I think there are only two real things he EXCELS at while playing the pg position. 1. his freakish athleticism. 2. finding ways to attack the basket. But these talents are nothing w/o the bball sense he has yet to properly hone. He still needs to figure out how to use that athleticism most effectively(ahem, d, creating for others). He still needs to figure out what to do when he attacks the rim(when he has the ball anyway) and a high percentage shot isn't available(cuz usually if its not a oop to Cato, he's shooting it). I think he could EXCEL as a sg, offensively anyways.
Verse, You claim to have started this thread because you questioned whether or not Steve could lead this team to anything significant w/o exceling in one area, but it is really hard for me to believe that this is not just another attempt to provide Francis bashers the opportunity to increase their post count. Look at the title of the thread "name ONE area francis truly excels at..." which in itself is imho a simply ridiculous question. Why would you want a player that can only do one thing well. I would much rather have a well rounded player that does a little bit of everything good than one thing great and others just ok. But just for the sake of arguement, lets just take a look at a few players and results and you tell me which you would rather have... Paul Pierce- great scorer makes it to the playoffs but can't get over the hump in the East AI - Same as Pierce J Kidd - great passer, makes it to the finals (twice) and each time looses to teams with truly complete and well rounded players (Kobe, Duncan "the big fundamental") McGrady - Great scorer, but his team barely makes the playoffs each year, in the weak East no less Conversely... look at players that have won it all and you see that they do NOT specialize in one thing, but do a little of everything well... Duncan - can do it all (can even bring the ball up court) hence the nickname "the big fundamental". He is sound in all areas. Kobe - also can do it all, but did not see his greatest success until he learned to share the ball with Shaq Isaih Thomas - could have easily dropped 40 to 50 on opponents nightly, but saw the bigger picture. Jordan - same as Kobe, could have continued to consistently score 40 to 50, but realized his greatest success when he began sharing and trusting his teammates. So you see, give me the latter type of player any day and I fully believe that Steve is much closer to developing into the latter than the former.
I agree that Steve rebounds exceptionally well for a guard, he also has an exceptional drive to the basket. Personally, I think he COULD be an exceptional scorer, as evidenced by the fact that through the first 10 or so games last season, he and TMac were jockeying for position as the scoring leader. Once Yao came along a bit and Cuttino picked up his scoring, Steve's PPG went down as he sacrificed his scoring for the good of the team. If Steve moves to the 2, the rest of the guys in this league will be hard pressed to keep up with his scoring ability, especially if he has an assist oriented PG and a dominant center to play with.
Like him or not, Steve Francis IS a team player. This whole Steve Bashing is truly sickening me. Instead of being excitied about the new season, all you guys seem to want to do is pick apart reasons why we are going to suck.
I see your point and completely agree. This is exactly my point as well. From your earlier posts, I concluded ( maybe I was mistaken) that your thought that Steve needed to be a dominate scorer to be successful. If Steve averaged over 10+ assists a game there would be comparisons to Kidd as what a dominate pg should be like. IMO, Like Bird, defenses have to account for Steve just as much as Yao or Cat( to a certain extent). I think Steve just needs to learn to know when he needs to step up and be a little selfish and when to be unselfish. Those are qualities that Bird, Magic , & Zeke had. Again I see your point but your cannot have it both ways. If you consider Kidd as a dominate player, where is his lead horse? Where is the teammate who can go off for 40 at anytime? Francis can be just as dominate as Kidd maybe moreso with the addition of playing with Yao ( who could very well become the lead horse of the very near future). Well as a final answer to your question... YES Francis can be a dominate player who excels in the catagory of leadership and the catalyst of the Rocket Engine.
Verse are you seriously stating that teams around the NBA do not respect Steve's ability to score. Have you not seen teams double Steve, have you not seen teams attempt to deny Steve the ball, you know those wide open jumpers that Rice and other players brick, I guess they are creating their own shots huh. Verse please tell me that you are not saying what you typed. That other teams don't respect the fact that Steve can score 40 and would score 40 if that were his mind set.
But he doesn't do anything extremely well Jeff. Don't you understand that?? Who cares if he has an all around game including steals. Don't you know, his rebounds only prove how jealous he is of Yao, because he takes them away from him, and his steals only prove his laziness on defense. Stats mean nothing, one of only three players to do that, who cares??
