Did ya'll know that Francis is ranked 2nd in our Franchise history in career assist average. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/steve_francis/index.html?nav=page Everyone is so quick to bash Francis for not distributing the ball, yet with a 6.4 average, he still ranks 2nd!! We were one of the worst teams in shooting % in the league last year, with Pike and JJ on board, along with Cat, don't ya'll think the Franchise could average a lot better? I believed SF passed the ball pretty well last year, but no assist if no one can hit. Does anyone know who ranks #1 in career assist average? Calvin?
Hmm....I didn't know that! Good job Steve! Too bad everyone on this board is probably gonna say something about "yeah, well look at his turnovers......" They just never wanna give Steve credit.
We were pretty low in FG%.. that might explain part of our guards crappy APG stats.. not to mention that they were ballhogs to begin with. I hope there's a major turnaround in all three.
wow! good find gucci888. i hope this would shut up steve bashers for saying he doest have a good assist average!
John Lucas averaged 7.26 for his career as a Rocket. Of course the Rockets have not been blessed with great point guards through out their history. Lucas is still easily the best.
Heh...Calvin is always quick to admit that he never met a shot he didnt like. I would have to agree, #1 is probably Lucas.
In the interests of fairness, we have rarely if ever had a point guard who dominated the ball as much, save Lucas. Opportunity should equal results...and despite the pre-emptive salve, the turnovers are a relevant counter-point. I am not a Steve hater/basher, especially not after spending years defending the guy to my father...but context is needed for any kind of limited statistical comparison. We have had great rebounders, great scorers, and prolific, if not exceptionally accurate three pojnt shooters. We have had shot blockers and steal er makers(?)...but relative to other franchises, we have had remarkably few high level play makers. In fact I would say that that is clearly the weakest area in Rockets' history.
wtf! who cares do u realize he leads the league NOW in almost every TO category? after seeing some of the "teams we're supposed to beat" play, i'm having serious doubts with francis and mobley that we can make playoffs
i'd be curious to see how many of those assists were to Cat & how many to other people on the team. if we're lucky enough to get the basket in on a last second bail out shot after SF wastes 20s of clock time before driving into the key & jumping before finally kicking the ball out, he gets an assist... yes he would prob get more assists if we shot better, but we'd shoot better if we had more effective ball movement/play setup. all that said & done, i really like SF as a Rocket & would be very disappointed if we had to trade/get rid of him. i just want him to play smarter & be more of a team player
exactly how many to category are there? it still is about one stat. and if you try to pass alot you have alot of turnovers, look at kidd. i'm not saying that francis is a point guard like kidd. Francis best aspect is that he can get past every guard that guards him. and then he can score or pass. The fact that he is the point guard in our history with the second most assists. is nice to know. And you know he does that NOW.
Since Steve's arrival the Rockets they have been last or near last in team assists at the end of every year. last year they were second to last.
and before steve arrived? The fact that our team got alot worse because barkley got old an olajuwon got old, is unimportent?
I don't want to blame Steve for this stat but I do find fault in the mindset that creates an offense that relys so much on Steve. I think Rudy had too much faith in his guard of the future and put too much responsibility on Steve to captain the ship, so to speak.
i agree the offense was to much about steve. i like more of a offense were everybody touches the bal before we shoot. i like steve as a point guard. he can always beat his guard. and that is a nice plus. one question, what is your critisme on steve?
I thought it was interesting that Francis is already ranked 2nd by only averaging 6.4apg. Yes, it's true that Francis led the league in TO's last year, but look at his company in that catergory (Kidd, T-Mac, Pierce). My point was that a team that doesn't shoot well can't have a great number of assists. Francis averaging 6.4 is pretty good since we couldn't hit a jump shot last season. With the addition of Pike (who will hopefully be busting 3's down our throats) and JJ (who can consistenly hit mid-range jumpers), Steve's assists numbers should go up. Dropping it down to Yao for a quick buckets should add a couple too. But Steve can't do it by himself, no one averaged more than 3 assists except Steve, the scary thing is that Mobley was our 2nd best passer last season.
