And Kenny was never as good as you people remember him to be. Hakeem got the ball from the likes of everyone. Even Steve couldn't mess that up. WE WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP BECAUSE OF HAKEEM. Not because of Rudy T. Not because of Mario Elie's clutch shot. Not because of Turbo's timeout shows. It was always Hakeem, the greatest player in the world at that point. So don't tell me Kenny is a better player than Steve and don't tell me Steve couldn't have won a championship with them under those circumstances. With so many veterans on that team do you think Rudy would let Steve dribble the ball forever like that? He would've done what he was told because half that locker room could kick his ass. Kenny Smith is not better than Steve Francis. Case closed. Again. What does that have to do with what you quoted me on? I said we never saw what Steve could do with a legit team, and then you say something about losing Cuttino? Reading comprehension problems? Anyway. We never saw what Steve could do with a legit team. You put anyone in Kenny Smith's spot in '93-'94 and we still win that thing. Of the five original starters, Smith did the least. I can argue we could put Rafer Alston in a time machine, have him start on the '93 playoffs with Hakeem, and come out with the same result. Neither was Cassell. Our real point guard that helped us when things were on the line. I never said that. I'm just saying Kenny Smith played a very minor role when it came down to it. You could put most people in that position and they could've done what he did. A toned town Steve Francis could've done it. All the arguments used that Kenny is a better player than Steve has been structured around the belief that we couldn't have won a championship with any other point guard than Kenny. Ridiculous.
Did you watch the Rockets back then? Did you watch the Rockets during the Steve era? Did you watch the Rockets when JVG wanted Steve to defer to Yao and be a post up shooter playing off of Yao's double teams? I'm guessing the answer to all these questions is "yes", so then you are either (1) Steve Francis or (2) wearing Steve Francis fanboy glasses that have blinded you Steve was a good player. Steve was exciting. Steve was the lone bright spot on a terrible roster (outside of the one Superbowl instance). Steve was one of the best rebounding, athletic point guards to come along in a long while. Steve was also a terrible decision maker...go look at his 4+ turnovers per 6 assists each season. He was also a terrible spot up shooter. He would swish a 20 foot jumpshot coming off the dribble, but give him a wide open 3 pointer or long shot and he would miss most of the time...just that way with some players. Remember how he played in JVG's half court offense, which was eerily similar to the offense we ran with Hakeem? Not good at all...and when that athleticism faded, he basically faded away. I have no beef with Steve. I cheered for him...I was happy when he returned...but he was a good player on a bad team and he would NOT have fit in with the 93-95 rockets. And FYI, Sam Cassell shot .38% and .40% from three point range in the 93-94 and 94-95 playoffs. Hardly someone that can't hit a wide open spot jumpshot. Sam knocked down a ton of open spot shots in the NYK finals...I know because I watched all 7 games 3 weeks ago (thank you Clutch City DVD's ) And yes Sam played a big part in both championships, but don't forget that Kenny played just as well as Sam and was out there just as long as Sam was (if you don't believe me, check the stats and minutes). Kenny had his faults and was by no means an elite PG, but he played his role well and it contributed to 2 titles...just as much as Cassell's contribution did. And to me, that outshines a player who was athletic and could play great one-on-one basketball in an offense that had no structure or talent.
I don't think you can point to Steve's reluctance to hand the reigns over to a young Yao Ming as evidence that he wouldn't have submitted to the greatest center of all-time. They are completely different situations.
You are underestimating Kenny Smith. If you gave him free control out there and let him be the primary option, i am pretty sure in his prime he could put up close to 20 points a game and 8 assists. You have to realize that the only way Steve generated those numbers was complete domination of the ball. It is pretty evident that he looks lost when playing off the ball or even just making the right play. I doubt he would have thrived having to defer to Hakeem and Clyde in their primes.
Total Steve only BS. Smith averaged 13.8 as a Rookie out of UNC and backed that up with 17.3 ppg on a 27-55 Kings team that featured such greats as an over the hill Danny Ainge, Rodney McCray, Harold Pressley, a fast-fading Ed Pinckney, Ricky Berry (no, not that Barry), Jim Petersen, Derek Smith, Brad Lohaus, Vinny Del Negro, Joe Kleine and Randy Wittman. Francis dribbling out the clock while Hakeem was posting up would have happened twice.The first time, Dream would have passed it off as an accident. The 2nd time, he'd have been in Les's office before showering. Some of ya'all really need to go back and look at how much faster tempo the mid 90's Rockets played than Francis and Mobley played. And when they tried, the results were not pretty. Transition BBall edge is hugely in Smith's favor.
