I hope SF and Yao will be back together next season, I believe good things will happen. But if it was btwn: SF/Duncan and Brand/Yao, I'd go with SF/Duncan, I think Yao will be an excellent player, but not the guy everybody thinks he will be. KG is averaging 25ppg 18rpg in the playoffs, doesn't mean anything to the Rox, but its damn impressive.
This really shows just how great a player Duncan is. His impact is simply MUCH more than any PG playing today. Now, would you trade Yao for Duncan, or Steve for Magic in his prime?
Yeah, 'fit' is great, when you have a great player to 'fit' with. Tony Parker really 'fits' great with Tim Duncan, doesn't he? I'm sure Steve Francis would 'fit' great with Tim Duncan too. For those who 'agree with every word' ... how about this? -- This is a team that needs major pieces, beginning with a power forward capable of upgrading the interior defense and rebounding. Since when does the interior defense need upgrading? The Rockets had like one of the best defensive teams in the league. The only rebounding that needs upgrading is the offensive rebounding - guess what, that ain't going to happen on a Gundy-coached team. If it did, the defense would probably be compromised in some way. This guy blows.
No more of this bickering. The REAL point of the article was that good PGs can be found anywhere, even in the NBDL. Who cares if Francis stays (although I firmly believe he should and will...) BRING BACK TIERRE!!
At 31, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever read by a "professional" sports writer. What series did he watch?
Thats not all jumpshots now is it. He use to be able to get to the rim more often to get easier shots, thus a higher percentage. If SF can work on his jumper and make it more consistant this summer then im all for keeping SF this summer. SF doesnt have the freedom to go to the rim all the time with yao clogging the paint and has to work on his jumper. If SF played consistantly this season then I wouldnt have a problem.
That's impossible to say since Steve has only shot 45% one year in his 5 year career. At no point in his career has he ever ended a season with a career FG% of 45% or more. Francis shot 44.5% as a rookie ('99-'00) and 45.1% his second year ('00-01) The new defensive rules went into effect for the '01- 02 season. Since the rules changes, Francis has shot 41.7% ('01-02), 43.5 ('02'- 03) and 40.3% ('03-04) So, in his two seasons with the old Illegal Defense rules, Francis shot 44.8 % (1047 of 2336) In the three seasons since the rules changes, he's shot 41.9% (1441 of 3436). You think maybe the rules changes have changed the way he has to play? Maybe it's much easier to keep him from driving nowdays? Possibly he's having to shoot more outside shots? His higher FG% was due to the fact that he got alot more layups and dunks under the old rules.
Why everybody is so obessed with this E-Brand Guy, and why people are so in love with such under size 6'7, 6'8 PFs as E-Brands, Kurt Thomas.
Whoa...slow your roll. Yao made good strides this year, but top 5? Maybe in a few years, but not right now.
Is Brand "better" than Steve? Well, it depends on how you define "better." Think addition by subtraction (getting Brand for Francis). The mere fact that we'd be moving away from sloppy basketball...well, that in itself is a step forward even though we'd be trading away Francis's athletic impact. That being said, we wouldn't be automatically gaining a "championship caliber team" either, but rather creating the foundation that this team will be built upon. The word, "foundation" is key here. Add a solid PG like Nash-like or Snow-like. And we'd be on the right track. I'd still prefer the T-Mac trade over most. But if we got Brand I wouldn't fret. But we wouldn't be finished with acquisitions. P.S. I know that I'm talking apples and oranges when comparing PG to PF...but Brand has a 49%FG, 20PPG, 10RPG, 77%FT, and only 2.8 TOPG (no more sloppy "star" play). I'd say those stats alone paint a pretty good picture for "better." Even though Brand wouldn't be necessarily the "star" of this team.
First, Yao is not a top five player in the NBA. Shaq, KG, Kobe, Duncan, and by argument only tmac, jermaine oneil and some others too. Dont get me wrong Yao is good and very important to our team. Can we get him to stop going to China every summer and have him start working out here?? I think Mo Taylor and Cato played big roles this season and while they may not be deserving of their big contracts they are solid contributors. Francis is are best player because he is a play maker and can take just about any player of the dribble. Mobley has to go or at least come of the bench, he jacks it way to much. JJ great pick up and finally found a home. We need another card and power foward that is a fact but I think trading francis would be a huge mistake.
P.S. I know that I'm talking apples and oranges when comparing PG to PF...but Brand has a 49%FG, 20PPG, 10RPG, 77%FT, and only 2.8 TOPG (no more sloppy "star" play). I'd say those stats alone paint a pretty good picture for "better." Even though Brand wouldn't be necessarily the "star" of this team. DavidS, I think that those numbers that you posted for Brand need to be emphisized, they are really impressive. For comparision sake, compare Brand's numbers with those of Jermaine O'Neal. Min: Brand 38.7, J. O'Neil 35.7 Pts: Brand 20.0 J. O'Neil 20.1 FG%: Brand 49.3% J. O'Neil 43.4% FT%: Brand 77.3% J. O'Neil 75.7% STL: Brand 0.93 J. O'Neil 0.76 Ast: Brand 3.3 J. O'Neil 2.1 Blk: Brand 2.2 J. O'Neil 2.6 Jermaine O'Neil is generally regarded as being in the 2nd tier of the NBA Elite, but Brand is right there with him. It's pretty amazing how similar their number are across the board. The biggest difference is that Brand shoots a much higher percentage. I do realize that Brand is a good player on a bad team, but he also has nobody to pass the ball to him and he does play in the West. Francis is are best player because he is a play maker and can take just about any player of the dribble. He can indeed take players off the dribble, but he also can't dribble through a zone. Mobley has to go or at least come of the bench, he jacks it way to much. Uhh...Mobley shoots the ball less than Francis and also makes a higher percentage of both his 2pt and 3pt shots than Steve.
