Open Apology to Mobley and Demand Letter to Francis

Cat,

I spent most of the year beating the crap out of your name because you wouldn't pass the damn ball. You still don't pass enough and make stupid decisions on offense (ok, I'm a lousy apologizer) but you play defense. You get AI, then you get Kobe. You get Finley, then Ray Allen. You fight screens, you slide step, you shove, you bump, you reach, you grab, you claw and you push. And on the nights that you're supposed to get a break, you get asked to cover Marbury or Parker because Stevie is the second coming of Kenny Smith, otherwise known as "tissue" because people blow right through him. Stevie plays no defense, but gets all the pub. It ain't fair. And now Wink wants your job. Well, until someone other than you (and posey) wants to play perimeter defense, he can't have it. You seem like a pretty classy individual off the court, and your defense is worth a lot of respect on the court.


Stevie,

So you want to play the 2 because you're not a natural point guard? How about playing some defense because you're a defensive disaster. Worry about taking a charge. I have a decent memory but I can't remember one. Worry about the fact that your explosive scoring ability is being neutralized by a bunch of nobody point guards going Jason Kidd on us. We're supposed to dominate the point guard matchup. You want to be the team leader? Get in a crouch and get in someone's face. Acrobatic dunks get you on Sportscenter. Defense gets you into the playoffs.

 

I rather doubt that any Rox read this stuff, but It's possible that some Rox actually read the opinions posted, and that may be a small reason why people post.

However, for the most part, people post because they are interested in finding out what other think. More pointedly, most peope post to find out whether people agree or disagree with the post. I'll take it from your post that you dislike the form of my post, but decline to comment on the substance of it. That's ok, but I prefer comments to the substance.

 

To quote a line from News Radio . . . "If what you say is true, then I still don't care."

Actually, what I mean to say is that what you say is true, but does not refute the point. I just couldn't help using the quote.

Francis is paid to be a franchise player and is called one. That obligates him to play defense. We do not have to hate one and love the other. Mobley's defense simply deserves praise. Francis' inability or refusal to play defense merits criticism.