ESPN: Lebron and Marbury picked over Francis for the Olympics

Is there an AND1 Olympics?

How do we know it's just Stu Jackson. I doubt he weilds that much power. There are probably several members who don't want Steve.

I wonder if they ask other players their opinion on who to invite? Does anyone know no more about the process?

 

It's stu jackson that chairs the Men's senior national team committee, which I believe has 10 member.

I don't think they ask the players, I think they just choose.

I don't have any firsthand knowledge about the internal workings of the committee, just what I've read, but I do know that whenever there is anything official happening that has to do with the Men's senior national team, Stu Jackson is the one announcing/doing it.

 

Now, now, don't be hatin'! My kid LOVES to play this game...

 

wich BBS did you read?
where did you get this impression that he is high valued here? last time i checked most of the posters here want to get rid of Francis.

 

who goes to greater lengths defending whom, Sam?

MacBeth has already taken care of the statistical argument between Steven and Marbury.

so you want talk about street ball background and effectiveness as a point guard and being a team player?

look at Rafer Alston. Can you get any more street ball than him? So he must be crazy turnovers then right? Top 10 in the league in Ast/TO ratio. I'm not saying Lou is better than Steve, because he's not, but street ball background doesn't condemn you to being a selfish baller for the rest of your life.

I don't like Marbury, in fact i dislike him, but with all the scorers on the team already, you need a better fit. And Marbury fits better than Steve.

I don't even know why there IS an argument here. Put yourself in the shoes of the olympic committee... you're choosing people, so you look at stats over the past two years, hmm... Marbury has better stats, especially in the assists category where it matters. marbury has a selfish reputation... hmm... steve francis doesn't really have a pass first reputation either now does he? so it comes down to stevie really really really wants to play on the team. um... i don't think that's gonna be the deciding factor.

i just don't understand all this complaining. it's better if steve gets some rest. many times people who play too much during the summer get broken down as the season goes on.

 

The only thing that would surprise me would be if the actual article actually said "... over Francis" in the title.

I'll tell you what, though. I have a feeling Yao will absolutely DOMINATE in international play. Lookout for China

 

i disagree with that assessment. have you ever seen them? guards can't push the ball over the half court line without it getting stolen. any elite team can just pressure the ball and it's over.

Del Harris did say the first thing they're working on is guard play, so maybe... all I'm saying is: you put moochie on the Chinese NT, and Yao will dominate international play. THAT's the sad state of affairs (at least during the world championships).

 

Dude! Like where have YOU been? Haven't you heard that my man SF3 is the SHIZNIK? He's the real deal Holyfield. That's why he's chillin' at da crib watching the playoffs on his big screen plasma TV because his game is just too cool for school.

 

Yippy, I don't really feel the need to further personalize this silly YOF-SOF thing we got going on or to carry it out any further so I'll state it for the last time:

I'm a Rockets fan. If I feel that trading steve, or cutting him, or exiling him to the island of Elbe is going to increase the Rockets chances at success, I'm all for it; Same goes for Yao, same goes for anybody else. I'm not sure if it's the same for you or not, maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but that's the prism through which I view the Rockets. I rooted for them long before Francis was here and will root for them long after.

Now, this latest olympic thing has a few issues:

1. the Stu Jackson thing (this is more applicable to 2002 than this year). This has been debated and argued at length in other threads so no need to rehash everything.

2. Marbury/Francis. I've addressed the statistics and intangibles in that other thread, so again, no need to rehash. (FWIW, if I were head of the selection committee, I would go with Jason Williams or Sam Cassell).

What I don't accept is the ridiculous argument that a few people are making in this thread...they chose Marbury because he is not an "And-1" player like Steve (and all the implications that carries about selfishness, showiness, etc).



He's the prototype.

People are simply piling on because they dislike Francis and/or want him traded and are making arguments that simply have no merit, like the preceding one.

I'll say it again, if Francis isn't a good fit for the Olympic team because of the way he plays, then no way in hell is Stephon Marbury a good fit either.

(As an aside, that leads me back to one conclusion about Stu Jackson, given his pathetic track record as coach, GM and USA Basketball Senior Nat'l Team Chair....the man is not competent; as a supporter of USA basketball and not just a rockets fan, he's got to go. Hopefully, USA basketball will wise up if Athens is a debacle too.)

 

1) stop calling me yippy

2) i'm not saying you're a SOF, i know your posts better than that. i just think it's funny when you called me an oversensitive Yao defender, meanwhile...

3) i agree with you about cassell, and have stated as much. but not williams, but that's not the point. if the selection committee thinks that cassell is too old or not "sexy" enough of a choice. then you have to go with Marbury. because:

A) you cannot argue with second in the league in assists when you're looking for a poing guard.

B) dream teams in the past get lots of fast breaks and transistion opportunities, Marbury is better than Francis in those categories.