He did on an AWFUL Sacramento Kings 1 season. Not entirely out the realm of possibility, maybe 1 year out of 4. Kenny Smith is kinda like if you combine Rafer and Luther Head together. Basically keep Rafer's good attributes and add to it Head's athleticism and outside shooting, and you have a good role player. Putting Francis in place of Kenny on the championship teams would kinda be a roll of the dice. Instead of a mild Drexler effect I lean toward more Jason Richardson effect, the better talent but nope helping the won-loss. Francis DID play with Hakeem, though Hakeem was on the downside
Of course not. But when the only thing a guy ever did in his career was put up great numbers for about four years on teams that never even made the playoffs, I don't think you can call him a great player. I wasn't trying to argue that Kenny was better than Steve, I was trying to point out that Steve did not have a "great seven year run."
I'm not talking about his resistance to Yao being the first option, I'm talking about his play when he actually bought in and tried to be a guard in an inside-out offense. It didn't fit his game...and IMO it would have basically been the same with Hakeem
He was a better POINT GUARD than Steve no doubt. He can run the pick-n-roll - check He can get the ball to the post -check He can hit the open jumpers -check He can make SMART DECISIONS -check You Kenny haters (because of TNT) keep forgetting that the ENTIRE OFFENSE was build around Steve Francis. One on Ones etc. We NEVER traded Kenny Smith in his 'prime' cause he fit the team perfectly. I can post all day on how good Kenny Smith was as a LEGIT PG. No way we could have won a championship without Kenny running the show and have Steve run it. Wasn't it PAINFULLY OBVIOUS when JVG was coach that Steve could not be a PG?? Didn't Orlando prove that to you too? Didn't New York prove that? Nate Robinson playing more than Steve? Didn't the Blazers not even having him on the team for STEVE BLAKE? Didn't his 'comeback' with the Rockets prove that to you? Let's look at Cassell, he's way older than Steve and he's done more at an old age than Steve will ever do. You know why? Cause he learned how to play PG! Sam even said it himself, he said it took him 5-6 years to learn to be a real PG. Remove Steve's quickness and one-one-play, he's NOTHING. Except a memory. Ask the Grizzlies, they'd rather play Darius Miles.
People always reminisce on the good ole days. Maybe 10 years from now we will say how rafer was so good. Kenny was a good role player, Francis was an All star.
Steve was an all star under one system under one coach along with another SG. He never was an all star afterwards. Kenny was a legit PG coming out of NC, he was a legit PG. steve francis -scorer cutino mobley-scorer Yao Ming - post player -that doesn't work. Don't you remember that when Steve got here, he found Rick's system 'confusing'? I mean was it so complicated that a rookie like Aaron Brooks could run it? I love Steve, but legit PG he never was. Better 'scorer' than Kenny. yup. A better shooter? nope. Was Steve's hey day in Houston fun to watch? yes..and no.
I don't know if this has been mentioned, but didn't Kenny win a dunk contest? Ouch. Too bad Steve had to go against VC and the wheel of dunk.
I guess Horace Grant was a better player than Charles Barkley because he was more of a traditional power forward.
You have to be kidding me. Steve Francis is no Charles Barkley. If you were to make a comparison like that, he would be more like a Shawn Kemp (short peak with a drastic falloff). Francis was vastly overrated in his prime and I highly doubt that he could have fit in with the championship Rocket teams. He needs a system where he can dominate the ball to be successful. Otherwise he is pretty clueless about whats happening on the court.
<br> That doesn't mean that Smith was a better player. <br> Francis is the better player by far Kenny had the better career though
<br> To his defense though, Francis should never have really been used as a PG He was always more of a 2.. <br> Some of that blame has to go to Rudy T.
<br> He did have a great 5 year run... <br> Fact: In 2003-04, Steve Francis joined Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson and Grant Hill as the only players in NBA history to average 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in each of their first five seasons
