Bring back Francis Francis + McGrady + Yao = Fun to watch BBall -> Championship assuming Injuries ->0
Steve Francis can drive. Tmac doesn't anymore. We need a guard that can cut and take it to the hole. Someone that will take the contact. I'd also like to see us get Mike James, for the same reason. We'll need more than 1 penetrating guard, because they are going to get knocked down.
I'd love to bring the franchise back home. He gives us that player that will drive and make contact, something we really don't have. But most of all, he gives us passion and that fire we lack. TMac shows emotion every now and then but he seems like he is just going through the motions more often than not. Steve's passion and toughness has never been in question IMO. We need that guy who has no fear of going after Malone or elbowing Amare. Bring him home!!
Rafer/Span/JL3 T-Mac/Francis/Head Battier/Snyder ??????/Howard/Novak Yao/Big Jake Crunch time Span Francis T-Mac Battier Yao maybe??????
Toonces the cat can drive. That doesn't mean the Rockets should sign him. I was a big supporter of Stevie when he was here, but I don't want him back. If he comes back, of course, I'll be a big fan again. But watching him play was far more frustrating to me than the Van Gundy years were.
I like it. We need an aggressive third scorer, whether off the bench or starting who has the potential to blow up and get 20-30 occassionally. You look outside of Tmac & Yao and there's a 5% chance that one of them breaks 15 pts in any game. The fact that Tmac & Yao HAVE to get their average ppg so that we even have a chance to win is a bad situation to be in.
Maybe SF3 without Mobley on a team with some other talent wouldn't be such a bad thing. I always thought the fact that they were 'boys' combined with Rudy's no-discipline approach allowed the two of them to free-lance too much. Francis has never played on a team as talented as what we have now, and maybe Adleman could reign him in a little on the streetballing. If he could play a small fraction of the role that Bibby played for Adleman, it might be worth a chance. He would have to understand that it is not HIS team though, which is what he struggled with under JVG. He never wanted to defer to Yao, much less have to defer to McGrady AND Yao. If he has matured at all in that respect, and if he comes on the cheap....why not give him a chance?
i actually think that hayes has a greater chance of making the team next year than howard does. hayes is our best post defender. he's quick and our best interior passer. i think adleman will love having a 4 who can pass and cut like hayes. not everyone needs to shoot jumpers. besides that...nice work. ------------------------- about steve coming back... i doubt it. steve and billy in the backcourt will give the rockets NO shooting. steve and luther will give NO defense. billy and luther are a perfect fit in the backcourt. thier games compliment eachother, as well as yao and mac. it's in the rockets best interest to develop these players into 6th men.
If Stevie is returning to houston, Alston would probably be demoted or even shipped to another team. Franchise would definitely boost our PG position, but is he the 3rd scorer that will lead us to a championship, not quite sure. We must sign a new PG this year in order for us to have a run at the finals. On the other hand, Rafer is a good PG, but not good enough for a team like the rockets who are consider one of the elite teams in the NBA. Francis is a good choice, but not the first choice. Personally, i would take mike bibby should he becomes available. With Adelman working with Bibby for several seasons during their sacramento days, there won't be any philosophical clashes between the two of them. In fact, bibby can assist Yao and Mac adapt to the adelman system.
while I surely advocate bringing in steve if it means a reduction in Skips minutes... The more I think about it the less I like his fit for our team. He is a pg in name alone, and doesn't really make his teamates better. While I admire his competitive fire...the emotion he plays with often causes him to lose control of the situation and hurt the team. Which at PG is equivelant to a mortal sin. The most redeeming quality that posters on this board feel he brings to the table is his ability to penetrate and get to the bucket, but at the same time in free agency you have players in the same relative price range like Desmond Mason who are younger, quicker and more explosive to the basket. While an upgrade at PG is surely needed, I think we are fooling ourselves to believe that Francis is in fact that upgrade. While he certainly provides more depth and the ability to create his own shot, perhaps we are best served not to to simply settle for Stevie because of our inherent inclination towards nostalgia as hoops fans. An arguement can definitely be made for better depth and scoring punches out there.
