yao has missed more games than tmac in the past 3 years and i don't think anybody expected that. he was an iron man in his first few years in the L. if he gets injured one more time next yr, 4 years in a row is just too much to take.
exactly, if people saw the steve of maryland and his first few years in houston, you could see the natural raw talent i'm talking about. people talked about greatness in his earlier years. but he never became that superstar. the "franchise" nickname stuck with him and i think he just never had the motivation to fulfill his potential. dude could have been a better version of allen iverson, but bigger and stronger. but for some reason, i never saw it. i do agree with you raw athleticism-wise, tracy is not on steve's level b/c steve is only 6'3 and could nearly jump as high (if you saw the dunk contest). steve was sick. but he did fulfill his potential in terms of just sheer individual greatness. people actually argue for several years he was THE best player and during his peak in orlando, many said he could go down as one of the greatest (top 10 even). so sheer individual greatness, tmac did fulfill his potential for a 5 year period. winning-wise, him and steve both haven't. but trust me, steve, had he played well after being traded, could have gone down as one of the best. he was teaming up with a young dwight howard. but for some reason after cuttino got traded, steve fell hard. but steve from maryland + houston years -> one of the most exciting players to watch.
I don't think that Francis could've been better than Iverson. Both are shoot-first pgs, and Iverson is better offensively. And if you look at their games, Francis was more explosive when attacking the rim, but Iverson was quicker. Speed will last far longer than explosiveness during a career. Disagree. In his prime, Tmac made everything look easy. Remember that 360 degree dunk he had during this past season against the Bulls during a dead ball? Effortless. Tmac had the potential to be one of the greatest of all time. Cant the same thing be said about everyone?
francis was 6'3. he could have developed a post game (which iverson can never dream to do). francis could have been more versatile in his offensive game, which would allows him to make more impact than iverson. plus, he has the ability to rebound, defend... better than AI. he coule easily been a much better overall player than AI. AI may have been a better pure scorer, but that's it.
I hate to give you a news flash, but the Rudy T, Steve Francis led Rockets destroyed Iverson and Larry Brown.. Yeah MVP Iverson Steve Francis destroyed Marbury, another person he was compared too and Jason Kidd another person he was compared too there was reason why he was an all-star (side note, Cassell whipped Francis when they faced each other..cause Clutch City 1 heroes are invincible)
i have a gut feeling steve is gonna have a good season and who knows become the starter after a while hopefully he drops like 10ppg 5 rebounds and 5 assist
rafer has been putting up 12-13 ppg, 4rpg, 5.5 apg the past few years. francis has to put up those #s and shoot like 44% with 37-38% from 3s if he wants to start. it's gonna be hard to take the starting spot from rafer. he does more for us that a lot of people think.
True, in their primes, Francis may have performed well against Iverson, but based on the strengths they relied on (speed vs explosiveness), I never doubted that Iverson would perform much better for a far longer period of time. How many players can you think of who relied on their explosiveness as much as Francis did and was able to sustain it for their entire career? Yes, he was 6'3 and not that strong. I doubt he could've developed an effective post game. At best, I see him at Cassell's level, but Cassell, IMO, is a much better mid-range shooter. Yes, he can rebound better than Iverson, but thats irrelevant. To me, thats like using 3 pt % to help determine whose a better center between David Robinson and Patrick Ewing. How often do you see undersized players outrebounding forwards and centers? And if you're going to say that he's a better defender than Iverson, at least give some sort of analysis to support your claim. For instance, I can say that Francis has never averaged 2 steals per game, but Iverson has only had 2 seasons when he DIDNT average 2 steals per game. In those seasons, he averaged 1.8 and 1.9 spg.
His averages are deceiving (which I've told you before). He's one of the most inconsistent shooters I've ever seen. He can play terrible one game and great the next and as a result, his average is decent.
he's been VERY consistent since yao went down. and his directing of the offense and defense are always consistent. yes his shot needs to be more consistent, but steve or bobby or anyone who wants to take his starting spot is even close to be as consistent as him.
Mmmm that sounds great...plus one of those good ol Stevie Franchise dunk every night that would be a great role playing Steve. I think Tmac gets the most of it because he is/was a great player and all great players have to get past the first round that's what all the writers do to flame him but all that does is just ruin Tmac's play they should go after there old favorite lover Dwayne Wade! people are now thinking Dwayne who?
May have performed? you mean already performed. check your Rockets history dude. This is such crap dude, how would you know back then? Nobody knew that Steve would fall so low. Just like no one knew that the best defense against Shawn Kemp was hamburgers and women. No one knew Yao would break his foot. At the time Steve Francis was rising faster than GOOGLE Stock. trust us 99ers, WE WERE THERE.
Given its context, theres nothing inappropriate with the phrase "may have performed well." I'll check my rockets history. You go read a book.
no doubt it is tmac and i really feel steve will have two more good years left just not as our third scorer. He will be a good player on our rockets team
