My Cup is Half Full...There's a lot to think about

My cup is overflowing.

 

How is mcgrady getting worse if he just came off of his best season ever. everyone who says he is getting worse looks at it from a scoring perspective but its a good thing he isnt scoring as much it shows he doesnt have to carry the team for a whole season.

 

Hmm, so if I read you right, Francis' failures the first time around here were not of his own making but should actually have been attributed to the head coach (it's all Rudy T's fault!). Good thing we got rid of that Rudy T guy! Much like this team's inability to to get out of the first round over the past 4 years was not really due to anything they did but was instead caused by the rigid, inflexible and incompetent JVG (it's all JVG's fault!). Good thing we got rid of that JVG guy!

Of course, I can now see how will be when it's Adleman's turn to visit the Executioner: Daryl "The Wizard" Morey gave him Mike James, Steve Francis, Bonzi Wells, Aaron Brooks, Carl Landry AND Yao AND Tmac and he screwed it all away because he was a (colorful description of coach's incompetence goes here). It's all Adelman's fault. Good thing we got rid of that Adelman guy!

 

Steve is actually very good at penetrating and kicking the ball out, and in passing in the half court out of his penetrations. That being said he was absolutely horrible on the break and below average in feeding the post from the perimeter. He is just as bad or worse than Rafer from 3. He is a much superior rebounder assuming he is healthy, but he has had health problems and is 30 years old now. He isn't as atheletically explosive as he was, and he hasn't shown that his ability to run a team or shoot outside has improved significantly to compensate.

The most telling reason to be caustiously optomistic rather than declare james or francis as the no brainer starter? Neither could manage to earn a starting role on their lottery teams last year.

There is a reason portland paid Francis $30 million not to play for them and James was given up for J. Howard. They are incredible additions as back ups replacing JL III and VSpan, especially considering their cost. I don't think Morey could have done any better given our cap and lack of assets. I'm just considerably less excited about them as starters.

 

Most accurate post of the week...

 

I second that
Amen brother amen

 

Nice post, sjackson0.

Next season stands to be one of the most interesting in some time, and the . . . re-addition of Francis into the mix could very well be the wild card to make things as fun and exciting as we've ever seen with the Rockets.

Yao has matured so much as a player in the time that Francis was gone that having those two on the same court again likely won't be anything like what we saw a few years ago. There are so many other elements in the mix the team dynamics/interactions ought to be really interesting to watch develop. The Rockets were already moving toward a deeper and more versatile roster even without adding Francis, but with him I think we have potentially one of the most versatile and deep teams we've ever seen here.

Those guys all stay relatively healthy (McGrady, Yao, Francis) and it's going to be a lot of fun. But even if/when injuries come into play, the new depth might just keep the Rockets not only afloat but highly competitive. It'll be interesting to see how the final roster rounds out. It's a lot of fun right now just watching it take shape. I'm very glad to see that Francis has come back into the fold and I believe he's going to do good things with and for the team.

As said in the original post, let's give this a chance and see what happens. Better to look forward with optimistic anticipation than get mired in pessimism before we even get to training camp. I'm gonna enjoy this and have a very good feeling about the upcoming season.

 

How will Adelman hide Steve's ast/to and turnover issues? Even JVG couldn't fix Francis ast/to and turnover problems. JVG was able to get Francis to cut down on his shot attempts, so we know Francis can do that.

 

I don't understand all the Francis hate, well I do, its a direct result of being a hater. He was immature entering the league, but thats just age. I remember Hakeem saying it's now Steve's team. Add that to Rudy simply giving him the ball and telling everyone to clear out - of course the kid is going to think he's the sh#t. And he was. How soon we forget what Francis meant for this team during his five years here.

year 1 - Francis is a rookie and Hakeem and Barkley or way over the hill.
year 2 - They miss the playoffs by one game? With Cat, Cato, Rice et al.
year 3 - Francis injured for a majority of the season and the Rockets lose like 90% of the games he's not in.
year 4 - Yao's first season, adjustment period trying to get him involved.
year 5 - JVG comes in, they make the playoffs and lose to Kobe, Shaq's Lakers w/ Francis playing out of his mind.
Then the no brainer trade for T-Mac.

