Nice move Steve, I wanted you to do something like this after I got to see what Shaq did...You are a great fan player, BEST OF LUCK...Oh yeah, dont dunk on YAO its not nice..
GOOD GOD, the people on this site who have contributed for the longest do nothing to support thr new people on this site. That is unless you agree with everything they say and treat them like armchair quarterback royalty. There is nothing with debate or criticism. All of us wanted the same thing, A CHAMPIONSHIP. Steve has always left himself vulnerable to the fundamental argument that most of the Steve Francis supposed HATERS have maintained. He should have been a better team player and a smarter basketball player by now. There is nothing wrong with pointing out the obvious. However there is something wrong with the denial of the truth. He was a spectacular athlete but an all to common example of what is wrong with the NBA as wll as sports in general--ALL FLASH and no SUBSTANCE. Atleast McGrady wants to play with YAO and realizes the advantages of a great big man on your team. If it were up to Steve this site would have turned into a Caron Butler bashing site as opposed to a Yao, a potential hall of famer site. If we are all haters for voicing our disagreeing opinions then I guess its a bunch of haters on the dollar bills spent to support this site. Granted some do just hate Steve however it is not fair for those who have tried to objectively present their dislike for Steve Francis's game to be thrown into the STEVE FRANCIS HATE CLUB. Damn stright if McGrady or Yao play stupid on the court there gonna be criticized as well. It is after all our money who pays their salaries. CAN"T WE ALL DISAGREE AND STILL BE LOVERS of the ROCKETS or is this site exclusively for ASS KISSING. I respect any point of view whether it is against what I believe or not. I however do not respect those that a few dictate what they must believe. THINK FOR YOURSELVES--DON'T BE AFRAID TO BE CRITICIZED- AND DON'T LET THOSE WHO HAVE A HISTORY HERE DETERMINE THE FUTURE FOR YOU OR THIS SITE. WE ALL CONTRIBUTE EVERYDAY ONE WAY OR ANOTHER TO THIS SITE. NO ONE ROCKET FAN IS GREATER THAN ANOTHER ON THIS SITE, AT THE TOYOTA CENTER, OR AT THE VICTORY PARADE. THanks everyone here if you read this even if you disagree with what I say. I look forward to using the criticism in aim to being a more objective and respectful contributor.
What are you talking about? Steve didn't want to play with Yao? Steve was calling Cat up on the phone selling the idea of Yao before Yao even showed up. Nobody in this thread was saying Steve was a perfect basketball player. They were only saying that Steve spending his money to take an ad to thank the fans of a team that traded him away, and announce his continuing loyalty to the city of Houston was class. The only criticizing of other posters in this thread was when despite Steve's classy move they still tried to find ways slam him. I have debated with people about Steve's value or lack of value to the team many times, and I don't think less of anyone who felt differently about Steve's contribution than I did. But this act, which is something Steve did on his own, and didn't have to, was a class move. Anyone who finds a way to attack this particular action by Steve, is doing so out of a bias against him. This act doesn't hurt the team, and isn't selfish on Steve's part at all.
Huh? He did a really nice thing he didn't have to do. I just don't get the venom. I am in big time favor of the Tmac/SF trade, but still think this is a class move from SF. Kudos to Steve where they are deserved.
Except for the fact that T-Mac has been in the league longer, is younger, can put up 30/6/6, and hasn't had the chance to play with a damn good big man yet. Francis had a big man and couldn't adjust. He's definitely not a Michael Jordan, hell, not even a Stephon Marbury according to most people, so he'll never win it without a big man. Francis will never ever be a main part of a ring. He might win it signing for the minimum for some contending team towrds the end of his career, or being the PG for another dominant duo... But you get the picture. Francis can't carry a team without a big man, and he can't adjust to a big man. It's over for him.
What has Steph won? And who are these "most people' you speak of - I think you're speaking of your personal opinion. I wonder what it will take for you to get over whatever it was that Steve did to make you so venemous towards him.
He hasn't ever averaged 6 assists and his days of averaging 30 points are over. He did have trouble adjusting, not because he didn't want to though, but does it really matter? The team was winning anyway. No he's not Stephon Marbury, he wasn't traded for scrubs he was traded for Tracy McGrady. He won 45 without one.
Stevie! some Rocket fans do a pretty good job of devaluing Houston. graciousness just aint a part of their makeup. Good luck Steve! ... 'cepting when you play against Houston.
LOL at the responses in this thread. I wasn't particularly a Steve lover myself but since he's been gone from the team I don't even talk about him anymore. I mean really, who cares? He's no longer part of this team, thank goodness, and I think we should just let it go and let the Magic fans worry about his flashy play. Just knew this was gonna happen when it said "Steve Francis" in the title.
Now comes the part where people whine about people defending him being worse than the people still bashing him 3 months later. Consider this the whine about that phenomenon - I'm complaining about the people complaining about the people bashing the bashers.
I will always be a Steve Francis fan. I have never been a SOF and I have given him more than his fare share of criticism, but I respect him and wish him all the best!! I truly commend him and praise him for keeping his charity and scholarship program here in Houston. I also would like to give him a big thanks for his efforts he gave this town. Wether you agreed with his style of play or not, I do not think that anyone here could disagree that come game time, Steve Francis gave his all on the court. Here's to Steve Francis! This city will miss you!! Thanks for everything Steve and best of luck in Orlando!!
First of all, I just want to express my gratitude for being able to call Steve Francis a Rocket for the past 5 years. It's been frustrating and tantalizing, but it's been an amazing Rockets ride the whole way. So thanks Steve for thanking us. I guess it shows that sometimes it's not about the bottom line...being a fan means being in love with a team no matter what the bottom line is...I guess that comes from years of being a Bears fan Second, I don't understand how you, kermit, can say the city gave more back to him than he gave us. Every single game he could play in he gave his all. He didn't pull a Kobe Bryant and pout about not getting shots (eventually shooting only 1 in a half or something). He didn't go sit down on the bench when a play wasn't run for him (ala Scottie Pippen). He gave it his all; he gave HOUSTON his all. You can call him a dumb player, you can call him a no-fundamentals player, you can call him whatever the hell you want, but he gave his all every damn night. He gave Houston 110% every night; that's all he could give. To go out of his way to thank the fans, even though he did put a plug in for his charity event, is an unnecessary gesture that he made simply because he wanted to express his gratitude to the place he called his home ever since he came into the NBA. Sure, it's a shrewd PR move. But it also sounded real genuine; all the people that have met Steve tell me he's a very nice person and goes out of his way to sign autographs and things of that nature. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that he could, just possibly, have written this letter simply because he wanted to thank us, could it? Good lord, I'm glad we traded for TMac too, but leave Steve's legacy here in Houston alone. You already ran it through the mud, kicked it, spit on it, tarred and feathered it....now you wanna rape the corpse?
