Socrates, you dont even deserve using that user name, Socrates was all about loyalty unlike your loser
I was out of the country during this Thread and this is the first I have seen it. Will, your premise is well taken. In fact, I was thinking the exact thing after each of the play off games to date. I am a Stevie fan, but I am convinced he is a goner from the Rockets on 8/26 (his 'date' of trade 'eligibility', if I have the date correct). Therefore, I am hopeful of a very good deal for him. After all, the man is a talented baller. The man has been voted by the fans onto the ASG roster thrice. The man is a man, not a punk. He's good enough to logically bring Brand back in return. Or Martin (think the Nets don't want to ease the physical toll on Kidd? That would be an interesting backcourt.) Interesting to guess what a disappointed Detroit or Indy finish would do to their interest in going after Stevie. And so on. But, before he is traded I want him to make us hurt at the idea of his being gone. Because we will cry over his successes at his next stop. I want him to make the Lakers cry. Then the Paris Parkers. Then...
Last night Steve played just great but this is only what was expected in every game of the season but he didn't play this way till last night[with the exception of one game against the T Wolves].This performance as great asd it was doesn't do anything but emphasise the need for a starting Playmaker Point Guard. It is now quite obvious to even JVG that if Steve is still going to be part of our Team he must not be restricted by the Position of Point Guard. On the other hand, from a business point of view,we must also focus on the fact that Steve is 27yrs of age and Mobley is 28yrs of age and must be approaching their peak of performance and value.
Thumbs, man I didn't see the humor. Yetti, it really is about accentuating the positives. Put up or shut up time, Steve transcended. Well done, hitting an absurd pctg. from the 3 is not relevant, he played and we won. "Killed, raped and molested" ??? Awesome. SF fans, and many I respect, have gotten lumped in to this stupidity. It's a way to celebrate, I guess, but it passes no muster.
jumping the gun on Francis? So last night being hardcore fans my girlfriend and I were watching the game by ourselves when all the other people were partying. Towards the end a couple comes in and the girl was real excited when we told her we were rooting for the Rockets, her boyfriend said that she was from Houston worked for Rockets marketing over the summer. So I was like wait... "did you work for someone named Tim?" And she was like "Yeah! Tim McDougal the V.P.? How did you know?" So I felt cool for a little whlie. Anyway, back to Francis. The guy that was there, having no link at all to the Rockets besides his girlfriend, LOVED Steve Francis. And I can see why so many people do. Here are some of the reasons I can think of, and that I agree with. 1. Hustle and heart. No one can argue this. What epitomizes this for me is when, during game 1, Steve dove HEAD FIRST into Karl Malone on the ground for a tie-up. I stood up and clapped in front of my T.V. Not a lot of guys will make a play like that. It was actually a little insane. 2. Strength. Late in the game last night, the first circus shot plus 1, that was a strong finish. The guy that was there was like "weightroom, that was weightroom." 3. Identifiability. Francis isn't big but plays bigger than he is. He's really just my size, which makes me and I'm sure a lot of other people think that you know if we tried really hard we can be good at basketball too. 4. Occasional ability to just make things happen. The pure athleticism allows Francis to just make things happen once in a while, like the end of the game last night. Francis had his best game of the season last night. I love it, without him we'd be in danger of being swept. However, I can't help but think back to the page 2 article where Bill Simmons wrote that hopefully some success in the playoffs won't goad the management and the fans from believing they don't need to retool the team. So many people here today seem to have decided Francis is untouchable after these two good showings. Have they forgotten the rest of the 82 game rollercoaster? But as an all-star, are you not entitled to two straight good games? Francis, again, had a great game last night. He got his points without many turnovers, and did a good job of getting Yao involved. He is definitely convinced that Yao needs to be the go to guy, as per the interview during half time. That is very admirable. However, even last night, Francis's problems can be seen. ** Francis hit 7 of 16 shots. Layup early in the first, two tough layups at the end, and four threes. That means he missed all 9 other shots from two point range. The shot selection is still questionable at times. The dribble, dribble, pull up shot is just not a good shot, it rarely ever goes it. I may be nitpicking. But it took a perfect game from Francis for us to win. Nothing in his career suggests to me that he can sustain this level of 3 point shooting, and if he had hit just 40% of his three we might have been in trouble last night. Can Francis play at this level, under the current system, night in and night out? But that's what it would take for us to become serious Championship contender. Two straight games is just not a big enough sample size given the 82 games I've followed this season. If he can, I say we keep him. If he can take over with his penetration at times when Yao is struggling in the post, and defer to the post when Yao is single covered, then we'd be unstoppable. But that's harder than it sounds. If we can trade some of our other peices for a player that would facilitate the offense and take the ball handling burden off Francis I would be all for that too. However, as proud and happy as I am in the win last night, I cannot forget this fundamental delimma facing the team. I just hope that people aren't jumping the gun in their judgement of Francis. Trading him could still be the best way to improve this team.
All you people, keep Francis, trade Mobley for a real point guard and move Francis to shooting guard. Yao is the real deal here. Francis is great but he is it Michael Jordon he will never get you the champs. do not day dream.
he stepped up in the playoffs. enough said. and this coming from someone who right now is rooting his ass off for a team yao brought him to.
Yip, I like what you say in otrher threads as you seem to have a clear head on your shoulders, but let's try to save this kind of stuff for after the playoffs. What you're doing right now is the equivalent of a Chinese parent asking his kid who just scored a 98 "where's the other 2 points"? SF hasn't had a great regular season, but he's having a heck of a playoff, so let him be for now. Nitpick on him later, doing it at this point in time will just antagonize people
Oh right, imagine he didn't make those stupid dribble between the legs and all the fancy shots at the end going one on one at the end. He's been doing it all year long with the fancy play and losing the ball. YOu either like him or hate him. For me I would like to have him stay IF we get rid of maybe Cat and bring is a REAL point guard or else get rid of him and Cat and bring in another GOOD player(s). I hope he's not going to get damn cocky from this game and go into Sunday try doing it all by himself like he got anything to proof. Trust me, if Stevie go back to dumb street balling, it's going to be HELL for him.
What? The last time I checked Mike doesn't play anymore. So does that mean that there will never be another NBA champ again? He played last year and didn't make the playoffs in the weak east. Terrible logic.
HATER...Francis has elevated his game in the playoffs more than any other Rocket and has carried the team on his back. We should have won game 1 but it happens. Legends and great players are MADE in the playoffs. Get off the guy man.
i dont consider tripple double and near tripple double "decent games". They were more than decent... they were great! In my mind, 6-7 great games to pass 1st round can make up for 82 mediocre games this eason.
Look....Let's just wait till after the horrible game that SF has tomorrow before yall make the carry out the sentence to have me "banned, killed, then raped"
