Steve Francis just proved he is NOT a franchise player

agreed.

i dunno if steve's remarks were meant to be hurtful or negative or whatever, but if it is, he better reevaluate his situation. i'm pretty sure rudy and CD could easily ship francis over to milwaukee for cassell and maybe tim thomas.

 

D-Feitl :

and RoxRan:

I think your combined posts pretty much said it all. I posted several weeks ago that if Steve continued to whine about anything... that this would only demonstrate and confirm his selfishness. I also advocated that should this happen/continue we should pull the trigger on a trade with the Cav's for Miller!! Unfortunately our WhineChise player waited until after Miller went to the Clips to continue what I fear will become a flawed and familiar trend in years to come .

Stevie is more concerned about the limelight than getting out of the first round. He is immature and NOT showing many signs of growing up off the court. I will look for two things that will shut me and the other S.F. critics up:

1. Consistent and serious "D",

2. And for him to STFU off the court.

If he has something to say about this team, it should NEVER be made public!! If he allows his opinion to become public info, it is a FAILURE on his part!!! I would LOVE for S.F. to prove me and the other critics on the Board wrong!!!

 

He has say because we've annointed him as the Franchise; he's arguably the most talented and popular player on the team; and some would argue he's our best player and a top 5 PG. We've given him the keys to the franchise, sort to speak.

I don't know why he has an alleged problem with MIng, but I do know he isn't the only person (fan or scout) that does.

Also, alot of players on this team hasn't made the playoffs. There have been many reasons why we haven't gotten there, and I honestly think Steve, when on the court, is the least likely reason. He's a very good player.

The fact that we haven't made the playoffs undre Steve is irrelevant. It doesn't mean he isn't allowed to comment on issues. Cuttino eventually made positive comments about MIng, after the Odom comments on FOX(which was more specific, yet that's forgotten). Thus, we should be more willing to accept Cat's comments because they were positive? We're not lemmings here. Well, I hope we aren't.

 

I'm glad Steve is concerned with the direction of this team. I think that shows maturity.

The guy wants to win badly, and I couldn't be happier.

Let's wait and see how Steve performs on the court before we turn on him. Oh wait, too late.

 

i'm not faulting francis for wanting to win. that's a good trait. but just saying 'i want to win now. i want to win right away. i want..i want...i want' ain't exactly getting it done. there are players that voice their opinions and actually go out and perform. and then there are players that say they want to win and want to win it all every year and never get anywhere...just ask warren sapp

 

Every f-ing player in the NBA wants to win. Not every player in the NBA wants to work hard to win. That is the category that Francis is in, along with 100s of other players.

Francis needs to wake up and realize that if he wants to win, there are so many areas of improvement that HE needs to address, for us to win. Until he does that, we will not win with him. And he can bring his loser status to some other team if he pleases.

 

The guy has worked hard every year to improve. He averaged 21-6-7 last year! Every offseason since he joined the Rockets, we've heard of Steve working hard to prepare for the season! The guy has been recovering from surgery, and he has still been working his ass off to get ready to help the team this year. Unlike guys like Allen Iverson and Aaron Mckie, Steve didn't wait until a week before the season to have his surgery done.

How can you say that Steve hasn't been working to improve?

 

ZRB- There's something called defense. Of course, Francis doesn't really care for this aspect of the game, because he'd rather be tossing alley oops, or doing 360 dunks.

Francis IMO, seems to worried about being an exciting player, than being a complete player. Yes, I know that he rebounds well, but I will not consider him an elite player until he commits himself to defense.

Francis' production is nice, but when you're giving up 30 points to the other PG, it's all for naught. That is why he's not truly a superstar. He doesn't really outplay his opponent, to give us an edge. That is why we will never be a .500 team until he improves defensively. True superstars are able to outplay their opponents in every facet. Also, I haven't seen ANY improvement in his ability to find open players. Also, shouldn't a PG be able to have SOME clue on how to run a fastbreak?

 

I agree with you that Steve needs to work on his defense, but how do you know that he isn't working on it right now? It may be true that he has shown little defensive improvement in the last few seasons, but the guy is still young.

Steve Francis is a franchise player. The Rockets would have set a record for futility without him. With him in the lineup, despite a horrid supporting cast and heaps of injuries, the Rockets were close to .500. They were 2-22 without him.

That is the definition of "franchise player".

If Steve still hasn't improved his defense this season, then let's bash him. Until then, he should get the benefit of the doubt.

 

a franchise player also, by definition, should lead by example and not run his mouth rampant.

 

[Some of] You guys are TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE fans. Good GOD, cut the guy whose leading this team some frikin' slack. Justifying being a professional sports team fan is already hard enough w/o wanna be GMs psychoanalyzing comments like that. The man can play, he will stay, and barring injury, we will make the playoffs - eventually be champions. Is the latter part really gonna happen? Hell if I know, but I'm saying it cuz I think it could and I'm a Rockets fan. And if it does, you'll be hard pressed to find stuff to b**** about in the off season, but I'm sure you'll find something. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show, cuz I think we're in for one. Whine about players that really do suck and are still being cocky.

