Steve Francis Interview(s) - did this strike anyone else?

People are reading WAY to much into Steve's comments. Steve and Yao are close friends, that's probably why he's pumping him up. And Yao is the main go-to guy because he's a dominant post guy.

 

This is as close to an apology as you can get.

Steve consistently saying that Yao is the first option is his way of reassuring the team, media, and fans that he now understands and is willing to correct the problem that got him booted out of Houston in the first place.

His heart was always in the right place and now, we all hope, his head is as well.

 

Funny how a thread about Steve Francis can subtly turn into a T-Mac vs. Yao thread. They both underachieved during the playoffs. Duh. Hopefully the new offense can make it so that T-Mac doesn't have to have 16 assists to eke out a win.

 

As much as I like and detest Steve Francis for being both likeable, and an idiot, I have to say that Steve should keep his mouth shut. This team does not need Steve Francis to stick up for Yao Ming or say something extremely controversial.

Steve, just shut up, and prove that you still have something left in the tank. And don't worry whether T-Mac or Yao is the #1. I think both players know who is #1.

 

Actually, he was traded out of Houston because we had a chance to get a much better player named T-Mac. Steve had no problems deferring to Yao in his final year here. Check his stats, averaged his fewest points and took fewer shots than any of his recent years with Houston. The clash between him and JVG was more of a reason he got "booted".

 

You're right on the stats and Steve not jiving with Van Gundy, but I still disagree on the deferring to Yao part. His touches went down as Yao matured and Van Gundy altered the offense, but it was his decision making that wrote his ticket out of town. A player's style of play and habits are not reflected in a box score. Steve still wanted to be the hero, dictate the last play, and be the one taking the Hail Mary shot. It wasn't entirely his fault, we (the city) are the ones who tagged him "the Franchise" then rescinded that unofficial title when Yao arrived.

I'm not sure if you were living in Houston during his first tenure, but it's not as though we would have kept Steve if T-Mac had not become available. Steve was being heavily shopped by management; we were just fortunate that T-Mac fell out of favor with the insane management in Orlando.

 

Hey! I have a stupid question...yes, another one!

Can we wait until the season starts before we dig up crap or over analyze everything to death?

Geez...I wonder how long before the "Fire Rick" threads?

 

Quo

I completely agree. It was more of a personal thing between Steve and Gundy for Steve be shipped out. If Rudy stayed the coach he would of never shipped Steve out for McGrady.

 

Of course Rudy would of never shipped Steve out. Or Cuttino for that matter.

Who else would he get to replace them so they can run that great and creative ISO offense that had us in the championship hunt all those early Francis years?

 

I am speechless.