I agree...as long as he can be fiery but not have an immature hot headed temper...he can be a great leader for this team. I don't really see steve making the most prudent decisions all the time though. The way he celebrated after block marion or amare, whoever it was...was a little over the top. IF he can chill and be SMART...he should be the leader!!
Never forget the best defender of Suns, Marion, has to focuse on Tmac all the time when Tmac is in the court. You see the result, we can penetrate and score at critical time with another penetrator.
Tmac is our leader. His shot is off right now because of his injured elbow. I'm glad Steve was able to step it up for us. We are a team and when one player is down then the other can step up.
his elbow's fine he just had an off night and was doubled constantly. even when he wasn't grant hill played fantastic defense on him. but you're right, steve showed his value tonight.
I thought Yao looks more happy when Steve plays together with him on court. This is important as we need Yao to play like this every game.
you know, a leader in the team doesn't have to score the most points. They have to be able to inspire their teammates on the court.
hahaha. i just made a fool of myself. but i gotta admit, tmac giving the ball to another perimeter player to take that kind of shot shows a lot about tmac (not to mention very unexpected). He has faith in Stevie. Normally I think he'd just jack up a jumpshot, but he knew he had the only other guy that could create his own shot off the dribble had a better shot at sealing the game. And he gave him the ball for that play and at the end of the game.
Looks like the 90% of we Clutch Fans knew what we were doing when we voted for Steve. I still remember Steve winning Yao's first game against Shaq with a couple of drives like the one he did at the end tonight. Bill Worrel and Matt Bullard are sure plugging the need for Steve to have a good role on the team. Good call Vlaurelio
If Stephen Jackson can be the captain of the Golden State Warriors then Steve Francis can be the leader of the Houston Rockets. They both bring a fire and passion to the game. I followed Steve closely throughout his career at Orlando and then at NY. I saw all the BS and politics he went through and I knew he could still bring it. Same player we traded for T-Mac. All those who said that Francis was washed up are eating their words.
Tmac is the leader? Where was Tmac the last 7 minutes of this game? Oh yeah taking horrible pull up jumpers in crunch time because he knows if he gets fouled he will miss the free throws. Tmac is a top player in league when he is not facing in adversity. But when the going gets tough Tmac disappears. YAO IS THE LEADER OF THIS TEAM! HE MAD 3 OUT OF 4 SHOTS TONIGHT IN CRUNCH TIME AND HE HAS DONE IT ALL YEAR. FRANCIS IS THE HEART AND SOUL THOUGH! WITHOUT HIM AND YAO WE WOULD NOT HAVE EVEN BEEN CLOSE. that is an arguement that can be argued for ages... the main reason why I say tmac is the leader because of his presence alone on the court changes the whole game for the rockets and makes it easier for the rest of the team... i agree he was taking some ridiculous jumpers towards the end of the game instead of attacking ... but the sole reason why yao is not the leader on this team is because without tmac this team will probably only manage to win 3 out of 10 games if even that many... and yao coming through in the crunch has not been happening all season where was he the first time we played the suns this season.... lets face it mcgrady makes yao a better player not the other way around ... last season when yao was out we were still a good team without him but without mcgrady we are terrible its like watching the suns play without nash except maybe not as bad... also i have to mention the officiating on yao is really getting out of hand it seems like the refs purposely want to take yao out of games i dont know what it is but it has to change...
Folks, Most of posters do not understand what is a leader. Leader in a Basketball team is not necessary the best player. In a basketball team, leaders are those who inspire other to perform upto or top their potentials. Most times leaders are born rather than learned. Yao and TMac are not born leaders. They may never be the leaders we want them to be. A example for the leadership? "SuperMario" in 1999 inspired robinsom and duncan to grow balls and eventually they won their first champ. Elli was not the best player in that team. With above said, I agree with the thread title that Francis may be the leader we need to get to next level.
Do you actually watch the games. Yao has been much better than Tracy in crunch time. Not to take anything away from tmac who has been playing his best basketball as a Rocket but it's Yao who has come up with game winning shots, game winning defense and hard play late in the games. Last night he made a clutch shot late in the game and it has happened many other times. Even in the losses he has been the player keeping us in games late. Tmac settles for jumpers too many times late in games. Look what Steve did the one opportunity when the game was on the line. How many times has Tmac had those opportunities and settled for jumpers. Let's face Tmac has never had a history of being clutch. Yeah he has had his moments, 13 in 30 against SA but he hasn't shown up in the biggest of game. Also on your second point there is no question Tmac makes Yao better at times (sometimes he seems to overlook the pass to a wide open Yao) but there is also no question Yao makes Tmac better. If someone has to double Yao then when Tmac gets the ball he is more open and vis-a-versa. Why does there even have to be this debate. There is also no question the Rockets need Yao and Tmac if the have any hopes of making a title run.
