If I'm not mistaken his 3pt% is lower career-wise than Rafer's. Still want him to take it? If so, hope you can say the same about Rafer...he's open on that 3 point arc, yet people yell and scream that he should be benched for Francis who showed when he started was really out of control. He played so much better coming off the bench. I really don't think James or Francis has anything over Rafer right now. Rafer is hitting a better percentage of his shots now. He plays smarter, he's finishing at the rim. Man, Francis and James need to step it up to help contribute to the team, i don't care about them taking Rafer's spot or not.
Could be..but this should be lighting a fire under Francis. Sitting on the bench knowing he could be doing something about it has got be driving him crazy.
So far, you are correct. Francis plays better off the bench probably because he doesn't have to absorb so many minutes as he would as the starter. With less minutes he can play with higher energy for a shorter amount of time.
Apparently, it wasn't a disadvantage when we were winning games was it? It sure didn't look like a disadvantage in the Phoenix game. I'm not saying we need Francis for 30mins a game because he clearly can't play that many minutes. But it wouldn't hurt to have him in there so Skip and T-Mac don't have to play too many minutes. 9th man minutes is not asking for too much.
I'm sorry, but Francis is NOT out of shape. Even Francis himself has stated that fact. When a player of Steve's caliber falls so far from grace, it's embarrassing. Adelman isn't going to say that he's not good enough to play the point. Adelman isn't going to say that his basketball IQ is atrocious. But what Adelman will say is that he's out of shape (forever), because he knows fans still see him as an all-star. It's the best excuse isn't it? Francis will never be a good point guard. There is no time, and no reason, to teach an old dog new tricks. The best direction to take would be to utilize the strengths he still has left, like driving and creating shots, in the best way possible. But it seems like Adelman doesn't really need these strengths. More than anything, Francis is probably confused. His assets apparently aren't needed, so he strives to be something different, but falls short of Alston in these regards.
Anyone can see he's not in the shape he used to be. He's huffing and puffing if you watch him closely. Not like the other guys he's on the court with.
Yes he played good at Phoenix, but he fell off completely when he started those two games. Maybe his conditioning couldnt handle the increased minutes or he didn't have chemistry with the starters. Whatever the case was, he wasn't effective. Adelman isn't going to play Francis to get him in game shape if its detrimental to the team on the floor. now i for one think Francis is in-shape. i see nothing different from him playing now to him playing at New York or Orlando. he's just hesitant and tentative. it's like he's counting his steps whenever he moves, and adelman thinks he's out of shape because of that.
We just have to accept that Francis isn't the same as New York, Orlando, or Houston 2004. He's not as energized. He has to get into that mindset that nobody but nobody is going to beat me out. Work his butt off like he did before he got to the NBA. Only then will he beat Alston out. His shooting from 3 pt range is atrocious. So is his 2 pt shooting. Both career lows.
um, people don't leave francis open. they leave rafer open, and he should be hitting at a higher clip. francis was a player in a league, where the opponents fear, when he was in houston. he was guarded and guarded. when you have several WIDE OPEN LOOKS like the ones rafer had the past 2 seasons, your career average should have gone 5% up. the thing about francis for me is, he is still out of shape. and rick played him cause mike james has been doing terrible.
Funny thing is, all his sucess has been in an unstructured offence where he was allowed to think for himself (see Rudy T). Admittedly he was tunrover prone, but he had solid stats in almost every other category.
hi guys 1st post, massive rockets from sydney oz. My take on stevie, as I worked/lived in NYC for couple of years before returning home few months ago and I got a opportunity to see stevie play for the knicks quite abit. I dont think he's low on confidence, he's just playing to what RA wants him and that to give the ball to Tmac/Yao and let them score which what you saw in the raptors/sixers games. The man is still very capable of putting impressive numbers but to do so he's got to be given minutes and a free range to shoot. It wasn't till thomas gave him 40+ minutes as a shooting guard NOT a PG enabling him to get 10-14 shots off till we saw the return of his allstar numbers that alot of rox fans myself included are expecting from him. Brown tried to play stevie as pg with the results the same as what you see now good things here and there all be it he really didnt play much due to injury under brown.
That's what I've been saying all along. Put Steve at the 2 next to Alston. Right now Francis is better than James who is putting up all time horrible +/- numbers and clanking the rim at a very high rate. Head, he will get his minutes if he continues to shoot a high percentage but James hasn't shown anything yet and has returned to his mediocre career averages before and after Toronto.
Steve has lost his confidence, no doubt. He is passing better but he needs to shoot when open, or else he is wasting space. DD
Francis suck ass! Period. Oh! I want to play for a ring but I am a lazy ass and dont want to wrok out.
Yeah, I have watched him. You missed my point....again. He is only effective when he is dominating the ball. He is now being forced to be a role player and he is just not effective that way...no matter how hard he is trying. Yes, he is being unselfish and appears to be trying to do what Rick wants. That isn't his game.
Francis was a boneheaded PG/Guard when he had legs, now he has no legs and is still boneheaded, what does that mean, knowing this guys personality, time to retire. Somebody already bought you out, now you have dough, your carreer of BB is over. time to call it quits, we do not need a PG to dribble the ball off their foot in future post seasons, which surely we know you would do. If you gett traded you will most likely end up in a worst scenerio, so to save your own face just retire Francis, today was your atypical self and it was just a regular season game, I cannot bear you do the consecutive turnover thang you have going for most of your career in the playoffs. pls retire for your own good.
We need Francis to start being selfish. Given how crappy the Rox offense is at the moment if unleashing the Franchise is what gets them going then lets do it. Put him on the second unit and let him go.
Yes, but Rafer is not better at shooting. Francis looked horrible tonight, just horrible. He has pretty much blown every opportunity he has had except the Suns game.
