I can say one good thing about this season, Francis will be Rookie of the Year. Compare the stats between Francis and Odom... http://www.nba.com/playerfile/lamar_odom.html then replace it with steve_francis.
Ohh yeah. Francis is a team player. Odom has hit the rookie wall. Its early now but I still think Francis will get it . http://www.nba.com/playerfile/steve_francis.html http://www.nba.com/playerfile/lamar_odom.html
Didn't Odom score two points on Tuesday night? Both points came from free throws (he went 2 for 4 from the free throw line). I don't think that helped him very much, but we're still a long way from knowing who is most likely to get it.
The league has figured out Odom's game. They're taking the left side away from him (he's a southpaw). He hasn't hit the wall. He's just been defensed. Francis, on the other hand, can go left or right. Just awesome skillz. I think he'll pull away from Odom by season's end to collect ROTY honors. By the way, did y'all see that awesome Jordan-like reverse lay-up Francis made last night? For a moment, it looked like Duncan would get another blocked shot, but the next thing you know, the Franchise was floating by him under the basket to finish the reverse lay-in. That is some serious hang-time.
Odom only played 20 minutes in that game because of foul trouble. He still played poorly, but fouls are half the explanation for his stats. And though he's not going to win it, I would like Griffin to get some consideration. He does everything well -- the archtype of a small forward.
That's what we need at small forward. A guy at about 6'7 who can run the floor, play defense, grab loose rebounds, hit the occasional jumper, take the charge. Won't be exceptional at any one facet of the game, just play all of them well. And I just described Shandon Anderson. [This message has been edited by thacabbage (edited December 16, 1999).]
