Maybe this is a "semi-reply" to the Tex Winter thread where he didn't pick Francis as one of his top PGs. Well, I thought this might be a good place to diverge into a new thread, to discuss the fact that there hasn't been ONE championship team that had a point-guard as a primary scorer. Can anyone name one? Let's look back over recent history: Rockets - Kenny Smith - solid ballhandler, good spot up shooter Lakers - Derek Fisher - ditto Kenny Smith PLUS heck of a defender Spurs - Tony Parker - ditto Derek Fisher plus even better passer Bulls - Steve Kerr, Ron Harper, B.J. Armstrong --- 'nuff said Showtime Lakers - Magic Johnson - it might be a crime to be as unselfish as he was Celtics - can you even remember any of their point guards? Anyway, point is that I don't blame Tex for leaving him out of the list. I think that is not a knock on Steve Francis as a player, it is more of a statement that Steve Francis is not a true PG. And, I do agree with that. Francis is a scorer FIRST, a passer SECOND. He is not a guy who has a primary mission to get scoring opportunities for his teammates. I, for one, hope that with the advent of the Van Gundy era the question of Francis as a PG vs. a SG will finally be laid to rest, and that Francis will be put at the 2 once and for all, and then used as a backup PG in spot situations. JVG is the guy to make this change, IMO. When the Rockets have a PG that can bring the ball up and get Francis the ball in a better position to score, PLUS have Yao posting up to get Francis the ball, the Rockets will see exponential improvements. Assists will go up, open looks for Francis will go up, and the whole team will benefit because they won't be able to just collapse on Francis knowing that he is looking to score 85% of the time. A true PG will make the other players on this team more of a threat, and that will keep opposing defenses more honest.
Personally, I think Steve will end up getting traded when it's all said and done. I mean, if all the Rockets will need is another Kenny Smith clone to toss it into Yao on every possession, then they won't need a scoring PG. Yao will be getting a fat extension, so Cuttino will be a better value at shooting guard. Steve will be the sacrificial lamb of Yao's future development...Too bad not that many people will be sad to see him go.
How about Jerry West's Lakers? There's a scoring machine. led the team in 70 and 71, with Wilt cleaning the glass. Also avg. over 9 assists. you can't just say, pgs now do this. It depends on your team. On that team, that was the best way to play.
Gus Williams was the leading scorer for the 1978-79 Seattle Super Sonics at 19.2 points per game. He was also the top scorer for the 1977-78 team that lost in the NBA Finals.
Isiah and Magic were high scoring PGs as mentioned, and Payton almost carried Seattle to a championship, but you know what? Just because other teams win a championship a certain way doesn't mean YOU have to win it the same way. Instead of trying to beat a team at their own game, adjust your game and make people beat YOU! In the 80s PGs (Magic and Isiah), and big men (Dream, Kareem, Bird, Parrish, McHale, Sampson, etc.) ruled. In the late 80s early 90s PGs and SGs dominated (the above mentioned PGs, along with Jordan and Drexler). Then from the mid-90s to now big men have carried their teams to the Finals and championships (Dream, Barkley, Shaq, Duncan, Robinson, Ewing, Malone), but between then little guys did the job to (Stockton, Cassell, Kevin Johnson, Payton, Kobe, Reggie Miller, Iverson), so the point is, one type of player doesn't win a championship, how that team adjusts and comes together and fills holes, that's how you win a championship. I mean Tony Parker played like crap in the playoffs last year, but the Spurs won.
Also, don't forget Walt Frazier. "Clyde" scored 21.1 ppg leading the 1973 Knicks, and 20.9 in 1970, second only to Willis Reed. The point is, you can win with a high-scoring point guard. There's no need to trade Stevie anywhere.
The problems is, you can win with a high scoring pg, but history didn't say anything about winning with a high scoring sg that's playing pg. Magic and the Babyface Assasin had freakishly good point guard skills. Francis needs to improve those areas first then we have a chance.
In the last couple decades, there has been a dominate center in place on all of the teams that win the championship (except of course for the Bulls.) We have Yao, I am hoping that is going to be enough. I would like to think of Steve as an added bonus; besides, if he doesn't shape up under Van Gundy, we can always trade him for a role playing PG.
Jordan would qualify technically. Even though was listed a 2 Guard, he brought up the ball, scored, passed, & scored again.
gasry payton usually made things competitive in the western playoff's throughout the playoffs. maybe bobby jackson will step it up this year.
ballsy thing to say. i loved isiah- one tough mofo- but i would still take bird, sorry. magic, however, was a better player than both of them.