I've seen him dribble and worm his way through double and triple teams to get to the basket. That is no average player. On top of that all he has the all-around game. He is a big time scorer, he can rebound, and dish out the ball, and he has quick hands.
it is not my intention to bash steve with this thread. not at all. that said, i cannot control when and how a steve basher decides to chime in. in fact, a steve basher will probably chime into a thread about just about anything. i'm only looking at what can help our team get to the championship, and i have to start at the top: steve francis. that means looking at his positives and negatives and seeing if we are getting maximum output from him. i have no doubt that we're getting maximum effort from him (save for the defense end). i'm wondering if "redefining" his role (assuming he's capable of doing it...which has not been proven yet) might benefit the team in the long run. i never said a specialist ("a player that can only do one thing well"). not at all. kobe bryant is far from a specialist. yet he is universally accepted as a dominant scorer. same for tmac. same for shaq. same went for bird. same went for b-king. true. pierce is a great scorer. but, imo, pierce's problem is that he has not learned how to make his teammates better. of course, you could just as easily argue that his teammates absolutely suck, and the fact that pierce has gotten them past the 1st round is a testament to his ability.... AI got his team to the finals versus the lakers. even won a game versus the lakers. true. kidd's a dominant passer and floor leader that can get his team into the finals off of those skills. that said, he'll never get over the hump until the nets acquire someone that can consistently hit an open shot. mcgrady's team is absolutely horrid, and he is asked to do everything for that team. i mean everything. still, i think mcgrady will lead his team to the finals within the next 3 years...especially with the addition of j-howard, who can give them a consistent 15/10. again, i don't mean a "specialist". every person you named is/was absolutely feared by opponents to drop 40+ points. every one of them. that fear causes the defense to focus on the star player, which opens up avenues for others, and the dominant player was great enough to exploit those avenues.... thanks for the response.
O-Dawg, for teams to respect the fact that steve can score 40+ points, imo, would mean that he's done it more than one time. don't get me wrong...teams know that steve can score. but i don't think teams believe that steve - via scoring - can singlehandedly beat them. of course, the next logical question would be "why don't they just single cover him", right? honestly, i think it's because they know that they stand an even better chance of defeating houston by leaving the ball in cat mobley or eddie griffin's hands. they DEFINITELY are not going to beat you by themselves. also, they know steve's passing abilities/decision making can be shaky, so pressuring him is a smart thing to do. for the record, i do believe that steve's decision making and passing will improve with time (repetitions). what i'd (ideally) like to see, though, is steve starting the season off absolutely dominating opponents early in games...as a 2 guard. have some 40 & 50 point performances. establish the fact that you WILL score at will. he did that for a stretch (at the beginning of last season), but tailed off (due to various reasons). what is unknown is whether he can sustain that effort and production over the course of a season. of course, that does not mean averaging 30/40 ppg. that means maintaining that threat throughout the season. i really don't believe that, towards the end of the season, teams feared steve nearly as much as they did at the beginning. of course, incorporating yao ming had a lot to do with that. but steve (and the coaching staff) must find a way to at once have steve be a dominant scorer and constant threat, and at the same time utilize yao ming's strengths. it is a large task, to be sure.
the stats prove he is an incredible talent. four years in the lotto (also a stat) prove he hasn't led his team to the playoffs. the question (which you conveniently did not respond to, electing to dribble rather than shoot) is would steve, and conversely the rockets, be better off concentrating and EXCELLING at a singular facet of his game rather than being a great all around player? of course, i don't expect more than a driveby posting ....
it seems that Jeff's posts are more of an indictment against the direction of the entire bbs, and not necessarily against this thread. but, if that's the case, he'd be better served starting a thread of his own in the feedback section, or making a sticky at the top of the GARM. putting it in this thread, where i said nothing of comparing yao and steve, imo was uncalled for....particulary from a mod. like i said, nothing in my posts pits steve against yao. nothing. all i'm looking at is the best way to utilize steve's talents. sometimes, you have to change your focus in order to maximize your abilities.... is that such a bad thing? is that francis bashing? i don't mean this towards you, SJC, but it seems the francis police are on high alert right now. suggest one thing that might increase his game and improve the team, and suddenly i'm bashing him. whatever...
Oh, brother. I wasn't trying to be constructive, topical, full of substance, courteous or appropriate. I was trying to be sarcastic.
You don't need to put words in my mouth either. I'm not bashing the BBS. I'm simply giving voice to an opinion that obviously many of us have.
I slept in pretty late today, so I'm a little cloudy right now, but I hope this makes sense... verse, I know you bring up the point that if he were the dominant scoring threat, that he would make the team better by virtue of stretching the defense, but part of that is inherent in having teammates who can finish for you. As much as we lament the individualism present in today's NBA, it's still the best teams that play the best team ball that win, and to play good team ball you have to have complimentary players, which I think we lack at this point in time. Oh, sure, we have some good pieces here and there, but we don't have a clear-cut #2 at this point in time that plays to our strengths, but we do have several "potentials". While I would like to see Steve play more of the 2 guard so he can be the finisher and take more shots so he can be a dominant scoring threat that he's shown potential to be in several games, we just don't have the players to where that's our best option with the current team. Who would you have wanted to bring the ball up the floor over the past few years if not Steve? Ultimately, I think there are other parts of the team that, if given attention, would improve the team more than focusing on Steve at this point in time.
Not to be too picky, but Duncan is not feared to drop 40+, he has a 23ppg career average. When he played his most dominating games in the playoffs he still only had one game of exactly 40. He is not that kind of player at all.