There's a reason he was co-rookie of the year, and an all star starter 3 times. (He should have been an allstar in the East that first season with the Magic as well). Having similar numbers to Oscar Robertson is no small feat. That last season with JVG, he had so many problems with him, but he adjusted and I really think it was his best season. Not from a statistical pov but just from a basketball point of view. Yeah he's hardheaded but the guy has more heart than anyone on this team barnone. Its going to be great seeing Yao and Francis connect again.

Now he's back, for a mere $2.4 mil, and all people can talk about is the Magic, the Knicks and the Trailblazers. Unbelievable. It's cool though, people should have differing opinions on a message board, it makes things more interesting. But hot-damn, the franchise is back! A more mature one, with a coach he admired and one who will bring out his and everyone elses best traits.

Hell yeah my glass is half full.

 

That was my whole point - your post dpes not seem objective. You begin by exagerating James age, 28 year old TMac being in decline etc.. etc..He was almost exactly his career average in shooting, career high in assists, avg. in the other stats.. There is no 'trend'. 'scola might as well be a bust'..
That is objective?

There is a difference between objectivity and negativity that you seemingly have yet to discover.

 

It's unquestionable that Francis is better at creating his own shot and finishing off penetrating in comparison to Rafer. That being said Francis is a career .343% 3 pt shooter, in comparison to Rafer's .358% career average, so I'm some what confused on how Francis is going to improve outside shooting in any way, which seems to be the main complaint about Rafer.

 

So it's all Rudy's fault, huh? Or have you noticed when Francis was not allowed to play ISO ball under JVG, he had the worst season as a Rocket? Rudy was trying to maximize Steve's strengths, which is one-on-one dribble breaking down the defender.

Can Steve play any other ways? I don't know. That's why he shouldn't be the starter until he has shown that he can fit in Adelman's offense. But his talent in 1-on-1 ball can be useful when we need someone to create and score (e.g. when TMac sits).

Francis' biggest weakness is his decision-making. His mind just doesn't work as fast as his body. That's why he is not very good at running an organized offense like JVG's, and probably to a lesser extent Adelman's. I am sure he has matured a lot now. But I doubt that decision making skills is something you can improve significantly. You either have it or you don't.

But he is a terrific individual player. It'll be great to have him when the "system" doesn't work against a particular opponent.

I've said it in the past, Francis is a horrible "franchise" player but can be a perfect role player. Franchise players are expected to make your teammates better. That's not what he is good at. But he has heart. He can score when called up. He can rebound. He hustles. That's what we want from a good role player. Now my half cup will be full if he is willing to accept a role player's role and plays like one.

 

Rafer shoots WIDE open spot up 3s because of JVG's offense. Steve is not a spot up shooter. His 3 pointer are often off the dribble with defender on him. In Adelman's offense, the ability to finish around the basket (cutting, moving) is more important. And Francis is clearly better than Alston in this regard.

What worries me is that Adelman's offense also requires a lot of reads and fast decisions. I don't know if Francis can master that.

 

I don't agree with that. Franchise players are usually the primary scorers for your club and not necessarily your best playmaker, a la Kobe. I think you're meaning MVP type player -- whose primary job IS to make his teammates better and win. Steve WAS a franchise player, absolutely. Never was MVP material though.

 

Nice post. There wasn't much in the way of play calling in the Rudy T days and Steve did perform well with JVG. Probably MJ's and Stevie's love for the ball will make life a lot easier on T-Mac, who now avoids contact until the post-season and keeps avoiding it even then.

 

Stevie's worst season in the NBA wasn't with JVG although it was his second worst.

No Stevie's worst season was playing for Isiah Thomas and being paired with Stephon Marbury. Then subsequently benched for Crawford.