On This Day 14 Years Ago Steve Francis Came to Houston

Steve was an beast

He could do it all. drive at will, shoot, rebound, steal, pass and was well liked team mate

He was our FRANCHISE during a period where we needed a leader such like him

I wish we could bring him on to mentor Harden to make Hardens game more complete

 

Here are some of his stats

He was only 24 (Harden's age last season) when he did this

21.6 pts, 7 rebs, 6.4 assists, 1.2 steals.

I would like to see Harden get these types of #s (scoring will drop with Dwight but increase his rebs and assists).

 

Still holds the Rockets record for dribbles per game.

 

I think people forget how great of a player he was for us. It did kill me to watch him dribble the clock out, but he always played hard which gained my respect. I did not like that trade for TMac, because giving up Steve and Cat for him was too much for me. Tmac was my wife favorite so I watched him probably more than others and noticed how he would quit or not give his all when times got rough. *Sorry not trying to turn this into a Tmac vs Steve debate, just thought giving up Mobley was too much which ended being correct cause the only players we had after the trade was Yao and Tmac*

 

Steve Francis had an amazing rookie season, then didn't improve at all, actually taking steps back. I still cannot believe that he landed T-Mac for the Rockets.

 

posing this in a tinman thread, but why aren't we having a 2 season long retrospective 20 year anniversary of our back to back championship run?


are there any threads acknowledging that we are about to start the 13-14 season and how this is the 20 year anniversary of Houston's first championship in any of the major professional sports leagues?

 

well, Francis peaked during his 3rd year

will be interesting to see Harden's progression as I hope he doesnt flatline

its tough to improve after age 25 or so for many players

 

Cat was the better player. We should have given him the reigns.

 

Cat was the original James Harden of the Rockets

 

Exceptional talent, played insanely hard. Just lacked the bball IQ.

 

*dribble, dribble, dribble...buzzzzzz*

 

Whatever happened to Dickerson. I remember him being a decent player.

 

I think injury (don't know what though). He never could come back from whatever it was. Then I remember him trying to make a comeback after missing a couple of seasons but just couldn't quite get himself back.

 

I think we were all excited because we havent had a young star with the aging hall of famers on our team. Steve came as a rookie n put up good numbers. His athleticism was through the roof. He had Yao's back and played hard all the time .

 

Remember him for this:

 

I voted migrane. This team had such great luck with it's stars post 94/95. Injuries galore. Migranes was about the craziest. Micro-fracture seems normal when you compare.

 

Harden was 23 last season. He turned 24 3 days ago. And at 23 he did this:

25.9 pts, 4.9 rebs, 5.8 assissts, 1.8 steals.

 

This, a more compatible coach might have helped.