hmm. I'm not sure whether Francis is still the player that will play better just because of starting. He may or may not due to the confidence thing ... but I'm not sure. But thinking about it, it's very true that Francis needs the ball to be most effective. To come off the bench and basically be the #1 option on the floor off the bench doesn't seem too too bad. Plus he's good ol Luther to spot up 3's like Cat did ... However, the whole thing about Francis excelling with the ball in his hands might not matter because of the way the offense works now ... How every1 touches the ball, etc. I have to see how the offense works.
I wonder how the bbs will react when T-Macs back starts hurting. I wonder if there going to cry about Steve puttin 20 per night when he needs too. Im sorry,but T-Mac just isnt reliable to me.
I'm starting to think of Steve a 6th man. Even if he's lost a step he'd be going against the other team's second string defense most of the time, and he could dominate. The team always bogged down on offense when T-Mac and Yao were out of the game. Steve could definitely alleviate that let down. He could really be the best as a 6th man. If he starts, I'll trust its because RA had more info than I did, and trust the decision.
Considering that Yao and Tracy are combining to miss about 50 games a season for the last two years I wouldn't lose much sleep over that one.
I just hope Francis is happy to follow what the coach wants him to do. Both Francis and Bonzi have tremendous midrange scoring games. It is Adelman's job to find a way to get them on the court doing what they do best, especially since coach is an offensive coach. It doesn't take too much bball IQ to be the scorer in a triangle offensive...it takes IQ to be the other players. So, maybe Adelman will run triangle sets for Francis and Bonzi and leave the motion/princeton stuff for the starting squad. Francis can definitely have a big role; I just don't think it will be as starting pg.
Doesn't matter whether or not Francis starts or not. If he starts, he is going to get his points. If he comes off the bench and takes the role that Ginobili has for the Spurs or Barbosa of the Suns then he's going to be a valuable contributor. Hope he does well. I guess only time will tell.
My first choice to start would be Mike James. He is less selfish than SF and is a good shooter. My second choice would be Rafer. Yao and Mac draw SOOO many double teams and I'd much rather have James taking the open shot than Rafer. I do not want Francis bringing the ball up the court when Yao and Mac are in the game. I just don't see him passing the ball enough. I'd like to see SF and Bonzi leading the 2nd unit.
Francis needs to dominate the ball to be effective. thats exactly why he wont start. it's not hard to understand. also i dont see francis playing alot of point guard minutes. i see alston and james manning the 1 spot. I see alston starting for the first 6 minutes and james taking over the last 6 minutes. that gives both those guys around 24 minutes a night. Btw, i'm so glad people and the coaching staff are seeing what i've been saying. alston is gonna thrive in a open court offense. he is a very good ballhandler, great passer and dosent commit Turnovers.
mike james will be better off the bench... have steve start. he needs to be involved in order to perform. mike james on the other hand is quite a firecracker, he can come in with bonzi and the second unit and blow it up. for the sake of using steve to his potential, he needs to start... mike james needs to play when tmac or yao is on the bench so he has the green light. there' no other way to see this.
I would assume francis has looked old and broken down. He should be playing 10 mins a game max this year if adelman knows what's good for the rockets. James should start and be backed up by brooks.
Stevie needs the whole offense be revolved around him to be effective. thats something we cant afford wioth tracy and yao in the starting lineup. however if he comes off the bench, he can dominate the ball and be effective. James however dosent need to dominate the ball to be effective. he wouldnt take away shots or time on the ball from tracy or yao. let stevie come off the bench and be the main man of our 2nd unit.
You cant be seriouse?. he is'nt broken down at all. just last season where he played over 28 minutes he avge 19 points 7 assists. he avge 24 points in the last 4 games of the season. hardly a broken down old man.
