I’ve seen countless Francis lovers post on here that Francis is having a down year, and that we so easily forget his huge numbers of seasons past, averaging 20/6/6 for his first four seasons. So this leads to the question, is it likely that Francis will regain his past form? Most people seem to be of the mind that it is Van Gundy who has destroyed Steve’s game, yet when watching games, it is quickly obvious that the old Francis would drive hard to the basket, while the new Francis settles for ill-advised off-balance jumpers. This is due to new zone defense rules, Francis can no longer drive to the basket as successfully as he could before the rules changed, only having to get around his man. Yes, the rules were different last year as well, but many teams hadn’t learned to take advantage of the change until this year. Francis has lost nearly 5 points per game and 4 FG%, and is shooting 2 less FT’s a game, and is attempting 1 more 3PTer a game. To compare with some other guards who are all very “athletic,” as Francis is, yet aren’t all well versed in basic basketball fundamentals (Because they never had to be, as they could make up for fundamentals with their athletic prowess.) Tracy McGrady: down 5 ppg, down 4 FG%, down 2 FTs, up 1.5 3PT attempted. Remember McGrady’s early season comments about how he doesn’t know how to handle zone defense? It shows. Paul Pierce: down 3 ppg, down 1.5 FG%, down 2 FTs, 3 PT attempts unchanged. His drop off seems especially alarming, given that this is his team entirely to lead, for better or worse. Had Walker stayed it might be even more pronounced, as he’d had a scorer to share the ball with. Jason Kidd: down 2 ppg, down 3 FG%, down 1 FT, 3 PT attempts unchanged. Never the best shooter, his game drops off considerably when layups become more difficult, but his assists have risen, showing what good fundamental passing can do, since he may be the pest passing guard in the game. Allen Iverson: PPG unchanged, down 2 FG%, up .7 FTs, up .7 3PT attempted. The poster boy for overly athletic player seems to be faring better statistically in the days of zone defense, even though he taking more outside shots these days. However, AI hasn’t stopped driving to the basket, despite the extra defensive pressure near the basket. He has paid the price in terms of extra injuries this season, which is a price most teams would want their star player to avoid. Note the main features, a drop in FG% and a drop in FT's attempted, and a rise in 3 PTers attempted. This shows that zone defense is forcing these players to drive less and take more shots further out, exposing their weak shooting ability. Now is everyone doing worse because of zone defense? Of course not: many guards such as Sam Cassell or Michael Redd are having career years, because their games are not about driving to the basket, but about making shots from anywhere. Players whose careers were made on “breaking ankles” with strong drives to the basket are finding themselves at a serious disadvantage in the new zone defense era of the NBA. Many of these players are much too late in their careers to learn basic fundamentals of shooting that are usually taught at a young age, there is little reason to assume they will regain their previous statistical excellence, short of the NBA removing zone defense. These players will likely only succeed in a “role” capacity, if their egos allow it, and since they make so much more money than “role” players should, they will be a burden on most teams in terms of financial value. So, back to the original question, is it likely that Francis will regain his past form? The answer is unquestionably no, as the cutting and driving Francis is now as extinct as the dinosaurs. Is it possible that he can reinvent himself into a passing guard; sure, but will he then be worth a max contract for being a mediocre passing guard who can’t shoot? Of course not, better to let him go and bring in someone with fundamentals over flash.
20 percent shooting, 6 turnovers, 6 Trade Stevie threads after each game. Sadly, that Francis is alive and well.
Unless he gets shipped east where being sub .500 can get you into the playoffs, and being marginal above .500 team gets you 1st round or better homecourt advantage.
