chron: Let's hope Francis gets the Big O's message

Man, I think we have found our potential assistant coach.

 

I do not believe fabricated means lying in sportwriting like this. I've seen articles with fictional conversation. It surely could be real. If so, you can bet we will see this conversation repeated (or parts of it) by other writers within the next week. The story of Francis talking to Jordan this summer was picked up by other writers, and that was not nearly as rich with quotes. If no one reprints it, or parts of it, you can bet it is a fictional converstation.

it remains somewhat telling that Clutch linked to the previous Fran article, but not this one, yet. I still don't see how Francis talks so candidly to Oscar with Fran nearby, just one day after Fran rips him, not to mention Francis never really talks exclusively to Fran to begin with...after several rips in the past. If he wants Fran to think he "gets it" and respects Yao and the game and knows his faults, just grant an exclusive interview with Fran. If he wants to talk candidly with Oscar in an unstaged, impromptu fashion, is Fran really the *only* journalist allowed to hear it--at All-Star weekend with media hordes everywhere? weird. I don't know. weird article, imo.

<blockquote><hr>"What?" asked Francis. "I couldn't do that."

"It's easy," said Robertson. "You just use a `figure eight.' You can do anything if you set your mind to it and survive." <hr></blockquote>
For instance, this is laughable. Oscar telling Francis that he can tie a figure eight if he just sets his mind to it to survive.

Maybe it is just me to hope a hall of famer wouldn't treat Francis like a helpless, naive kid like that, and Francis wouldn't read like a high schooler asking questions of his "idol." weird.

 

HP: I thought the same thing -- it seemed too good to be true. They both sort of seem to talk like...well, like Fran Blinebury. Although, Oscar Robertson did not say "you guys are as Bipolar as a Raiders Center on Super Bowl Saturday." Still, it sounded like Blinebury talking more than Francis. Whatever.

So: If this is exaggerated, Fran, you suck. If its made up, you should and will be fired.

But: If Fran Blinebury really did hear and report this conversation, it is really exquisite work from a journalist. It's well written and so forth. Hopefully, it is an accurately-reported / non-paraphrased conversation, and Blinebury can get serious props for it, even from us Frannie haters. Thinking positively: Good work Fran.

CBFC

 

I have to go with HP on this one.

I just got through reading my Sunday paper and that article was the last thing I read.

The whole thing seems so phony. Big O being portrayed as wise mentor and Steve, quite frankly, being portrayed as a naive high school kid who knows nothing about NBA history.

Is Francis really naive to the fact that NBA players in the 60s and 70s didnt make 1/50th of what someone like himself makes today?

Is Francis really naive to think that a player has to be taller than 6'5'' in order to average that many rebounds (especially considering Steve's familiarity with Charles Barkley)?

My vote is, Fran at the very least, embelished quite a big of this coversation and at the very worst, made almost the whole thing up.

 

As a Rockets fan, I say: 'Bwahaha... LOL.'
As a doc, I say: 'Bipolar disorder is a serious condition that should not be made light of.'

Re-reading the article, I again assert it is "based on a true story."
Blinebury planted a 48-hr bug on Francis' dental insert.

 

WOW... WOW ... oh my goodness ...

I don't think Fran made this up, or you wouldn't have him making the statement, "A prodigy listened to a legend. We'll see if he heard."

Well, since Robinson got "it," but never got a million in his career, I think the Rockets should sign him for that million dollar contract, and bring him in as a coach, if he would do it, and stay glued to Francis. Even if he didn't come for every game. Be a personal coach to Francis, like corporate management personal motivational coaches.

Give this speech to Francis and Mobely over and over, until they 'get it."

Let Yao know they will keep on feeding it to him, no matter how he starts out.

Remind the other players, that if Francis doesn't get it into Yao, they need to.

You know other teams have already scouted the Rockets, and see Francis shying off Yao, when he isn't doing well. That's now part of their strategy.

One thing I think we and the young Rocket players forget, is that since Yao and Steve are getting all this publicity, even the worst teams ARE getting up for the Rockets. The Rockets have been earmarked as the next BIG thing. There are no easy games anymore ... just like the year after a championship, making it so hard to repeat.

 

I just couldn't read that article without posting my own gratitude to Oscar for his little chat with the Franchise... that was great.

I just hope stevie listens and takes it to heart...

 

I agre with HP and others. It's not unusual for "opinion" columnists to make up conversations. I have seen editorials in the New York Times where they make up conversations between "Dubya" and "Rummy" and the other people in government.

He just got creative and wrote an "essay" on what he hopes happened between a young star and a legend.

I think Fran might face some heat for this one though, it's too hard to tell.

 

This is clearly a fictional conversation. After the way he has bashed many of the players (most notably the Kelvin Cato humiliation of last year), Fran Blinebury does not have a good reputation with the Houston Rockets. After Hakeem's departure, it's been hard for him to get quotes from the players. (Now that I think of it, I can't remember any of his recent articles including player quotes). Do you guys really believe that Steve Francis would hold a private conversation with Oscar Robertson while a journalist is in the room recording every second of it to be released?

 

Such a shame. Just when I thought Francis was finally ready to learn from a real PG, you guys had to go and ruin everything.

 

heypartner
The sad part of this all is that you WANT this story to be fictional. Do you?

 

Is this a real conversation, word to word?? If it is, OMG, it is a very nice slap-in-the-back-of-head for SF.

 

Further proof Fran is da MAN!!!!!!

 

damn good article, Blinebury can really write.

I really hope this one hits Stevie.

 

Well, it could be a fairy tale...but let's look at it this way...Let's say that Francis and Oscar did meet. Would Francis come off acting like a "know it all" or would he be like a "kid in awe!?"

I mean, Francis wouldn't be stupid enough to say "Yo, brutha! This is how I do it! This is my game! Love it or leave it!"

No, he would say, "Hello Mr. Robertson. Yes, sir. No, sir. Yes, sir, no sir....etc..." In Awe. Like a kid.

(Francis was probably being polite on some of the questions and answers. He just wanted to listen).

 

Just saw this thread and read the article.

I, also, thought to myself, "Surely, Francis knew that guys in the '60s and '70s made less than a million dollars." And then when I read about the taping of your ankles in a "figure 8 style"...I LOL. Hell, I tape up my left ankle every time I play and will until I quit playing.

So, according to Blinebury's article, I am like the Big O in that I knew how to do something elementary unlike Francis.

This article is horsesh!t and thanks to heypartner for being the first to point that out.

We might as well been reading "The Emperor's New Clothes" or "Rumplestiltskin" or other fairy tales by the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Andersen than this steaming pile of manure from Blinebury.

 

Man, HP. You ruined the fantasy for me.

 

So, I guess that means that Francis is smarter than we thought....?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!

 

Well, common sense wise, yes

Basketball wise, no

 

I'm really happy w/ the way Francis played today... very under control considering especially that it was an All-Star game. He was incredibly unselfish and look like he was working really hard to set up teammates - he was really reluctant to shoot unless it was a great set up. So he still managed to be the 3rd leading West scorer while racking up the most assists by far for the West to go with a 3.0 ATR. Did it have anything to do w/ Oscar?

Shoulda gotten more PT in regulation though.