Francis not a franchis player I don't think the Rockets should make any concessions for Steve Francis. Granted I know the Franchis nickname comes from how his last name sounds, but he is not a franchis player. Franchis players are very rare. Example's are: Tim Duncan, Shaq, Jason Kidd..... Francis is a bad ass player but I don't believe he is anywhere near that status. Yao Ming on the other hand I would like to believe could develop into that kind of a player. Francis needs to quite b****ing and let the guys who are paying him millions make the decisions. Rudy knows much more about how to make a winner than that whiner.
your jumping the gun. steve has played 3 years, that's it. using one of your examples, no way in hell was jason kidd a franchise player after 3 years. steve has the talent and motivation to live up to his nickname.
A franchise player is a guy you build a team around. With Shaq, you need guys will give him the ball in a clogged lane so that he can do his business. Players who aren't gonna take shots away from him. Kidd needs guys who can run and find ways to cut to the basket to recieve his passes. Duncan is just. . . really damn good. Francis is a penetrating PG, like Kevin Johnson. He draws defenders into the lane and then kicks the ball out to open shooters on the 3pt line the way KJ did with Majerle. Francis is ridiculously athletic though and can pretty much score at will if he chooses to. Ming, to me, isn't a franchise player. He's obviously marketable, but how can you build a team around a jump shooting center? I mean, what, do you just get a PG and a bunch of forwards to make layups and dunks when he draws the defense out? I don't see him taking games over on offense. I think he's gonna be a star on defense very soon because he doen't need to learn what he already knows. I see him being a monster on the boards who will avg. 15 to 17 points for his career. But you know what is really awesome? Francis and Ming on the same team. Think about how that will work, it's pretty obvious they both can draw the defense away from eachother. Francis will learn this very quickly and things will be just fine.
True, The possibility of Steve developing into that kind of a player is slim though. Kidd has a very unique ability to make other players better that Francis and for that matter, any other player in the league, don't have.
I've seen the future, sorta... Remember how things were with Taylor when the Rockets where winning? I see Ming doing the same thing. Francis will try to penetrate, the team will converge on him, he kicks it out and Ming hits a jumper. Repeat until team starts guarding the tall guy who isn't playing in the lane. When that happens, Francis has all the room he needs to disect the other teams interior defense with layups, dunks, floaters, tear drops, or ally oops to whoever wants it. It's a thing of beauty. If people would just stop hating blindly, the same way Steve has been closed minded about Ming, they might see the future and be blinded by the trophies and rings.
it's ridiculous to think that steve can't play with Yao, or vice versa! true ballers can play with most anyone, and the great ones are so great that they have the ability to make the others around them even better
Actually their games compliment each other perfectly, and I don't know what you've been looking at but a center that yams on guys with both hands is not exclusive to the perimeter. Take a look at windandsea's pics, you'll find that they can educate you as to your opinion.
For such a team so lazy on team defense, they must be salivating at a 7'5 guy who can block shots... If things don't work out, Fire Rudy and trade Steve a year later. That's the way overreacting mesasge boards go right? Go Rockets. :rollseyes:
Why does so many people assume that Yao is not an inside player or won't be in the future, when most have only seen clips from his Chicago workout? He plays inside all the time in the Chinese league, and he even said it was weird that they did not do drills to show case his post-up ability at the Chicago workout . He may not have the explosive nature that some of you think its necessary for an inside game, but give him a year or two to bulk up and learn from better NBA coaching, and I am confident he will start to make a major impact inside. -G'day-
Austinrocket, the same coach who is making the Ming decision your so wild about, is the same coach that said Stevie was the franchise player. So how can you doubt that????? Ming will succeed but he will not be a franchise player.
How can you say that Francis is not a franchise player? We've all seen how he can affect a game. We also saw how the rockets went belly up without him. I think its a question of maturity not a question of talent and physical ability. Every player has to reach a certain level before they can truly lead a team. Look at Shaq for example, he didn't start winning championships until he finally settled down and quit making bad movies and rapping and focused on his day job which is basketball. Francis is definately a franchise player and once he reaches that level of maturity, the sky's the limit for this team.
How impressive are the Rockets, they havea franchise PF in Eddie Griffin, a franchise center in Ming hopefully and a <b>franchise PG in Steve Francis</b> How many teams would kill to have ONE franchise player let alone <b>THREE franchise players</b>. Hopefully Francis opens his eyes and realizes getting a franchise center is a something you can't pass up. Nobody what happens <b>Francis is still the franchise player</b> so he it's still his team. Oh I'm sorry austinrocket, did you say something?
Ming isn't a jumpshooting center, he's a center who happens to be able to shoot the ball that's why he has the ability to be a franchise player. The guy put up ridiculous numbers on the defensive end, cleans the glass, and is a great passer out of the post. He just happens to have a jump shot to compliment that.
Well, I didn't call Francis a franchise player until after his first year in the NBA, so why wouldn't I do the same for Ming? Kandi was a projected franchise center. Joe Smith was gonna be a force as a PF. I'd rather wait and watch him and praise his future based on what he does and not what he is projected to do. That being said, we already know that Francis is the kind of guy you can build a team around. Francis wants to stay and the Rockets are ready to extend him. The only people with a problem with Steve are members of this BBS.
The term "Stevie Franchise" is an absolute joke. Francis is easily one of the worst defensive PG's in the NBA and his assist/TO ratio is shameful for someone who's allegedly a great player. His FG% was also pathetic this year. And his attitude obviously reeks of an immature punk. If he was a "franchise" player the Rockets would have at least made the freakin playoffs in one of the last 3 years. You can take TRUE franchise players like Duncan, Kidd, Shaq, Kobe, KG, etc on just about any team and they can at least get them to the playoffs. Francis is not even close to that league. Learn how to pass the dang ball and run an NBA offense and play some damn defense and then we'll call you Franchise.
yeah remember all those playoff trips dallas made with kidd. how many playoffs did shaq go to w/o hardaway/kobe, how many did kobe go to w/o shaq, duncan w/o robinson?? kg w/o googs and stephon. i'm not saying steve is better than any of the aforementioned but i am saying it either takes more talent around you than the rockets have around steve or a less competitive conference than the ridiculous west to make the playoffs. lets stop using making the playoffs as the end all be all of our evaluations of steve as a franchise player. all we know is we were just a little below .500 with him and 2-20 w/o him. he sounds sort of important. almost franchise player important you could say.
