To paraphrase the late, great John Lennon: " Number 9? Number 9!?!?!? Number 9!?!??!!?" All the others are examples of Francis' positives. Number 9, to me, is an example of his negatives.
Isn't it strange that he had his BEST all-around game in his rookie season but could never accomplish such a great game again? 17 rebounds, 14 assists? That was incredible...but he only had 14 assists ONE other time in his career and never had 17 rebounds again. I don't think I've ever thought so highly of a player as I did for Steve that first year, and from then on it was a slow(and very frustrating) decline.
But you have to remember that team had a washed up Hakeem and Cato playing center. He and Cuttino were the best two rebounders on the team that season.
Yeah that was a great game for Steve when he dropped 44 last season. The Lakers tried to make Fisher hold Francis one on one. What a joke.
Wasn't it after his rookie year that the zone defense was implemented in the NBA? I'm not saying that that has everything to do with it, but I think it did indeed effect his game.
It was his 3rd year that the zone was implemented...he had the meniere's headaches that same year too.
My mistake...you're right. That year pretty much sucked, but I guess without it we wouldn't have gotten Yao. That's some pretty good silver lining.
It's not the number of turnovers by itself that bothers me. It's the fact that Kidd averages 9.4 assists and Flopton averaged 10.5 assists with the same number of turnovers.
Remember how fun the Rockets offense was in the 2000-2001 season? Thats when Cuttino would go one on one or Steve would go one on one while the other teammates would box out. I know it was not championship ball but it was still fun to wacth Cat and Steve take anybody in the league one on one that season. I think Cat put up almost 20 a game that season.
My favorite part is, when a die hard Francis fan is compiling a list of the 10 greatest plays of his NBA career, he runs out of material at 8 and has to create some filler for 9 and 10.
That year was horrible. Absolutely horrible. I'll never forget the Rockets getting blownout by the Chicago Bulls in Chicago that year. Chicago was 21-61.
Amen.... You'll never miss what you had till it's gone. Most of you complain about his turnovers and bad decisions and it's a fact....they happened. But be honest, those things were magnified by the fact that this team wasn't winning games. We didn't make the playoffs and it had to be someone's fault .Not Carol and the front office for not bringing in talent to help Steve win or Rudy for getting burned out. Someone had to be at fault and it had to be Steve I guess. I know he wasn't perfect, but he was OURS and he played his ass off for us. I'm proud to say he wore Rocket Red and he will always be one of my favorite Rockets. Regardless of what you Steve haters might say or think...... 19pts 6 and 6 is what he did in 5 seasons, you can't take those numbers away and not everyone can post those kinds of numbers. You have to be a special player with God given talent. And we were lucky to have him and all I wish sometimes is for some of you would be grateful. I really hope Tracy stays healthy and deliver what is expected because if he doesn't...well, you already know what I'm going to say. I can promise you one thing....we'll probably never have another point guard do it again, not in our life time.
yeah, but think about it They all averaged about the same amount of turnovers with Kidd and Stockton post around 10 assist. Kidd averages around 14 to 15points and Stockton...12pts Steve gave you 20pts game.... Nothing to brag about, but there are many teams that will take his stats in a heart beat
Let's take the career averages: Francis: 6.4 assists and 19.2 points a game Assume those 6.4 assists gives you 2 points each. He's responsible for 12.8+19.2 = 32 points a game. Kidd: 9.4 assists and 14.8 points a game He's responsible for 18.8+14.8=33.6 points a game. Stockton: 10.5 assists and 13.1 points a game He's responsible for 21+13.1 = 34.1 points a game. So technically, the latter two are marginally better than Francis. EDIT: BTW, this post was meant as a joke in case some people want to take it seriously