C) you can't choose someone like Williams because he is not a star, and because when making a dream team, the whole reason the previous dream teams used to be so successful is that they created mis-matching in 4 or more positions, and Marbury creates a mismatch physically, whereas Williams does not.

D) i'm with you that steve isn't any more a "street baller" than stephon. but with that settled... what does steve bring to the team that stephon doesn't? i don't think the games are gonna be settled by 2 rebounds more a game. plus, stephon ain't a selfish baller, his assists is high.

for the last time, marbury annoys me, i've even started a thread about it. but marbury is the better choice here.

 

well what happens is that if Steve gets trade, then pgabriel will start a conspiracy theory about how that's why it happened.

 

Same problems like in Houston.

 

So quick to hit me with the "Steve hater" tag to justify your arguments, you didn't even bother to check if it's true.

Check my old posts, I want to keep Steve.

The difference between Steve and Stephon is that Marbury keeps his And1 game on the And1 courts, while Steve brings his And1 game to the NBA.

Like I said, they're both scoring PG's. They can both score like crazy. However, Marbury CAN be a passing PG if he wants to, but Steve can not.


SamFisher is so quick to put that tag on everyone who disagrees with him regarding Steve. Steve has had 300+ games to prove himself. Don't tell me he's been a victim of bad circumstances for over 300 games. When Steve puts together Marbury's asst/top ratio for 10 games, we have 10,000 threads popping up abotu how he's "turned the corner" and he's started to "get it".

I have hope for Steve in the NBA and on the Rockets, but not as a full-time PG, and not with Cuttino Mobley playing 40 minutes in the backcourt with him.

Is Steve better than Marbury? Few non-Rocket fans would agree with you. Steve has the same negative image that Marbury has, but we don't see it because we're Rockets fans. Steve is labelled (whether right or wrong) as a selfish player, who's primarily a scorer, careless, and immature.

The real question, Sam, is what does Steve have over Marbury other than rebounding that would benefit the national team? Seriously, let's say they're picking between Steve and Marbury. What's Steve's argument?

 

3A. Yes you can argue with raw assist numbers; Mark Jackson is the NBA's 2nd all time assist leader and regularly finished 1, 2 or 3 in the league -- but I don't think I'd even rank him in the top 10 all time for point guards.

3B. likely, though he is inferior to Williams IMO unless you are talking about going straight to the basket

3C. Disagree. This team has stars. Williams is one of the best kept secrets in the NBA this season. He shot well, did a great job of distributing the ball. If you want to talk numbers, he had a better a/48 than Marbury, and turned the ball over less so he had a better ratio too.

He even turned into a decent, if not awesome, 3 point shooter (33%). He did this playing on a team with other stars, where he wasn't required to dominate the ball or be the man, like Marbury, but more similar to the Olympic team

Bibby wasn't really much of a star either when they chose him; he had that one big WCF series against LAL right before the selections were made, but otherwise didn't post especially gaudy numbers. I think Williams would be a better fit than Marbury, Francis or even Cassell.

As for the "physical mismatch" thing, what everybody keeps saying is that international teams use zones to negate those types of things, and what you need are shooters; if that hurts steve, it hurts stephon.

4D. A player can have high assists and still be a selfish player. Stephon has had the Stephon first rap everywhere he's been, Minn, using it to prompt a trade to NJ, and then Phx and NY. He believes that he is destined to be the Man...and the Man's teams have been as good as mediocre and not much better.

 

I didn't call you a "steve hater" I don't believe, which is why I didn't even bother to check if it's true.

I've addressed the rest in the NBA dish thread and the post above.

 

The lane in international ball is better suited to a 7'6 guy than a 6'11 one. Also the "goaltending" rules are a bit more lenient.

Couple that with the "respect" I anticipate Yao will get from international officials vs. the chumps we have here in the NBA and I REALLY think Yao's gonna be a serious threat in the Olympics.

 

3A) that says nothing about why steve should be picked OVER stephon.

3B) okay... but JWill is not an option

3C) you use JWill's numbers, but what about steve's numbers

3D) i was actually just using lyrics from a rap on NBA live. but it's not like steve's led the Rockets to the promise land either.

anyway... what i don't understand is outrage that Stephon is being chosen over Steve. there are no solid arguments to put steve ahead of marbury based on basketball play.

i agree cassell should be ahead of both, and we can agree to disagree on JWill... but here's the thing, they want star power to make people care about the dream team again. marbury is not as famous as steve, but lebron is, and they're both more famous than JWill. i think the selections were for the best of the dream team.

 

Steve needs to focus on finding a new home.

 

I thought the point was exactly the opposite, rather than sending an all-star exhibition squad that will get carved up by Argentina, to send a team that can win, rather than embarrass themselves.

I don't like the way this team is taking shape at all. Time will tell.