I just have a comment. His 20/6/6 wasn't all that. The first 6 is 6 assists, which came with 3 TO's. That's below average. Any PG in this entire league can get 6 assists and 3 TO's in 40 minutes. The second 6 is 6 rebounds. Isn't the general consensus that Francis should be darting down the court rather than grabbing those rebounds? Isn't there a strong belief around here that Francis getting so many rebounds is a testament to his incredible athletic ability, but hinders our fastbreak? Which brings us to the 20. Personally, I'm impressed that he can score 21ppg on 43% shooting the way the league is looking these days. Ofcourse, he's not doing that now, but I don't think it's his fault. It's just that his style clashes with the one JVG wants. If he were on the Wolves or Bucks, he would easily rack up 20+ ppg because there's no one clogging the lane. But when you look at it, you have a PG who can't keep the TO's down, the assists up, and is bad at running the fastbreak. But he can score a good 20ppg when given the right personnel. What's the point ?
let me guess...j-kidd being a good rebounding pg hinders his ability to run the fast break too right? don't you think its better that the man running the offense immediately has the ball in his hands off the rebound rather than waiting on the pass to him? sorry...but that point of view drives me in-SANE i think lots of things have been getting to me lately..lol
Wow, I am going to defend Francis here. Sane I don't think you can take away the 20-6-6. Other high scoring guards have the 3 or so TOs to go along with the 5-6 assists (this year or last year) yet those assists are considered an asset for them, for example Kobe or AI or T-Mac or Pierce or Carter or Pierce or Lebron James. Further, I have never heard of any player being critized for rebounding. Nodoby ever faulted Kidd or Payton or James for bring down 6 or so boards just because they are PG's. I think the key is that Francis just can't use his talents in a system that demands a somewhat more disciplined role for a PG or one that requires ball movement and working off of other teamates to further your advantage. I think if Francis was traded to a cruddy team where he was the man (whether you played him at the 1 or 2--I personally think it doesn't matter greatly, but pairing him with a big 1 might like Crawford or Wade might do the best job of covering his weaknesses on both sides) he would get close to the 20-6-6 mark, PLUS the 3-4 TOs. I don't think that team will ever get better than mediocre as a team, but there are a lot of teams where mediocre would be a substantial improvement. Finally, Francis production is limited because 1) JVG/system demands players working off of others to further advantage, 2) running the ball through Yao is just a better 1st option most of the time. However I think it is better to leave those things in place than try to maximize Francis production at the cost of such things, which is why he and us would be better served with a change.
The point is he used to be able to score points for himself. Not any more. I don't even remember how many easy layups he missed this season. And I still haven't figured out how he managed to commit a offense foul during a 3 on 2 or 3 on1 fastbreak over and over again. As much as apologists saying how hard he is adjusting and how much progress he had made during the adjustment to make everyone involved, a 5.9/ 3.55 AST/TO ratio is near the bottom in the league for a starting PG. No to mention his horrible .392 FG% and .276 3pt FG%.
I'm not a big fan of the rebounding argument either, I think he just has a nose for the ball, and that's fine with me. But it's a valid point - he getsthe ball but doesn't know how to set up the fastbreak. What he is GOOD at doing is finishing (I miss Posey). As for the assists, Desert Scar, every single player you mentioned is a SG. Paul Pierce is TO prone and everyone DOES fault him for that. For a PG, a 2.5 to 1 asst/to ratio is average. Francis has never even scratched that number in his career. That's the AVERAGE number. I don't care about the number of assists, I don't care about the number of TO's. All I care about is the ratio. RATIO, RATIO, RATIO. For 3 TO's, I want to see 7.5 assists. For 6 assists, I want to see 2.25 TO's. Turning the ball over 3 times would be ok if he was setting up his teammates enough. Baron Davis scores 20+, dishes out 8 assists, so no one notices that he turns it over 3 times. It would be absolutely SUPERB for Mobley to average 6 assists and 3 TO's, but for a PG, Francis really should be doing better. BTW, Lebron is no PG. He plays with McInnis in the backcourt and has started at the 2 the whoole season I believe. Maybe barring a few games here and there, but he's a 2, no doubt about that. You mention Iverson, and that's intruiging to me. I would be ok with Francis averaging Iverson assists and Iverson TO's if his backcourt teammate was setting everyone up, racking up the assists, protecting the ball, and didn't consider himself a main option in the offense, i.e., Eric Snow vs. Cuttino Mobley.
