Good post. Like you said Francis has passion, you will never see Yao or TMac jump on the scorers table and pound his chest when they make the game winning shot. His game ain't pefect and I don't think he will ever unlearn overdribbling but he got us to the playoffs with a raw Yao, Cat and a relative undistinguished cast of characters. I get tingles when I think of a roster of SF, Yao and TMac.
Pretty much the only thing that worries me about Steve Francis is his additude and his outside shooting. The outside shooting more because all of our perimeter players shoot from the outside. But it would be nice to see Francis come off the bench when Yao goes out and just penetrate in and out of the lane, dishing it out if they collapse on him.
Rafer definately has his faults but I haven't seen him dribble the ball off his foot. Now he has missed some key free throws ...but Rafer's play seems to be improving whereas Steve had, what?, 5 years and he never showed any improvement. Rafer isn't "ideal" but Steve probably isn't our savior either. I'd take him if he comes cheap. The good thing about Rafer and Steve is that they are virutally complete opposites so probably compliment each other pretty well.
Francis off the bench is better than any bench option that we currently have. If he comes cheap and is willing to come off the pine then how can you say no?
The thing is, I'm sure people are going to say he should start. When they don't realize that you dont want 3 scorers in the game at the same time. You need energy off the bench, ect. The thing that sucks if we sign him. What will our rotation end up being? Luther Head's minutes will pretty much become non-existant. He'll get maybe 15 minutes a game.
Signing Francis depends on who we draft....if we got a PG definitely he would not be needed...either we could be drafting a bigger scoring SG/SF or a PF in the draft...i'm sure Bonzi and sura's contract will be shipped out in the offseason and also the expiring JHo could be packaged in a trade...for the C position..Deke and Tsak could be easilt re-signed...Chuckie would be our starting PF with Yao...
Guys, Francis would not come off the bench, he is a much, much better player than Rafer. Steve>>>Rafer
its never about who is a better player, but who is a better fit. for that matter juwan is a better player than hayes, bonzi is a better scorer than battier but wouldnt start. rafer is doing a good job running the offense (scoring is a different story). i dont think francis can stand around and watch while tmac and yao do everything in the starting unit. IF steve re-signs in houston i think he would be better served for the team starting off the bench
I tend to agree with you about having all three on the floor. Alston is better at running the offense, and SF would have to play shooting guard, which suits him fine. The main problem with that is if you want to keep Battier in the lineup, you'd have to go small with Alston, Francis, McGrady, Battier, and Yao. That simply won't work because Yao usually works best with another big man in the lineup. I would have SF play significant minutes, averaging 25+ minutes, while filling PG and SG duties. He can provide the extra spark and scoring we need to really challenge Mavs, Spurs, and Suns. The point main point of my last post is that Francis is worth much more than most people give him credit for. We essentially traded Francis for TMac in the huge trade with Orlando. The other players were just filler really. Everyone knew TMac > Francis, but the margin wasn't that great and was made up with the other players we gave up. Sure, everyone talks about how Weinsbrod is an idiot, but hindsight is 20/20, and we basically got a player wanting to get out of Orlando and gave Orlando a player that didn't want to leave Houston. That's why their paths have divereged so much in the past few years. It wasn't because of how much better TMac is than SF, because in reality, it isn't all that much. If anybody said we could have SF, TMac, and Yao back in 2004, we'd all be screaming championship and dancing in the streets. Now we have the same chance in 2007-2008. SF is older and has a bad knee, but Yao has gotten much better. I think SF could be the last piece of the puzzle if we want to win soon. It's either that or we get a better PG and PF from trades/free agency.
I get the feeling if we do get another PG it won't be in the draft, rather a veteran. PG is too important for JVG to babysit a rookie drafted with a low pick.
If we want to win in the next few years, it'll have to be a veteran. We need improvements to our bench, PG, and PF, everything else seems championship quality to me. If we're relying on the draft, we're looking at 2-3 years for development, and during that time, JVG will be probably giving the rookie garbage minutes so it won't be an improvement to the team's competitiveness.
Actually, it was because of how much better TMac was than Fancy, and the difference is huge. TMac is a top 5-10 player in the NBA. Fancy is a top 5-10 player on the Knicks. There is a reason that all the Magic could get for Fancy was Penny's expiring contract and Trevor Ariza. Do you think the Rockets would trade TMac for expiring contracts? Francis is good at being the best player on a bad team, putting up good stats and highlights, but not really getting anywhere. His most successful season in terms of team success was his last year in Houston, when JVG had him totally go away from everything that came naturally to him and turned him into a fair distributor with almost mediocre defense. Steve wasn't to thrilled with that and is about the only former player I can ever recall taking shots at JVG. That was also his only trip to the postseason. Steve has enough natural talent and physical ability that he could be valuable in a Vinnie Johnson type role off the bench, as long as he knew his place and was on a cheap deal. I would never want him as my starting PG, and if we had him he wouldn't/shouldn't start over Rafer.
I think you are right on these points-though I think Steve gets credit his last year here for trying to adapt his game to JVG. He was more a team player and less the "ball hog". I would like to see him come off our bench with energy and dicipline-he can finish. I think he would put all the effort on the line. If we could get him cheap - it would help. He should not start-I agree..... He could keep opposing defenses guessing-he can create.....
Well we're stuck with Rafer. Unless the Knicks would take him for Francis - and as for basketball IQ - look at Rafer's shot selection. It's been better of late - but who knows when the pressure is on. SF would be an awesome addition. Can you imagine having two guys who can get the ball to Yao in Francis AND t-Mac. The number of dunks Yao would get would increase. Defenses would be overwhelmed by T-mac and Francis in the back court and having to try to guard Yao down low. It would be a nightmare. We'd have the arsenal to give the Mavs and Suns sleepless nights. We'd be primetime, a team both entertaining and the best. Boy - it's be a dream if it happens. I couldn't ask for a better present.
JVG is sold on Alston. It is extremely unlikely that Francis comes this season anyway. But clearly, JVG is committed to Alston for the remainder of the season and playoffs. Francis is not nearly as good of a ball handler and distributer as Alston. Francis shoots better, drives better, and rebounds better. But it is not going to happen.
From 2001-2004, Francis was considered one of the most underrated guards in the league and was commonly listed as one of the top 5 or at the very least top 10 guards in the league. His numbers in his first five seasons in the league put him on pace to be up there with the some of the all time greats. The main reason his numbers have dropped off the past few years was because he's been injured. Just because he's the third or fourth scoring option on a really bad Knicks team doesn't mean he couldn't be a first scoring option on a team that fits him better. I;m not going to claim that the Rockets are that perfect fit, but he'd certainly be welcome off the bench IMO.
John & Lance from SportsRadio 610 say no. They say Stevie will never learn to be a role player and defer to Tracy. We already know he can defer to Yao, but Tracy... Personally, I don't think he would accept being a bench player, but I would still love to have him if he could accept that he would be the 3rd scoring option and probably our backup PG. Who gets cut from the roster if we get Stevie?
