In the here and now, with their careers being where they are, who would you rather have: Steve Francis or Baron Davis? They're both PGs BUT with vastly different games. Francis is more of the sleek, slasher, ankle-breaker type; while Davis is more the power, tough, masher type of PG. Both are outstanding, no doubt, but which would you rather have for the Rockets?
I certainly wouldn't mind having Davis on our team, but I am extremely happy with who we have. I think that we got the best player in that draft because he's our super star. Skill wise I think that they are equal, but God bless Stevie for making things turn out the way that they did. Steve is the nicest Point guard out there to me.
Steve Francis. Without a doubt They're extremely similar players, but Baron had better players surrounding him previously. Not because I'm a homer, but I think Steve has a LITTLE edge over Baron. They are a little better than each other in certain areas, but are near identical.
I would probably pick Francis. He seems more skilled to me, and with a better starting linup he could average just as many assists as Baron, IMO. (this year should show that, hopefully.) I like both, but I just like Francis a little more.
I completely agree w/ what everyone is saying. You couldn't go wrong w/ either guy but I think Francis holds a very small edge over BD. Steve is a better one on one player IMO and that fits our ISO offense better. He also a much better FT shooter which doesn't make him a liability at all at the end of games. That being said, they are both excellent PG's and will take over as #'s 1 & 2 in the NBA at that spot after Kiidd & GP leave.
Hindsight? That word implies that we had a choice. We only got Francis because he fell into our laps.
Brent Price, Michael Dickerson, Antoine Carr and next year's first rounder. *damn* he screwed over that franchise. LOL
They got Othella Harrington too. If Dickerson ever returns to the form he was in a few years ago, it won't be as bad as it seems currently.
If Davis hadn't blown out his knee his last yr playing, they were the same atheletically. Davis is still a great athlete that has learned to play point whereas francis is a great athelete still learning to play point. If it was done over again, it would probably be about the same.
Francis, his career and season #'s were better against better competition. Talent wise, they're close, and Baron is younger. Francis' glaring weakness is that his assist #'s were low, but he played with guys who either suck (Cato, Walt) or created for themselves (Cat, EG, KT). Francis doesn't really play with a slasher (Mashburn, Rick Davis a year ago) or good shooters ( Wesley, Mash, Campbell for his position) or good inside guys, finisher types (Campbell, mason the year before, Brown). It's easy to rack up assist #'s playing with good shooters.
But Othella is gone. Remember, we're using hindsight here. If you KNEW Othella was gonna leave, would u have made that trade if you were Vancouver? I personally, would have asked for Mobley, in hindsight, of course.
Even though they are both really good I have to go with Steve b/c I think he has a little edge over Baron Davis but this is my opinion.
I would agree if I knew for sure that Steve's migraine issue was going to be an ongoing problem. But just missing one season isn't enough for me to trade steve for baron. I think by the end of their careers Steve will be considered the superior player.
Michael Dickerson has a chance to be a star in this league. It's too bad he got injured last year. I expect a big year from him.
I don't think it's a matter of Davis knowing how to play PG and Francis not, it's a matter of Davis having healthy talent and Francis not. Davis and Francis are similar players but Davis is on a better team. Francis is a slightly better shooter (Francis 43.9% Davis 41.6%) and Francis a slightly better 3pt shooter (Francis 36% Davis I believe 35.6%). Francis shoots 79.3% from the FT line while Davis shot a horrid 58%. Francis is also a better scorer then Davis. The ONLY advantage Davis has is that he averages 2 assist per game more then Francis, and what would Francis assist average have been if the Rockets were healthy last year or he had the talent of Charlotte? If Francis had an inside game to balance things out and pound it in to like Baron Davis he would probably put up 10 assist per game. I would take Francis.
