NBA Fastbreak did a short piece on Steve Francis, questioning his role on the Rockets and whether he is the right point guard for the Rockets. Tim Legler said a definite no and went on to predict that Francis will have more run-ins with JVG. Greg Anthony said that although Francis is not the right guy for the Rockets, the Rockets need him because Yao is not able to lead the team by himself. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I tend to disagree with both of them. Steve Francis has shown that he is willing to make an effort to become more of a team player. He is deferring more to Yao and he is playing much better defense. I think Stevie is finally starting to see the light and in the next couple of months his improved, more team oriented style of play will really show through. I also disagree that Yao is not capable of leading a team by himself. Yao is capable, but sometimes he is just not willing. I am not in favor of trading Francis at all, but I think that if Yao is forced to shoulder the burden of leading a team he will, as he displayed against Shaq and the Lakers. I have seen a stat somewhere that said that if Yao takes more than 15 shots in a game the Rockets are 15-4. Any truth to this stat? If correct that is astounding. I think that the formula for success for the Rockets is Steve making better decisions and deffering to Yao and Yao becoming more aggressive and willing to lead. I believe both of these will happen in the course of this season and the result will be very scary to whoever Houston faces in the playoffs.
yao will not be able be a leader on any team on his own...his personality does not allow for it..at least not this season...steve francis is our leader and if we go anywhere it will be with him in control of the team (not necessarily scoring but distributing well, defending other pgs and displaying leadership)
Leadership is overrated. Or, at least, leadership need not come in conventional forms. Hakeem and Tim Duncan are great examples of players that weren't traditionally great leaders but "led" a team, anyway. If Yao is the most dominant force on the team, he'll "lead" it. Francis probably isn't in control of the team, anymore, already. And his defense has declined lately. And Francis has never been a good leader, either. So I'm not sure what you're getting at. He makes noise about wanting to lead... but doesn't do the things that leader must. he plays very hard and speaks for the team. That's about it. By my definition of a leader - that's fine - by yours, it's not. Caught in your own net.
one of the keys to being a leader of a basketball team is being on the floor and making decisons and motivating your teamates...yao cannot lead this team playing 30 minutes a game...as far as i can tell this season francis has been a great leader...this streaky team has posted almost all the blame on steve and it seems to me like he has said all the right things...its always steve motivating yao not the other way around...you are ryte steves d is down...if we want to go anywhere he will have to pick it up... i agree with you the leader should play very hard and speak for the team...yao plays very hard...he will be a leader eventually...but at least for now he does not speak for the team...his grasp for english just isnt that great (i give him props for at least tryign to do an interview on espn...very brave)...this season it is steve who is usually speaks in the media we need both yao and steve...but this season steves our leader
Yep. Yao can lead... "Leadership" can be two fold. One is leadership by direction. A player doesn't have to score tons of points to do this job. They just have to dictate the flow of the game. That means that they are not turnover prone. They understand the game. And know how to communicate this to the players. For example, John Stockton, although not a high scorer, when he did try to score it was at an efficient rate. Also, he didn't turn the ball over. His mistakes were minimal. And that allowed his teammates to respect him. Plus, he make their jobs easier to score which is the best way to make "friends" on your team! Leadership by direction. Another example is Tim Duncan. He leads by example (or production). He's soft-spoken. Doesn't talk a lot. Although not a court leader like Stockton, he's more a production leader; points, rebounds and MAD defense! Now, to be this type of leader, one must also be able to share the ball. That, Tim Duncan does. They rely in him to score, rebound and play defense. So, Lead by example in terms of production. Yao could be like Duncan in that respect. I just think he doesn't want to step on anyones toes. He respects Francis and doesn't want to upset him by "taking charge." The good news is that I think that Yao has an advantage that Hakeem did not. Akeem in the late 80's didn't want to share the ball. But he also "lead by production." But he did it the wrong way from 87-90. His lack of passing skills got the better of him. He wouldn't share the ball. So, although he could score tons of points and grab lots of rebounds. He alienated his teammates and came off as "arrogant" and "self-centered." This type of "leading" was not conducive to winning. And that's what happened. The Rox were nothing more than a mediocre team. It wasn't until later that Hakeem learned to trust his teammate and learned to pass the ball. So, blending scoring (leading by example) and sharing (helping your teammates) won them over and help solidify a winning team. The advantage that Yao has, is that he ALREADY knows how to share. So there wont be that "learning curve" for him to figure out how to pass. He already knows how. Yao issue is just finding his place on this team while he gets stronger and faster. And as those physical things start to occur, this will allow him to gracefully "take over the team." But at his pace.