 

By no means have I given up on him, since he is still a raw player. Which means he still has plenty of room to improve further. There's no doubting his skills and athleticism. But, he needs something upstairs to elevate him to elite status.

If you look at Kobe Bryant, he had the skills and athleticism from Day 1 in the NBA, he just didn't KNOW how to get results from his skills. Now, he plays defense, passes the ball to open guys, and takes charge during the 4th quarter.

I know Francis can't be as great as Kobe, but I'd surely like to see him improve his defense and be more of an assertive leader, on and off the court. I really feel like his friendship with Mobley isn't really a positive. In sports, you're sometimes better off having guys who don't like each other, but take care of their business. It's evident that Francis and Mobley think they are the only 2 players needed to win. The only time this works in basketball is if you have a Shaq and Kobe.

It's hard for me to give him the benefit of the doubt defensively, because he's shown little to no improvement on defense in his career. If he had shown more improvement, then yes I'd be more likely to give him the benefit of the doubt.

All in all, Francis has A LOT to prove this upcoming season, such as his health, his ability to lead his team to the playoffs, and his ability to bounce back from adversity (everything from last season).

If Francis can prove me wrong, that's great. I will eat some serious crow, but it will be worth it, because it'd mean the Rockets are back on the winning track.

If not, then I will even have more doubts about him and the Rockets being a succesful relationship.

 

There can be no argument made that the team's success isn't directly connected to Francis. As I previously said, the Rockets will only go as far as Steve can take them. Rockets record w/ Francis: 26-31. Rockets record w/out Francis: 2-23. Checkmate.

 

This is usually what happens when a team loses its best player... No one doubted he's our best player. What people doubt is if he's a winner. 26-31, is not a winner.

Also, there are no players except Cato, who benefit from playing alongside Francis. Usually, elite PGs have the ability to elevate the play of their teammates. Really, the only Rocket who noticeably benefited from Francis, was Cato, on the alley oop lobs.

"Checkmate".

 

How can you admit that Francis is the best player on the team and still be an opponent of him bringing him back? What good do you think pissing him off, not offering him the max, and having him go to another team will do us then? Maybe we'll find someone better in the FA market? Good luck.

Besides, Francis has led the team w/ Mobley to a winning record before w/o much of a supporting cast. Now he's 2 years better.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, and your not a Francis "opponent", but it sure as hell doesn't sound like you're a fan.

 

It's called "starting over". I personally don't think the Rockets can win a title with Francis. Which really is all that matters.

As for where I stand with Francis, I'm definitely not his biggest fan. Here is my opinion of him, a very good player, in a Marbury type of way. Will be productive, but doesn't elevate the play of his teammates, which is what is needed to win.

Francis will always be a productive player, I just question if he ever will win.

If you have a guy who isn't a winner, why keep him around? He's just wasting time. We shall see this year, where Francis lies. This is probably his most critical year, in terms of showing his mettle.

Like I said before, I pray that Francis embarrasses me and proves me to be 100% wrong about him.

I'm a Rocket fan first and foremost. I don't really get into a lovefest with any of the individual players. Especially on the current roster, most of whom seemed to not care about basketball at all last year, except KT. Despite that, I don't like KT because I feel he's a defensive hindrance. But that's another topic for another thread.

I admit that maybe I am too hard on Francis, or too impatient, but fact is, that a guy who says he wants to win all the time, and a guy who wants a max contract, better be able to hold his end of the bargain. Thus far, Francis HAS NOT. I pray to God that he does, because if he does, Rockets are legit contenders. If not, we are a .500 or worse team again.

 

The sky's falling ...

Folks change their mind everyday.
When did it become a mortal sin to question Yoa's abilities?
Steve is the franchise player. Anyone seeking to remove him
from that position should at least play a minute in a rocket uni.

If MJ NEVER doubted the bull's direction whats he doin' in Washington? Shaq ditched Orlando at first opp. Ewing gave NY his best years ... NY gave him the shaft ...

Contract time folks ... its just business as usual.

 

Huh?

Well, the GM in Chi, Jerry Krause isn't leaving anytime soon. And seeing how MJ didn't exactly leave Chi on the best of terms...

I don't get what you mean with MJ and Washington.

 

MJ has said he wanted another year with the bulls, but it'd b 2 difficult breaking in a new coach ... the Jerrys pretty much ran Phil outah town ...

 

There are very few to no point gaurds that are "winning" players as you describe them on their own. A point needs some other formidable presence on his team to win. If Marbury had stayed with the Wolves, the way things looked like they could have been going, he wouldn't be taking nearly as much heat as he is now.

Don't expect Francis to light up the West single-handedly. The reason I think he'll do well is because he's now surrounded with some other talent, or what I'm at least hoping will be real talent.

Francis alone could never carry the Rockets or any team to a title (like any point gaurd), but that doesn't mean that he's an incredible player, and an important one. I can agree that until he works on his D an proves that he will be an integral part of the team's chemistry (both of which I believe he'll do and may already be doing), he's not a "franchise" player, but he deserves the max because he'll be the best this team has to offer for a while - just maybe not single-handedly responsible for some of the Rockets' success.