http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7041774 Rockets aren't getting the same ol' Francis Charley Rosen Special to FOXSports.com, Updated 30 minutes ago Way back in his first go-round in Houston (1999-2004), Stevie Francis had as much sheer talent as any other point guard in the league. He could push, penetrate and dish. He was quick up and down the court, especially with the ball in his hands. He used his cross-over dribble (going either way) to establish a rhythm for his jump shot. He was a dangerous 3-point shooter. He always played with great energy and emotion. He was a big jumper and a surprising rebounder for a guard. He had lightning hands on defense and played the passing lanes to perfection. He could even post-up smaller guards — scoring mostly with a right-handed jump hook over his left shoulder. But that was then. Nowadays, Francis is 30 years old, has arthritic knees, and is coming off a blighted season and a half with the Knicks. And the holes in his game are more pronounced. To whit: His off-ball defense is faulty in that he is liable to turn his head and lose sight of his man. He has trouble defending screen/rolls. He gets caught with the ball in the lane much too frequently and also lingers near the offensive boards, which creates poor court balance. His decision-making in the endgame has become highly questionable. He also tends to miss any clutch shot he's allowed to unleash. And his defense depends more and more on reckless gambling. Add up all the past-pluses and present-minuses and it's understandable why the Trailblazers were willing to spend over $30 million to relinquish his rights. What, then, can the Rockets expect from the second-coming of Stevie Franchise? Most importantly, Francis must get the main minutes at the point or he'll pout and gripe — just as he did in New York. This means that the Rockets have to make a full-time commitment to him. Which means that there's probably no room on the roster for either Mike James or Rafer Alston — both of whom will also prove to be profoundly unhappy should they be forced to play off the bench. The most harmonious lineup behind Francis just might be rookie Aaron Brooks and John Lucas III. Or perhaps the Rockets should hedge their bet and hang on to either Alston or James to protect themselves should Francis falter. Re-signing Francis, then, necessitates one or more trades to dislodge the log-jam at the point. Assuming that Houston manages to balance its roster, Francis will become the primary ball-carrier and set-up man. Getting him to look to pass before he looks to dribble, however, and to give up the ball in timely fashion might take some doing on the part of Rick Adelman and his staff. In the past, the only passes Francis relished making were assist passes. Francis' forays into the paint will be greatly inhibited by the massive presence of Yao Ming, but when the big man is taking a blow, Francis will give the Rockets another creator/scorer to complement Tracy McGrady. It should be noted, though, that Francis is a better pull-up shooter and dime-dropper than he is a finisher. And do the Rockets really need Francis on roller skates to front their defense? Still, he could easily turn out to be a big plus for Houston. But only if: He can accept being a third option on offense who will rarely be required to take clutch shots. He can adjust to being more of a facilitator than an attacker. He can play with more discipline and precision than he ever has before. He can somehow regain even a semblance of the quick-handed, pressure defense that he brought with him into the league. And, most importantly, if his body holds up. While Francis certainly won't be enough to make the Rockets a serious contender for a championship, at best he'll be able to relieve T-Mac of major ball-handling responsibilities, while also exploding for a couple of dozen points every so often. Returning to Houston gives Francis one last chance to become a mature player and totally embrace a reduced role. He's certainly older, but it remains to be seen if he's any wiser.
ARGH!!!!!! I really hate that A-hole.... SOB Viagra poppin balding F$#$^.... Now that I got that off my chest he has a couple of points
Rosen never ceases to amaze me. He tries to imtimidate his readers by using all this technical basketball lingo making it seem like he's some kind of profound expert or something when in reality he only writes to get a charge out of people. He gives Francis no credit for becomming more disciplined and improving his shooting accuracy. When I saw the "Not the same old Francis" title I was expecting somebody to praise him for signing for cheap and not needing to be the "franchise" anymore and just being Steve Francis. Francis, a talented player that's won a ton of personal accolades but now wants to set his flashy ego aside and use his refined game to help a team win a championship. But then I realized it's Rosen we're talking about.
Not exactly. He rides on the jocks of obvious teams like the 80s Celtics, 90s Bulls, and the 70s Lakers. In other words, he has no personal or valid opinion of anything except for the obvious.
Don't even post a Rosen article as stupid as this. We all know francis is no longer the Franchise we do not need to be told by someone who knows less about the game than 90% of the members on this board.
If Francis becomes the primary decision-maker and initiator of the offense instead of McGrady, we're in SERIOUS trouble. It's playing to Stevie's biggest weakness as a player, and not utilizing your best playmaker on the court. Move T-Mac to the PG, start Stevie at the 2, bring Brooks/MJ/Bonzi off the bench at the 1/2/3 positions and roll with that...
rosen is a very good basketball writer and I find it funny that you would attack his "technical basketball lingo" considering that's probably what sets him apart. He obviously watches alot of basketball, I believe he was a coach. And that's his value, he can tell you about a player's game beyond stats. Not only players of today, but players who were around before most of us were born. you don't get that with almost no other writer.
LOL He made the Francis of 1999-2004 sound like the best PG the league has seen in decades. I guess he needed to do that in order to create the illusion that Francis has lost nearly all of his game. Get real. The guy got put in a bad situation in NY and had some (exaggerated IMO) knee problems. 30 year old players are still 80-90% of what they were at 25.
Dude lost all credibility when he said Rox should hang on to Rafer and James and JLIII. Dude? Mike James is going NO WHERE!! and JLIII is not in the same league as Rafer so why even mention his name and the possibility of staying in case Francis didn't play well? I understand keeping Rafer but he has no clue about the situation of James and JLIII.
Interesting article that no doubt raises questions and says things that folks around here don't want to hear right now about the current status of SF3's game. I'm not surprised at the vehement and personal insults directed at Rosen for daring to question this move. Sometimes around here, it's not as if people can't handle the truth but that they don't want to ever hear the truth and will slam you for even thinking about it...kinda like what's going on in Iraq right now...
Well considering half of his past/present observations of Francis are garbage in my eyes, sure i'm going to attack him. He uses all the X's/O's mumbo jumbo to try to intimidate his readers and make himself look like some kind of basketball wizard that clearly must know what he's talking about when in reality he's just another voice like you or me. Sure, he gets paid to write basketball columns unlike you or me but I have yet to ever be impressed by a Rosen piece. He's always so negative and rarely does he ever make a useful or interesting point outside of the obvious. His columns are always so narrow minded unless he's jocking the 80's Celtics or something.
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The Rockets aren't going to trade James becuase they have Francis - get a clue Rosen. The guy who is going to have the biggest PT reduction will likely be Battier - with McGrady and Bonzi playing more SF next to various combinations of Francis, James and Brooks.
He makes some valid points at the end, but his initial comparison to past and present Francis is way off. Francis has always been a bad poor ball-handler, it's nothing new. Talking about past Francis' passing was ridiculous. Francis has also never been a good 3PT shooter. Francis still has most of the rebounding and scoring that made him great, and still has the same poor ball-handling that pissed fans off. I'm pretty sure the Rockets knew what they were getting when they signed him. It's a low cost risk/high basketball reward kind of gamble. P.S. That JL3 reference as one of our backup guards is just ridiculous. JL3 has no place on a championship bench. Rosen's an idiot if he thinks a team looking for a title should keep a scrub like that.