I think some of the explosiveness he used to have is gone. The amount of punishment his body has taken thus far in his career and the number of minutes he has had to play is taking its toll. I can’t count the number of times he’s missed a layup that in the past he would have jammed down for a dunk. He’s never had the quickness that a lot of other guards have. Where most point guards have the quickness to avoid contact to make a move toward the basket, Steve has had to work twice as hard. He’s relied on being super aggressive, using his jumping ability, and initiating contact at the hoop. After taking the number of hard falls on the court I think he decided he needed to change his game to prolong his career. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been a change for the better.
more and more teams play zone now. That basically take away SF's penetration game. SF have always been an average jump shooter and he hasnot improved his shooting a bit and he is not going to in the future. SF's ability to distribute the ball and run a fast break is horrible. He has not improved and he will not in the future. The problem with SF is he is too stubborn and idiotic! As he pointed out, he will keep playing the game the way he has been playing it. He just doesn't get it: his way doesn't work any more! He has to change to adapt to new situations, but he is too idiotic to realize it. So don't expect him to change, therefore don't expect him to recover.
I see where you're coming from, Sane, but if it's such a non-accomplishment, you'd think that more than 4 players would've been able to do it over their first 4years. Instead, in all of NBA history, it's just Steve, Oscar, Magic and Grant Hill. Something tells me it's a wee bit harder than you're giving him credit for.
First, I think he was more of an 18/6/6 than a 20/6/6. What's interesting to me is that he's even missing layups. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I'd probably believe something along what you were saying - defenses are making him shoot more outside shots (and more 3 pointers) and that's causing his shooting percentage to drop.
zones suck! detriment to the entire league! DOWN WITH THE ZONE.....makes for boring basketball. Back to one on one for the good of our team!!!!! Technically it shocks me how teams can really play a zone on a consistent basis without getting more defensive 3 second calls...
Yes they are SGs, see a trend . I think SF should be moved to a team with a Big 1 (e.g., Crawford, A Williams, Snow) where he could focus on what he does best, the ISO game. Let those Big 1's take one may of the roles of traditional PGs-- organize the team, bring the ball up, running the fast break, and playing the opponents better guard on defense, setting SF free so to speak. I think SF is ideally a wickedly explosive combo guard--he would be a lot more effective with a backcourt guy that can complement his weaknesses. That said I don't think bring in that Big 1 (say for Mobley) and keeping Francis is the answer for us, because you still have a system that has to run through Yao Ming. But most teams in the league don't have a Yao Ming, and many teams don't have an offensive talent like Steve Francis either. The guy shot 45% fromt he field and 40% from 3 land his 2nd season, and for his career he is 43/35. He is a very good outside shooter and at times has been terrific. Personally I think his confidence is down thus this year has been an abberation, but they guy has a history of good shooting/good form. I do agree with this and thus why we should trade him to a team that needs a big spark a whole lot more than they need discipline and court vision. Plenty of teams fit this description.
First, it was definately 20/6/6, how soon we forget how easy it was for him to score when he only had to beat one man off the dribble. (Which he was very good at, unfornately it's a skill that is no longer as valuable as it once was.) Secondly, he's missing more layups because there are more bodies in the lane trying to stop him, as opposed to man to man defense when they all had to follow their man to the other side of the court. It's a fundemental problem with his game, not a mental one, because as I showed, it's the same problem affecting the scoring of McGrady, Pierce, Kidd, etc..
Among the countless "the zone hinders him," "JVG is killing Francis's game," and "Steve has always sucked" theories, I like this one the best.
Is the FG% that bad? I dont know why he doesnt go to the line more? He could easily make up those points by going to the FT line consistently. J
