that's my feeling. of course, this board is going to explode at the news no matter if he skips a flight or steps on and kills a daisy. steve shouldn't miss flights, no doubt about it. he hasn't tarnished the rockets image or something though. and now we have Texas Stoke saying his agent said something else. would his agent/Steve really just come out and tell a direct lie like that if steve really just chilled at the super bowl? i suppose they could if steve really wanted to bring this to a head and get traded, otherwise i don't see the motivation.
I don't know anyting about this, but from what I read from CF.net's homepage, it doesn't sound good. Way to go Francis.
well steve is part of his own family, and the super bowl is pretty urgent b/c you either go or don't and it doesn't come back for years, and it does require attending. looks like steve is in the clear .
For those of you who are vociferously defending Steve---or saying that what he did isn't all that bad, it's a one-time mistake----I beg to differ. The team is currently in a major slump. We were playing pretty well for awhile. But the week of the Super Bowl arrives and poof! the biggest distraction you could imagine. If we had players who really cared about the team, and its direction, they wouldn't stay out until the wee hours using their Rockets status to get some Miami Beach a$$ when they have a game that night. Well, they did play the Miami Heat. I guess the Heat doesn't count. The Rockets can beat them with their eyes cl.... Oops. Then it's back to Celebri-Fest Houston. Show off in two first halves and then come out and not continue to play with intensity. Then, on Super Bowl night, Steve basically tells JVG and his team to go f*** themselves, I'm going to the Super Bowl, when will this chance come again. All-Star? Team captain? Max contract?
I'm pretty sure Steve's agents were in total spin control after seeing the Van Gundy statement concerning the reason. I would not be surprised to see some family members who were in town to watch the Superbowl with Steve say that they were involved in some accident or something. It's really a no-win situation for Van Gundy especially since he can't verify this.
I use a website that does +/- for each player for the whole game. Jackson was -2....Francis was -10. Mark Jackson didn't have a whole lot to do with Taylor and Cato getting torched -11 & -6 respectively.
Even IF Francis had whatever family situation - which I TEND not to believe, but I withhold judgment until more facts come out (and if it is not true, his agent just made things A LOT worse) - those guys have their cell phones on all the time. Don't tell me he could not have called. Did he? I don't know.
The flight could have been scheduled after the Super Bowl but that doesn't condone Steve's behavior.We are struggling badly and need to work very hard to get back on track. We are going to miss him tonight. The rest of the guys must try their best to make up for their recent poor play but I doubt if they will get the job done.
Someone's either wrong, or flat out lying here. Either Francis was at the Super Bowl, or he was attending to a family emergency. If he was at the Super Bowl, NOT acceptable. If he was attending to a personal family emergency, that IS acceptable. (If Francis tries to convince us his personal family emergency happened to be located at Reliant Stadium, he needs to be fired right now for assuming we're a bunch of idiots.)
IMO, people are overreacting on this one. He missed one flight - he got suspended one game - the punishment fits the crime. No more, no less. When you look back at a player's career, you will see highs and lows. This is obviously a low. If we traded Hakeem after he faked an injury (allegedly), Houston would still be waiting on its first major sports championship. From some team other than the Rockets, because there would be no Toyota Center and the Rockets would be in New Orleans. So patience is sometimes a virtue. So let's don't go fire-sale Francis right now, or even later this month, points in time when his value has slipped. We shouldn't even think about a trade until this summer, when: 1. He will no longer be a BYC player, and we can get more salary in return; 2. The luxury tax will probably no longer be a concern; 3. We get to see how Francis performs in the playoffs (hopefully); 4. JVG has had a full year to see how Francis fits into his system; 5. There are a lot more trade prospects to mull over given the anticipated major player movements this summer (with the expansion draft, etc.); and/or 6. Kobe is a free agent/acquited.
I think some people are overreacting, but this should not come from a team captain. Magic, Jordan, Bird, Hakeem and even Barkley would never do something like this. To me this is something that Steve needs to apologize to his teammates, because I bet 11 other guys would have like to been at the Super Bowl instead of Phoenix.
Football is Steve's first love. He said it himself on the "Fan's ask the questions", or whatever it was.... Would it have been OK if Steve had caught a later flight, or was he going to be late for something the team had planned?
From the reports posted here, seems like there are two conflicting public statements. JVG: Francis was in the Superbowl without consulting him. Francis/Agent: Francis was tending to family emergency. Unless f4p's sarcastic interpretation of the agent's statement is true, one of the following is true: 1. Francis/agent is lying. 2. JVG is lying. 3. JVG was mistaken. #2 is impossible. #1 can be true if Francis/agent is very stupid. #3 can be true if JVG is stupid. Either way, it is not looking good, folks. I hope one of the reports are just wrong.
Magic would consort with groupies at halftime of games (sportscentury -- there was a small equipment room off the locker room). Jordan would spend all night drinking and gambling in AC during the NBA finals Barkley-- too many incidents to count. But then all these guys are about a million freaking times better than Stevie.
Your interpretation is incorrect. No. 3 does not need to mean JVG is stupid. Even if Francis had some "family matters" going on, he would have had to call. If he did not and missed the flight, that alone is reason enough for a suspension, and therefore JVG would neither be stupid nor mistaken.
Well, not to be picky, but it is vaguely possible that Francis had a family emergency *and* went to the Superbowl. Maybe a family member went with him and got food poisoning on some bad nachos. Or maybe the half-time show made Steve desperately want to see his mother. I'm kind of (well, barely) serious. Regardless of the story, why can't he make a single phone call? (Griffin type question). Or did he actually make a phone call to the team? Has that been reported anywhere?
Nah. Just going to try the "once in a while" stop by sort of plan. I was getting too testy and spending way too much time in this fun place. Cheers.
