He gives up 5 inches on Leborn. He doesn't have a great outside shot but can certainly see easily over Francis and pass the ball.
I bet King James can just drive by Steve or post him up. If Steve is at the 2, how is going to guard someone like T-Mac?
how do david wesley, jason terry, bobby jackson, etc. play the 2 guards? Steve can play D on the two. He does have a height disadvantage, but his athleticism makes up for his height. I don't think most of the 2 guards in the league have Steve's vertical. steve's had 4 years to run the show and he's done well, but his game still seems more suited for the 2 position. He's a scorer first and probably always will be. Why not give a shot? the triangle would be nice, but that offense is supposedly very difficult to pick up and i think only teams with tex winters/phil jackson run it.
MacBeth is the only person I know who finds a way to compare Steve to his Gran Ma! Seriously,my solution for Francis' perfect side kick is a play maker who doesn't take too many shots and make his team mates better.Brent Barry would be nice fit. Another solution would be draft Diaw,I see him play weekly(play only once a week in Europe) and he has the exact profile I just gave.(But then again maybe it's just my homerism that's talking here ) ALA
We shouldn't think about it as MOVING Steve to the 2. Think about it as if we're adding another PG to the backcourt.
Macbeth is usually a solid poster, but I think he misses the point fans are making about moving Francis to the 2. I think most of us understand that Francis moving to the two creates more problems. Unfortunately, the Rockets signed Francis to a mega-deal which should make him pretty much impossible to trade. Therefore, we're stuck with him. If we're stuck with him and if he continues to play with a "me first" mentality, then I think we need to bring in a true point guard to play along side him. Can such a move make Houston a contender for the title? Probably not, but it's better than having a back court of two shooting guards which is basically what we have right now in H-town. The other solution would be to go out and get the two best offesnive rebounders available to try and create second opportunities on the horrible shot selections of Francis and Mobley. Me personally, I'm for finding a way to trade Francis (although I think that requires the Rockets finding a sucker) for someone who just doesn't talk about wanting to win, but who actually does the necessary things needed to win.
I like Odom in the triangle with Ming and Francis. You can "iso" Steve at the acute end of the triangle, let Odom and Ming form the base. Steve can use his skills with two other passing corners. Replace Cat and Eggie with a big defender/shooter and an enforcer. Steve and Ming can work fine. Steve's not the problem. Cat, Eggie, Rice and Taylor are our problems.
Good post. Terry plays point guard even if he really isn't one, but Wesley, Jackson, etc. ARE defensive liabilities. I don't think we should get rid of Cat. At the very least he could be a sixth man for instant offense. He's so underpaid and maybe with a coach that instills discipline he'd stop repeating the same mistakes every year. We should just run our offense through Yao. It's that simple. If people would actually cut and move around when Yao is in the high post, alot of good things would happen, but last year we just would stand around and watch.
I think Francis is a problem as long as he sees himself and Mobley as the primary and only source of offense for the team. I think rebounding and physical post defense continues to be the Rockets' biggest problem. However, if they're not going to trade Francis then I think adding a tall athletic player like Odom would be a good move. I just don't see that happening though unless the Rockets pull a sign and trade off of Griffin and Mobley for Miller and Odom and I don't think any franchise, even the Clippers, is stupid enough to make that trade with so many better possibilities out there.
With Rudy gone, I'll bet Francis moving to the 2 is a completely open issue, and will be the new coach's call. Don't be suprised if the new coach wants to keep the Francis/Mobley tandem in tact, and attempt to reach them instead of moving one of them. I would prefer this summer we try to address our weakest position, PF, instead of trying to find a new point guard. In the Western Conference, finding a stud power forward is of utmost importance.
Exactly the worry before Francis was drafted, not a true point guard but too short to play the 2. I couldn't believe that after 4 years, this issue was still not addressed and maybe can never be truely addressed. Sigh...
If the new coach wants player support then don't look for SF and CM to be broken up for anything less than a GP caliber point guard to move Cat to the bench. If an unproven kid is brought in then the drama will be a b*tch. Not that the players shouldn't do what they're told, but with how sudden the change came you've got to expect some turmoil.
