleive him now. Not much of what Troy's said has come true, so I don't know why I should believe the part about him being Steve's friend either. If on the off-chance that it is true, the old saying 'With friends like these... who needs enemies?' has never been more appropriate.
Apparently you forgot about the first post of this topic where Steve said he is grateful to have Yao here. You only see what you want to see. As far as the quote about Cato...do you know for a fact that he wasn't specifically asked about Cato and Ming coexisting?? I didn't think so. os
I don't think Steve has anything to worry about as far as Cato goes. Ming probably won't start the first game nor will he play more than 10 to 15 minutes. I see the 5 spot being manned by Cato, Ming & a committee of MoT,EG & KT. There's a lot of possibilities here. Another thought crossed my mind. How about a high/low post. Ming high & Cato low. Ming makes a lob pass to Cato for a dunk. Of course Cato would have to get used to the lob comming from above instead of below like with Steve. As far as Moochie's reaction, he was on stage being interviewed by Murphy & Jeff H. at D&B's when Stern announced the 1st pick. He said all the right things & was enthusiastic. "With outta doubt" was his favorite expression. Calvin made the comment "You can't teach height"! He should know!!
If anything, Steve is showing that he can be a leader. On one hand, he is open to the fact that Yao is coming and on the other, he is saying that his teammate for the past 3 years isn't just going to lie down and give the starting job away. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Steve being politically correct in his assessment of Ming and Cato and their respective roles on the team.
Calling the guy an idiot, and ass, a moron, overrated, ugly, god what's your problem with the guy? You act like it's personal or something. Calm down and give the guy a break! And I don't think people are using revisionist history, I just think people are willing to put it behind them because the last thing we want is somebody WHINING and WHINING about Francis everyday. He doesn't want Ming you rip him. Now he's happy to have Ming, you still rip him. And nobody is calling Clutch a liar, I just think that people think that Francis being upset may have been a little overblown, not by Clutch or the source, but by the BBS, and some people, like yourself, who don't like Steve Francis. The Rockets got everything they want, the players are cool with it, including Francis, why constantly harp on the guy?
