This Steve Francis suspension has been tough for the organization, but we have to look at the silver lining. We now have several items that are put to rest and should no longer be valid. 1. If Yao didn't have Steve being jealous of him and not throwing him the ball he would be dominate. 2. If Steve would quit taking Yao's rebounds, he would average more. 3. If the Rockets played with a pass first point guard, the offense would click. 4. If Steve was not around, Yao wouldn't feel the need to defer to him and he could dominate. 5. If it were not for Steve turning the ball over and not knowing how to run a fast break, the Rockets offense would be better. 6. The Rockets are a better team without Steve Francis. The Rockets were playing Phoenix WITHOUT Amare and Yao only had to go against Jake Voskul - no more selfish Steve to hold him back and a pass first point guard (2nd most assists all time) to get him the ball and watch him shine. And the result is....16/8. Sorry Yao Fan. Even you can't blame Steve for Yao not stepping up. The team desperately needed him to come up big and carry them and he even had an undersized team to play against. And he did just about what he always does. So, go ahead. Send Steve out of town. But you'd better get a real good player in return because Yao's not a top tier player. Time to face the facts. It's halfay through year number two. It's been well over a hundred games. And now we finally see. It ain't Steve's fault. It's Yao's.
Did we get outrebounded too? by an undersized team with a 6'7 power forward? thats pathetic, Yao should be ripping every ball off that board instead he stands and waits for the boards to come to him. Steve needs to get his mind straight and quit blowing off his teammates to attend a football game, his decision told me he'd rather go to the superbowl than the playoffs. I'm a long time Steve Francis fan but i'm really disappointed by him doing that to his teammates. All I have to say is this, I'm sure Steve wants to rely on his teammates to hit their open shots when he sets it up for them,but can his teammates really rely on him to be there to do it? Only time will tell.
1. Yao will never dominate anyway 2. We already knew that 3. It just might be better without Francis, too bad he's only suspended for one game or we'd get a better indication than just one game. 4. same as #1 5. Rockets offense would be better on fast breaks without ball-hogging steve. That much is certain. Posey anyone? 6. True also even though the Rox lost without him.
What was that about 'heart'? It wasn't Yao, tonight. It was the redshirts who just did not show up. They could have won, they should have won without their leader. They were anchorless. What this team needs is A MIRROR!
yao only played 31 min and would u know it he outscored eveyrone on the team that played longer than him.
Good post. Unfortunately we have no top tier players, Steve has the talent but he is a brain fart waiting to happen on the court.
I don't hate Yao, I do hate the fact that the YOF think that he can carry a team by himself and he clearly can not. I wrote that sig before Francis pissed me off by missing the game and was tired of defending him against the YOF who thought Yao was better than SF when he is cleary not. I have a huge problem with handing the reins of the team over to a player who I don't feel can be the type to carry it and the signature was just my way of summing that up. But who knows I thought SF was the type of player who would carry us back to the promise land, seriously I had visions of Pistons and Isiah Thomas when I first saw Francis play but those expectations are quickly fading away. I'm removing the sig because I just don't care that much, give me a team and players I can care about
SJC...I know you havent seen it yet...but wait to slam the guy until after you get a chance to watch the game. I dont say that Juugie is a good poster..his singleminded pursuit of slamming Yao puts his objectivity at serious risk...but he makes a couple of good points this time. all we have heard for ages was how much SF was holding back Yao...and how much better off we would be with a pass first PG running the show..and how Yao defers to SF cause it is his team... Well...... SF wasnt there tonight. and guess what....the turnovers and the shot attempts for Yao remain at their normal levels. Who is to blame for that? (Spare me the blame for SF getting his butt in trouble...Im just as pissed at him over that as everyone else) When it came down to it...we needed Yao to dominate....and he didnt. And you cant blame that on someone that wasnt even on the court. We needed the whole team to crank it up a notch or two....and they didnt. Realistically....the whole team is to blame for this pathetic perfromance........but enought with the unwarranted attacks on SF as the scapegoat of the year for Yao's perfromance..... the only man who can get Yao to play like he is capable of playing is Yao himself. Note to Yao: I love ya man......but when you have the advantage(like quite a few times in the 3rd) SHOOT THE DAMN BALL!!!!!!!!!! Ugh... let the BBQ begin.
hmmm, one game among the turmoil, in which Yao showed some heart and fight leading the 2nd quarter come back, in which rockets doesn't really playing his style most of the time... Real smart, really intelligent.
R2K, I take your points...I just get annoyed because the guy takes every opportunity to spew hate against Yao and his fans. So do you think Yao has it in him to dominate at all or do you think he simply does not have it and will never have it?
Oh, like I said...I agree about Juugie...he has zero cred because of his past history.....it hurts him when he actually tries to raise some good points like now. As for Yao, do I still have faith in him? yes. He has shown that when he gets a fire lit under that huge butt of his....he can be intimidating and very effective. His biggest problem is knowing when it is time to take over..on a night against a smaller team that isnt as strong inside, and with none of his teammates able to do much....he has to quit passing out when he has the shot. Alot of those that he passed out on, he could have made.. Maybe it just isnt in his mind right now that he can in fact do more than he is doing...maybe he didnt feel confident in his abilities...I dont know.. All I know is that he is by far the most efficient scorer on the team from mid range....and for him to pass up those shots when we desperately needed the scoring is frustrating.
And Jackie, do you ar do you not rag SF constantly? And those that defend him? Do you not think that is annoying?
