That's interesting. I think his mistake was not retiring this past season. Toronto has a good team just not a great one!
Joe Smith all over again!?! I dont even want to joke about that MAN!!! Even though I like some of the things he said I really dont think he watches too many Rocket games!
That's a nice little article. It's good to see Houston getting some positive spin on ESPN. The Joe Smith deal with MoT I don't think is true at all. IMO, it was basically Houston or Seattle last year, and Mo eventually chose Houston, where he would fit in better and would be part of a better team. And both parties liked last year's performances, so it was a mutually desired resigning that was probably agreed in principle early in the summer.
So what do u guys think about Francis? You think he can pull an Iverson '01? I say he can do that and more, its just the matter of Rudy taking the leash off of him. You saw the rockets vs philly games......Stevie just went crazy on Iverson and the 6ers, I remember that crossover he made on AI that made Iverson reaggrivate his hip injury. Comeon Steve!
Well, there's really never been a problem with Rudy not "unleashing Steve" -- rather, Rudy wants Steve to shoot more. I think this will be a breakout year for Francis -- I think he's gonna realize what an awesome scorer and shooter he really is, and will do whatever it takes to win this year, including scoring 22 to 25 ppg. Steve has shown his prowess in being able to take over ballgames -- last year against SA, with us down by like 20, Steve just tookover the ballgame and led us to victory. <a href="http://www.clutchcity.net/game.cfm?gameID=149">The recap is here</a>. Francis scored 25 points in the second half, and was all over the court making things happen in every way. I've NEVER seen a PG take over a game quite like that, and I think it is just a testament to Steve's outstanding talent. If he can do a little more scoring, be a bit more aggressive and be better defensively, we've got arguably the best PG in the west, or maybe the league.
Vengeance, I don't know. I know Payton is a great scoreer, but I don't want Steve to average that many points as a PG. Ideally, someone else should be the leading scorer. 21/9/6 would be perfect for me.
I think the Franchise will really dominate the league next season. I think he can be very effective scoring 22-25ppg and dishing out 8-9 assists a game. We all know he'll be good for at least 6-7 boards a game too. I think the difference between Francis and Payton/Iverson is Steve's ability to get the rest of the team involved and to make them play better. Payton has not had a supporting cast in Seattle so he's been forced to carry the offensive load and Iverson- well the guy loves to shoot and I don't think he'd be willing to shoot less, even if it meant the team would be improved. I think Francis will ultimately be better than those guys, simply because he has that intangible quality of making his teammates better. That won't show up on the stat sheet, but I'm pretty sure the #'s in the "W" column will reflect that Stevie's the man.
What about Isaiah against the Lakers when he scored 25 in the 4th quarter. That was even more incredible than Stevie's effort. Maybe this is why they call Stevie "Isaiah with hops".
Good call LilStevie3, That was such an incredible game and performance. I watch ESPN Classic during my lunch break and they showed that game a couple weeks ago. I think that's the game that really made me an avid basketball fan.
I didn't see that game . . . Of the games I've seen, that is the most dominant PG performance I've witnessed.
I read that article earlier today on my lunch break and I was surprised that ESPN was giving the Rockets props. I was even more surprised that they have the Rockets #10 in their preseason poll. However, ESPN did have to mess things up slightly by saying that Mo's deal was like Joe Smith's which is completely bogus and that writer needs to have better journalism etiquette than that. I guess the only thing that amazes me more is that ZRB and Freak haven't come by and graced their presences and tell us why this article is wrong (at least about their hero). Him getting hurt by a cold glass of water is the best one yet!! I hate to see what happens to him when he eats some ice cream a little too fast. Do you think that he falls to the ground kicking his feet and holding his head?
Those would be some nice numbers along with less TO's. I think Steve will start coming into his own next year and start joining the elite. I hope he develops the ability to take a game over when need be, be it by scoring, creating for others or both. Vengeance, about the game against SA. The Bull was a big factor for us winning that game. Everyone was playing sloppy then Bull came in off the bench on fire from downtown and in turn that turned on the rest of the team. Steve had a good game, but I give as much credit to Bull for that as I do Steve.
