well all i'm saying is... I'd much rather have allen iverson. he makes better passes AND has a higher field goal percentage and you know what? shoots fewer crazy shots too.
What else is there to talk about, honestly. When the rockets give us something new we can all talk about that, but we keep getting the same result against these elite Western Conference teams on the road. Its not like we "couldn't" have won the game, its just that we still haven't learned how, which is kinda sad really. Once the opposition makes a run back at us, we freak out, and someone ends up feeling they have to take it upon themselves and do a solo project. (even when their shot isn't falling, and they force it instead of realizing that they could be doing other things to help the team...assists). The Rockets gotta learn to see the bigger picture and stick to the designed plays and scheme. (Seems like it worked in the first quarter, but once again a strong run was made, we freaked out, and had to go into a 1 on 1 battle). The acrobatics are tight and all, but save it for the circus. We need finished layups, basic shots. This team has to build substance before we show the flash.
Steve assist numbers are down cause he's not been as agressive in this offence. In this system the 1st option is to go to the low post. Since Steve is not the deliver to the low post he not getting the easy assist there. Also hes not penetratin as much because of him not being the 1st option. Please Rockets move around off the pick and roll cause Steve is being left hangin looking for somone cuttin becaus the pass to the pick player isn't avalible.
I really want Steve to become the 2, but Mobley has been good this season. I really think Steve can be a superb 2, one with above average passing abilities. It's become clear that it's not the system, since MJ racks up the assists regularly (per minute). Steve needs someone like Penny playing alongside him. Steve is a 1 with SG abilities, now all we need is a 2 with PG abilities. I saw we give Steve a chance att he 2 to see if he can be better than Mobley, if not, it's time to ship him off (prefferably for Rdnour and Rashard Lewis).
I can see it now: sometime tomorrow, a Faker Troll will see this thread, go back go Fakerground and posts Yao doesn't like Steve, maybe we can get Yao. Then the next day some small town newspaper in OC will run it through the press (hey, who cares about the truth if you can sell papers). Then Stein will feed it through ESPN and every other network will copy it. A new rumour is born.
Steve Francis has a worst jumpshot than Bibby, Nash, or Cassell. I don't even know if Francis has a better jumpshot than Jason Williams and Andre Miller. I do know Steve Francis has a better contract that all of them.
steve gets payed to get us wins in these types of games. He is the franchise and people are tired of him never coming thru to win us tough games. When was the last time he took a game over? I dont think he ever has.
During the 2001 season there was no zone defense What Steve has shown that he is not smart enough to unlock the simplest zone defense. He will be better off on a team that suits his erratic style or better still pray and hope that the NBA do away with the Zone Defense rule. Steve problems are more cerebral than any other thing. Among starting PGs, it is conceivable that Stevie is the worst at getting into a set offense, running a pick-n-role and managing the clock. All of these after 5 seasons in the Association. There is a saying - A fuul at 40 is ............. Stevie means well many atimes - he has a great heart. He wishes to win but his head is not ripe enough to comprehend the basics it takes to do simple winning things right. He is IMO easily the not-smart starting PG in the NBA. Overhyped.
Steve is just showing JVG how he still contols the Team. Steve Francis is a great player and I dont accept the poor way he is playing as anything but deliberate.
I think the creator of this thread makes the same point many of us have beent rying to make. It is complete nonsense that Steve's numbers are down because he's giving into a system and is becoming more of a team player. I thought he showed signs of trying to buy into the new system through the first quarter of the season, but as the season has gone on, he has dumped trying to be a team player and has reverted back to "I'm going to dribble down half the shot clock trying to break my man down one on one with my crossover dribble". The only difference is that he shoots less once he breaks his man down. Instead, he throws risky crosscourt passes to shooters and since he is such a horrible passer, he rarely does it in a fashion that sets his target up. A point guard should not make his shooters reach for the ball. He should know where they want to receive the ball in the motion of their shot. Francis CLEARLY does not know or care to know anything about this very fundamental part of the game. More important than all of this is you cant have the team's so called star player on a different page than the coach which is happening unquestioningly right now despite Steve's comments to the Rockets' announcers last night prior to the Dallas game. So now Francis is entering a 30 game end of season trial (not counting playoffs) to show the organization that he has the right attitude about winning and that is winning the team way and not the Steve Francis way. Steve Francis way has been a huge failure for 4.5 seasons and Steve has yet to show me that he is giving into that conclusion yet. The playoffs provide him a 5 to 15 game opportunity to erase EVERYTHING I'm writing about him right now. I'm sure Francis knows all of this, I've just got to wonder if he, like many of today's younger players, cares about any of that. I mean he gets his big payday whether he plays for the Rockets or somebody else and that is a league-wide problem because playing good team basketball is still the key to winning the NBA championship. It's pretty obvious that winning at all costs is not in Francis' vocabulary if it entails Francis giving up his numbers.
And protests like that are completely unacceptable from the team's star player whether he disagrees with the coach or not.
Sam you are fighting the good fight, but some people will have knee jerk reactions, not take an indepth look at the team, the offense, etc. and post the kind of crud that litters this thread. It's been pointed out that in the an offense which tries to get an entry pass to a big man posting up, the pg's assists may not go up but that doesn't mean he isn't distributing the ball. It can be pointed out that our whole team was lacking against the MAvs, and that it's been that same zone defense that killed us every other time. No somehow it's always Steve's fault.
I think it's disingenuous to say "Our whole team was lacking against the Mavs" That is FALSE You mean Jim Jackson and Yao Ming played like crap? Cuttino and Steve were the primary culprits in this loss. They took way too many bad shots, committed too many turnovers, and couldn't break down the zone. I understand the frustration with the blame game. However, players should be held responsible for their poor play. Yao was playing like dog doo doo earlier in the season. I don't think anyone would disgaree with that. Steve and Cat played horribly this game. Instead of admitting it, some people go straight into the "It was a team loss" BS. The team lost last night because the backcourt sucked. It's called accountability.
I think it is very insulting when you assume people are making knee jerk reactions when they criticize players like Steve Francis. Most of us have analyzed the same things you have with respect to this team over the course of the past five seasons and have come to a very different conclusion on Steve Francis. It's not like we got pissed after a loss and started talking sh-- about players because these kinds of posts are there day in day out win or lose. I also find it funny how fans like yourself ignore the widely held perception that Steve Francis is the Rockets problem and not solution whether the point of view comes from the media, ex-players/coaches, etc.
