Chron:With regular season looming, Francis' status unclear

Honestly, as big of a Francis fan I am, I don't think I would want him practicing with our players with that cold. The last thing we need is for some of our healthy players to get sick right before the season starts.

Yes, we know how you feel about Francis. How many "he's done" post do you need to write? But if you want evidence, Morey did say Francis was working hard. You also don't lose all that weight by not working his butt off. Where is the evidence that hes giving up and doesn't care any more? The coaches have said, if hes healthy, he is in their plans. If not, they are ready to move on. He was just cleared for full contact. It wouldn't be fair to hold not being able to participate in preseason or scrimmages against him when physically he wasn't allowed to.

All the coaches are behind him and pulling for him. Ron Artest made an effort to mention Stevie Franchise twice in different interviews. They know, unlike some posters here, that a healthy Francis can help the team. All I can say is, only time will tell. Its a very long season. Injuries are no surprise to our team. Just because he isn't playing the first month means that hes done. Last year, it took a little bit before he got on court. And this was the "out of shape" "pre-surgery" Francis. It all depends on what happens with our PG situation. If AB can hold down the backup spot, then great. If not, Francis will be waiting in the wings as another option.

 

I can not bear if Francis can't help rockets.Puzzling wheater Francis will be trade during the regular season

 

i write these posts what, like once a month? in between there are about 500 people in these threads salivating for the return of this guy. excuse me for trying to introduce some facts into this conversation. as far as evidence, look at the box scores for the preseason games and point to Francis' stats. Do the same for the Summer League games. Go talk to people who are close to the team. Tell me what it is that you find when you start actually looking for the facts instead of just listening to interviews. i mean, of course Morey publically says francis is working hard. what do you expect him to say? he's a GM for crying out loud, not a journalist.

he was medically cleared a long time ago btw it didn't "just" happen. think more along the lines of the beginning of summer. now, if he was medically cleared almost 6 months ago, why is he not playing, practicing, drilling, or doing any work? oh wait, I forgot, he has a cold. my bad.

you say that the players are pulling for him. ever think that maybe they are trying to support him publically so that he actually tries? yknow, so he actually puts some effort in instead of collecting a paycheck to sit around and do nothing? he's supposed to be a professional. his trivial rockets salary is more than I make. Is it that hard to imagine that I think he should actually, yknow, do some freaking work and earn his paycheck? good god. to think that I want him to do something to help this team . . . I must be some kind of irrational monster.

none of what you said is evidence either. youre still quoting the same "so and so said" that we all know about. none of that changes the fact that Francis has not been dedicated to returning to the rockets as a productive, team-oriented player. say what you want about what you heard in the media. if you want to believe that he's just another week away and he's working hard, then that's what you want to believe and you have every right to do so. but go look for some facts before you belittle me. as of now, the facts say that your faith in steve is misplaced.

youre right. time will tell. if alston, brooks, barry, and tracy get injured, and whatever 10-day contract PG the rockets bring in this season to try to plug the gap goes down too, Steve might actually play. Excuse me for praying that this does not happen.

 

Why are people concerned about a head cold going around? Big deal, people get sick. You can play through it. If not, then take a few games off. Not the end of a season. It's not an injury. If players can play through flu-like symptoms and throw up on the sidelines or in the locker room, I'm sure they can play through a cold.

 

I thought Steve had enough pride left that he would want to do his best to get his last shot at a ring. I guess I was wrong.

 

Well...I've lost my faith in Stevie now too. Sucks...I wanted him to come back strong really bad, but him not even having contact with the team pretty much seals it, IMO....

 

Ok now your pulling things out your ass. Medically cleared for what? He didn't get cleared for full contact practice until last week. There was even a chronicle article before training camp started that talked about T-Mac and others being cleared and then stated that Francis hoped to be cleared in the coming weeks.

