19 assists 3 turnovers Key basket late against Phoenix, and key strip against Amare to save the game. I think he is coming along nicely. DD
Sample size is way too small. If he was coming along nicely he would have played more than 10 minutes, IMO.
What?? Steve Francis was #2 in the draft Horry was #11 Cassell was #24 Robert and Sam were drafted to be role players When Chuck was talking about "Attitude" he really meant work ethic. The young Steve Francis didn't "learn" to play the game correctly, but got by on pure athelicism and talent. Horry and Sam had to work their way in the rotation. Plus Horry had to play multiple roles. SF, PF. Sam and Robert were taken under the wings of the Rockets veterans. Sam mentioned how hard he worked with fierce practices with Mad Max to improve his game. Steve came in as 'the man', not the underdog. Robert had to prove himself that he was worth of being the #11 pick and only turned into the Horry that we know because he was traded and then came back. Barkley said the reason he got good in the NBA was because Moses Malone and Dr J would 'bust his butt' and mentor him. We all know the Hakeem, Moses Malone battles. Barkley said he tried to mentor Steve, but he wasn't as successful. So save the Steve homerism for what it is. Steve didn't turn out to be the next Jason Kidd/Iverson that we had hoped for. If he was, we would have never traded him for Tmac.
Barkley pissed that they didn't listen to HIM . .. and he like Stu Jackson will forever be sour about it I mean . . .like I said before. . . Barkley DISSED DR. J!! and didn't listen to him How many times did barkley come into Training Camp out of shape??? Rocket River
Why would that help the team? It's still idiotic. What does playing one-on-one full court have to do with anything? We know Steve can break down his man, it's all the other stuff that he can't do. And that's why he wont get significant minutes, no matter how many threads are made about it.
Did you even hear the interview? All he was saying was he'll do what it takes to help the team win, even if he had to go one on one. You're missing the point.
Man what is your problem? Steve homerism? I said horry and sam werent drafted to lead the team and steve was. What arguement are you trying to start this time?
I think steve is pure class as of right now. And how can you keep blaming a guy for something he did when he was young and dumb? The man is now 30 years old, so let the pass be behind him. P.S. Steve Nash is not all the class as people thing.
One thing that stood out to me from that interview... He said that one of his dreams is to dunk on Shaq. I hope he gets to do that this year!
When Steve said he would "play one-on-one full court if the team needed him to..." I think he was talking about on the defensive end. He may not be close to the best defender out there, but he'll give effort, thats one thing he brings to the tabel. The Franchise that used to play a lot of one-on-one ball doesn't exist anymore. He's embraced his new role, and that will be key come playoffs.
They replayed Inside the NBA on NBAtv just a few minutes ago and I got to see the whole thing there. I don't know if they will do that again or not. Is it just me or does John Thompson just look so old now? I was like.. woah! Though I guess since I have seen the man on tv pacing the sidelines since the early 80's it could be we are both just getting old! LOL
Jr looks old coaching the Hoyas right now so Papa got to be up there. He sure was touchy feely with Stevie, especially when Steve said that the only CD he knew was JayZ CD.
ya, you guys overstressing about that "if I have to play someone full court one on one" thing, misinterpreted what he meant. He was saying he'd do all he had to do to help the team, hoping that alone would earn him playing time. that comment came from him saying "if it came to that". I don't think he actually meant that's what he's been doing or will have to do in practice ... He simply meant he'd do what it takes to get playing time because we all know (and he believes himself) that him playing will help us win more than any other point guard on this team will. And it does strike me to hear Charles and Kenny's comments. When I first saw Francis play, he instantly became my favorite player ... I loved the fancy dribbling (even inspired me to try to emulate his crossover ...), his 40+ inch vertical leap, etc. But like Charles said he never learned how to play the game. Steve was born with playing ball on the street. a lot of iso's ... fancy moves, dunks, etc. He knew how to score. But he didn't know how to dominate in the pg position. And thinking about Kenny's comment about Rudy T, I think he's absolutely right. I remember watching Steve's Beyond the Glory episode where he was like "coach (rudy) told me he'd just give me the ball and let me go." Rudy was probably terrible at coaching an arrogant, very talented kid. So when JVG comes along and tries to teach him this pg stuff, Steve's not used to it. He preferred the free-wheeling, "I'll do it my own way" type of basketball. I do believe JVG sometimes forced him to do things that didn't necessarily maximize his and the team's potential (force feeding yao when yao wasn't worth posting every single time as his post game wasn't where it is today, etc.). But JVG tried, and Francis, having not grown for the years coached by Rudy T, had problems. Then that led to all the trades (well Tmac is a superstar), among more trades, lack of playing time, etc. And it's just now, after seeing stevie play a little bit, that I'm beginning to gain some hope that he's really settled down, and taken the time to try to learn the game. But we'll see from more games to determine that for sure. What really hits me is that ... I really believe that Steve Francis had the ability to be a superstar to the level of ... I don't know what kind of comparison I can make ... But the level where when you hear his name, he was a top 10 player in the league. Had he had the right people to push him in his younger days ... to have him swallow his pride before he hit his prime (instead of after), and learn the pg position ... and be able to incorporate that with his ability to get to the rim regardless of who's guarding him ... He could have been that player. If you take the mind of Francis today and combine that with the athleticism of Francis a decade ago, you'd have a top 10 player in the league today. For all those years of people scratching their head after some of his careless turnovers, his "no one can stop me" mentality ... If only Francis could have had a mentor, or someone to really teach him this game ... Then I believe he actually could be worthy to say "no one can stop me." After having said all that, Francis won't ever be a superstar, much less an allstar again (though I'd like to dream). But his potential could be where he can average 15/5/5 again. I believe that. I don't think his athleticism is totally gone. I still think he can dunk. He still has plenty of time left before his career is over. Given the opportunity, he will help us get over the hump of at the very least the first round. Just gets me thinking ... Francis is a player who has certain qualities that would have definitely made him a bonafide superstar. Think about Kobe Bryant for a second ... Wouldn't you agree his mindset is "no one can stop me"? At the end of games, don't you remember Stevie driving to the lane and getting foul after foul to get to the free throw line instead of settling for jumper after jumper (well he did occasionally settle for jumper and it always aggravated me). Not to mention what every fan of the rockets that watched him play noticed most about Stevie ... his heart. These intangibles are things that I believe our big two (tracy and yao) lack. I'm sure they have their moments of "no one can stop me" but sometimes it just doesn't translate into wins. That's not to say Francis always won us games (his recklessness and arrogance cost us plenty), but at the very least Francis played with his all ... He HATED every loss. He laid it all on the line on that court. He wouldn't be a player to just give up and not show on the big stage. We've seen what Tmac and Yao have done in our 2 first round exits. 40 pt game 7 loss here, nail biting loss at home to jazz there. And we also remember what Francis did in his only playoff series ... Triple double first game (after shaking off the butterflies), near triple double the next game, single-handedly made sure we won game 3, losing ball off his foot in the 4th. The guy upped his game and played with more CONSISTENT passion (every game) than I've yet to see from our two stars. I rambled. But w/e. It's like my tribute to one of my favorite players. Now rub off playing with your heart to our entire team and help us excel come playoff time!
