I don't think it is as easy as choosing between the two. In some (okay a lot) francis was immature and lacked the leadership skills to succeed, (now) I really feel that we would never would have won a championship with him. But that doesn't mean Franchise won't win a championship. This trade to Orlando changed him. I think the main reason he wasn't much of a team leader is because technically the flame was never passed to him, Dream dropped the flame and ran north. In Orlando, he is the show, therefore he needed to grow up immediately. T-Mac wants to win, I think more than Francis does/did. Tmac has adjusted himself quite well, and despite Van Gundy, the Rockets are a championship callibre team. My beef with Van Gundy was that we could have not only had T-mac on our team, we could have also kept Francis. Orlando was desperate, we could have made it work. Crunch the numbers, you'll see what i mean... regardless, I have to say in comparison, this year vs. last, we ARE A BETTER TEAM THIS YEAR. I would have liked to keep some pieces of last year's team, i.e. JJ, but if we win, all I can do is be happy. There's no point in whinning unless we're not winning.
I wasn't asking people to cheer for steve because I htink he is a better basketball player or not. and I certainly did not mean to make this a "Tmac is better, so SF gets no love from me" thread. Like I said, it aint about numbers or whos better or not, I just wanted all the immature hating to stop. Hate a guy for not giving 100% effort, hate a guy for mailing it in, but don't hate a guy because you think he has problems recognizing his open teammates, or he makes bad passes. Kudos to the posters who recognized this
You guys that go to the game should cheer for Francis when they call his name, he played hard, if not smart, all of the time. That said, I hope the Rockets blow them out by 20. Above all, I love the Rockets.
I'm just pointing out why so many people got frustrated with Steve. In the end, he didn't live up to the high expectations everyone had, but we all should just live with it. The franchise player will by nature get more praise than he deserves and more blame than he deserves, too. He is who he is, and I'm thankful for the years he gave us. But now he's not a Rocket, so good luck, and lose to us.
i still like francis but..... why would we cheer? dont you think we should back up and support T-Mac? i would out of respect for our team and to support them....as everyone saw..Steve showed no respect to any of our players (barry, sura) in particular... its not just about class...Orlando filled the arena and made an impact,,didnt work but they tried Francis might not have been an ass while he was here but i havnt heard one thing good come out of his mouth about OUR team..so why would you cheer one who now hated the team, the coach, and the players like i said, i like francis always have,,but i always root for my team..and what did he exactly accomplish here again????? 8th seed...and he blamed the loss on yao's missed rebound and a kick ball
It's funny how people say what they WANT to hear/read/think. First of all, you say Francis showed no respect to any of the Rox players (how? I don't know), but couldn't the same be said about players on our (the Rox) team showing no respect to Magic players? Also, didn't Steve "show respect" to Yao Ming? After the game there was a nice moment between those two, and during the game when Yao was on the free-throw line there was another cool moment between them. Regarding Sura and Francis, come on, man, Sura was having a great game and got caught up in thinking he was this awesome player so started jawing with Francis. Even Steve Kerr said Steve was just walking away and it looked like Francis was telling Bob to calm his ass down. Hey, smart move on Sura's part, the Rockets would've gladly taken an ejection of Sura if it meant getting Francis tossed also. Listen, Francis is NO LONGER ON THE TEAM, PEOPLE! *lol* We (some, not all) blamed him as much as we could for the ill's of last year's team (which had a better record @ this same time, by the way) and teams before. Now he's gone. If most of you who still b**** about the guy are truly happy about that, then be. But the more you b**** and find articles about things he says to take out of context and/or blow out proportion the more it seems like your hate borders on the line of obsession. It's okay to move on...*lol* Really. It's okay. Francis is having a good year with Orlando and the Magic are having a great season (especially in comparison to their team last year), it's okay to acknowledge that. It doesn't mean you have softened in your dislike for Steve. It doesn't mean you think it was wrong to trade him. And in no way does it suggest that you think he's a better player than T-Mac. It is quite possible to still not care for him as b-ball player and give him props for having what's been a first-half All-star season. Try it, it is possible. By the way, best of both worlds last night: Francis plays well, but more importantly the ROCKETS WIN!
