So I've had the luxury of watching the last three Rockets' games on national TV, within the last week. This new offense looks to have really affected his game. His shooting percentage is at an all time low this year, at 39.8%. That is down about 4% from last year when he shot at 43.5%. Is this somehow related to the offense, or has he been ice cold all year? I know he forces some shots just to get involved in the flow of the offense, but many of his misses are wide open jumpers that he used to easily knock down. The proof of that is his 3 pt. % is a paltry 29.2%, down from 35.4% last year and 35.% for his career. This is the first time I've witnessed Steve actually regress as a player. Up until this year, his rebounding, ball-handling, and defense have all improved tremendously. Unfortunately, Steve has not improved in his ability to run a half-court offense, and his shooting has deteriorated, despite being healthy this year. Maybe he just needs to get in the gym and shoot for a couple of hours each day, like the Euros do. But my suspicion is that the new offense that runs through Yao is seriously messing with him mentally. His entire game struggles when he's not handling the rock.
Look, I've been saying this for sometime now, Francis has lost his confidence. It started at the end of last year when Rox started making Yao the center piece and the media started to bash him. It is more apparent this year. At the begginng of last year, Francis would that that cross over then jump shot a lot. Haven't seen it much at all, perhaps he's afraid of being labled seflfish. Either way, his shot is probably suffering because of his lack of confidence in himself, this game is as much mental as physical (see nick anderson's ft% before and after the 4 bricks). Hell, last game he ASKED for Mark Jackson to stay in the game cuz he was having a bad night. While that's a great show of team first attitude (so will the haters get of his back now?) that's not what you should do if you're our freaking All - Star.
Its a mixture. Most notably, he misses that extra dribble or two to get in rythm. Now he seems to be thinking too much when he dribbles, like 'i'm not supposed to be dribbling, so just shoot it quicker' before really creating more space between himself and the defender like he did last year. Second, he is not as good a spot shooter as last year. He was money from 3 point when open. this year he's off. he'll tell u that. Third, new system. He's actually trying to improve the whole team by passing more, averaging 7 dimes a game in the process the last few games. All i can say is, when he gets his shooting, confidence etc back, and is comfortable again, and plays like he did to start the year last year....watch out
It could be a number of things. One he's logging too many minutes especially with our new found philosophy to stay strong on defense, typically a time when most players kinda take it as time to rest. Two, he seems to be the kind of shooter that needs to dribble first then take a shot. He's not a catch and shoot shooter like Mobley is, which is a change in the way we run our offense since that's more or less where Francis gets his open looks. Three, he forces bad shots occasionaly a couple of times a game. That'll kill some of your % right there. Four, he's not as demanding towards going to the foul line and driving in the lane. Again a change in the way our offense is run, but it's also a change in the way the refs are calling the game. It seems almost anytime he's slashing in the lane and does these almost impossible acrobatic layups the refs don't bail him out and let him wiggle his way in midair through defender, throw a brick layup and fall out of bounds. The refs aren't calling fouls anytime he tries to initiate contact when he drives. That kills %. Five, I can definitely tell he's making a big effort to try and get everyone involved in the game. Yes he has mental lapses every now and again and goes on an ISO spree. I think he's having a tough time finding a balance between being a team player in the passing game and still managing to find his own shot. What I think he fails to realize is, he can find his own shot in the passing game instead of feeling like he needs to ISO himself out after not taking the past few FGAs for the team. The passing game doesn't mean he needs to do just that. The passing game shouldn't be a hinderance to his game. It should actually make it a whole lot easier for him to score, and that's what I think he has a hard time figuring out. Hell if the whole team bought into the passing game, everyone would find open shots. It was incredibly fun watching Mark Jackson and Yao playing the two man passing game around the perimeter late in the 4th. It didn't really result in anything other then what looked like hot potato, but it forced the defense to sag off Mark Jackson which resulted in a reverse layup that he sadly missed, but was wide open. It was like the whole Knick defense was lulled to sleep by that passing. Was really beautiful to watch.
Steve has made the effort to involve other guys, and then will go through a stretch where he forces some shots. Last night, I was very frustrated with his shot selection. The 20 foot turnaround fadeaway over Marbury, and the 2x he dribbles across the lane and doesn't even square his body to shoot. He's jumping across the lane and tries to shoot the jumper. thats terrible. I usually try to defend him, because I honestly feel he is doing a good job. Even the forces in the Memphis game I felt were okay, since he was keeping us in the game all night. But last night, you can't force shots when Yao is blowing up. I still don't believe that Steve is trying to freeze Yao out, thats bull. He wants to win. He makes bad decisions, and takes bad shots at times, but I don't think he is consciously trying to 'ballhog'. His whole life, he has played an iso game, so thats what he knows. but last night was unbelievable. Yao and Mo, were scorching and he's taking off balance fadeaways? Unlike others, I don't think Steve is a lost cause, and I don't think we should be trading him away for Jamal Tinsley, but he has work to do.
Sure he has work to do. And he has more to work with than most. As the season progresses he will find a comfort zone and become extremely effective.
I agree, Steve is stuck between 2 worlds right now (a passing PG and a scoring PG). You can actually see him struggle when deciding when to pass and when to shoot. I truly believe once he becomes comfortable w/ when to shot and when to pass, his shot will come back. And even though his shot is off right now, he is still the main focus point for defences, which opens up his options.
Not to bash on Steve, but does anyone realize how inefficient the Rocket payroll is if an over-the-hill point guard in Mark Jackson making the veteran minimum can run the Rockets offense as well or better than Steve can? Steve makes $10 million. Mark Jackson is on a 10 day contract probably making a prorated veteran minimum. This is like Yao getting replaced by Patrick Ewing at his current age with the team running like clockwork. I've said that it's best to utilize Steve in some sort of pseudo-Iverson role. Having him in the role of decision-maker/passer is just asking for a mediocre team year after year.
The problem is: SF is a rhythm shooter and it takes 17-19 dribbles, including 3 between the legs, and 2 crossovers to find his rhythm This often takes 23.99 seconds. When he comes off a high screen moving to his left he seems to do pretty well, but he's a poor spot up shooter. He's really caught between two worlds and I'm not sure he has the bball instincts to navigate the chasm. D R
