I look at it this way, 1. Steve's game is obviously not the same as it was last year. Why? We are trying to get him to change his style and become more of a passer and floor leader. 2. Will Steve ever be a true point guard, and with his toned downed ways, will he ever be as effective as a point guard as he was as a scoring threat? No, he doesn't have the skillset to be a great passer. It is something you are born with. Because of this, it is wrong to ask him to be something he is not. It completely hampers his game rendering his talent null and almost void. 3. Would we be better off letting Steve go back to the same style of gameplay that he played his first four years? No, it would put us right back where we started. Therefore, the logical conclusion is to do one of two things. Either trade Steve, or attempt to move him to the two guard.
I don't understand why we would do this. Mobley is a better SG than Francis. Steve has not shown the ability to be a spot up shooter; he has to create space by taking his man off the dribble. Steve is about as inconsistant as a player can get, and this inconsistancy will always be detrimental to the team.
The pre-draft scouting reports on Francis have proven to be right on the money; apparently, the Rockets didn't read them. I would have never traded for him, but I would trade him now as soon as possible while some NBA gms still believe the hype. There are only a few. His on-stage rep is very different from his back-stage rep. The only people who still think he is the second coming of MJ are on this board.
Trading for him was not a bad idea. Michael Dickerson isn't even playing anymore. I don't think he can continue on this team as a point guard. A few games of average passing doesn't sway what has been a career full of inconsistency at creating shots for his teammates. The problem with putting him at shooting guard is that Cuttino becomes a bench guy. He's paid $6 million not to be a bench guy. Rockets need to resolve this situation unless they like to embrace failure to make the playoffs.
Hindsight is always 20/20. The Rockets nor the Grizzlies knew that Dickerson's career would be injury-ridden and thus, as a result, shortened due to the severity of those injuries. Not only do I think that Francis' inabilities will always plague this team, but one of the most over-looked negatives that he brings upon this team is his mentality. This paragraph below, originally posted by crash5179, explains the aforementioned "over-looked negatives" that having Francis on this team will cause. "And the last reason why I think Steve should go is because I think he is getting in the way of Yao Ming’s development. Yao Ming still defers to Francis too many times because this is Steve’s team and Yao just does not seem to want to step on Steve’s toes and Steve does not want to give up his spot as the teams main option of go to guy. Too many times over the last two years have we seen Yao Ming start off hot only to be ignored because it was Steve’s turn to get his shots. I will admit that part of this is Yao’s fault but a big part of it is Steve’s fault. I don’t want to compare Steve to Magic but if Magic had passed the ball into the post and his man had an obvious mismatch but passed it back out, even to Magic, then Magic would have been all over him for not taking advantage of the situation." As for the "ignored scouting reports", not only did they ignore the write up on Francis, Rudy T and CD have clearly disregarded the scouting report on just about every draft pick (or passed up picks) that have come their way. As far as I am concerned the Rockets have the worst scout team in the league. Untill proven otherwise they will remain that way. egn
i didn't say that I would move him to the two over mobe's, just said it was one of two logical moves.
Francis is hurting our team more than people think. We cant count on him to make the right decision. You need a leader running the point. He is not a leader, he cant handle the pressure. Just imagine Steve in a playoff game us down by 2 with less than a minute to go. He would turn the ball over or dribble the clock away then take a fadeaway 3.
Rockets must play as a whole, 'cause it's not Francis' team, but Rockets' team. What we want Steve do is to pass the ball well, not to drive the ball following turnovers. If he is not talented enough to do so, I believe it's better for Rockets to trade him for a real point guard. Personally, I think Baron Davis is a good choice.
What I fear is how he would react to the constant full-court pressure applied in the playoffs. He caves to that pressure in the regular season when it is applied by the weaker teams in the league. I can't imagine what would happen when "the glove" is giving him hell. But hopefully I won't have that fear much longer.
Yeah put him on the block and see who is offered in return. Get a young talented big man who can take some load off of YM. Raven
Trading talent is a fool's bet. The Rocks need to find a coach who get the most out of its key players and the team in general.
Did he happen to make one of those clutch 3's in a game that was important? No because he has never played an important game in his life. If you are happy with never making the playoffs keep him on the team. Now if you want to make the playoffs something needs to be done.
From the Chronicle... Off target While the Rockets' offense has shown increasing signs of life in the past three games, guard Steve Francis has been unable to find his perimeter shooting touch. He made five of 13 attempts in Phoenix on Saturday and six of 15 when the Rockets as a team made 49.4 percent of their shots against the Clippers on Friday. In his past 10 games, Francis has made 52 of 151 shots (34.4 percent). He has not made more than half his shots in a game since going 7-of-10 against the Clippers at Los Angeles on Nov. 24, a stretch of 14 games. Francis said he believes his shot will come and that players go through stretches like his. But Francis has struggled with his shot long enough for coach Jeff Van Gundy to wonder whether he is slumping. Van Gundy has preferred to point to Francis' play in many other areas, emphasizing to Francis that he can play well even when he is shooting poorly. "I don't know the answer -- if it's a slump or if it's something more," Van Gundy said. "As a team, we have to create better shots. I don't think I'm trying to make him a passing point guard. He takes the most shots on our team. I'd like to see his turnovers come down a bit. But I'm happy with him. I'm not happy with us as a group. But him, I'm happy with." Van Gundy also disputed the common perception that Francis' "role" has changed this season, causing an adjustment that has affected his shooting. "I think that whole role thing -- I was thinking a lot about that the other day, not about Steve but in general -- everybody on our team has the same role," Van Gundy said. "Come to work on time, work hard, be a great teammate, defend, rebound, do the dirty work and pass the ball to the open man. Where roles differ on any team, where do you put the ball as the first option? Steve, Yao (Ming) and Cuttino (Mobley), if we're running a set play, get 90 percent of those plays called for them. "From my point of view, it's all about winning. There's never been a great player who's won who has done it without other great players. You have to give up part of your game for the betterment of the team. He (Francis) takes the most shots on our team. It's never been about the number of shots. The only thing I've said to him is I want him to get the same shots on less dribbles. And he's done that. I think he can play better."
By the way, does this REALLY require a new thread? I mean, how many threads do we need to discuss trading Steve Francis?
