In Steve's Defense

There is NO defense for the way Steve has been playing. He seriously needs to do some soul searching.

 

MacBeth:

Brilliant reply to everyone responding to your initial post. I agree with you 100%.

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." (Albert Einstein)

Steve's willingness to change and adapt are invaluable and gives a great deal of insight into his character and hence his potential to harness his skills. This gives me faith in his ability to adapt and make progress and contribute just as I have faith in Yao's ability to do the same.

If anything this season is showing us how the Rockets are approaching development - and that it's being done one step at a time. E.g.- get the defense working, then start working on utilizing Yao, etc.

Too bad we live in an age that believes in instant coffee, microwave ovens, highlight reels and sound-bites and this methodical approach is lost on them. Reminds me of the quote from Apollo 13 - "There are 1000 steps to get us home. You're worried about step number 637 while we're only at number 16" (or something like that).

Sure Steve has his challenges and adversity he has to work through, but Steve's progress will come.

 

Shouldn't be very hard to do. You live in Canada, I live close to Canada. It can be easily arranged. I sense mockery yet I don't know what you can say to justify that. Either way, if you want to, I'd happily explore it with you.

 

I think the juries still out on Steve.

His numbers are down this year. But he's adjusting to a new system and new defenses in the league this year.

Penetrating slashers with underdeveloped mid and long range games are suffering this year all over the league. Scoring in general is down dramatically.

If Steve develops a short range jumper - a la Cassell - then he will be more effective offensively. I think he has the ability to do that.

I also expect Steve will make the adjustments to improve other aspects of his game now that he has some solid veteran players around him.

JVG had all last year as an analyst to assess the Rox and he has stated something to the effect that Yao and Steve are the two untouchables on the team. I think he came to Houston expecting those two to take the Rockets deep into the playoffs for years to come.

We should see when the sheets come off in the playoffs this year.

 

I see your point now. I must confess I misunderstood your post, after which you misunderstood mine. I suppose I was merely perplexed that you chose to quote my words in a simple short reply.

In either case I apologize to make this appear confrontational. I think I deduced long ago that that is counterproductive (unless of course I'm left with no choice except to defend myself). I was not suggesting to meet you behind the gym or in a back alleyway or anywhere else for that matter and resorting to physical violence. I was merely suggesting that we could discuss our perceived (falsely by me) disagreement like civilized individuals.

No I am out an 150 lb accountant; nor do I feel the need to satisfy my ego by impressing people online. My life is quite satisfactory to me as it is.

So once again I apologize for the confusion and let me assure you I wish you the best. However, I'd like to point out that, you'd be amazed how many people do not issue credit/blame where it's due.

 

Quite right. I suppose I was too focused on that small anomaly population (I hope you understand it's hard not to with this YOF labelling going around). Nevertheless, issue resolved. Have a great evening.

 

First of all, I like to say that I really enjoy reading Macbeth's posts, they are always so well written and eloquent. On that note, it has come to the point nowthat when I watch Steve plays, I can almost always predict what he's going to do (i.e. drive into 4 defenders,bounce the ball off his foot, throw a bad pass, or take one of his obligatory last second shots). It is troubling that he never learns from his mistakes.

 

Sometimes I think I'd rather have Rodney McCray play point forward for the Rockets than Steve Francis play point guard. That's just an opinion. At least McCray didn't take too much time dribbling.

 

To those complaining about Steve's game at the moment, you have every right to. He has not played up to his talent many games this season. That being said, we all know what Steve can do on the offensive end. I think that Steve's passing game has improved tremendously this season along with his defense. You dont get an assist when the guy misses the wide open shot or when your pass leads to another pass for a wide open bucket. It seems like too many people want to have their cake and eat it too. They want Steve to score like he has the past few years while at the same time playing a Mark Jackson style game, that just might not ever happen and so you shouldn't hold your breath. What I would like to see is Steve play similar to Clyde back in the day. Granted, Clyde was the 2, but Steve could pick up Maloney/Price/Recasner numbers in his sleep. My point is that a slasher/ISO player can work in a post offense. Not to shift the blame, but JVG is responsible for meshing our talents. If Steve is struggling, JVG needs to find easier ways for him to score. Last of all though, I have to agree with a previous post in this thread. SF is too good a player to just bring the ball down and spot up on the outside. We are going to have to have Steve and Cuttino playing their games if we want to go anywhere (integrated with Yao ofcourse).

 

steves willingness to buy into the system is admirable but floor generalship doesn't happen to be one of his great talents . I don't think that can be learned (creating space, vision...) but i still beleive in his game. When we move him to the 2 spot he will shine even brighter.

 

MacBeth,

The inevitable end to a discussion of any player's worth beyond simply his numbers is production in the win column. Yet I have not seen a defense as to why this team should continue to entrust the development of this team to Steve Francis without any tangible results.

He has undoubtedly become one of the truly elite individual talents in the NBA. I mean, come on, only SF, Oscar, GHill, and Magic have averaged 15, 5 and 5 their first four years. That alone is a phenomenal staticstical achievement. The fact that he has become a perennial All-Star and one of the "faces" of the league also is a credit to what he brings to the franchise on and off the court.

