Im already expecting the "this trade sucks idea". So I dont mind if some of you disagree. But my personal opinion,theres a reason why I posted this. 1.I love J Oneal. I see alot of similarities to a young Akeem,and so,he is a great PF. 2.Flat out,even with 10 more pounds Griffin still will get schooled by most of the great west pfs like Brand,Malone,Duncan,Webber,Amare,Garnett. We NEED someone to atleast do well.(cough Brian Grant cough) 3.I see David Robinson donating 9 million to childrens schools,and Francis priority is his record label. Thats enough on this topic,I'll let you decide if this picture is right,since everybodys idea of class is different.Its none of my business,just my opinion. 4.Gundy likes defense, = no Francis 5.JVG loves big men =loves O neal 6.Francis is a tweener. To short for sg,cant pass first for a pg.But Im not an expert,so maybe he can pull off being a sg. And dont bring up allstar,we all know thats irrelevent. Dunks gets you in the allstar game. 7.O neal would be our "duncan/robinson " so to speak 8. Isiah loves Steve,and Steve I believe loves Isiah I read somewhere. 9.,O neal wants out of Indiana. They dont want him to leave for nothing, hence, welcome steve. 10. I dont want moochie,so I throw in Tinsley for Griffin 11. Steve DOES NOT take double teams away from Ming. Guards guard steve, only a TOP sf or pf on our team would help Mings double teams. IN other words, Other teams pf and sf double ming ,not their pgs. I choose "yes" to the trade. I actually think It will happen. Or a francis for brand in a three way, or brian grant for a griffin. Wether its Oneal or not,I just dont envision fat Mo or Dope Griffin ever being the career pf next to Ming.IMO.
It doesn't suck, but I wouldn't do it. One, I've watched O'Neal play and he seems like a star not a superstar. He disappeared this year against boston and when I watch him play I just don't get the feeling that he is a guy to carry a team on his back. He is really good, but just not in that franchise player class right now. With his age, that may all change soon though. Plus, I'm a firm believer in having one star at a big man spot(PF/C) and the other at a guard spot to keep a team balanced. O'neal and Yao would fight for touches and that is not a good thing. O' neal is a really good player, but the rockets are a better team with steve francis and yao, over yao and o'neal, the way we are setup now, no doubt in my mind.
i stopped reading after this because what's the point? WHAT A LOAD OF ****. i love how people think they know all about someone's class based on what he does with his hobbies. yeah his priority is his record label. there's already another thread on this but wow.
Pretty tough to say no. Oneal is a stud him and Yao would dominate inside. I'd do it. But I'd much rather accuire Elton Brand w/o giving up Francis or Yao, which has been speculated on this board for many months.
J O'Neal is so overrated and if he dare to come to west, he will be eaten alive 4-times a year by the likes of Duncan, Dirk, KG, Webber, Wallace, Brand, Amare, etc. If we are going to get a big-name PF, get Brand!
sorry guys. I thought I would get alot of people to agree with me. If I knew in advance that it would be a 50/50 split I wouldnt have even bothered to post. I'll let Jermaine O neal just be a fantasy of mine since it wont be reality.
Yeh, I had your thought for this year too. I thought J oneal would take away touches. Then I watched the finals. If steve actually played defense then,yeh, we would be balanced. But we are not. Also, you say Joneal cant carry a team on his back, Like steve can? Its called value for value. NO one is going to trade Dirk for Steve.Or even Brand for that matter since Sterling is cheap. I do understand the Francis love here is at a alltime high,so its a lost cause for me to even argue.Just wait till next summer and look back at this while Joneal wins a championship with Duncan.
Rox won't have money to get a good guard if they trade SF for O'neal. I am not comfortable with that situation. Great inside force but garbage back court? It won't fly.
So you changed your mind because???? Steve and Yao atleast have an inside - outside game. Every who saw Hakeem and Barkley on the ROX know that we had to post both of them up, and when one is posting up, the other guy is just complete being wasted standing on the opposite side of the paint. Don't even compare Yao - O'Neal to Duncan and David. David is just a shell of his former self and Duncan is the 2nd best center in the league today. Everything when through TD when he's on the floor. With Yao and O'Neal we'll have to decide which one to go through everytime down the floor and that just brings up too match bad memories since to keep both happy, you have to alternate and that just totally throws the rhythm of the players off.
It will be interesting to see how J O'neal develops over the next couple of years. I have never been a great fan of O'neals game although he did dominate in the short-lived playoffs having averaged 17 boards a game. But, I keep on thinking, this guy is not an elite power forward for two reasons: 1) Pacers lose to Celtics: The pacers are loaded with talent and they lost to the Celtics who were swept by the Nets. A true star, expecially one surround with so much talent, should have been able take his team to the next level. And remember, we are talking about the weak Eastern Conference, how would O'neal do going back West? 2) Portland Days: I keep thinking back to those days when O'neal played in Portland. I realize they had great talent but O'neal couldn't even get into the rotation. Wallace is just entering his prime and Randolph already has shown he is better than Wallace at the Power forward position. This is interesting because Randolph is only a year and at most two years older then O'neal when O'neal was playing in Portland. Nobody is talking about Randolph as a top Power forward although they might be after this year. So, these are the ideas that are floating in my mind. Is O'neal that good? I still can't decide and whatever team takes him is taking a chance that his game developed a lot in the past two years. One thing I will say, O'neal does look like a hard worker and someone who has developed his game. He even looked more well built and stronger since he has been in Indiana so many he really did improve a lot and is worth the max.
I could have sworn that there was a thread about this same exact topic on the second page. Oh wait, there is.
<B>To answer your question: Yes, I consider Francis an elite guard but not an elite point guard.</B> It's strange, to consider a player such as Francis an all-star caliber player but as a point guard, he is at best average. So, I'll break it down Francis Strong Points: I appreciate Francis' ability to take players one on one drive to the hole, get to the free throw and his overall ability to take over a game. Those are his strong points. Francis Weak Points: His weak points, as everyone knows is making smart decisions or whatever you want to call it. Others call it play making, being a good floor general, making players around him better, passing. Whatever it is, he is not very good at it. Conclusion: These so called weak points are skills that a point guard is supposed to be good at. So, as a point guard, I give Francis low marks. It's almost like a contradiction. Someone is always going to ask, “How can someone be good if they suck at their position.” Well, Francis seems to be such a player and that is why so many suggest moving his butt to the 2. What befuddles me is that Francis played pretty dam good point guard duties when he was playing in the all-star game, distributing the ball to other players. So, it's not like he doesn't know how to share the ball and make smart decisions. It just seems when he plays with the Rockets; he gets into this I have to be the main man attitude.
In a heartbeat I would do that trade. PGs=useless in the West PGs who aren't even PGs=even more useless
I would be interested in why you claim that point guards are useless. While I agree that they take a major back seat to the big men in the West, how often do you see Shaq bringing the ball down court? A good point guard who does what a point guard is supposed to do is far from useless.
John Paxson BJ Armstrong A Young Sam Cassell Kenny Smith Washed up Ron Harper Avery Johnson Derek Fisher 21 year-old Tony Parker Those are some names of PGs who have won an NBA title since 1991. You have to go back to Isaiah Thomas to find the last really good PG to win a title. PG and SF are by far the most useless positions on the floor. One could make the argument that a good towel boy is as useful as a PG in the playoffs.
Funny you mention that. The Lakers often had Ron Harper (more of a SG, not a PG) bring up the ball in their first two titles. As well as the fact that Kobe brings the ball up as much if not more than Derek Fisher. Whatever theory you had, is squashed.
