Who do you think is the better offensive player? before you laugh and point out all the past years stats, I think that you should look at all the games this year. Francis has been unable to get his offense going within this structure with Yao posting up. Then when yao gets his breather the offense goes to a mobley iso or taylor, and even jackson down low. I think that JVG sees mobley as a more efficient scorer so he puts him in all the isos while francis can't figure out how to run a pick and roll without being pushed all the way back to half court or offensive fouling. I am tired of seeing that drive to the freethrow line then stop pump fake and pivot repeatedly then fading away for a bad shot, while mobley seems to be able to jab step and release his nice jumper for a high percentage. Francis seems like a prototypical fast break player with his ability but he cannot run one correctly because the defense knows he doesnt pass it off.
I would trade Steve before I would trade Cat, no question. You aren't going to find a player of Cat's caliber for the money he makes. You'd have to package Mobley with someone else, and then you'd be giving up too much. Steve Francis, for some reason or another, is viewed around the league as an upper-tier player. Because of that, it could be easier to move him for another all-star, which I'd rather do. Mobley, while prone to some poor decision making sometimes, is an excellent offensive weapon and despite what some people think, IS willing to accept whatever role JVG assigns him to. I'm just tired of Steve Francis, and I've been one of his biggest defenders as of late. Losing to the Jazz...ARGH, I've lost my patience with our leader.
JVG isn't the only coach to do this. Rudy iso'd Mobley a lot more too, and he also gave Mobley many shots at the end of games or the quarter.
Even though Francis is more athletically gifted, Mobley is a better scorer/shooter. He's almost a poor man's Michael Finley.
I would take Cat over Steve almost anyday. Yes, Steve has more potential, but he never seems to harness it. Cat plays better defense and comes at a cheaper price. Problem is, Steve is a BYC player this year and the more he plays, the more obvious it is that he is not worth the money he makes. Maybe would could talk sac into a trade for Bibby, but I seriously doubt it. Realistically, I don't think we can get anything of value back for steve. Problem just a few middle of the line players and some scrubs. It would be very similar to the Pippen debaucle.
Cat is closer to a true shooting guard than Steve is to being a true point guard. Trade Steve's street ballin' ass. This team needs to be built around Yao and Cat. Cat gives you more height, more defense, better shooting, better passing, less ego, and for a lot less money than Steve.
I agree with everyone.. I would trade Francis first at this time if I had to make the decision..haha I wish. I don't know who we would trade him for though. And anyways...he is a BYC player..so yeah. We just have to deal with it and make adjustments and improve as a team! Mobley is lefthanded. Steve is right. I'm sure most people know that...Mobley always goes left ALWAYS. Unless he is like directly facing the basket..he will go right. Well their shooting form is different but I think MObley is a slightly better shooter. Yes. I think he's a better shooting guard than Francis is a point guard. Steve has several moves...Mobley can go on fire and make consecutive shots. Francis can do it too. They are both quite similar as guards! They need to find a way to cooperate and play as a team to win! I think Mobley has better defense too. Francis is a better all around player but he is too inconsistent. One night...19 points on 7-12 shooting with 9 assists and 4 turnovers..next night...13 points on 5-15 shooting with 8 turnovers and 3 assists. Win - Loss. Our point guard needs to be stable with very little turnovers and has to be able to contain opposing guards!
I can't get over how Steve has become the least liked player on the Rockets after the Jazz game. I couldn't watch the game as I had to go to CT for Thanksgiving, but I'm assuming that Steve had the worst game of his career. He's received more blame than Yao although Yao shot horribly. In any case, my vote was that Steve is the better offensive player. Mobley does have the better jump shot, but Steve is the better finisher and is more of the offensive minded scorer. Mobes is the better defender, but that wasn't the question. It just blows my mind that after one game that Steve has replaced Mobes as the guy we have to get rid of. I'll just wait til the next horrible game Mobes has and I'm sure the polls will change.
Munco, the reason why ppl want to get rid of Francis is because he is not getting better as a player. In fact I think he is regressing. Cat, on the other hand, is playing much better defense and plays more within the offense, plus he makes alot less $$. How bout this as a short-term solution. Move Cat to PG Slide JJ to SG Trade SF for a good Small F and decent back-up PG If you can throw in Mooch (even better)
I think we need to move steve's a$$ to SG, have mobley there to come off the bench and back him up, and get ourselves a PG who can distribute the ball. I don't know why it always gets mentioned that it has to be one or the other, why cant we keep both?
he's pretty much the same hieght as Mobley. Francis is 6'3 and Mobley is 6'4. But I guess you're right, he would be pretty small compared to some
My opinion on this has flipped back forth a few times, but right now I’m leaning toward wanting to keep Cat and trade Steve. In addition to Cat having a better contract, being a vastly better defender, and having less trade value than Steve. There’s one thing that really makes me lean toward keeping Cat and that is poise. Steve shows none, Cat at least shows a little. Both guys are inconsistent. They have their good games and bad games. When they’re on their game, both can carry the whole team to victory. What distinguishes them to me is how they play when the shots aren’t falling. When Steve plays poorly, he stinks up the joint to the point where he’ll cost the game for the team. His play progressively gets worse and worse as the game goes on. He shows absolutely no poise under pressure. He’ll compound mistakes by making more and more. He starts panicking and overdribbling, turning the ball over, and taking bad shots. And he’ll lose focus on defense and get lit up by inferior point guards. Most notably this has happened in the Portland and Jazz losses. When Cat plays badly, while he may not help the team win, he at least doesn’t lose the game for the team. He doesn’t buckle under the pressure the way Steve does. He still makes mistakes, but the mistakes are not a result of panicking. They’re the same mistakes he’ll make at any point in a game. He’ll play the same way throughout the game.
Good point New_Jack When the term dumb and dumber comes in to play to describe our backcourt it used to be SF (dumb) and Cat (dumber). After further review those terms should be switched around.
new jack, in response to steve choking more than cat during a bad game... While you are right, this is only because steve is a point guard and has the ball in his hands no matter what. Cat on the other hand is the two guard, and if he is having a bad game, can't compound mistake after mistake the way steve does because he doesn't have his hands on the ball as much. IMO, Steve will have a wonderful Marbury-esque career. Problem is, I don't want Marbury. They say the two hardest positions to fill are the point guard and center. I agree. Funny thing is, while most people around the league think we have both, I disagree. We do have the center position, and a wealth of shooting guards, but not one capable distributor at the point. To test the theory of adding a new point guard, the rox could theoretically get the aged Hardaway and sign him to a ten day contract. While I don't think he is the answer in any measure. I do think that it could be a way to measure the value of having a distributor w/o having to break up the backcourt just yet. I do feel that Hardaway could give 5-10 good games so we could get a sneak peek at what the team would be like w/steve logging most of his minutes at the two and having cat as the sixth man. well I guess that was more like four cents
If indeed Mobley is willing to do whatever JVG says, then for goodness sake JVG, make him play the PG, throw the entry pass to Yao, and flip Steve to the 2 guard.
and you get that inference from one game??? Well if all of you people judge players only from one game, why dont you judge steve from the clippers game.
I almost think that given the inconsistency of the back court mobley may be better off as a sixth man. This could give both guards their "given" time. Couple years back Mobley was Mr. 4th quarter. He was an awesome weapon coming off the bench clocking most of his time and points at the end of the game. Wether or not a true PG is the answer I'm not sure. I think the Rockets could do very well if everyone would just settle into a part of the offense and quit trying to force the game.
I agree, he has proven he plays well as a 6th. Maybe he's one of those players like John Starks was, who plays streaky as a starter but is outstanding as a 6th man.
