In addition to completely overlooking Mo Taylor for their "underrated players who play pivotal roles on their team but aren't quite good enough to win any postseason honors" list, CNNSI picked Stevie for their "Dog Team." Steve Francis, Guard, Houston Rockets: He's shooting a career-low 40 percent from the floor, averaging a career-low 16.8 points per game, and is on his way to an abysmal turnover performance, 3.65 per game -- fourth worst in the league behind Iverson, Gilbert Arenas and Paul Pierce, none of whom is a point guard charged with taking care of the ball. (Not that Iverson doesn't have it all the time.) Then, too, Francis lost his composure when he cursed at a referee on national TV, although, to his credit, he apologized almost immediately. Steve's Dog Teammates: Eddy Curry, Center, Chicago Bulls: He's 6-11, 285 pounds and, on a team that misses a lot of shots (Chicago's team shooting percentage of 41.8 is worst in the league) he grabs only 1.9 offensive rebounds per game, which makes him 50th in the league. (Keith Van Horn, who has been called soft more times than Alan Alda, has more offensive rebounds than Curry.) During a recent span when Curry shot 28.2 percent from the floor he blamed an eye injury that occurred when he was hit in the face by a pager thrown by a friend. Eddy, you're still only 21, but it's time to start growing up. Jamal Mashburn, Forward, New Orleans Hornets: This is a rough one because Mashburn has been plagued by injuries, and I'm not about to suggest (as some, including teammates, have) that he could be toughing it out. But something is wrong with this guy, who has played 82 games only once in his 11-year career (last season). He drew criticism early in the year for rehabbing a knee injury in Miami instead of staying with the team and he drew more criticism when he said: "I know for sure they're not going to win a championship without me." He's a formidable one-on-one player but his greatest strength is also his weakness. He's a dribble-dribble-back-down-back-down guy who eats up the shot clock. And, oh yes: The Hornets are 8-11 this season with Mash in the lineup. Jalen Rose, Guard, Toronto Raptors: What a joyless season it has been north of the border, and the unpleasantness may cost coach Kevin O'Neill his job. It's not completely fair to call Rose a dog, so this one comes with an asterisk. But his quickness, never his forte (he was more of a bull-like guard who used guile and an unpredictable smorgasbord of floaters and half-hooks), seems almost gone and he's shooting only .398 from the floor. As a vocal point guard, Rose has also been unable to take charge of this team and get it back in the right direction. Antoine Walker, Forward, Dallas Mavericks: Early in the season, Walker blasted Boston general manager Danny Ainge for trading him. That's his prerogative. Later he criticized (albeit less harshly) Mavs coach Don Nelson for relegating him to the bench. His prerogative, also. But as the season has gone on, 'Toine's point production and rebounding have gone down, along with his good humor. As a volume 3-point shooter, he's made only 27 percent (lowest among the league's 50 top 3-point heavers) and, worse, hitting just 54 percent of his free throws, a number that is bound to hurt the Mavs in the postseason. In the two mega-deals that supposedly remade Dallas, Walker was penciled in as the solid starter and Antawn Jamison as the more volatile, off-the-bench guy. It hasn't worked out that way; Jamison is now outscoring Walker, despite taking far fewer shots. Ivan Chiriaev, Center, Canadian High School Player: (Honorable member). When the 17-year-old 7-footer announced that he will enter this year's draft, he said: "The NBA wants and needs Ivan Chiriaev." Dude, going third-person so soon is risky, and we have two words for you: Darko Milicic. He was better than you at your age, he's better than you now, and he's currently collecting saddle sores from riding the pine in Detroit.
I might have agreed with this earlier but this article, as far as I am concerned is BS. Francis has been playing like the Franchise lately, modifying his game into JVG system. Let the media write all they want to. We'll see how he improves come playoff time.
Steve is having a "dog" year its true, but the team is winning and is in the playoffs after 4 long years, that has to count for somthing....
As Rox_Fan said, I would have agreed on this earlier in the season, but not as of late. SF has been playing well lately and it seems like he is adapting to JVGs idea and system. Isn't Arenas a PG? Sure Pierce isn't in charge of taking care of the ball, so why does have have so many TOs? Pierce is a catch and shoot type of player and doesn't have the ball too much, so I'm more suprised that he ranks so high on the list. I hate TOs, but it makes sense to me that PGs should have the most TOs. They have the ball most of the time, which leads to TOs any way you look at it, and they are the ones that do the most passing.
that writer is an idiot... they probably only look at stats and make these type of assumptions and SF3 has really been coming on strong lately and im happy for him. I thougt looking at the title "dog" would have meant tenacious like bull dog or something.. I couldnt believe what I was reading that idiot. I agree with some of the earlier posts earlier in the season I would agree but not this last month. He has been making great strides and the team has been winning. J
Clutchfans coming to Steve Francis' defense? If I wasn't aware how whimsical this board was, I'd do a milk spit take.
I wouldn't call pierce a catch and shoot player. I think he's more like an iso type. Also there isn't anybody else on that team that can create (except for maybe Ricky Davis who has been horrible this year). So he has the ball a lot and consequentially has a lot of turnovers.
Nothing informative or interesting came out of this article!! that was a page filler for CNNSI...nothing more nothing less.
I wondered if there was anyone else out there like me who occasionally howls at the moon and prays we can win one for the Dipper.
I've always thought that when a player is called a "dog", it has to do with that player's effort (i.e. X player is dogging it out there). If my interpretation of that term is correct, then the writer is way off base. Steve is a mediocre point guard, and he does some still things on the court sometimes, but I don't think anyone in their right mind can say that Steve does not put out 110% on the court every night.
i don't really like that. he's having an off year but he is adjusting and i think he'll make it work eventually. the man is an absolute warrior and a really good person. (seemingly)
