True, but these open shots came (generally) from double-teams, or drive and dish. They also often came late in the shot clock, as an after-thought. These shots were from the outside generally, not KT or T-Mo's strong suit. As for the previous year, I feel that Hakeem made as significant a contribution as anyone in the second half of the season (when the Rocks went on a run). His inside game created better spacing on the floor, and he was a considerably better passer off the defensive rebound than anyone currently on the team.
That's what I'm trying to say. Our offense was pretty much designed to be a drive and dish offense. Steve and Cat would drive and either score or pass to an open Mo T or Rice. When they got hurt, they pretty much had to drive. Although Kenny is good, he is a backup and so is T-Mo. Kenny could only iso, so the assist is gone, while T-Mo could only pass or shoot an airball. Had we known beforehand that our offense wouldn't feature these players, we would have designed another one to better suit the backups. Also we didn't have an inside presence, unless you count kenny. Now I'm getting sleepy. I may post a little more but I will probably stop. I'll be back to argue tomor...I mean tonight.
Seriously, you Francis bashers need to look over his situation again. Rudy wanted an iso like offense which didn't end up working with the new defense and all the injuries changed everyones role, over and over again. Now, we have Stevie with migraines and playing with a shoulder injury. I think this may have alittle affect on his game . Then we should look at the players around him, not alot of great shooters out there. Not to mention players that are have iso on the brains, such as Mobes and KT. There for, no chance Steve can grab an assist. Now, I don't understand how people can say Steve is selfish for playing hurt because he wants to win now. BUT in this post I will consider is to be a logical thought. Steve did say he wanted to make the play-offs last year, no? Maybe the guy was disappointed to have his hopes sink before his eyes. Maybe he wanted to go out there and give it his all. Hate Steve all you want, but calling him a hog is flat out stupidity! If you want to talk about ball hogs, goto the 76ers' BBS and post some garbage about Iverson!
You know..........it doesn't matter who we have on the Rockets, you guys would still bash every player on the team. And it's not like any of you bashers even have any evidence to base you opinions on. It's all circumstantle.
Does anyone who is knocking Francis realize that the team that he played on last year shot like 38% from the field? Not to mention that half of his team was hurt too? Don't you think that has something to do with Stevie's assist numbers? Some of the threads that get started in here are ridiculous. I really hope none of the actual players read some of these threads. To suggest that Stevie's a ballhog is absolutely absurd. He is the best player on the team, and I actually think he could shoot more. Regarding Ming, they will get along fine. When Steve realizes he has a guy on the team who most nights will shoot 65% from the field, we will all see his assist numbers go up. We will not see a Pippen/Barkley blow up here. You neighsayers can say what you want, but the good guys will be back this year. It is a looooong time coMing!!!
Francis doesn't get assists b/c like RC said, all we run is ISO's. That is not an assists offense, its a one-on-one offense. If Steve passes to KT and he holds the ball for 10 sec. before he makes his move and scores thats no assist for Steve and another drwan out Rox possession. Same thinh when he passes to Cat for an ISO. Oh and bye the way, those are the only two Rockets who had any real chance of scoring last season. RC is also right about Cato giving Francis no open lanes to drive into. There were so many times last season I watched Steve drive into the lane and run into the other teams big man and get fouled or create contact but w/ nothing being called. Francis would hit the floor 2-3 times a game going in for drives. It got to the point were I din't even want him to go in there b/c I thought one of the times he's gonna get knocked down and not get back up. Last year we had a stupid offense w/ few good player (2-3 besides Steve) How many assists can someone get when you have 2 starting spots giving you fewer than 9pts a game?. This year the offense will continue to suck but w/ Ming, Nachbar, and healthy Taylor and Rice, the results will be better.
haha you're another sucker who finds it easy to over look statistics, facts, and position a player plays huh? The PG should have the ball a lot. The best player on the team should also control the ball a lot and the offense should be run through that player. When it turns out the best player on your team is the PG then it only makes sense. When Hakeem was the best player on the team, the offense almost always ran through Hakeem. Once Steve's teammates actually catch the ball better, and are better able to operate with the ball once they get it, his assists will go up. Once Steve is able to play with the same line up and actually get used to his teammates instead of having an ever revolving team on the floor due to injuries it will help also. This year Griffin is a year older, and it looks like he might be well improved. Ming could add another player that can execute well and help Steve not have to carry the load so much. Scoring more than 20ppg on less than 20 shots and leading the team in assists were pretty good for last year. Hopefully it will imrpove.
Is there any way to confirm this, or is just a feeling. My "hunch" would be that given the amount of time players like Mobley, Moochie aka "the little dribbler" (he didn't get that nickname for nothing) and KT held the ball, that Francis' time with the ball in his hands wouldn't be significantly higher/lower than any other PG or superstar SG in the league. Obviously, the Derek Fisher's of the world will have the ball in their hands less percentage of the time, becuase they have the Kobe's and Shaq's, but I still don't think it would be that significant a difference.
I am a little concerned about this as well. And I'll go back to two years to site why. I remember sometimes we'd run a fast break. Francis, Mobley & Shandon would be running the court. Shandon always ran his route well, spreading out on the wing. He'd be left so often but he'd never get the ball. If there's one thing Shandon can actually do, it's finish off a fast break, but Steve & Mobley would always pass to each other rather than give it up to Shandon. Also in the beginning of the season (again 2 years ago) I think Steve was really reluctant to pass the ball to Dream. Rudy would pretty much have to call a set, designed play and for Dream just so that Francis would look in his direction. We're talking about a future hall of famer here ... inventor of the patented Dream Shake ... the man who single-handedly (arguably) won 2 championships in Houston. Our offense really looked disjointed and I think it was because Steve wouldn't let the offense flow naturally, he wanted to choose which direction it should go. Sometimes he made good decisions, sure, but sometimes he'd really force the trick. I really hope Francis works well with the rest of this new team. I think he has the potential to be the best PG in the league, but he's got to play with the team, not just for the team or as the team.
Only three players in NBA history (Grant Hill, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson) have averaged more than 15 points, five boards and five assists in their first three seasons. Make that four . . .
All this Anti Ming, anti Francis propaganda must soon come to an end!!The Rockets Team will need every Fan pulling for them. In Rudy's new plan of team basketball, Yao will take time to adjust, especially to the travel, the back to backs,lack of sleep, new strong team players and NBA intensity.Francis will take time to adjust to having upto 5 players on the court at a time, that can put it in the basket,at least 4 players on the court that have the eye and hands to get rebounds, at least 4 players on the court at a time that can score over 20pts/gm. Steve Francis will be faced with many more options than in previous seasons.We hope that he leads the Team to the playoffs by listening to his Coaches and using all the options and playing Team Basketball. I wish all the Rockets 'All the Best for 02/03"
Guest is a troll plain and simple. He has started two anti Francis threads back to back just trying to start controversy. Kidrock, I am surprised that you would enable or encourage an obvious troll. Guest has made two separate threads claiming Francis and Ming would have divisive relationship. He is trolling...nothing more. And to say that shots a game are not tied to being a ball hog is way off mark. Steve Francis is the point guard for this team and yet he often differs control of the ball to Cat or Moochie. I think when you see Cat, Moochie, Steve and KT hold the ball and play 1 on 1 ball it is time to consider the possibility that they are just playing Rudy’s offense. Here are Steve's shots per game numbers: 14.5 shots a game his 1st year 15.23 shots a game his 2nd year 17.6 shots a game his 3rd year and 15.6 shots a game for his career Players like Vince Carter and Allen Iverson jack up about 20 shots a game.
