Geeze, this highlights everything what's wrong with the NBA referees and the NBA itself. The way it goes, a NFL tackler should be allowed to play in the paint and tackle Shaq or anybody down.
if lebron did the exact same thing. people would be praising him. they would have never broken it down step by step, and after the dunk, they would have a commentator like steven a. smith come on sports center and talk about how that was one of the greatest in game dunks, and that we are seeing a young michael jordan. but, nah, its just selfish streetball steve francis.
I understand when people complain about the turnovers and the shot clock violations. But the notion that Francis doesn't care about winning has no basis.
The fallacy here is: LeBron wouldn't have done that. It was a 1 on 0 breakaway and was a blatant travel in a game in which the Magic trailed by 12.
Whoa, this thread started feeling like a retirement home for a minute, all these old folkies complaining about how the NBA is now, compared to "back in the day". If you got the skills and talent to be flash then by all means do it. Entertain. Obviously Francis didn't have enough skill for this move but I give him a L for effort, I mean.. E? It would be really amazing if he did this move legally. All the people complaining about how bad show boating is are the ones who can't do it or are scared to do it during game time. I was the one scared to do a stylish dunk during a game so I give credit to those who can do it. What francis did was not a mere "2 points", it was something the kids at school will talk about for a week or until some other player does something else. In this generation, this is what keeps the NBA around. But don't worry! The game will be slowly changing into a bunch of stocktons and Smits and everyone will be happy. Happy that they got a chance to see all the great, exciting plays of Steve Francis, Amare, T-mac, VC, JRich, etc.. while they were growing up. If you want fast break layups go watch replays of reggie miller getting rejected by Tayshaun Prince last year over and over. Thats exactly how this generation is and will be for a while now.
So tell me this, what should he have done? Layed it up for 2? Shot a jumper for 2? All he did was dunk to try to get his teammates fired up and give the fans what they came to see. You all said it yourselves: 2 points is 2 points, it doesn't matter how he got em. Get off the guy's back.
It was an away game in DET. Given the Pistons are noted for defense, I doubt many came to be entertained by Francis's dunking. As far as "firing up his teammates", any reasonable dunk would have had the same result. Trying to add the extra mustard to the hot dog cost him and his team. The NBA Champ Pistons have a slogan...."Play the game the right way"....this play was obviously not the right way to play the game. Which is probably a universal criticism among Francis's detractors.
2 points is 2 points, but what he did was incredibly risky. The refs could have easily called a travel, especially on the road. We've all personally seen him get called for travelling for more minor infractions. Maybe Francis just botches the dunk. The point is, he's trying to lead his team to victory on the road against the champs and he took an unnecessary risk for the sake of style. It worked out for him, but there was at least a 50% chance of him losing that 2 points for his team.
Your right, it didn't cost them anything and he did not get called for the travel. But that's not the point. Just because he did get called for it doesn't make it okay -- what if later down the road, the game is on the line and he tries it again and DOES get called for the travel? Just because you get away with something doesn't make it okay. He could have done 99 other things besides travel his butt off. It should have cost them those 2 points, and he should have been benched.
Definently a clear travel but it was fun and exciting. Remember T-Mac did that same bounce off the glass dunk he did in the All-Star game in a real game...it was risky too but sometimes they just want to show off and have fun. But it was a nice dunk..but he traveled big time.
Thank god the magic lost again. They had a little win streak going there for a while, and without that outlet, a lot of wives and children and dogs were being beaten.
How about being the only player on his to step up his game in the playoffs. Its hard to improve when you're already one of the best all players in the game.
HA HA WHAT A BUNCH OF FRIGGIN LOSERS DORKS! oh, wait, they're 19-16 and will be in the playoffs after coming off of a lottery season. Man, Grant HIll is magnificent to be able to win in spite of dunking and stuff.
