If Alston and Luther continue to struggle offensively, then I think Francis will eventually get a look unless he's really stinking it up in practice.
Well I think it was Doug Collins that said on ESPN that Morey said, "I am really upset that Rick Adelman is not playing Steve Francis, he is supposed to be our starter and I am going to have a meeting with him and tell him that." So either Doug Collins is a liar and I seriously doubt he would say that during a game quoting a GM because they would never get another interview from Morey if he lied about it, or maybe just maybe Adelman is already arguing and clashing with management and that's basically why Van Gundy got canned. It's also basically why Adelman got canned in Sacramento. On the other hand a coach like Popovich WELCOMES input from his GM. Adelman is making a big mistake if he's going down the JVG route with player rotation moves. Now as far as in-game strategy and offensive flexibility Adelman is light years more adaptable than Van Gundy, BUT Morey has every reason to be ticked off for this same thing JVG did in choosing to NOT use potentially key players just because of a personal reason, whatever it may be. Management (Dawson or Morey) brings in X player for X role then the coach just benches them for no reason other than EXTREMELY vague things like "so and so is 10 pounds overweight" " so and so won't fit my system" "so and so is not trying", etc. Of course fans and GM of the team will start getting pissed off. How so many fans just utterly cannot fathom such a simple concept if just sad.
Why Rafer is playing for this team is beyond me as well. He shoukd have been cut in the off season. People try to say that it was the JVG system last season that made him shoot the ball all thetime but he is doing it again this year.
The problem with this is that NBA practices are not run like a normal practice during the regular season. It seems a lot of fans do not understand this. The main time to "practice" is training camp and pre-season and in-game situations. There really is no real practice during the year. There seems to be some big problem why so few fans understand this. Adelman seems to be doing the same thing JVG would do. For example last year let's say Bonzi or Spanoulis was not ready based on training camp or pre-season. Bonzi out of shape and Spanoulis not adjusted to NBA game (too many fouls and turnovers ala Scola right now) so Van Gundy benched them in favor of players that were ready already Head and Alston. But with Van Gundy decisions in pre-season are FINAL. That is it. It stays that way all year unless an injury like with Snyder can change it. The "players earn minutes in practice" myth of fans is wrong. There is no real practice once the year starts. Some coaches have the same philosophy like Van Gundy and Adelman while some set rotations based on regular season play (Popovich, Jackson for example). It seems Adelman is just like Van Gundy, the pre-season decides it and it is permanent. Difference is coaches with the OTHER philosophy have won titles. Problem is Rafer was awesome last pre-season and this pre-season. He earns the job in pre-season and training camp and then when the real games start he is horrible. Fans who keep saying "practice" during the year determines this don't get it because practice as what it typically is ends after pre-season. From then on "practice" is game preparation. TWO COMPLETELY different types of "practice". Adelman looks to have the identical flaw to JVG on this issue. However he does not have any of JVG's other flaws. He is much better as a coach MUCH better than JVG but he is apparently just as egotistical and just as stubborn.
Stevie took 2 million less cause he is a smart business man. Steve took that 2 million less, but gained a lot more by coming to the rockets because he is back with Yao and anybody with Yao will make money.....endorsments i mean. why does battier love it here? why did scola sign with us? those reasons are the same reasons stevie took 2 million less to gain prob. an extra 5 million for that shoe deal.
how in the heck with reduced minutes does rafer decide to jack up 6 threes?? he's taking a shot every 2.6 minutes and a three every 4.5 minutes!! what kind of crap are we watching? No wonder games aren't in hd.
The people who support Steve with blinders on need to realize that Steve put himself in the position he is in now.It all started with going to the super bowl and missing the team plane.He is a bit selfish and didn't come to training camp prepared.
That's a perfect way to get your neck slashed! Steve should see some minutes soon if Head, Rafer , and MJ continue to stink it up. If he doesn't coach RA has a personal problem with Steve and we all know how that worked out between JVG and Bonzi. One of them will have to go and I can see Steve being dealt by mid season if that's the case.
Rick Adelman is a very competent coach and I know he will make the best decision for the Rockets. There is a reason why he is one of the better coaches in the league, so let’s just trust his decisions. One thing is for sure, the way Head is playing right now Francis won't have long to wait for playing time. So let’s just wait and see what happens.
This is rubbish. Both Spanoulis and Wells had their shots last season. AFTER THE PRE-SEASON! Neither came into camp ready to play in the NBA. Not Van Gundy's fault. And it's game 5 of the NBA season and already Adelman has his rotation set for the season? If a player is not playing up to par for the NBA, they will be replaced. Injuries make for opportunities. Juwan Howard played himself into the rotation last year. If Francis can actually contribute and not take away from the team, then he will as well.
I think Francis should and probably will get his shot in the rotation if the PG play deteriorates. But at the same thing, I think its hilarious to act like Adelman is some bumbling fool who is clueless he has Francis on his bench. Or maybe some personal vendetta against Francis to not allow him to play. Plain silly - look at RA's past success. Not only this, why would RA not do something that would help him win???
i don't think he has a vendetta against francis. he said initially he thought francis would start. but francis came in out of shape. and alston is the most familiar w/ the starters. so until francis gets in shape, he won't get a shot. but he's geting in shape so i think francis' time is near.
I was freaking ecstatic when we got Francis back, but I don't get what he's thinking. If he loves this city so much, he should've came into training camp IN SHAPE. Nonetheless, I can't wait for him to be apart of the rotation.
If Rafer is our best PG, Houston, WE HAVE A PROBLEM. IF it's not broken...why fix it? Would you rather wait till we lose 10+ games to fix it? Your logic is pretty damn stupid. If you see a problem, we need to fix it before it becomes a bigger problem. Rafer is pretty horrific and I'm not saying Steve is the answer either. If Steve can't do any better than Rafer, then we need to ship both of them out for a capable PG.
I will say that is nobody's time at the PG position but a time to open the rotation in the position a little bit, no guy has proved that is worth 20+ minutes a game so that leaves room for at least 3 players per game, i said it before and I´ll say it now, is time to start shuffling all our PG´s, Rafer, James and Head could be one game, on the next game replace one of them with Francis, and i would like also to see the rookie Brooks playing, i have a lot of confidence in his talent, also beeing a rookie will prevent him to try to do too much as sometimes i see rafer or mike trying that.
in order for Francis to play, one of these things will have to happen: 1) Rafer, MJ, and Head play horrible, as in shooting a combined 25% from the field, and not being able to get the offense flowing for a good stretch of games. 2) Injuries. Right now Francis is our insurance in case someone gets injured. i think 1 is very unlikely to happen. MJ will have games when hes cold, but he'll have just as many games when hes hot. Rafer will ALWAYS shoot horribly. There's no denying that, but his low turnovers and passing remains constant, and I doubt that will change anytime soon. You get what you see with Head. He still makes poor passes and shoots airballs, but that's why he's only averaging 6-7 mins a game. in other ways, Francis will have a very tough time making his way in the rotation. the guy isn't out of shape. his style just doesnt fit this system. Adelman only said that to not hurt his feellings.