This is also not a call to trade Steve. This is more about what he and/or the team must do to best utilize his and Yao's talents on offense to become a reliable offensive unit down the stretch of big games. The defense is unquestionably playoff-worthy, but watching the offensive meltdown at the end of the Pacers game the other day brought back far too many memories of similarly-poor performances in crucial situations which become the norm at playoff time.

However, even at his best, Francis can never carry this team as far as Yao can. I think this season has proven that when Yao is at his best, we are among the best in the West. When Steve is at his best, we are very good, but we will never beat the Garnetts, Duncans, and Shaqs in a playoff series unless it is Yao leading the way.

Again, what this means to me is that the Rockets should be looking for the perfect complementary superstar for Yao. Francis may be wonderful at some things, but even you must admit that his strengths do not include running the half court offense (creating easy shots for others on offense, playing off the post, making sound decisions). All of these are essential between a pairing of a dominant big man and a guard.

Which is fine. Not every playoff performer who happens to play guard excels in these areas. Neither do Iverson, Kobe, or many other superstars. But Duncan won a championship last year, not because he was paired with another superstar who could supplement, but not complement him; he did so because he was with players who could feed off him, and vice versa. At this point, I would not classify the Yao - Steve partnership as the same.

Instead, it seems that Steve has to try way too hard to make the offense work. By toning down the explosive creativity that makes him special, he has done an excellent job of playing within JVG's system. But he has also been unable to remain consistently productive while playing within this offense. His all-around play is still terrific, but his moments of dominance seem to rarely coincide with the success of the team, nor do they come when Yao is playing at his best.

Once again, I am not saying anything negative about what Steve IS, but wondering if what he ISN'T is what this team really needs to progress further. If you disagree, and can convince me otherwise, I am open to any discussion of how/when/why this pairing will become the complementary force needed to beat the Lakers big 4, the Mavs big 6, the Kings big 12, or the best player in the game (Duncan) in a playoff series.

In contrast, what I see is a very good team led by too immensely talented, driven superstars who try to do everything in their power to help this team, but always seem to be doing it at the expense of the other, rather than making the job easier for eachother.

 

Honestly guys, do we NEED a premier past-first 1? What we need is a 1 that can get the ball up the floor and initiate the O, not a Kidd that has to find open guys or they lose. Steve has become very good at the drive and dish, which will become MUCH more effective once his shot comes back around and he can get into the lane easier. In terms of setting up teammates, I would think that Yao is better suited for that with his natural passing ability and his height to see over doubleteams to the open man. My one problem with Francis is that his shot has been way off this year and his decision making on the break. Since we are running a half court O, I think that Francis's scoring will help much more than more assists. If Stevie could get back to 20/5/5 and Yao can get another 4 assists himself, the offense would function much better.

 

We don't need a pass 1st starting PG if said PG shoots a decent percentage and protects the ball.

Neither of which Steve does.

DD

 

ill go far as to say that antwan walker can run the point better than steve even though he is a forward.

 

I agree with Dad .. If SF could raise his FG% and not turn the ball over .. dribbling off foot/ turnovers/ bad passes/ bad shots (almost like turnovers) I would be happy. I also dont think SF needs to be Jason Kidd like Yao doesnt need to be Shaq. SF needs to be himself and JVG needs to understand that too. He had to adjust to Yao's game (high post/ low post) he needs to adjust for SF's game too. JVG may be trying too had to recreate the old Knicks w/ Starks and Ewing but has changed that game plan for Yao. He needs to realize that about SF too..

With Yao starting to develop into the player we all hoped he would become and SF getting back his confidence and finding his shot/ controlling his turnovers .

This will be one scary team.. Yao and SF have each struggled when the other has a good game (at least it appears that way) but we could also look at it in a different light.

The other has carried the team on different nights while the other was struggling.. im definately not a pollyanna but I see a team with its 2 "stars" struggling but still making alot noise in a tough MidWest..

What happens when they both click at the same?

J

 

That's going too far. Walker dribbles and jacks 3's more than anybody in the league. He is not only a black hole, he is the abyss. Stevie ain't that bad.

 

You know, two weeks ago people were ready to proclaim that Yao will never "get it" with the Rockets. That he'll never be capable of leading us to the promise land. But then Yao went on his torrid streak, and those Yao-bashing threads have quickly disappeared.

So while I have been VERY frustrated with Steve's recent play, I'm willing to give him some adjustment time. Probably til the end of the season. If he still can't get it by then, I'd be happy to ship him out.

 

Errrp?

Yao had plenty of defenders 2 weeks ago.

There are always the fans that go whichever way the wind is blowing.

But it seems that a sea change has occurred on CCNET this year about Steve. Clutch seems to symbolize it, to me. Before this year, the general opinion of Francis seemed to be "excellent player... potential super star... he and Yao will do great things."

Now, I think there's been a definite paradigm shift to "Steve is a good player, who doesn't fit in with a potentially great player."