Mutombo likely to return, Our off-season is likely over?

Well certainly it is a fact that NY desperately wanted to get rid of him, and discussed a buy out. Certainly it is a fact that Portland bought him paying over 30 mil of around 33 mil left on a contract. Certainly it is a fact that Portland signed a vet PG 3 years Francis junior (Jeff Blake) after that buy out for over twice what it would have cost just to keep Francis.

Those are the most relevant facts. After this, yes, it is all conjecture. My hunch is Portland had major questions about Francis', 1) health/ability to regain his former exlosiveness, 2) attitude, and/or 3) best role/true ability to play the PG position and run a team. My guess is they had questions about all 3.

Like I said I hope Francis is an excellent 6th man who really brings some firepower to the back up SG spot primarily, and back-up PG spot secondarily. I think outside of his health failling, which is a legit risk, there is a good chance he can do this. If you have much higher expectations than that I'd say you are very likely to be dissappointed.

I agree with this. I think more than likely Rafer's value will go up when we start to see how big a problem the PG spot is for other teams. Mia (part. if Williams can't stay healthy), Boston, Indy--those teams are in very precarious PG positions and very well may need to make a move and few players of Alston's caliber will be available without giving up a lot more than what it will take to get Rafer.

So right now it sure looks like a "hold" instead of a "sell low". Rafer is not an above average starting NBA PG by any stretch, but the difference between Rafer and marginal NBA level PG running your team is big, as we saw last year when Rafer went to the bench. The other guys who will be available will be like Watson, Banks, D Stoudamire--I think Rafer is better all around than these guys to a team like Boston or Mia.

 

Adelman has had some strong defensive teams. Adelman is getting caught with the Dominique Wilkins label. Just because 'Nique was one of the greatest offensive players ever people say he couldn't do anything else. Yet 'Nique was a great rebounder and defender. Because Adelman coaches offense well it's assumed he can't have a great defense. Or that a shot-blocker and defender couldn't fit a running team. Remember those old Barkley Suns teams had a guy similar to Dikembe, Mark West. And he was approaching 40 at the time as well, so defensive guys can fit in well, especially if they can rebound because you can't run without the ball.

 

And certainly it's a fact that Portland WANTED to keep Francis but Francis called them up and asked to be bought out so that he could go to a contender. It's certainly a fact that Francis actually wanted to be bought out, New York didn't desperately want to buy him out. Certainly it's a fact that Francis was hoping to be bought out at the trade deadline and was considering coming to Houston. Certainly it's a fact that the only reason Portland overpaid on Blake is because they needed a veteran PG to replace Francis and the only way they could get Blake to choose them over a number of better teams is to throw money out there.

Those are the most relevant facts.

 

If you have much higher expectations than that I'd say you are very likely to be dissappointed.

Since you can't see the future and you aren't all-knowing forgive me if I don't take what you say as fact. Because everything you have said has been opinion.

 

A few thoughts:

1. I don't know if you guys read the offseason articles in the New York papers about Nate Robinson. In one of those, it was mentioned that Nate was Francis' sidekick last season and blame Francis for Nate's lack of focus (apparently Francis was joking around on the bench or something).

2. That said, I am not worried about Francis' attitude with this team. He is kind of immature and tempermental, but he did not want to be in NY (his acquisition was all a part of the Larry Brown insanity) and he wants to be in Houston. I think that'll make a big difference in his focus.

Also, this is a veteran team with a coach who has a good history of dealing with headcases (if you think Francis is something... try coaching Ron Artest-- and his friend Bonzi Wells at the same time). I think they'll be able to get Francis to keep his head on straight.



3. I've said it before, but my only concern is his physical condition. I hope he gets in shape, stays healthy, and regain some of his atheletic ability. The rest should take care of it self.

It shoudl be noted that even a supposedly bad season last year was not all that bad for Francis. His scoring efficiency was actually pretty high because he got to the line pretty often and shot decently from the arc and from the line. (Morey was talking about him still being top 10 or something in getting to the line... you can see it in his FTA to FGA ratio.) His +/- was actually decent as well.

 

facts? granted. truthy facts. relevant? thats where we disagree. i think they're capillary factoids compared to the really relevant question: can francis still ball close to a 2k3 level? that's the artery of the issue. my opinion, heck yeah he can. cause what are all those facts without fully transparent context? diddly squat i say, no offense. if i were a GM in portland i wouldnt take francis either. same with NY. but if i were that same NY or Portland GM and I was clocking in to work every morning in a certain H-Town where a certain Francis has a certain huge fanbase, takes residence and has a certain Yao Ming as his good pal, and a certain line-up that's structured to win soon, then heck yeah I'd take francis. it's not like francis tore his ACL. his explosiveness is related to whether or not he's motivated. hence houston VS NY or Portland is apples 'n oranges. you think francis would of had a big "here i am/ let's go this season" party in portland or NY??? you got skepticism, understandable...somewhat, but that's cool.

 

The final piece of the puzzle will be roaring in to run for the championship. Go Mutombo!

GO ROCKETS!

 

good points. steve said in his press conference that he played to get on Sportscenter. but steve has tendonitis in both knees and his left knee is especially bothersome so i hope fans don't expect the old steve who had highlight styled slam dunks. that is not going to happen too often. steve did give his knees a lot of rest during the offseason and did put on a lot of weight, but he will be ready to go by the regular season.

 

Nice. The Big Mutombo is back! Caliente, caliente!

 

If Portland thought Francis would help them so much why would they agree to buy him out for over 30 mil? Nor did I hear about any contenders offering packages to Portland for Francis--all the teams of interested just waited for the buy out and didn't even offer full MLEs.

Further, who wouldn't want to be bought out at 30 mil and go sign somewhere else where you can make even more total money and pick you place. It wasn't like Francis agreed to take a 15 mil buyout, he nearly got his whole contract payed, along with his freedom.

Seems to me your facts, which I don't doubt reflect public comments from Francis camp or some front office looking for good pub, are more like spin.