As evidenced by my posts, I think Francis is an excellent player - and I have no doubt they will co-exist and produce an enduring dynasty that will reasonate throughout time. But if it came down to it, and there was no other way, and there was nothing that could be done. . . . I take Ming. He's 7'5" with skills.
Yao's 7'5" with skills. Also, he can already pass better than Stevie (those drop passes to cutters behind him and the slap pass to Mobley cutting to the basket and so many more), so we can play him at point-center!
this won't happen. You can take that to the bank. The rockets can easily have 2 players signed to max contracts. Right around this time most of those bad contracts will be off the books so it's all good
This thread should be like this: If it came down to only keeping one Which would Yao choose when his rookie contract expire? Knicks, Lakers, Kings, Spurs, Rockets....................................and so on........................................................................................
Yao isn't that kind of person... he's very loyal plus he's going to be the #1 option something McGrady wasn't going to be in Toronto.
So far one is a great Team Player, one is not. I expect that JVG will convince both to be great Team Players.
i am soooo tired of all this "francis is not a team player bull****". is francis a great pg? yes he is. he isnt kidd or payton, but why are those guys special if what they do is easy to pick up? i like yao, i think that he will very good soon, but he hasnt shown the ability to carry a team any more than steve has. all of these attacks come from people who think yao is where he WILL be rather than where he is AT. steve wants to win, and a lot of times the past few years the only way we would win was running an AI offense through steve than the princeton offense through a bunch of has beens (Rice, Hakeem, and inured Chuck), never where (Shandon, Cato, and Collier), and will be's (Yao and EG). steve wants to be a point guard, and he will be a great one, but it takes more than one season with a half-way decent team to become one. everybody is willing to cut yao some slack, why not do the same with the rest of the team. hakeem was never able to swallow the fact that the team was different, steve has atleast shown that he is moving in that direction yet people still bash him mercilessly. is yao going to do more for our franchise? probably. but steve is the heart of our team and you guys should accept it rather than continuously look for faults in our best player.
I don't like this thread simply because the thought of it. We will keep both so this thread is pointless. Anyways, Francis
How many 6'3" guards are there with pretty good handles, a decent shot, and great athletic ability? Now how many 7'5" centers are there that can pass, shoot, block shots, and dominate the post occasionally? You could replace Steve with Baron Davis or Gilbert Arenas. Who are you gonna get to replace Yao?
I don't see the point of this thread since both players will be Rockets for a long long time. However, I don't understand why anyone would say Francis at this point. Maybe 3 years from now if Yao doesn't improve. We know what Francis is - a second tier superstar. Second tier superstars don't win NBA championships. They barely get out of the first round playoffs. We don't know what Yao will become. If we are to contend, Yao must be better than Steve Francis.
