well, i NEVER post topics, and rarely post here at all, but i have to point somethings out i think you kids seem to miss about the franchise. he is good. no matter what you think, the rest of the league knows this, and plan accordingly. if stevie was gone, we would be the worst team in the league. familiar with the clippers? brand is a freakin stud. he is awsome and will not win in LA untill they get another superstar. someone to attract attention and free up some space on the floor for him. no matter what great "true" pg roleplayer you get, this will do nothing to keep yao from getting triple teamed, and he can barely handle the double! on some nites, he cant handle single coverage, but i digress. most teams design their gameplans to stop francis, lately they are trying to stop yao, but dont place as much focus as they do francis. with so much focus on stevie, they leave holes in the D for yao or some other post player. this opens up the interior for yao. this is proven in the games that stevie does not play, and when stevie sits. this is the aspect of stevie that most people dont recognize. but if stevie is not on the floor, the offense will always suck. if steve could get comfortable and jvg can create a better offensive system that can utilize stevie and yao as a two pronged attack, they will be unstoppable. but we have to give it time. yao will need another superstar to draw attention at least untill (or if) he can become a true great center. i think we were spoiled by hakeem. no center in our time ever did what hakeem could do, carry a team by himself. even shaq needed a penny or a kobe to get his rings. but i digress again. yao needs another superstar, and why bring in someone that will need to learn the system? keep stevie, and if we HAVE to trade someone, get rid of mobely. stevies b-ball IQ will seem to skyrocket once cat is gone, mark my words. trade cat and bring in a big passing pg and move the franchis to 2 guard. that would work.... OR we could just see what happens with the pieces we have. at least for the next year.
When is the last trade CD pulled we got the CLEAR better end of the stick?? I say keep steve is a player that can do it all not all 1s can do it all and yes he can turn it over also, but give him time. GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME!!! What happens if we get a new point and he sucks it up, will yall be calling for his head too?? What dont people like about steve?? Make a list and i am sure we can come up with twice the amount in good things he does!!!
The clippers a couple years ago had Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, Andre Miller, Quenton Richardson, Olowonakandi and Darius Miles and that didnt stop them from stinking it up. I'm not sure if you've realized this yet but many times steve is the reason yao's getting double'd and triple teamed, because of his lack of ability to spot up and hit the open jumper, defenders will just slack off daring him to shoot a jumper. A good shooting PG would make their defenders commit and stay on them. I want to keep steve too, but if we can get equal talent in return from steve that better fits van gundy's system and moves steve to a team where he can flourish then i'm all for it.
moochie and amaechi for spoon. although some may not see it, thats up there with the dirk for tractor traylor deal.
With all due respect to the thread starter, I think Mr. Napalm has hit the nail on the head with regards to Francis.
mos-def, I didn't know anyone could be so wrong. I was trying to find a place to put in a "the only thing you were right about" but you did such a superb job at being wrong that there's absolutely nothing correct in your post. But let me break it down and tell you why: 1) Teams don't double Francis more than Yao. Teams never ever triple team Francis, while they do so occasionally to Yao. This is simply by virtue of us running our offense through Yao and Yao being our top scorer despite being 3rd in FGA on our team. Teams try to stop Yao from getting the ball in the first place, while on the other hand, they want Francis to have the ball in his hands so they can pressure him into turning it over. Suffice to say, Yao opens the game up for Francis.... However, Francis cannot take advantage of it because he is not hitting the midrange J or the 3 consistently. He has never been much of a midrange shooter, but his 3pt% has inexplicably dipped this season. 2) Shareef AbdurRahim, Jason Terry, Gilbert Arenas, Jamaal Crawford, Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, and Jason Richardson are all "good". Guess what they have in common with Steve Francis? History is litterred with big men who have carried their teams to at leasta certain point, but rarely do Guards do the same. Not never, but rarely. 3) THIS ONE IS FOR EVERYONE. You keep saying how the Rockets would be horrible without Francis. Well no **** Sherlock. It's not like we're going to cut him. We will be getting 11M in contracts in return, and don't you dare say that that's equal to Francis being "out". If that's one player, it's almost guaranteed that all players making more than 10M in the league can do what Francis did this season. If it's a couple of players, at least one will be able to do what Steve did. Steve performed horribly for an entire season. That's not a slump, that's a sign: HE DOESN'T fit. You PREDICT that Francis would be good with a big passing PG. First find one. There are only a handful of them in the league, few of which are available. Second of all, moving Francis to the 2 would be yet another TRIAL, just like this season was. So if it doesn't work out, we'll have wrongly given up Mobley as well. Then what? Then it's a royal mess. If I have to sit through one more season of this sorry excuse for a well-built team, I will lose my mind. Why the hell would we give them more time to gel? They clearly clearly have a very low ceiling with the current make-up. Why not shake it up if it means we'll improve? I'd rather spend next year watching a new team gel and have some kind of HOPE for the future. If a team can't gel after 82 games, then it means they won't. Why don't you mark THOSE words.
Playmakers turn the ball over, Francis makes plays. This guy is a horse, he is banged up every game and does not miss many. He is buying into the system, and from time to time Francis will put the team on his shoulders and carry them to victory.
Mobley has a higher IQ than Francis (that might not be saying much)... Need proof? Mobley might not have high assist, but he doesn't turn the ball over very much within 48 minutes. He knows his limitations about forcing passes. Besides, he's our SG! Not our PG. He does his job pretty good as our role playing SG.
Playmakers? You have a funny way defining that term. Don't you need high assist to go with that tittle? Sorry, but guys like Kidd, Payton, Magic, Isiah, fit "playmaker" better than Francis would.
When he does this its to the detriment of Yao Mings Game . They are incompatible and one or the other should be given a chance to play their best game on another Team that features their style of play.
Sane you are my hero. I had the same argument but lacked the logic to come up with the tight arguments you did. 1) awesome 2) i mean... in the 90s there's be Jordan, but he's such an exception that you can't really use him in any comparison. Payton and Iverson. Guards who got their team to the finals. I think it's safe to say that Francis isn't at their level. Though people will argue endless that Francis is > Iverson. But if you want to talk about heart and competitiveness... Iverson can will the ball in the hole, I don't think Steve can. 3) exactly, Steve's our most tradeable commodity. We can't get good players by trading away our bad players. Well... unless CD figures something out like McHale or Isiah Thomas did... except nothing in his history would convince me to believe he's capable of doing that.
Steve francis is easily replaced. He's one of the most overrated players in the league, who has been so exposed this season for his lack of talent. His play may impress the And1 league, but is not impressive in the NBA. Just replace him with any pg that can shoot and isn't turnover prone and this team is so much better.
