I have been watching Steve all year, and have finally figured out why he is so bad on defense. He peeks at the ball...ALL THE TIME. He is a decent ON the ball defender, but as soon as his man passes off, Steve looks at the ball and ignores his man. His man moves to an open spot and bingo...basket on Steve. Has anyone else noticed this? DaDakota
I would say that's a pretty fair statement I've noticed how opposing pg's ALWAYS go off on him for big numbers and if he takes it personal- then he'll score, take it to the hole etc, but i've never ever seen him shut down another top pg
I'm still convulsing from the fact that I'm watching a lineup of Moochie, Collier, TMo, Torres, and Langhi... Patton never saw a tank like this.
I have noticed that Tony Parker gives him fits........ouch. I even feel embarassed for him at times. It did not help I was at the game with a Spurs fan.
I agree that Francis has a problem of "shadowing" his man away from the ball, but IMO, he gets toasted by opposing PGs on the ball as well. Right now he is all-around just a bad defender. If there's any solace, 90% of the PGs worth a damn are bad defenders with the exception of Payton and Kidd.
Steve always watching the ball..Isn't that a double edged sword, since that's part of why he gets so many rebounds, some loose balls, and, on the offensive end, some putbacks?
moomoo, I am talking about Defense, and he is peeking at the ball, and not paying attention to his defensive assignment. Steve is not a complete player...not by a long shot. DaDakota
It looks like he just doesn't know the fundamentals of defense. He always seems to be trying to steel the ball but he goes for the steel too often and gets crossed over.
LA, You may be right, he goes for the steel, and we know how heavy steel is, I wonder if he has it in his shoes, that would explain him not jumping well lately. Good GAWD man, I think you have found the answer. DaDakota Steve Francis Man of Steel....ah...steal....whatever...
I was also talking about defense, except for the last part about putbacks...But I agree, he's not even close to complete.
By the way Dak.... I saw that Oregon PG Ridnaur play this w/e... You are correct - he is f***ing awesome. Sort a Jason Williams (Grizz) type player, with a better shot and much better handles, but unfortunately the same questionable decision making at this point at least. If he can mature and play a little more under control then I say he's eventually a lotto pick.
Francis seems to have a really bad peeking at the ball problem. Usually, the opposing point guards score because Francis isn't covering/looking at them. I've noticed it in all his games this and have been wondering how much of it is Francis just being a "head turner" and how much of it is Francis being the primary help defender. He has quick, strong hands and quick feet which help make him a ideal double team man. Since our post defenders seem to always need help, it seems some of Francis' head turning may just be him looking to double team down low as a defensive "roamer" like Scottie Pippen with the Bulls, Fisher and Fox with the Lakers and how Payton sometimes does with the Sonics (when their man D is failing). But when he makes his move as a help defender, Francis loses his track of man and the defense fails to roatate, making it look like Francis just missed an assignment. I bring this up because I remember the BBS debate about the Rockets guards going under the pick on the Pick n' Roll. Most of us thought the guards were idiots for continually going under the pick and getting burned by the open J when in reality Rudy T wanted his guards to go under the pick and the big man was just doing a weak job "showing" on the pick. Maybe in this case, some (not all, but maybe most) of Francis' "missed" assignments are really the result of poor defensive rotation.
But Stockton scored WELL above his average, and we lost the game because Stockton had no pressure on him and was able to run the Utah offense unimpeded. DaDakota
I'd have to say we lost the game to Utah because of our lack of rebounding more than anything else. How many offensive boards did the Jazz have? B
