And please don't bother to inform me that we don't have Brent, we have Steve. I obviously know who we have. But just because we have something now, doesn't mean we must put up with it forever and try to look at the dismal bright side of it.
We're both ignorant of most of the things that go on in the NBA. There is so much that happens behind closed doors. It goes far beyond basketball... basically you have hundreds of the world's most talented people doing business and selling entertainment. On that note, lets not set T-Mac as our savior just yet... It's a very complicated business my friends Record (21-61) Keith Bogans Andrew DeClercq Derrick Dial Reece Gaines Pat Garrity Drew Gooden Grant Hill(Injured) Juwan Howard Steven Hunter Britton Johnsen Tyronn Lue Tracy McGrady Zaza Pachulia Sean Rooks DeShawn Stevenson Record(45-37) STEVE FRANCIS CUTTINO MOBLEY MAURICE TAYLOR HAKEEM OLAJUWON(Injured) SHANDON ANDERSON WALT WILLIAMS KENNY THOMAS MOOCHIE NORRIS MATT BULLARD KELVIN CATO CARLOS ROGERS JASON COLLIER DAN LANGHI SEAN COLSON ANTHONY MILLER
I don't think Wade has the PG instinct. He's a natural scorer. Heat's offense flow looks much better when Alston handles the ball. I think Wade will become a great SG. He has very long arms despite being only 6'3. He can score over big 2s and more importantly, denfend them well. I watched him guarding Vince, Crawford, Kittles.... The kid was great. You don't have to worry about the height disadvantage on the defensive end.
Okay I misunderstood. Yes, I completely agree that is his weakness. His problem is running basic plays a PG does- finding the open man, getting the ball past halfcourt quickly, starting an offensive play- just basic things. JVG tried to help him, and I think there was some improvement, but after a whole year of pushing he is still basically the same player.
Might not be totally related to the topic, but out of curiosity, I want to ask those old timers on this board--people who were here since Steve's rookie or sophomore year. How much difference was the perception about Steve then compared to now? How many Steve critics now were Steve lovers then? I'm not talking about YOFs. I'm talking about posters who were here and were excited about Francis.
There is a lot of diffference. Back in his first few years in the league, the general consensus around the board was that Steve was the greatest thing since sliced bread. There have always been a few posters that were not the biggest Steve fans *raises hand* and tried to tell people what he was really like, but the majority were like those now classified as SOF. Even back then there were calls to mopve him to the shooting guard though.
SM is correct, but it should be added that Francis' stock has slowly declined. What some of us saw years ago is now being seen by all but a few of his diehard fans. The playoffs improved his poll numbers, but this will prove to be a temporary blip. I hope he finds a home that fits his skills, and the Rockets find a better fit period; however, if he stays, I predict that the instead of a "bounce back" year, be prepared for more of the same and less. Fortunately, I won't be around to watch. If Francis stays, I'm gone. I am not watching this guy play for the Rockets one more year; as much as I love the Rockets all suffering must have its limits.
Something that can help to keep the turnovers down is Yao protecting the ball more as it is passed to him as a lob. Many times this past season turnovers were charged to JJ, SF, and Cat when they passed into the post using a lob. Since yao is so big and slow, compared to smaller centers, they run around him to steal the lobs or just reach through/around him to poke it away. Yao practicing protecting the ball this summer can really help to keep the turnovers down IMO. Our guards do make quite a bit of bone head plays. But the lobs to Yao leading to turnovers is something that bothers me. Yao just needs to learn to be more physical, at blocking him man away from the lob. (if he is being guarded from behind). I can't wait till next year. I just hope we don't make any boneheaded moves this offseason. I can't wait to see Big Yao, and the rest of the Rockets this fall. And if we still have Stevie, I can't wait to see if he has finally gotten himself together, and can perform like he did in the playoffs. Which was fantastic. Go Rox.
This is only one man's opinion but (in spite of being a huuuuuge Rockets fan) I was one of the few who wasn't impressed with vertical leaps and crossover moves. If I or another brave soul dared to mention inefficient play or boneheaded decisions or the inability to run a fastbreak, we were roundly shouted down by a large majority of posters. My unscientific opinions is that this board is currently split 50-50 over Francis while 3 years ago it was probably 85% pro-Francis.
This is nothing in comparison to the lottery years we had in the early 80's. Yet, I still find those games enjoyable. If you were around during the Sampson years, you probably would had a heart attack. Sampson was labled as soft, no-heart, and a bad decision maker.
SM and Gater, thanks for your replies. Gater, while you think it's about 50-50 now, my "unscientific" estimate for the current board is about 35% pro Francis (not including YOFs). Guys like Clutch, aelliot and yourself have some strong influence on this matter.
I will continue to express my whole-hearted belief that the only thing bad about Steve this year is his inability to hit his shots (consistently). He had a HORRIBLE shooting season. Open jumpers. Layups. He was missing WAY too many shots. Steve, if you call out "And 1," you better make the damned basket.
