No, the offense was directed around Hakeem during his years. And it also took him 10 years before he won a ring, and various personnel and coaching changes. He had to go through growing pains as a player because if you remember, he was known as a hothead and became so frsutrated with the team, he was thisclose to being moved to the Clippers. So, no, he only had stability once Rudy T came on board and decided for him to be the focus of the team, and even THAT took 2 years. It took him (akeem)one year to make it to the playoff and the championship the next year.
Yao dont have to be a leader,just do his job like Brad Miller,Vlade Divac do for King.actually,i dont care whos the leader of ROX!all i want just ROX PLAY AS A TEAM!
That's true. Why all this talk of being a leader? When you think of the Kings, you think of Peja, Bibby, Jackson, Miller, Christie, Divac. You think of a team. The Rockets should be a team, too, and not play follow-the-leader game.
Elton Brand, Vince Carter, Jalen Rose, Antwan Jamison, SAR, Eddie Jones hasn't been for a good while. All these guys have max or max-like contracts and has not been to the playoffs. So whats your point? Like Shooter said, these guys all were or are still in unstable, inconsistent ball clubs. These guys got the max contract because of what they can personally do and what they can do for the team. EGN- You are obviously a Steve hater and I respect that, but to put all the blame on Steve is just ridiculous. Yes, Steve is struggling with his shot and the new system, you have to understand that mistakes come with a new system, it just takes time. BTW- If ya'll want to get mad at contracts, don't be mad at Steve's, the 27 other teams would have given it to him too. Be mad at Mooch's, Cato's, MoT's contracts- their bloated and have become almost untradable.
I'm sorry I missed your point. Two things to consider here: 1. Houston (actually I should say Allan here to not confuse things)was never surrounded with enough talented (or even decent) players to succeed in this league. Regardless, he proved (or JVG made him prove) that he's a winner, leading the Knicks to the playoffs year after year and even the finals. And remember this happened having Scott Layden as the GM, whose longevity in this league is one of the miracles of the 20th century. 2. New York rewarded Houston with a Max contract, which you can at least argue he deserves. Steve simply DOESN'T deserve his contract, plain and simple.
You're kidding Vince, Eddie Jones and Jalen Rose never made the playoffs???!!! Brand and Jamison never had good enough teams to make the playoffs. SAR is the only one on that list you could make a case for but even he had lousy teams up in Vancouver.
1. Never had enough talent. The year he went to the finals, they had Camby, Spreewell, and Ewing. Houston was just another player. He got paid because they knew he would leave if he was offered a crap contract, and that would hurt the team more than it would if they gave him a max contract. Same case with Steve. 2. Steve was also rewarded, after he took a team that had lost 2(you could make a case for 3) HOF's and he took that team to almost a playoff spot. 1 measly win away twice. He also showed flashes of potential that we had not seen since The dream had been in town.
We damn near made the playoffs 3 years ago, didn't get close the next year when Steve was hurt, and damn near made it last year. Do you think losing Rudy T. late like that didn't hurt us last year? We may well have been there otherwise. I did not watch tonights game, but from what I gathered, Yao grabbed about 6 boards. If our seven and a half foot tall center who everyone thinks is so great can't even grab double figures in rebounds then you need to think about that before you lay everything at the doorstep of Francis. Get real.
There are max contract players on virtually every team in the NBA...and only 16 teams can make the playoffs. I think the original purpose of making that statement was to assert the fact that Steve Francis has NEVER been to the playoffs yet was awarded Max money. Being paid Max money based on past performance i.e. Allan Houston making playoff finals is typically how things are done in the NBA.
Personally, I think there are only about 5 or 6 players worth the max in the league, but just as they always do, a agent will try to show the value of a player. You canvalue a max player if he or isn't playing,how many losses ould that team accumulate. If you use that, it might be evn less. Francis got paid what he did, just like or the same way Jamison,SAR,Rose and some of these other players got their money. Is Francis worth the max?No, but its along list of those same players who get the same money don't deserve the money either. I wil not agree that Francis is a non factor because that is so false. The problem I have is that as much as he controls the ball, he should be a larer factor and over the past few weeks h has been. People still want to make him Iverson like, but he has shown that he can be a distributor of the ball. My problem with him is that is he willing o do it during a full time basis?
1. Oh please. Glass Camby came off the bench for a whooping 7.2 PPG, not to mention he just got traded from Toronto (I'm still wondering if they screwed the Knicks by trading Camby just when they knew he's starting to suck). Ewing decent but was pretty much was starting to go over the hill by then, in the 10th consecutive season in which his numbers had dropped. Sprewell was good but nowhere more than above average in this league. Quite frankly nobody mistake any of the Knicks for HoFers. It was a team effort that almost took them to the promised lands in which Allan Houston was a key part of so the Knicks rewarded him. Plain and simple. 2. That's funny, I remember that 45 - 37 season we were not even in sniffing distance of a playoff spot before Hakeem laid down the law. He sealed, packaged and delivered. Barkley was one of the HoFers he lost, who was the other? Quitten? His earthshaking 14 PPG in 40 minutes were definitely key factors. He was already in decline by then (if he ever was good enough) not to mention he didn't want to be here and screwed us over. In either case Steve Francis didn't play with Quitten long enough to make a difference as I recall Quitten was traded before Steve came to town. The next season was of course that migraine season, followed by lucking out in the draft but then having arguably the worst season in a very long time. As for his potential, that stopped 2 years ago if you haven't noticed already. I swear to god he's getting worse. Bottom line is, he doesn't deserve the Max. If Yao doesn't pick up soon, he won't deserve the Max either.
1. Yao played 28 minutes because of foul trouble, which means he can't be more aggressive if he doesn't want to get fouled out. 2. Steve is in his 5th year and rapidly regressing. Yao is in his 2nd seaon and show a slight progress. You figure it out.
