Stevie's a ball hog... he won't pass the ball to Ming....... I don't see these two get along too well~~~~~
I didn't know you were a ball hog if you averaged about 18 shots per game. I thought a ball hog would shoot about 30. But if Steve and Yao don't get along, and the team is winning, then something would be wrong.
Do you follow basketball much? Being a ballhog doesn't mean you shoot the ball everytime. What being a ballhog really is, is dominating possesion. You can't deny that Francis doesn't dominate the ball for about 70% of the shot clock. Also, shots per game stats are skewed on a team like the Rockets, who attempt a small amount of shots per game, because of their slow paced 1-on-5 offense. 18 shots for the Rockets is similar to 20-25 for other teams.
Was a new thread really necessary? If you have something to say, why not contribute in one of the many, many threads about the exact same subject? Incidentally, Ming doesn't seem to require large amounts of time with teh ball to win. And Francis doesn't take that many *shots*.
Oh, so I guess our POINT GUARD should never handle the ball. Instead we should give it to Kelvin Cato to work his magic. Or how about T-MO? He sure can score, right? This kind of goes with the offense thing. Basically, we didn't have a well-drawn out offense. Therefore, someone had to work their magic. Steve was the best player, so he got the ball.
Actually, I'd rather see Steve DRIVE THE BALL TO THE HOOP, before the shot clock expires on us. A PG is supposed to get the offense going, Steve just stalls the offense. An offense doesn't have to be well-drawn out, if you have a real PG who knows what the hell is doing with the ball in his hands. Steve seems to think about what he will do for 20 seconds, and then jack up a 20 ft jumper, or pass it to Mobley for a missed 3. If you've noticed, maybe only 20% of the offensive possesions in the NBA are based on set plays, or "well-drawn" out offenses. This is because there is not enough time in a possesion to set up an offense by having guys go to their correct spot. If Francis had the ability to do what he wants to do offensively, before the shot clock runs down, then our offense would be much more effective than it was last year. I can't blame Francis entirely, since Mobley and Norris did the same thing. One thing for sure is that Francis doesn't pass the ball that much. This creates problems for the team, because the other players are less likely to pass the ball as well, because they don't know if they'll ever get the ball back. Passing is contagious, but the Rockets must have mistaked it for a contagius disease, with the way they lacked any ball movement. When you lack such ball movement, the first scapegoat will always be the PG. And Francis is our alleged PG.
haha you're another sucker for misleading statistics huh? Don't you think that someone who has the ball a lot, will generally rack up assists? Duh... You can't get an assist, if you don't have the ball. Francis had the ball more than his fair share, and if anything he should average more than the 7 a game that he did. No other PG in the league has the ball in his hands more than Francis, yet Francis was like 15th or something in the league in assists. So much for your statistics proving anything. If anything, it proves that he doesn't do enough with the ball in his hands. Thank you for accentuating my point even more.
in the 3 years Stevie played.... every year, his minutes go up.. but his assists / game coming down... don't tell me that's not a sign of ball hog... 6.4 assists /game won't even make the top 20 ........... espeically that he's a point guard... he's more of a shoot first then pass type of guy..... he's just like marbury
I'm sure he tried to drive. But when your center isn't getting the other center to respect him, Francis goes driving into a brick wall. The other guys couldn't get their guys on them either. T-Mo's guy was probably 10 feet away. Even if he did pass out from a drive, Cato can't shoot,or doesn't, and Collier can't jump on his shot. Kenny can't shoot well, but got better. Nevermind T-Mo. Langhi could shoot, but not spotting up. Oscar was ok. Now Mobley Moochie could shoot and we wonder why he always passed to them. Eddie could shoot 3's, but that was it. Even if he passed to other guys to drive or pass, they weren't good at it. Kenny's iso, Cat's iso, Mooch's iso, and Griffin's p&r were the only plays that would work. Like I said in the offense thread, the team planned on having a sharpshooting 3 and a good shooting 4. As for him taking the entire clock, I agree he did take a little too much, but like I said earlier, what is there for him to do? Drive and get blocked, drive and pass to a wide-open T-Mo or Kenny miss, or pass to Cato to post up.
guest as a nick... hmm let me see, perhaps you think that you aren't staying long You've started three threads now, and they all seem pretty similar to me *sigh* kidrock8, I agree with you about Steve. In general, he seems indecisive about moving the ball. He only really seems able to give up the ball in two situations. One, feeding the post (very occasionally), or two, making the killer pass for the easy bucket. He seems unwilling to just swing the ball, to try to get the defence moving, and create space for cutters. He doesn't often seem to give the ball up and flash to the basket for example.
I guess we should post up Cato and have him get assists by getting doubled. Besides, there were plenty of times Francis would pass to an open guy, but he would miss. I don't blame them, since they were backups forced to start. Also, our offense doesn't get many assists. If Steve passed to Kenny for an iso, he wouldn't get an assist.
RC Cola: When we play small ball, and put shooters out there, Francis actually benefits on drives from the lack of a true center, since the lane is clear, and the perimeter threat tends to draw the defense. Yet Francis doesn't seem to really drive more then, anywya. It works for the Lakers - sometimes Bryant is more successful when Shaq is out for that reason - nobody in the lane.
Another point I forgot to mention is the team's assist total, which I think is more important than the PG's individual assists. The point should set the offensive tone and tempo for the team, and if Steve got the ball moving more, then he would get "assists" on assists, if you follow my meaning. The total assist figure give an idea of how the team is sharing the ball, and getting it to the right spots on the floor. If Steve becomes more effective at that, fg% goes up, assists go up, although personally his assists probably won't.
I thought our small ball involved having a guard at sf, not a shooter at center. If Eddie was there, I can understand. But he was a rookie and was a liabilty due to his strength. Who else could have been at C? Cato and Collier don't demand respect, although Cato did start to get alleys in the end.(but didn't shoot.)
Like I said earlier, we got passes to the open men, but they couldn't hit them. T-Mo Kenny, and even Oscar at times were standing wide open, but would miss the shot. I don't have a problem with this since the 2 were not supposed to start, and Oscar was nervous in his first year. But if Steve passes to Mobley or Mooch, guys who can shoot, he is passing to his friends. Even if he did pass to an open player, they may set up an iso and he would get no assist.
So you're trying to say SF will phase ming out? Well i think he will at first, becvause he is not confortable. But when he scores a couple of times he will reluctantly give him the ball.
I thought we were talking about last year. The year before, you could see how the team benifitted from a guy who could hit the open shot. Last year, only Mobley, Francis, Mooch, Walt, and Griffin could do that. No big men,unless you count Griff. This upcoming year should be exciting with Ming, Griff, Boki, Mo, and Rice all hitting shots from drives. (I hope Rice doesn't lose it totally.)
