Houston Chron: Francis departs, but not as a failure

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2654685

Francis departs, but not as failure
By MICKEY HERSKOWITZ
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

So many famous players have passed through Houston, some on their way to retirement or to another NBA team, that it isn't easy to keep track.


Rick Barry, World B. Free, Scottie Pippen and Glen Rice were short-timers, two years or less. Clyde Drexler and Charles Barkley stayed for four seasons, each a championship gamble, and it worked for Clyde.

Injuries drained the potential of Ralph Sampson, who went to Golden State, and the clock ran out on Hakeem Olajuwon, who ended his long career in Toronto, a fact we prefer not to remember.

Elvin Hayes and Moses Malone left in the prime of their years, unhappy and in their mind underpaid. In the NBA, money can buy happiness.

And now, Steve Francis.


'Franchise' tag a misnomer
It isn't too soon to feel sentimental over a player who had symbolized the future of the Rockets. Even Hakeem had said so, on his way out the door: "It is Steve's team now."

Regrettably, this never happened. The Rockets were never really anyone's team, although Houston loved them when they won. They belonged to Rudy T and Jeff Van Gundy, and shortly, they will be Tracy McGrady's team, if only because Yao Ming is too polite or too smart to claim ownership.

Still, the point begs to be made that Francis isn't changing teams because he failed. Nor did he shortchange the fans. He became the player the Rockets thought he would be — an explosive 6-3 guard who shoots and runs the floor, who dunks the ball and grabs rebounds.

But the label he inherited — Stevie Franchise — raised expectations to an unrealistic level. His game, his role, did not allow him to dominate the action, as Hakeem did routinely. Nor was it his style to inspire or scold or prod his teammates. Barkley could do that with his wit and imagination.


Prophetic words
The criticism Francis attracted was not always deserved. The NBA puts a premium on flash and sizzle, the highlight-reel moves that SportsCenter loves to rerun. This was the way Steve's generation learned to play in their dreams.

He never concealed his emotions or his frustration, but what the critics saw as whining was his need to win every argument.

When Francis and Cuttino Mobley, also traded Tuesday, emerged as a tandem, after Olajuwon had been granted his liberty, Cuttino put it well: "Nothing stays the same forever. Sometimes you've got to change. Nothing against Dream. One day, it could be tomorrow, it could happen to us. You go in another direction. You make the best of it."

The words were wise at the time. We just didn't know how prophetic they would be.

It wasn't as if general manager Carroll Dawson had been standing on a downtown corner, banging a tambourine and trying to deal off the Rockets' daring duo.

"We were not trying to trade them," he said.

One way or another, the Orlando deal landed on their doorstep, partly because McGrady made it known Houston was at the top of his list of new destinations. He liked the town, the new arena, the 7-6 center.

But the Rockets would not have been reluctant to go into next season with nearly the same lineup that made the playoffs for the first time in five years. They would have hoped for help in the draft or in the marketplace.

With another year in Van Gundy's system, with the core of the team still maturing, they might have taken the next big leap. Even more than Francis, Mobley had begun to discipline his play. Together, they may do great things in Orlando.

Mobley, the Cat, may find the freedom there to express himself. With his quickness, the nickname was perfectly aimed, even though it had nothing to do with basketball. As a kid, he loved Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss.

Yet most of the talk about the trade has revolved around the reaction of Francis. He had refused to play for Vancouver, the team that drafted him, forcing the swap that made him a Rocket. Then it appeared his resistance might scuttle this deal.

He was hurt, as would be anyone who had been told for five seasons that he was the headliner. But it may have been unfair from the start to position him as Stevie Franchise.

"When you're the second pick in the draft," said Dawson, "the expectations are always going to be high. If that tag had bothered him, it might have been a problem. But he embraced it, and the pressure. So did Cuttino."

There were a lot of offers for McGrady, the league's leading scorer. The Rockets did not expect to steal him. He made the All-Star team four times, Francis three.

Stevie may yet be the Franchise. But not in Houston, and no one should hold that against him.