Thats where we're exactly the opposite sam. My life is great, I swear watching the Rox lose is probably the most upsetting part of my life...I guess I'm just lucky.
I am a one-eyed rockets fan, and sure, I hear what you are saying about Steve, but as long as he is wearing that jersey I think we should all support him or whoever plays for the team. I don't think there is anything wrong with discussing his weaknesses, thats the whole point of this board so that people can speak there mind. I think we are all just overacting beacuse we are so passionate about the team, but you can understand with all the bashers out there why some people are so quick to jump up and defend him. If you had to choose one way or another to either shoot down every player and be onesided and point out their shortcomings or be the polar opposite and rave about how great they are inspite of their weaknesses I'll choose the later.
But don't you want to be better? I truly believe Steve is holding back this team as do countless other posters, commentators, and media. That poll you mentioned was horribly inaccurate, hell there was only like 100-200 hundred people that took it...a few days later Yao was way ahead on that poll by like 70% or so.
I see where you are coming from man, and that's cool. I just don't see the Rox like that. Personally, I think Steve just isn't dedicated and his stats and our W-L record is the evidence.
I wouldnt question his dedication. Like many people, he's just not a good fit with a talented center. Almost everyone who has watched Francis agree, he needs the ball in his hands to be effective. He needs to break down the defender to do his thing similiar to Allen Iverson. He's not a good passing pg and he's not a pure stroking sg. He's a talented, athletic "combo" guard whose biggest strengths are a mid range jumper and an ability to get to the basket. It could work with the right combination but not when the 2 guard isn't a consistent outside shooter and also likes to score off the dribble and your PF is either an offensive statute or a rebounding pansy.
I'm with you. It's always tougher to defend an insult than to throw one. You just have to control yourself sometimes. About Yetti you put him on your ignore list and then you said something bad about him obviously he can't speak back because you can't see it. That's not fair man.
9 ASSISTS, 2 TURNOVERS. FORGET ALL THE MISSED SHOTS. THE GUARDS GOT THE BALL INTO YAO'S HANDS. DON'T TRADE THE FRANCHISE IN THE OFF SEASON, NEXT SEASON, OR EVER! WE'RE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS AND WITHIN 2 YEARS, BACK TO THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP. IN 2006, GET READY TO PURCHASE THOSE ROCKET FINALS TICKETS AT THE TOYOTA CENTER. THE ROCKETS NEW TITLE WILL TRULY BE THE "BIG BROADCAST OF 2006". TFs will understand the reference.
Steve reminds me of a childhood pet. She was a good dog for years but she got old, sick, and strayed. It was just the right time to put her to sleep.
According to 82games.com, Steve Francis is basically a push at point guard which is the position he plays the most on the floor. Keep in mind that this includes his play against guys like Derek Fisher, Marcus Banks, Luke Ridnour, Raul Lopez, and a number of other point guards in the league who are making around 10 times less than he makes. This means that he is seriously getting outplayed by the top point guards.
On the contrary, Bill and Calvin implied otherwise. But I somehwhat agree that he appears to be trying more this season but he still aint stopping or slowing anybody down so far. I was offended in the last off season when he was asked which area of his game he did like to improve and he said stylishly said nothing. Yeah like saying that you are weak defensive is going to hurt his street cred. He sends mixed messages all the time - one time he looks like he cares and wants to improve and another time he is portraying an egomaniac and a dunce.
took 58 min for 9 assists...and i dont want to break your heart in all, but we havent really beat any good teams so i dont expect nba finals in 2 years unless major changes are made.
I think that Lakers, Timberwolves, Pacers and Pistons are all pretty good teams. We are 5-4 against them this season. And we did beat the Kings twice last season, and beat the Spurs once last season.
this year, and western confernce teams, would inlcude eastern confernce but it is the eastern confernce. We only beat lakers twice, and timberwolves once. That not to good IMHO.
My point was directed at the comment that we have not beaten any good teams this year. 1) The original post did not specify Western conference teams; 2) The author probably believes that the lakers and timberwolves are bad teams this season, thus setting the bar relatively high for a good team in the league; 3) The author probably wanted to say that we have not beaten enough good Western conference teams so far this season. If that was the case, I would tend to agree.
i didnt include eastern b/c in reality there scrubs to western confernce. Lakers and timberwolves are excellent teams and i am happy for those wins. And last, i do agree that we havent beat enough western confernce teams.
Not sure who your list includes, but I have included: Kidd, Bibby, Nash, Marbury, Cassell, Miller, Parker, Payton. In games against these 8, Steve is averaging: 17.2 pts 6.3 reb 5.9 assists 3.5 TO 40% FG They are averaging against him: 18 pts 4.1 reb 7.2 assists 3.2 TO 49% FG The average against the entire league for these 8 is: 16.9 pts 3.9 reb 7.2 assists 2.5 TO 45% FG So, IMO, Steve is playing fairly close to these guys. His FG% is what stands out. However, the stats of the 8 PG listed don't vary much from their season averages, the biggest differnce being an increase of 4% in their FG%, and an increase in TO when playing against Steve. Bibby and Cassell have outplayed Francis this year, while Steve has outplayed Kidd.
I think the key phrase is "career trajectory." Although Steve seems a bit better now than he did in his 2nd year, his improvement has been rather limited. If he were playing the way he is now as a second year player... you'd see much less criticism. That's why few people (other than the FOFs) really attack Yao when he doesn't play well. He's a 2nd year player from China. He's 23. He's much, much better than he was 1.5 years ago. It's to be expected. But most importantly, the rate of improvement is acceptable. Attacking Yao for not dominating every game would be like getting angry at a puppy for peeing on the rug. But when the puppy pees on the rug less than the adult dog... there's a problem. Especially when the puppy looks less like it's learning not to and the adult dog is not. Steve is a 5th year player getting outplayed by a 2nd year player. Yet he's supposedly a star as well. He takes more ****? Of course. It's only logical. Incidentally, you're getting cariacatured as a FOF a bit unfairly, imo. I remember you being very fair and objective about the situation until fairly recently. In your case, I actually buy the argument that you're just reacting against what you perceive to be unfair prejudice. But you still are coming off kind of strong and anti-Yao seeming.
