i disagree with you on that one. Wade would be a great S.G., he's got the size and shooting for it. he's only being asked to play P.G., though he's never played it in college, because they're trying to play their five best players. Wade-Jones-Butler-Grant-Odom. I think he's doing a damn good job for never having played P.G. before. Of course he's going to turn it over some.
What kind of logic is that, he should be moved because he does more than the avg pg at just about every statistical category including assists?
Spot duty? And take away ALL the things that is required from a PG? So you want us to basically have two redundant shooting gaurds as our starting backcourt? Where's the logic in this? How does this help us improve? Francis has never had trouble with double or triple teams that plagued Yao all season long. That's why his lack of true skill was exposed when the zone was implimented into the game as a legal defensive play. There's no way Steve would've averaged near 20pts a game for his 6yr career if he had dealt with constant double and triple teams. Unless, he shot more, and a lot more recklessly with a 36 percentage from the field. Your argument is flawed, due to the fact that even when he had the likes of Carlos Rogers, Walt Williams and Cato to pass to, he never had to deal with the trouble of constant double-triple teams, let alone as much as Yao has had to deal with. Francis=taller, more athletic Allen Iverson that rebounds which=inability to mature no matter the years, streaky, incredibly inconsistent, a lot more boneheaded plays than clutch plays despite going on 6yrs in the league, worth only a highlight act who attracts the kiddies who want to grow up to do the same crap And a player who cannot be the focal point of a team and be seen or treated as the "clutch" "go-to" guy of any western conference team. And a stupid veteran, who should not be given reason to be patient with, by comparing him to a new young rookie.
Wade is playing out of position as their PG but he does make plays...by that i mean passing plays. he gets everyone involved. the times i actually watched the heat in the playoffs, wade would penetrate and drive to the basket. once there, if grant or haslem is open underneath, wade would dish is off for an easy 2. he doesn't look to get a foul call like steve does. i mean...even though it's the eastern conference...the kid is doing damn good as a rook in the playoffs. as for steve..i think the thing is that he's been put in that group...the AI/barondavis/Francis group....small guys that should be playing PG but can't b/c they're scorers group...i don't know...it's a valid question but you also have to remember that wade's in the east and francis is in the west. i am willing to be a lot that if Francis played in the East, we'd be saying how great he is.
The bonehead plays are bad decisions on Stevie's part. Bad decisions that should have been filtered out his first 2-3 years in the league. Watch the teams in the playoffs right now, there may be a bonehead play here or there, but rarely is it the same player over and over again. Thats why the Rockets need Stevie to smarten up, Francis is such a huge part of the Rox success, that these unwise decisions are costly. And why are turnovers from Yao accepted? I feel that Yao turns over the ball trying to do the right thing within the offense whereas when SF turns it over, it normally comes from him not taking his time, forcing the issue, and dribbling himself into trouble. Sure both types of turnovers are frustrating, but I find Yao's turnovers a little easier to deal with. STuart
T-mac could do more than the avg PG, if you're saying that about Francis. He too can rebound playing a gaurd position, he too can get you atleast 5 assists while turning it over 4 times if he passed it enough. But, of course, he'd score a lot more and in a consistent manner, plus nice spot up jump shot. Oh yeah! He also has the capability to defend people, what a concept. But he's not a PG is he? So let's not discuss that or use that excuse to applaud Francis. I mean my god, are we going to settle for a Francis career of near triple doubles, with not so good field goal percentage, with constant never ending inconsistency and boneheadedness, with a lousy assist turnover ratio and inability to improve this team in any way? ALl of this is why he should be moved. And inability to mature in the slightest or to develope basketball intelligence? He's had 6yrs to try and give us some constitency and signs of smarts, but he has failed to do so. Why must we bare the brunt of another and another year? And please for god's sake, do not respond with the ole "good against one team in regular and post season" excuse. Please not that, it is irrational and illogical to defend a player over his successess against ONE team. Or the "he was good back when there was no zone" crap. The zone is here, let's move on with the times.
And it's also easier to deal with, because we all know it's his 2nd year in the league and has more growing to do. Still, as we are patient and wait on him to grow, he shouldn't be the focus of the offense for our Rocket's until he does. He'd be more suitable as a second option till he developes that fire to co-exist with his already developed smarts. All he needs to do in his third year, is cut down a bit on the turnovers, and get 20-10 for the season.
Francis has been in the league five years not six, and he's been on three above 500 teams and in his worst year his numbers are better than the average point guard.
The problem with that is Steve is not good at spot duty, if you mean spot duty is playing off the ball. He is not good coming off picks or being a spot- up shooter. JVG addressed this when people asked if he should be moved to SG.
When I say spot duty, I'm not referring to coming off picks and spot-up shooting. I'm talking about just letting him play without trying to set up everybody, you know the duty that a true point guard is supposed to do. That is his weakness.
I'm sorry but your argument is flawed. Try going back to the beginning of the thread and see what my argument is. The same thing that you're criticizing Steve about is the same thing that T-Mac and every other guy that you're shopping Steve for is doing, playing for highlights. Sure I would love to have T-Mac over Francis, but why accuse Francis of only attracting kiddies when that what the majority of all NBA players attract? Alot of players lack of true skills were exposed by the zone. Who was the main player in the media crying about the zone defense, T-Mac. The league is just short on pure shooters and that's why the zone exposes alot of people.
When a baby crawls around in diapers and goes "gaga," without a clue, it's cute. When they are 5 years old, its not.
First, I never said that in any attempt to 'accuse' anyone. That was me simply mocking Steve's talents as equal to Allen Iversons, that they don't DO IT to attract the kiddies. But that's merely all they're good for. They won't get you what a team needs to win, meaning SMARTS and HEART. Steve is all heart, and all no brains. T-mac is heart and brains, meaning his talents and skills are consistent and not so rare a show, that one might think "well, if you try and try enough, the ball's bound to fall in". Which is what Steve gives us. And I'll take T-mac's rebounds and better offense, plus his d, over Francis and his near hollow triple doubles, hollow because, they're not impressive, they're not worth noting really, assists average sucks since it has a lot of turnovers. Points per game, I've said before and I'll say it again, Cat can give us just as many points if not more, since he is a better slasher and spot up shooter than Steve, which isn't saying much, with that percentage Steve usually gets. Not worth giving a guy all that money. And also, his rebounds, yes it is needed on this Rocket's team but not an area that is REQUIRED for a PG,again T-mac rebounds just as much. T-mac isn't a pure shooter, yet has a better jump shot than Steve. Steve has never, NEVER had a consistent noticeable jumpshot, even when there was no zone. Yes, he did complain about the zone making it "difficult" to score, however, it didn't stop him from scoring on a consistent basis. Unlike Steve who's inconsistency, is just as i stated before, it makes you ponder "well, if you try and try again, it's bound to fall in".
And uh, Brent barry can give us 15pts per game, with 5 assists while being a better ball handler and waaay better spot up shooter, and uh much much better perimeter game. One of those "average" pg's you stated Steve is better than. All i see is, those rebounds lacking as the only difference.
