So the old excuse of "we have no shooters for Francis to pass to" didn't hold (I never considered it as legit reason anyway but some people always argued so). I mean if Moochie could have 9 assists with this team, Francis, a much much more talented player can have it too if not more. I fully believe if Francis is committed to dishing the ball while scoring if needed to and has a better team basketball mentality and become smarter with the ball, he should at least average 20 pts, 8 assists while cutting at least 1 turnover per game. Steve, no more excuse, 20 ppg, 8 apg and 3 tpg should be your minimum target the rest of the season and next season.
You're forgetting one small point.... Moochie had ZERO TURNOVERS!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, and Tito Madux had three assist, AND ZERO TURNOVERS!!!!! Sorry for yelling. I just wanted to make that point clear.
Moochie doesn't score 22+ ppg and grad 6 rebounds as well. He also doesn't have the defense geared into defending him, and he also isn't the leader, hence takes no responsibility for the Rockets' mistakes. Moochie is not the #1 or #2 scoring option on the team, so his job is to pass. Most of the time, Steve is one of the top scoring options, and he's ABLE to et himself free, putting himself in the best position to score, hence, eliminating the need for an assist. 8 assists and 3 TO? If Francis go do 8 assists and 4 TO's, that would be amazing. 6.5assists and 3 TO's would be great too. But 8 assists and 3 TO's? That's damn near the best in the league. On a side note, TiTo Maddox looked decent as a playmaker, but missed all his shots. Thoughts on Tito?
let's see if Moochie can do it consistently. if he can, then you have got a point. because tonight may just be one of those nights guys hit their shots.
I can see what your'e getting at. But Moochie did say he was looking to pass the ball, and not get 20pts like Francis does. 9 assists is good, but since he only had passing on his mind, he wasn't looking to score. Francis will probably always be a better scorer than passer. It would be great if he could average 8/9+ assists in a season, but it doesn't look like it will happen. Having said that, it would be (in theory) quite easy for him to get 4 or 5 assists to Yao Ming each night. Perhaps more, if he passed it more. But Francis likes to score, and he will always be a 20ppg+ scorer and maybe 7assists guy.
turnovers per game 1.steve Francis- 4.00 2.Kobe Bryant- 3.76 3.Glen Robinson-3.73 4.Ricky Davis-3.62 5.Jason Kidd-3.61 some pretty big names headin up the turnover per game list..comes with having the ball
That sounds like a job for a shooting guard. Hey, that's Francis! It wont matter if Francis has 8, 7, 6, 5, apg. Getting less than 3 turnovers seems impossible for Francis. What I find curious, is that you find it acceptable that whether he gets 8 apg, or 5 apg, 3 TO per game would still be considered "great" in your book. That's not "great." That's expected of a PG (average) in the NBA. Want proof? Exhibit A: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/stats/byposition Find me a PG that has more/or equal to 4.0 TO. Kobe, he's SG, at 3.6. Kidd, a PG, at 3.6, but he justifies it with 8.4 apg. Francis only passes successfully at a rate of 6.0 apg, yet he has a whopping 4.0 TO ratio. That means that Francis doesn't pass very much, but when he does, he turns the ball over at a high rate. He's not a PG. He's SG. Tito just needs more PT. But his shooting is suspect.
The question isnt if moochie can do it consistently, its if the rest of the team can finish off shots consistently.
Kobe is a SG....but on his team, he seems more of a PG to me..... he handles the ball more than Fisher
If Moochie could do it consistently, he wouldn't be a career backup PG in the NBA then. And the thread is not about Moochie. This is a counter argument to a common saying in this board that "Francis couldn't get assists because he has no shooters to pass to".
2 more assists per game and one less turnover. That seems like a reasonable goal and I don't see how anybody could think that 8 assists and 3 TO is standard for a PG. That's the kind of numbers the best PG would be putting up. 1 TO per game is overboard for a PG, it's just unrealistic. As for Francis being a shooting guard, I wouldn't mind if clearly better PG or almost as good players were taking the spot from him. GP, JKidd, etc. I don't like the idea of Francis playing SG because I his defense doesn't seem to be good enough to consistantly keep opposing PG's in check, so I don't even want to know what happens when bigger stronger SG's are going up against him.
No. Francis would have to learn how to move w/out the ball. But he doesn't like that. He rather just have the ball already. Now, ask yourself this? "Have the ball already" for what? To pass? No, to shoot. That's not a PG.
True. That's why I wanted a tall PG. Like Barry. At least to off-set this defensive problem. But, at the same time, Mobley and Francis on the court at the same time IS NOT what I call a "defensive force."
Francis do have games where he gets 9 assists or more..... those are then game where other players are shooting and hitting like mad..... He pass to shooters, but our shooters are very inconsistent......
NO. That's not putting your teammates in better positions to score. He passing to them in ISO situations, which they end up forcing.
as I don't have much chance to watch Houston's game, all I watched is those international telecast game, and the latest one is against Dallas, I notice Francis pass to the open man but they just can't drain any shot at all...... though I notice one thing..... Francis seems to be better dishing the ball to players cutting to the basket with him than passing to open shooters outside 3 point land......
F the Haters. Steve is still the Franchise, and is 10 times better than anyone on this team. Without him we'd be nothing. Remember, we played Memphis tonight, not Dallas.
as I don't have much chance to watch Houston's game, all I watched is those international telecast game, and the latest one is against Dallas, I notice Francis pass to the open man but they just can't drain any shot at all...... though I notice one thing..... Francis seems to be better dishing the ball to players cutting to the basket with him than passing to open shooters outside 3 point land...... Francis did have a few of his assists coming from passing to Mobley for open shots. maybe from Cat return shooting touch, Francis will get more assists just like how moochie got his from passing to Mobes
