AnitSonic, playoffs. Who would you trust to shoot the ball or get the ball to your big guy? then who do you trust to dribble out the 24 second clock?
The Rockets never paid Kenny Smith Max Salary, so as far career goes, Kenny had the better and more efficient career for the Rockets. The problem for Steve was that he never was good PG. He's basically our Allen Iverson who's career nose dived. To Iverson's credit, he's a better PG than Steve and he's kept himself in shape to have a long career. Nobody is trading Iverson for a 2nd Round Pick from the Grizzlies. Salaries Season Team Lg Salary 1987-88 Sacramento Kings NBA $600,000 1988-89 Sacramento Kings NBA $600,000 1989-90 Total NBA *$650,000 1990-91 Houston Rockets NBA $700,000 1991-92 Houston Rockets NBA $1,633,000 1992-93 Houston Rockets NBA $1,983,000 1993-94 Houston Rockets NBA $2,150,000 1994-95 Houston Rockets NBA $2,633,000 1995-96 Houston Rockets NBA $2,683,000 1996-97 Total NBA $190,100 Career (may be incomplete) $13,822,100 Steve Francis Salaries Season Team Lg Salary 1999-00 Houston Rockets NBA $3,020,520 2000-01 Houston Rockets NBA $3,246,960 2001-02 Houston Rockets NBA $3,473,520 2002-03 Houston Rockets NBA $4,383,581 2003-04 Houston Rockets NBA $10,067,750 2004-05 Orlando Magic NBA $12,330,000 2005-06 Orlando Magic NBA $13,700,000 2006-07 New York Knickerbockers NBA $15,070,000 2007-08 Total NBA $2,430,000 Career (may be incomplete) $80,362,331
sad but true. makes you wonder where his career would be if he never got traded from Houston. Can't be any worst than how those Rocket teams after the trade turned out (1st round exit). I honestly felt Steve finally "turned the corner" in his only playoff run. Had a decent run in Orlando until Cat left and it was all downhill from then on.
the newbs don't know that. in fact, when kenny got here to the Rockets, he tore up the league. for some reason the only things that people remember kenny for 1. that game vs orlando 2. derrick harper's hand checking its a shame, cause his career as a Rocket was great. The Smith/Cassell duo was our best PG situation in the longest time. We are still trying to figure our PG situation. Rafer isn't a reliable shooter like Kenny. And yeah, Kenny was very reliable.
Kenny's best was nowhere near as good as Steve's best. If you consider their entire careers one could argue Kenny had a better overall career only because he has 2 rings because he benefited dearly from the greatest basketball player during that stretch. Francis was also dynamic for more than just a "few" seasons. He had a run of 7 good to great years. Some of you guys make it sound like he had just two or three good seasons. 7 years of Jahidi white T-bagging, Troy Hudson ankle breaking, Gary Payton backboard swatting, ROY winning goodness. During his time in Houston he put up 19.3 points, 6.4 assists, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.63 steals in 374 games (372 starts). Kenny had 2 good seasons statistically speaking which were his sophomore season and first year with Houston. The other 2 where he won rings would also qualify as good seasons since he played a key role. However, to say that the rest of his career was inconsistent woud be a terrible understatement. If Kenny didn't have the benefit of playing with Hakeem he would not have those 2 rings and nobody would even know who he was. Shoot, people outside of Houston probably don't even know who Kenny "the Jet" Smith is. How hard is it to run the offense centered around the Dream if you can make a post entry pass and knock down an open 3? Not as hard as you may think. Just ask Matt Maloney who started 2 years in the league playing alongside Dream.
I went to several games when Steve played the Sonics. Gary Peyton destroyed him. I think he destroyed him worse than he whipped Kenny. It got so bad, they put Maxwell in the game (Max was coming off the bench in seattle) in garbage time.
when kenny 'the jet' smith can start and finish a sentence with the same sense of comphrension...i'll listen to him
Tinman- You know I love you but check your history. Kenny did NOT know when to quit. As a matter of fact since leaving Houston Kenny played 3 seasons for 3 different teams. I'm not even going to bring up what his numbers looked like those final 3 years out of respect. However, If that's not bouncing around then I dunno what is. And your argument for the salaries. Back then the Collective bargaining agreement rules were much different. I still remember when Barkley signed that 1 year 9 million dollar contract with Houston in 99. He was so greatful because he had NEVER seen that kind of money before. Also you gotta take into effect inflation and overall change of the game/times. Don't blame Steve that he got paid. He was well worth it at the time.
I think as far as getting max contracts Francis' role on the Rockets was very different from Smith's. Smith wasn't brought in to carry the team while for a few seasons Francis, and Mobley to a lesser extent, were the team.
GP was the best point guard in the game at that time (when Steve was first coming into the league). I just used the backboard swatting as an example. Whether Steve got destroyed or not is a moot point because like I said GP was the best PG at that time. I just remember him going up against Payton with no fear and if memory serves correct he held his own a few times.
I hear ya although don't you get the vibe that it's different when players criticize other players? Almost to the point that a player wouldn't care if a fan said something but if another player said the same exact thing the "Who the hell is this guy?" card usually gets dealt. For instance: remember early in 2008 when Shaq was dogging it in Miami before he got dealt and Bill Walton called him out for it. Shaq responded by pulling the "Ithinkmrwaltonbrokethebigmanpekingordercode225.227...heaintonmylevel" card.
Next time, I would recommend that you get your facts straight before you go telling tinman to check his history. Kenny Smith played ONE season after leaving the Rockets. True, he played for three teams during that season, but he was one and done. That's not really bouncing around. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smithke01.html Note that Det, Orl, and Den all came in the same season. And he still averaged 6 ppg and shot 43% on the 3.
tinman, playoffs. Who would you rather have in the post? Hakeem Olajuwon Prime or sophomore Yao Ming?
His best seven year run includes: - his last year in Houston, in which he looked terrible and was suspended for putting his personal life before the team - a year split between Orlando and New York in which he averaged 14 ppg and had nearly as many turnovers as assists - an amazing total of ONE playoff appearance
Oops my bad. 3 different teams in one season is even worse. Perhaps that's what Tinman was reffering to when he said Kenny knew when to quit. Those whopping 6 points oh my! You don't get traded/cut by 3 different teams in one season if you're cutting it.
You guys are defending Kenny Smith; that's hilarious. I could remember during his playing days so many people hated him and wanted to trade him to point guards like Steve Francis. I guess we'll be praising Rafer Alston ten years from now.
