I just don't see how Francis can have no clue about fast breaks when he's on the best fast breaking team in the league. Is he the only player for Orlando who doesn't participate on the fast breaks?
I watched Magic several times this year. I dont think they are much better than last night. Rockets hold a lot of teams under 80 points this season already. If you jump shoot all night, this is what you are going to get.
I remember the Dream and our championship series very well. I'm not comparing Steve to the Dream. But Steve came close to averaging a tripple double that series. That was against the Lakers. Considering the way the rest of the team played that series I think Steve did an amazing job. He was passing, rebounding, scoring, doing it all. He also did it in the flow of the game. I also think it was good that we traded Steve when we could get tmac. I think we are a better team with Tmac at the helm, than with Steve at the helm. That doesn't take anything away from that playoff series which was the guy's first. Dream had season after season, and series after series to create in our minds his overall performance in the playoffs. Was Steve's performance the equivalent of '95 when Dream took on David Robinson? Dream wins that one hands down. I don't know if anybody has ever had a more dominant series than that. That doesn't mean that every performance that wasn't the equivalent of that doesn't reach the level of amazing, because I think some of them do. The main thing I was trying to do is point out that Steve had good as well as bad. To just remember the bad about Steve isn't a fair picture, and neither is just remembering the good, and ignoring is mistakes, ego, silly comments etc.
Hill has been controlling the breaks a lot more than Francis has Francis dishes off his drives, but he is not a "floor general" leading the break plus - there is a difference between fast breaking and cherry picking because you play no defense. The Suns fast break (run every time) - the Magic cherry pick (worse D in the league) by slipping out after there man blows by them. Even magic fans will tell you they only play D during the 4th quarter
Not sure if you're referring to my post but I wasn't really bashing Steve. At least I didn't mean to come off like I was. I was more defending JVG. I was saying our 1-2-3 combo from last year didn't know how to execute a fast break, not just Stevie. Hell, it probably had more to do with JJ than anyone else. You put Grant Hill on Steve's left wing (or the other way around) instead of JJ and of course things will improve. All I'm saying is that it might not have been JVG's fault like so many people here seem to think. And like Steve thinks.
Don't believe everything you read or see on ESPN. Methinks like other have duely noted that it has more (if not all) to do with the Suras, Wesleys, Macs and Barrys on our roster. Take for example Barry and Sura - certain things they do you cannot teach or script. We still remain (or least are trying to) a defense first team and this will not change. Our assist/turnover ratio has improved. Selflessness has increased and simplicity has bevcome the order of the day. Now give us a Nashy and JVG will look like a genius, Yao will look like MDE and tmac will look like Magic and MJ combined. D'Antoni was gracefully exposed last week as just-another-coach as opposed to the genius many believed he initially was. Go figure.
You don't watch a lot of magic games. SF leads the break more times than not. How can SF cherry pick when no guard rebounds more than him? They rebound off of made baskets as well. They're not a good defensive team whether it's the 1st period or the 4th.
I watch alot of orlando games and they should have traded cat.Doug is good on the defensive end, but without cat there team is scoring less points also. I haven't seen, but maybe 1 game when grant hill dominated the game and they won.I have seen pleanty from steve that he has dominated and won,even cat while he was there.I think the we didn't get to play the real orlando because of the trade to sac for christie.
Indeed... standing ovations and ridiculous praising for someone like Steve.. Who's barely a top 20 talent pool in the league.. and now tossing out "amazing" for a label on his playoff performance... evidently..we are in dire need of a hero..
I did not like the article. We won the game -- heck, both games -- so why can't we be graceful about it?
Francis need to fire his publicists fast! They are completely imcompetent. Every time Francis opens his mouth and say something like he built this house, he so way out of his line. If Jordan said that about the United Center, it was only the truth. Last time I hear that line in the NBA was from Shaq when he visited the Staples Center. Even Shaq could be pushing it, because Magic is the one who won 5 championships in Staples Center, and he has the bronze statue outside to prove it. Francis has done absolutely nothing to make himself proud of once playing at Toyota Center. The only thing remoted connected is that he did draw the #1 lottory pick, which landed Yao, which in turned attrated T-Mac to Houston.
This article is about Francis. We won both games without Francis. So the focus of the article isn't on our current Rockets.
You "need to fire your publicist." You are "completely incompetent." Magic won his championships at the Forum in Inglewood. Stop showing your ignorance,.
I found this interesting because so often (including in the Chronicle) I have seen "star" players ripped for shying away from taking the "big shot."
I couldn't care less where Magic won his 5 championships. Shaq has 3 championships to show when he said he built the Staples Center. What does Francis have to show he built the Toyota Center? The dude will never get it. The reason Rockets made the trade has NOTHING to do with Francis, but everything to do with T-Mac.
Yeah I guess it is just runn of the mill to average nearly a tripple double against the Lakers in your first ever playoff series, when most of the rest of the team seems to be going through the motions. Why say that was an amazing performance?
unfortuately I have seen a few Magic games - taking the ball coast to coast is NOT leading the break (that is what Fracnis doesO Hill and others run the break by getting out on the wings and they all like to slip past their defensive assignment and get down early for a quick basket (Hill did it last night in the 4th) and as for D - they can had several last second wins - that is because what little D they play, they actually play in the fouth quarter
Steve Francis is his own worst enemy. I'm glad we struck the deal, and Francis needs to move on. There is no "I" in team, buddy. T-Mac figured it out, now it's your turn.