What are y'all debating for? Fatman already nailed it. I would add "not given the chance" to "not willing." Btw, the sooner the team and Yao figure out how to fully yoke their success to Yao's, the sooner we start scaring and stomping the living crap out of teams in the playoffs.
DavidS, that was a great post on leadership even though you used Stockton as an example. Unfortunately, when you posted it I was blissfully ignorant of it, chicken-pecking away a reply about haven trapping some newbie in his own net. Ah-ha!!! Just trying to defuse any possible "debate." Discussions however, are completely fair game. Actually, I tend to agree with haven's take that leadership is "overrated." I agree with the distinctions you make, but I think there is one common thread - a bottom line, if you will. A leader makes his teammates better. Cliched but true. More specific: A true team leader is the acknowledged best player on your team, who consistently puts his teammates in advantageous situations that they can not create on their own. That's the best I can put it. There can be vocal leaders, emotional leaders, veteran leaders, hot cheerleaders... But only one team leader, and you're 100% correct - Yao will get there at his own pace.
I definately agree with some posters that Yao will be more of a Tim Duncan type of leader. He's not ready yet, he is way too young, but he will get there. You only have to listen to some of the insighful things he has to say that he has got a whole lot more going on in his head that he can add to the team besides basketball. I think when he is about 25 or so and matures enough to be more confident being himself and knowing himself that he could be an amazing leader
Yao will need to grow a pair for him to be a leader by example. Don't get me wrong, I love Yao, but I'd like to see him wanting to dominate every night. Olajuwon knew he was a force every night. It's about damn time that Yao impose his will. If Yao can have games like he has against Shaq, he should be able to get 25 and 10 on an almost nightly basis. Hopefully his personality will not be a hindrance for Yao to reach greatness.
Why cant yao and francis bot be leaders. And why does francis has to turn into a role-player? Why waste that talent? Sure yao can get 15 to 20 shots a game, but francis can get that many shots also. Look at the lakers. Francis is a born scorer, and is extremly talented. He should not be converted into a roleplayer.
I don't want to trade francis. but Yao can lead a team, the rox are 15-2 when he scores 22 points ot more
I think Yao is more of a leader on the court. And he lets his actions speak for him. Which means sometimes he's gonna hafta will his team to victory.
ming should be the focal ponit simply b/c he shots a very high percent. Francis should just take less shots and become a role player. And im not saying this b/c i dont really like francis, it is b/c it is the truth.
National commentators blow. The read a couple articles and suddenly they are experts on the team. It's one thing if you are a journalist who investigates these things but Legler and Anthony??? These are the same types of people who claimed Yao would be Shawn Bradley Part Deaux.
That might be the funniest thing I've read in quite some time! No matter how much you say it is the truth, Francis is not a role player and he better not be if we want to succeed. What, you think we can just surround Yao with a bunch of role players and win championships? It doesn't work that way. Michael had Scottie. O'Neal has Kobe. Bird had McHale and Parrish. Magic had Kareem and Worthy. You need multiple first-tier players to succeed in this league, particularly in the western conference. Yao needs Steve as much as Steve needs Yao.
Actually the Rockets are 11-2 when he takes 15 shots or more... Yao is averaging 23 points (50.9% shooting), 11.2 boards and 1.77 blocks in 34.9 minutes a game in those 13 games. However, the strength of schedule in those games is not great. Combined opponent winning percentage is .453. The two losses were on the road in Utah (Yao shot 3-15) and at home recently against the Spurs (Yao shot 11-16). The Rockets are 7-0 against the East and 9-1 at home in those games.
im not saying that we just surround yao with just a bunch of role players. I dont mind having steve on the team, he just needs to take less shots than yao. He can reamin the star player that he is but just kind of needs to convert to a roler player mentallaty. I may not be making sense but i tryed to.
That makes more sense and I agree. To be most efficient, I think Steve and Yao need to both average around 15 shots per game. They should be our #1 and #2 scorers and who is #1 will vary from game to game just like shot attempts. Right now, Yao takes just under 12 and Francis just under 15 per game. Just bring Yao's shot attempts up and we'll be in good shape. Yao has to be the focal point of the offense on most nights just like Olajuwon was when Drexler came here. But, that didn't stop Clyde from dropping 40 on occassion.
