Bingo! Swish! Exactly! Francis is no Hakeem, that's for sure. Steve is an excellent player, but the Rockets will not be successful until Yao plays like a franchise level center. If Yao becomes a great player, Steve will too. He's going to be like Yao's Pippen. Anyway, give the bashing a rest. Save it for the season at least.
That's all I'm trying to say. I'm not discounting anything Rudy did, I'm just saying the jury is still out on guys like Stevie, Cat, Mo, and everyone else people here are so eager to ship out. Let's see what a different coach can do with them first.
Stevie, start scoring again. Not saying you shouldn't pass but don't pass just for the sake of passing. Let your game come to you instead of trying to be the players others want you to be, don't force anything. Let your natural talent take over and you'll score more, assist more, and be the leader we need.
Actually, Rudy's YMCA offense won four championships, if you want to count the Spurs titles they won after they implemented the offense.
You know, I hope some of you guys have as much patience with Francis as this town apparently had with Hakeem. Besides the magical run of Hakeem's second season, btw playing with another Franchise big man, this team or its franchise player, center at that, wasn't exactly living up to expections. 46,45,forty friggin one, win seasons his fourth, fifth and sixth seasons in the league and first round of playoff exits. But by some of your logic, the Rockets would have kept Bill Fitch and gotten rid of Hakeem. Afterall, it was proven who had the championship. How could they be so stupid to trade a proven coach with a championship and not keep the young stud. I mean coaches win championships by a lot of your logic. Oh and btw, Hakeem had some of the same deficiencies as Francis, including being called selfish, and a bit of a hot head.
Excellent post, PG. Exactly how I feel. Hakeem was accused of faking an injury by management. Of course, he later won 2 championships and became one of the greatest players of our generation. The sky is the limit with Stevie as far as what he can do in the next 10 years. I just can't believe people want to throw him away for 4 years of not making the playoffs.
As for the championships credit doesn't have to be given to either Rudy OR Hakeem, it should be given to both. Without Hakeem the team wouldn't have made it at all. But without Rudy who outcoached Riley in '94, developed the Rookie Sam Cassell, was among those who saw the benefits of Horry over Harold Minor in the previous year's draft, Coached far better play from players like Mario Ellie, Vernon Maxwell, etc. than many other coaches in the league, we also wouldn't have won. Then the credit also has to be given to the role players who all did their parts, and understood their roles. They picked up the slack when they needed to. It was a team effort, and the coach is included. So to argue that Hakeem won the two, or that Rudy won the two is wrong. Neither would have done it without the other. Now on to Francis - The guy makes mistakes, and he at times makes them over and over again and that's frustrating. But he also makes and tries to make improvements. He has sacrificed his scoring, and in the second half for the most part did a better job on cutting down his TO's, but lapsed at the end of the season. The effort and willingness to change was there. He took responsibility for losses and works hard in the gym during and off season to improve his game. Many times he's the only guy on the floor who really dives for the loose balls or jumps out of bounds in hopes of saving one. He tries harder than just about anyone else on the Rockets team. He's not beyond criticism but unfair criticism is another thing.
IMO He needs to pass more and be a MUCH better passer! He doesnt need to score less, he need to take only the high percentage shots. He needs to rebound less and make his way down the floor inorder to play his positional defence. He needs to get the ball down the Court with less dribbling. He needs to be not only our Leader but also our Playmaker. He just needs to be great!
steve, you don't need to change a damn thing to your game. points= A+ rebounds=A++ assists=A+ can't complain about your turnovers since you're playing out of position and hopefully dawson will take care of that before the upcoming season starts. blame for not making it to the postseason thus far lies in the hands of rudy and his minions. you're still the man on this team until yao proves otherwise... and he hasn't... yet. excuses are arseholes this season though.
Dear Steve, We've been going together four years, and I thought it would be good to take a walk down memory lane. Our first year was so exciting. I was getting over Scottie, and you were getting over ON Vancouver. Hey, you know me. I'm down with OPP. You won ROY, and even though we didn't win much, we had a good time. Our second year was like a dream come true, right up until the end. You shot so well. Do you think maybe you did better that year because you still deferred to big men in low post? I do. That's something you should think about. Mmmmkay? Our third year was kind of a downer. Dream was gone, and you were gonna be THE STAR. Then you got hurt, then you got sick, Mo was out, and we just sucked. Our fourth year was promising, but Stevie, you have learn to get back to the frame of mind you had two seasons earlier when Dream was still a force in the paint. When Yao gets the ball early in the possession, good things happen. When you hold onto the ball longer than a few seconds, bad things happen Steve, you know I want this marriage to work, but you need to be sensitive to my needs. I need you to pass sooner and more often. love, the rockets
Just use some real naughty language like boobie or bottom or dadgommit and he'll put you on for sure.
And you have been to this site over 14000 times?! Wow, you are easily impressed. When I read your post I scrolled back to read pgabriel's post; it just didn't seem all that wonderful. Oh well, to each his own.
why would you want him to score less???? Itll be a waste of talent if he scores below twenty. He still should be our leading scorer. doesnt his main talent lie in scoring??? Why makes steve something he is not?? Use him the way he is ment to be and that is scoring!
Stevie, im ur number 1 fan, man. Im behind ya all tha way. I love any style of basketball u play. Just play. Ill be behind ya always. Your my idol man. Cant no body take that away. Love ya, and do what u been doin'..... Costa