Sure, I'm going off actual interviews and comments from Steve's teammates and coaches, what are you basing your claims off of? You say I don't have evidence but where is your evidence that Steve isn't dedicated to coming back? At least those coaches and players actually get to see Steve while your on the computer speculating like you have facts. What actual facts do you have?

Your claims of saying hes done holds as much merit as people that think he can still come back. Unless you work for the Rockets, you don't know more about Francis than anyone else. But apparently, somehow its fact that Francis isn't dedicated to helping this team. Personally I rather take a word of an actual Rockets coach, them some guy on the internet that thinks he knows whats going on.

 

did you actually read my post? if so, it tells you where I'm getting my information from.

go. talk to people yourself. do some legwork. in case you missed it, there are other posts _in this very forum, on this very board_ about people who met trainers or others close to the organization, and collected their thoughts on steve. strangely enough, all of the posts that come from people who actually know anything seem to agree. like I said, if youd rather go off of what you heard on the radio or read in the paper, that's your choice.

 

I wonder with the injury to Brooks will Francis finally get it through his head that the door is wide open for him. What is he doing seriously? I'm just about to give up hope. Losing weight made me think that he was really serious and gave me a sign but a head cold. come on. I thought he had heart. Yeah its smart to stay away from the team and not have other players be sick but come on its been what a week since he called out sick. His heart is fading away rapidly. He must be having 2nd thoughts

 

I am confused Morey was on 610am last week and he commented that Steve was working hard to get back but he was not ready yet.

 

this is what I'm talking about. yes, there have been people on this board that said what you are saying BUT there also are people on this board that have said the exact opposite who too met with trainers or are close to the organization. skim through these francis threads and you'll see members claiming they saw francis and he looked good out there. Then later on someone says that saw him and hes not working hard or whatever.

All these "reports" are conflicting each other. That is why I'm taking the wait and see route before I can say that "he's done". If Francis never makes it back on court, then fine, I have no problems admitting that. But the season hasn't even started. He is still rehabbing. If you think he is 100% and he didn't play in the preseason games just because he isn't dedicated enough to help Houston then you are wrong. Why wouldn't he want to go out there and fight for his spot if he could physically do it?

 

this is why i am encouraging you to go look it up yourself. if its a question you want answered, well, then go get answers.

 

i see the argument that he isn't done for yet, he still has game, he is working extra hard, he really wants to play etc etc.

of course he wants to play and help the team win, that is his nature. the whole point of the topic was to bring to light that his role on the team was in question marks.

yea he is working hard, thats because he doesnt want to warm the bench until he is traded. the man wants a ring, and the rockets looks like real contenders. he knows with his expiring contract that he is trade bait if he doesnt help. who wants to be traded away from a contender to a team in the league that are looking to cut costs?

who knows, they might just hold on to him for depth in the playoffs.

we dont know. my view point, from the pre-season games i have seen, is that his chances for staying on the ball club are starting to diminish.

 

is it just me or does anyone else find it odd that shawn livingston's injury was more serious than steve francis' but yet he is on the court quicker than francis? wow that is something to think about

 

lol...are u serious??

one is 23 and the other 31...think about it

 

maybe steve can prove himself since brooks is out with an ankle injury

 

This is over dramatizing things. Thanks Chron, slow day I guess.

Let him heal from the damn cold. 5 days and he'll be jumping over yao.

 

wow a thread could say "Steve Francis takes huge dump"

and it would get 10 pages of incessant rambling.

leave the guy alone.

 

It's going to take time for him to return to form and for his confidence to get back. A long lay-off and many years from being a great player. Everyone understands that. But they also know what he is capable of contributing if he is given the time and some patience.

He will contribute - he still has enough to give.

 

Steve Francis really never got a chance to really play. When the Rocks got him last season, he was basically the 3rd on the depth chart. He was there just in case one of the point guard was injured. When he did play thoroughly, he had an impact like winning that game. To me, Rocks should let Francis play a thorough game, if not given a chance, they'll never know.