He doesn't handle it more than other PG's. 6 assists and 3.5TO's. If he were scoring properly, it wouldn't be a big deal. But he was al iability on offense for most of the season, and his defense turned up a notch - which means he's at notch number 1 now. I refuse to discuss his assists. Unless you are willing to accept that asst/to ratio is the main and most important stat for passing, then it would be best that we don't have this argument.
You are wrong. The average starting PG shoots better than 39%, and has a better asst/to ratio. Also, the average PG plays betetr defense, although I'm happy with Francis' defensive improvement. You are reaching. Besides, we don't want to pay MAX money for an average PG. For MAX money, I expected him to improve on his best season. If he goes back to his old numbers, I'll still be dissapointed. He will be earning his money when he improves on his best season - his contract was given to him on the assumption that he'd improve.
It seems like you're the only one discussing what T-Mac can do compared to SF. Yes, there are guards that can get you 5apg, there are guards that can get you 6rpg, but there are very few that can do it all in one package. And very few that we could trade for. Yes, T-Mac can do all of that stuff, but he is also a top5 player. You can say that Garnett can do all that Yao does so we shouldn't appluad him for that, but thats not how it works. You keep comparing T-Mac to our players and how much he can do, but we all know this, the entire NBA knows this. The Rockets can't and shouldn't base their entire offseason on getting T-Mac, because he is still just as hard to get as he was the beginning of the season. You need to be reasonable and know that T-Mac is still a pipe-dream. The Rockets need to focus on how to improve this team with what we have, not on what we could have.
I already explained what Steve gives us in that "ong package", is very flawed, it's not all that to get by one for years to come, definitely not at the money we're paying him. There is no balance with his talents, there is more bad than there is good. One is more consistent than the other. And why should we just toss out T-mac as a "pipe dream" and not even give 100% effort of an attempt this off season? Why MUST we focus on the pieces we already have? Must we keep on having a Steve, Cat backcourt for all the years to come, while other teams keep advancing through trades or free agency? Why must we have our management's steady content thinking when it comes to this? Sounds completely lazy, complacent and stupidly comformist to not go after the second best two gaurd in the league, just because you'd rather focus on our supposedly "growing" already set team. This team hasn't grown at all, there is no "good chemistry", the abundant turnovers and the lack of being able to play off eachother's different capabilities are signs of this. Cuttino has been the only one to mature, and Yao has been the only one to improve. Boki finally got some PT, but everyone else has basically been the same way they have been for years. Cato is still Cato, very nice backup center with consistent D and rebounding but awful offense. Mo taylor, the bi-polar opposite of Cato. JJ has been JJ, as he's always been for teams, helpful and a smart roleplayer. There is no growing happening here people, the only growing we can possibly speculate on and consider is Yao's, who is in his second year and shows he can actually improve, despite changes in coaching or in team, all after his rookie season. And all we can ask of him to improve in on his 3rd year, is to achieve 20-10. We cannot lay back this offseason, picking up people's garbage, as additions to our already mediocre team, hoping that Yao will develope some fire suddenly throughout next season and be "the consistent go-to guy". And we can definitely not have that same way of thinking towards Steve obtaining any smarts, after 5-6yrs in the league. And no, we cannot, hope these two will somehow found a way to mesh their games together, it's not gonna happen. In order for them to mesh their games properly. Is for Yao to have a guy that has consistent slashing capabilities while utilizing smarts, which means not forcing stuff up there on a frequent basis like some mindless circus monkey we've taught to grab a ball and just run towards the basket despite the trouble that may lie within, every single time. That way Yao can really utilize his passing abilities. He'd need a consistent slasher/ jumpshooter can has smarts and desire, and co do what he does on a consistent basis, that's not Steve. Yao needs steve as much as he needs Allen Iverson. Steve's near triple-doubles and lack of brains aren't going to take us far, and he hasn't shown any signs through his 5-6yr carreer that he is capable of really learning or obtaining smarts. And Yao's 3rd yr of 20-10 with no desire to take over isn't going to get us far, especially when he wears out post season time, if JVG keeps trying to make him another Patrick Ewing. We can settle with Yao for now, and be patient with him, there is reasoning in that. We cannot do the same with a 5-6yr veteran who has never shown signs of being able to improve or advance, its always the same hollow near triple-doubles and nothing else. No growing, no smarts, no improving. I'm telling you, the only way Steve's play will flourish as a two gaurd, is in the east, as PG it will always been those hollow triple-doubles on a player with no substance.
A bit of advice to (most) of the people defending Francis in this thread: keep your defense of him credible. When you make claims (as several have here) that Francis's turnovers aren't a problem... you sound like a fool. Of course they are. And don't bring up guys who also have a great deal of turnovers, like Kidd - they have better turnover/assists ratio. Your argument pretty much has to be that Francis is consistently able to break down a defense so as to make him a valuable component, despite his fairly obvious major flaws as a PG. I'm not sure I buy it anymore. He doesn't shoot all that well, and is a PG who doesn't protect the ball. But you've got to admire Steve's penetration and heart... I just don't see the point in denying his obvious flaws.
