It was neither Francis, or Yao's fault. When Moochie was subbed in, and Francis got in foul trouble in the second, and was sent out, and Yao was subbed out for Cato, the Kings went on a big run up to 14 points. Finally they sent Francis back in, and they cut it back to 9. Up until the Moochie and Cato substitutions, our guys were flat out beating their starters. Our bench, aside from Rice and Taylor, just weren't all that productive. Cato played some nice defense, but he doesn't alter shots the way Yao does. He also missed an easy alley oop I think that flew on the other side of the rim. And of course Posey missed an easy layin that Yao dumped down inside that should of gone in. And of course Moochie missed a layin on a fastbreak that clanged on the side of the rim. Then there's that one play where I think the Rockets got four attempts to make one bucket, and Yao had a hook shot almost point blank that didn't go in either. That's atleast 8 easy points right there. Actually 10 easy points, when there should of been that fastbreak in the 4th quarter that was fubared when Mobley, Taylor, and Francis were on a 3 on 1 break against Bibby. Then lets not forget the 9 missed free throws. The Rockets had plenty of oppurtunities to make their buckets. The missed free throws, and easy put backs/layins killed us. Not the Kings.
You are a ****ing idiot. Duncan? Garnett? Ever realize that Steve Francis is 9 inches shorter than the two MVP candidates you speak of? And second, do you want Francis to take 30 shots a game like Iverson, McGrady and Bryant? No. They're all shooting guards. He is a GREAT player who makes his teammates better, if his teammates could hit a ****ing shot once in a while. Remember the Lakers game a couple months ago? 44 points, 11 assists? That's just "good?" Anyone who can score 44 points and still get a double-double with assists is a star. You people who blame Francis for losses after a performance like he had last night...you're ****ing stupid. The rest of the league views Francis as a legitimate star, some even see him as a superstar. They wear his ****ing jersey in other cities, and they come to games to watch one of only two players who average 20, 6, and 6. Steve Francis is ****ing awesome. Some Rockets fans severely underappreciate what Francis does for this team. How can you just say he's "good?" That's absolutely asinine.
You just know that if Steve passed it and it was intercepted, teamate fumbled it, in short a turnover, people would be ragging on him for not taking the shot.
Sometimes I wish the Rockets would trade Steve for Avery Johnson just to shut up all these "he's the point guard so he should pass every time" people. That way Avery could dribble the ball up and immediately pass it to someone and the Rockets could lose 50 games a year. You think Jason Kidd doesn't take the big shots for NJ? I live in New York and I know for a fact that if there's a game winning shot to be taken, Kidd is going to take it. It's his job as a superstar. Even Jordan doesn't hit every last second shot. I don't understand why people can't understand that the NBA has changed. To say the point guard should always pass and only rarely shoot is to say that the center should always shoot and only pass when necessary. Which means that Yao does too much friggin passing to be a real center. So we either have to move him to small forward or trade him for a real center. His BBIQ is very tiny to realize it's his job to shoot every time and grab every board and block every shot. And he has to stop taking those damned jump shots because a center is supposed to play only in the paint. Says so right in the basketball manual. And come to think of it, what the hell is Dirk Nowitski thinking? Dallas should really trade that guy. It says in my basketball manual that 7 foot power forwards are supposed to score inside and rebound. This friggin guy is out there hitting all those threes and driving to the hole dunking on people. What a loser. Dallas should trade that guy because power forwards aint supposed to be doing all that stuff. It says right here in the basketball manual - power forward = inside play and rebounding. According to my manual, I've put togther a list of some of the other losers in the NBA... Vlade Divac Arvidas Sabonis Chris Webber Sam Cassell Mike Bibby Antoine Walker Kenyon Martin Raef LaFrentz Troy Murphy Pao Gasol Kevin Garnett Rasheed Wallace These guys need to pick up a copy of the official basketball manual and learn what they are supposed to do and quit doing all that extra stuff immediately!
I think Francis is not a great player, because if you looked one of his hairs was out of place. If he was a great player he wouldn't distract his teammates with unkempt hair. He is definitely not a great player. We can argue about whether Francis is great or not, but my example may only be the third least significant reasons listed in this thread.
That was Steve that let Bibby break up that 2-1 if I recall. Horrible play by Steve. That said, fantastic game by Steve, showed a lot of mettle. The Kings announcers sure gushed about him as well. Having a shot to win was solely his cause after Yao and Mo blew the freebies, and Yao let a lot of people shoot right over him on the way to the basket in the 4th quarter. My biggest question is how the coaching staff was so dumb to not have 1 timeout left for a last shot. This is the NBA. Inexusable not to have one in your pocket for that situation.
last 3 luck? BS...whatever. People like you make me sick. A player who is coming off of the NBA's western Conference player of the week, and a 38pt, 9 asists, and a 5 rb game...is much more than a good player. Yao is a good player. and in time he will be great. Jp..is a good player, MOtay, Boki! STevie is a great player! damn..open ur eyes..what team are u watching?
Actually.....it was Mobley. Mobley or Steve! God! I can't tell! I am pretty sure that it was Mobley. Mobley usually never passes. Why did he decide to pass at that time? He usually just takes it all the way to the basket and scores.... He screwed up. So many lost opportunities yesterday... Anyways. Steve Francis is great. If he is just good, then the rest of our team must be bad.
The rocks used their three time outs on the last 3 plays. Each with under a min left in the game. It is excusable. We scored on the 3 plays they used the TO's, and so we were back in the game. It was just a misfortune. Stevie hussled it up the floor pretty fast with 4.6 secs left, but didnt get a chance for an easy shot. STil...up the court and getting a shot of with 4.6 secs, and hitting the rim?...good effort.
Thanks guys for all your attacks on my intelligence. Yes, I am an idiot. But until Francis can bring us into the playoffs, then yes, he will always be just a good player and not a great one. The great ones take their teams to the playoffs! Now don't argue with me! I will continue to attack or "hate" on Francis until he becomes the true point guard which he claims to be. But until then guys... I'm still right!
So since Yao didn't bring Rockets to the playoffs in his first year like Duncan, he will always be good but not great right ?
Francis failed to take the Rockets to playoffs for 2 years plus maybe this year (I excused last year because he's injuried) and he's 26 years old already, not some HS kid who needs developing for a long time. Not exactly a fantastic resume for a supposed "great" franchise leader, isn't it? And yes, if Yao can't take us to the playoffs next season, I don't think he will be recognized as great either.
Can you tell me one 6'3" point guard who has carried his team to the Western Conference Playoffs, when his second best player is the caliber of MoTaylor or Cuttino Mobley, in the past 3 years. These whole Steve still hasn't made the playoffs arguments are LUDICROUS.
His 2nd best player is Yao. And the supporting squad on the Rockets is decent. Duncan and Garnett don't have very good supporting casts either. Duncan's 2nd best player is...Tony Parker? Robinson and Ginoboli have missed significant time. Garnett has Szczerbiak, but he missed significant time as well, yet the team kept playing strong. And what does Karl Malone have to support him now? A 40 year old Stockton and Matt Harpring. Yeah, Steve is 6'3", maybe the problem is small guards can't be shoot-first players and expect to win consistently.
Francis is more than good by has not reached greatness yet. Great players play on both sides of the court and make their teammates better.
So basically, this is the first year we should expect Steve to make the playoffs, because I know you aren't comparing him to Duncan and Garnett. Karl Malone may be the one exception but do you think Utah would make the playoffs with only Stocton, and as old as Malone is, Yao isn't that good yet.
