Imagine YOU are Steve Francis, your team wins, but you are average...

verse, outstanding post! I agree with all of it. Great points!!

Chris

 

Now I agree with #7 as an intelligence thing, but I don't think you're being fair on the other points.

#1 - many players go baseline on a screen as an option so that the screen becomes more effective in the future - for mine Steve does this too often, but then there is no denying that he's jsut about the best penetrating guard in the league...

#2 - once again, this can cause a defender to overplay, opening the court for a drive - I don't like it because I think it causes too many TO's - ok I list this as a dumb thing too!

#3 - someone has to run the wings on the break - with the ball in hand it opens the court for the big men running the center (something Eddie and Yao do well) and without the ball it spaces the transition - I think this is smart basketball.

#4 isn't about smarts, it's about defensive ability - that's something that Steve hasn't got in abundance, but then again, Earl Boykins has torched more peope than Steve Francis this season (how I don't know...)

#6 - the best scorer usually takes more shots - 17 shots per isn't that bad when he scores well - Nash takes 14 per contest and he isn't even the main option on his team - yet we all rave about what a great point guard he is.


Steve does need to work on his basketball smarts, and there are certain areas that need more work than others, but that's true for most players (all?) and the examples you used aren't really a fair indication of smarts anyway...

 

verse, you took the words out of my mouth!

 

I second that.

 

DrN,


screens and going baseline


as an option, so be it. but it is more than an option for steve...it's his preference. it's ok to do it as a matter of maintaining balance (keeping the defense honest) so that you at least give the appearance that you might go the opposite direction every now and then. however, it makes no sense to do it continually.

as a defender, it's too easy to either a) seal the baseline or b) ride the baseline with steve and force either a difficult reverse layup or a difficult lob pass out to the 3 point line.

running the wings

all i can say is never, ever, ever, ever, ever will you hear a coach suggest to a player - point guard or not - to run the wings with the ball. as soon as you do that you have limited yourself to either passing to the middle of the court or shooting it yourself. you have essentially cut off one side of the court.

going up the middle, you can pass left, right or shoot it yourself.

as for the big man running the middle with steve on the wings...that's a recipe for disaster. what big man do we have - yao included - that can catch a fast break pass at the 3 point line and make a proper *fast* decision with it? it's waaay too difficult to consistently want to do that. the only times you see a big man running the middle is as a trailer to the point guard. and he only gets the ball when defender in the middle has committed to the penetrating ball handler (thus, he has been cleared out).

smarts v defensive ability

steve francis has the ability to play defense - physically. as quick as his feet and hands are, coupled with a pretty strong, wiry physique, he can do it. in fact, we've all seen spurts of good d from steve. the problem is that he has never maintained the mental intensity necessary.

how many times did terrel brandon tear steve a new one? sam cassell? avery johnson? nick van exel? given, these are quality guards, but they have season-high type games vs. steve francis. it's as if he takes it personally and decides he's going to try to match them move for move, point for point....all (unintentionally) at the expense of the team. steve has to play smarter than that.


shots and steve nash

the difference between steve nash and steve francis cannot accurately be expressed in stat lines. look at the style of play for each player:

steve nash is a constant pressure type of point guard. dude is ALWAYS pushing, running, looking, probing, driving. steve francis does not do this at nearly the rate that nash does. it's reflected in the total team shots per game. it's reflected in steve being 19th in the nba in total shot attempts (618) while steve nash is 37th at 503. it's reflected in team points per game - where dallas is over 100ppg. steve nash creates more opportunities for his team to score. steve francis creates more opportunities for himself to score.


fair examples of smarts:

i'm not sure what other examples to use, honestly. there's no "Basketball IQ Test" i can submit steve to. if there was, though, i'd guess he wouldn't pass (pun intended).

 

Verse,

You are my "Today" hero.

DD

 

Verse,

I'm not trying to say that Steve has got smarts (if he did he'd be a perennial MVP candidate!) - but I still maintain that a poor defensive player isn't so because of lack of smarts! It's like the difference between two athletic 7 footers, one of whom blocks 3 shots per game and the other 0.5 - it's not something that you can learn to do really well, there's a certain amount of natural ability involved (note - not saying that hard work and desire doesn't make one a passable defender, but never a great one without "it").



Good point also on Nash re: team Ppg! The thing that I also take comfort in there (and also with Bibby et al at Sacramento) is that they don't average massive assist numbers but still are good PG's on good teams!

 

DrN,

if you're saying steve lacks some of the pure "instincts" to play great defense, i won't disagree. however, there is absolutely no excuse for:

a) peaking over your shoulder at other men

b) not funneling your man properly

c) not rotating properly

d) not putting a hand up against jump shooters.

those are key "mental" errors...not physical errors.



...gotta run. here's to hoping we'll look back on this 3 years and 2 championships from now and wonder how steve ever played that way...

cheers

 

I'm Steve Francis!