I'm not sure I need to bother adding to this thread, but I didn't much care for the article. I found it at least ironic that Lopez would pick on the one guy who has kept the series competitive. Francis has been carrying this team in these first 2 games and it seems like half of Rocketdom doesn't even notice. No one else is stepping up.
Why do you think it is that Stevie always seems to find himself in these iso situations...it's because he seeks them out (no revelation here). If he wanted his teammates to be involved, to cut, whatever, all he has to do is drive the ball in their directions, make any kind of gesture to go in their direction, and the entire offense will begin to move, rotate, fill the seams. But no, Francis dribbles, dribbles and dribble in place, never so much as looks at a teammate and throws up a brick. He created the situation for himself and his teammates just tried give him his best opportunity.
Amen. I have been, and still am waiting for our new franchise player to step up. So far I haven't seen too much, but have heard the clangs. I really want Yao to step up his game. And JJ needs to make his treys. Cato has been good on D, and that is all we can really expect of him minus a couple of alleyoops (oh, and he took too many jumpshots/fadeaways on monday.)
1) Why the hell do people think Kobe was smiling because he had help on that iso vs. Stevie? I really doubt that was the reason for the smile. If anything Kobe was relishing the idea of Stevie going at him one on one and playing that up. 2) It sucks to lose but Francis has played better than anyone on our team in this series so far. He's made mistakes but he should not be the focus of the blame. The TOs kill me, but overall Francis has done his part to help us win.
I wondered when I read this what exactly Lopez expected out of Francis. He can't win the game by himself and if he tried, he'd be singled out for his "selfish" play. It's true that great players make their teams better, but I'm not sure what else he could've done to will them to victory in game 2. If guys miss shots or miss defensive assignments or if the other team just happens to be better, what are you going to do? Francis frustrates the hell out of me but I can admit he has easily been the best player on this team in these two games. It's not really even close. And, yet, it's not good enough? Why do I get the feeling that if Yao went off for 30 and 15 and the team lost, Lopez column would be something like, "Yao did everything he could, but his teammates just weren't up to the task." It just seems like Francis is doomed to be the fall guy whatever the case. I realize that this is just the standard Steve is being held to, but I wonder if that standard is just impossible to reach. It's one thing to dislike the guy, but this is getting ridiculous.
The problem is that Francis is being compared to Kobe in terms of production. There is Kobe + Shaq and then there is Francis + Yao. The problem is that the Lakers then have Payton + Malone and we have....? Mobley + JJ? That isnt enough. We just need more horses.
I was just thinking about the same thing. What happened to the sweet stroke Yao has from 15~20 ft? As much as I am impressed by the improvement on defense this season, I am not at all pleased with the lack of a cohesive strategy at the other end. I also don't buy into this notion that SF and Yao can't co-exist and flourish. Don't do anything stupid this off-season. Keep SF and Yao. Trade everyone else.
Steve Francis looks like he playoff ready and willing, unfortunately, he is playing the #1 playoff winning team in the West. Shaq has been to the playoffs every year of his career, has 3 rings, along with Kobe. Karl Malone has been going to the playoffs as far as I can remember, and would have a ring if it wasn't for some guy named Jordan. GP has just as much playoff experience. I hate the Lakers as much as the next guy, but.... Game 1: We out rebound them, more points in the paint, the big 4 all had bad nights=we lose by 1 point. Game 2: Shaq is held to 7 points-7 rebounds, something that hasn't been done in 147 playoff games, and we get blown out. It's the Lakers, they find a way to win, and Steve shouldn't be blamed for that. The guy had a triple-double last game, Cat had 9points and a very,very, costly foul. Yao had 4 FREAK'N rebounds and 1 point in the 3rd quarter. Cato had 2 points 2 rebounds in the game. JJ was the only one that was helpful. All of this and we're still blaming SF for the loss. I guess its expected because he's the leader of this team and leaders get the blame, and he still hasn't complained once about it.
MORON!!! Most of you Rox fans don't just HATE Steve the basketball player, you just plain hate the person on and off the court. Francis single handedly carried the team on his back to beat Denver and clintch our playoff spot, I was at the game and I saw that determination in him that he wasn't going to let the Rox lose. He has played extremely well in the playoffs where most of you fans said he COULDN"T handle pressure. Now that he has proved you wrong, you wanna hate for no reason. Get your **** straight.
That just Steve Francis you either like his play or you don't. The only problem it's not compatible with JVG and the Team's direction.
I like this quote: "Think of it like the caged gerbil running on an exercise wheel. There it goes, frantically going 100 mph, chugging and churning, making great time. But, in the end, it has gone nowhere and still is in a cage. " This is why there's so much controversy regarding SF. On one hand the guy angers you with silly TO and unnecessary showmanships, but on the other hand the guy plays hard day in and day out despite sprain and spasms. So there's no right or wrong opinion on this subject basically some of us see him as the stupid gerbil that's wasting his energy cause he'll never get out of the cage(help a team win). While others praise him for being the hard working gerbil that never gives up. I am sure the Kings had the same dilemma when they traded JW for MB.
Man you are pathetic ... I at least have respect for many of the people on this board that hate Francis, but have sack to admit when he had a good game. All you can focus on is ONE PLAY during the game where SF3 missed a J and from the looks of it, it was a called ISO for Steve more than likely from JVG!!!!! Steve has given the most effort of anyone in these playoffs, and he has played the best of any Rocket yet IMHO. When the big games came around, Steve's game came around and he has done the things many of you have been crying for all season WHEN IT COUNTS. nWo34Life ... When you don't have something intelligent to say, just don't say anything at all. Better yet, I'll make a daily post and occasional thread about how much you hate Francis and you can just leave the BBS all together and it will be just the same.
Most importantly, he can't win on the court either. Coddle him all you want, but Francis defines the word "loser".
Jeff I couldn't agree more. That was one hell of a good post. It's pretty much exactly how I feel. What more to say then....great post. EDIT: wow,....this thread alone has given me the green light on using my ignore list. To hate the guy off the court as much as some people do is just sad.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. You haven't been here long, but there are anti-SF people who would agree w/ me. Hearing your **** makes me keep on posting and posting on how Francis is. He might be a hard worker, but his style of play doesn't fit for this team. You can say what you want....but you won't see me stop posting about SF.
Man this is sad, nothing that he can do will stop the bashing. He has a bad game in game 1, I understand. But come on your still gona hate on him after he had a good game too. Give the guy a break. Stop complaining all the time like lil b****es. He did everything he could do and we did not win. Lets just see what happens next game. Seriously its getting annoying. Atleast stop blaming him for everything. Lemme guess a week from now someones gona blame him for the shot JJ missed at the end of game 1.
