More. Said he spent most of his offseason working on his game. Spent some time in Arizona (a fitness center of some sort) working on himself and trying to get in better shape. Was joined briefly in Arizona by Coach JVG. On what he needs to work on for next season, Francis said he just needs to be himself and be a better Francis. On how Yao performed last season in his opinion, Francis said Yao was very impressive in the way he handled all the pressure and still delivered as a rookie, a foreigner and someone somewhat new to the "American" style of basketball. On the idea of switching to the 2-position, he said the media wants something to talk about so they manufactured that theory. He also said it does not matter where he plays as long as he helps the team win. On making the playoffs this upcoming season, Francis said that they have learnt their lesson of not talking much about it rather let their play talk for them. He said also that he learnt from RudyT that you don't talk your way to the leadership position rather you let your actions on and off the court do the talking. On the heavy chunck of minutes he and Mobley logged last season, he said he will do whatever it takes - whatever the coach wants even if it means "sacrificing" some minutes for the team's ultimate benefit. ============================================================= ============================================================= Epilogue A "6" (on the scale of 10). He was "late" for the interview and did not speak up early in the interview. It was kind of hard for the radio show hosts as well as us fans to hear him clearly in the begging. I found that a bit arrogant and UN-humble. Rich and Charlie asked good questions and Stevie did a fair and answering all of them. He soooo much "wants" to be the leader of this team (which is good) but he has done better talking than his on-the-court actions have showed. The give-Yao-the-damn-ball thingy still bothers him. From what I sensed, he believes we (the select fans and journalist) don't know what we are talking about (and he could be right) by surgesting that the Rocks would have done better in the W-L column had Yao been better utilized. He spoke briefly about that with a bit of restlessness and hardheadedness in his tone/voice. The name for his record label still bothers me. Why in the world did he settle for that? I am really bothered. And to think that the "h" at the end meant absolutely nothing (a disguise or to "change it up" according to him) is simply laughable. In his explaination, he said the game of basketball is all about ISO!!! ............ WTF!!! All about ISO??? What about Inside-out, FastBreak, halfcourt, Alleyhoop, defense , etc. Finally, I was dissapointed that when asked on what he needed to improve for next season he supplied us with a "generic" answer. Rather he should have said the obvious - his piss poor DEFENSE and his average to below par DESCISION MAKING. Is he too big to state the obvious? I was thought that stating your problems or shortcomings is the first step to solving and overcoming them. It is now obvious that this lesson is lost on Stevie.
ok because he didn't specifically say, hey i need to work on my defense on some random offseason interview, absolutely does not mean he's not working on it or he's some lost cause. for some reason steve's interviews get picked apart and scrutinized to no end just to find something to jump on him about.
This is a joke, right? Or is it really how Francis view basketball? And his plan for the coming season is just being himself, a better Francis... Now I start to worry about the playoff in 2004. I do like the part that he practised at Arizona (eeeck!) with JVG.
When he was asked about the Uniforms he paused for a moment and then to me from the way he said it made up something to please the listeners. My take is he don't like them.
Steve needs to worry about b-ball, before music. What is with these dumb ass ball players that want to get something else going before they finish what they've started?(basketball) Att: Steve Win a championship, and then will talk. It really makes me sick.
If we win a championship in the next 4 years - Steve will be a hero and nobody will remember all this other stuff. If we don't win it all, we will always find something to blame Steve F. for because deep down we expect him and Yao to be our 2 superstars who are going to get it done for us. There is alot of pressure on Steve Francis because from the day he put on the Rocket uniform everyone crowned him the Franchise who would replace Hakeem. Let him be Steve Francis, and pray JVG gets the desired results out of this team.
OK. Where are the posters who argued that the Rockets did not run the ISO play much last year? Please stand up!
Wrong. It is Yao's team now. If we win a championship or not it is going to come back to the dynasty. Stevie's input will be very appreciated but Yao is the Key. We can ONLY go as far as he can take us - no more, no less.
Fegwu .. try hugging your pet before you post about our Rockets... lol its OBVIOUS you had a rough day before you listened to the Stevie interview. If you're a Rockets fan, Id really hate to hear your opinions about the teams you really hate. lol
it's the ones who say a play that starts with a PnR, and ends up an isolation was not an isolation play call from the coach. It was a players decision with a standing order to go ISO when the first options don't materialize or you get a mismatch or the shotclock runs down. Francis said, "it usually <b>ends up</b> isolation ... ." The "ends up" part is generally one of the options in a set of options. Many coaches use that in a set of options per possession. But the Rockets tend to overuse that option, by favoring it over other ones, and I think it is largely due to poor decision-making on the floor, not a coach calling out only one option. The best example of overusing the ISO option is dribbling away from the pick in a PnR....or Francis's other annoying move of resusing the pick ad nauseaum until a switch happens so he can go ISO....thereby not really looking at the other options of the PnR, resulting in a confused picker who doesn't know when to release...thus breaking down the crucial timing of it.
The guy said "if we win a championship 4 yrs from now, Steve will be a hero." He did not say "THE" hero. You totally pulled that quote and interjected your own "Yao-is-the-Only-Hero Fan" context onto it, when the context had nothing to do with who is the hero. It's a team sport, right? There wouldn't be just one hero, and I guarantee you that both Steve Francis and Yao Ming would disagree with you on that point. Back off Fegwu. You are wrong if you think Steve Francis will not be a Houston hero if we win a title in 4 yrs. Of course, Steve Francis would be a hero. Yao will be a hero, too, just like Drexler and Hakeem were both heros. Your "Yao-only Fan" tendencies are showing.
This is right on target. Dribbling down a PnR wastes shot clock and throws the options into disarray. I think Steve needs early success that translates to confidence in the system. When he becomes confident doing things the JVG he could become the leader he said he wants to be, leading us into the playoffs. I look for team chemistry to happen this season. Count on making the playoffs and if they are not injured and if they are peaking at postseason time--- whoever they meet in the first couple of rounds could be had. I hope this group wins a championship because finding another Steve or Yao is like finding a Dream or Shaq, Kobe, Garnett. There just aren't alot of them out there to get and this is our chance maybe for the next 6-7 years
No kidding. And, wtf is Clutch doing? Clutch, do your day-job. When you've retired and you're collecting unemployment, then you can run the best fan-site on the web.
Francis' interview and this discussion just remind me of all the reasons why I don't like Steve Francis.
Who gave you the nerve to respond to me? Was I responding to you? Did I asked for your opinion - you Francis-only fan? Look at kettle calling pot black. If saying that "Francis will not be a hero when we eventually win a championship" is irritating you this bad then go locate a lake nearby and jump into it because Francis is too dumb and puerile to be considered a hero in any scenario in the endeavor of basketball. Mmmchewwwwww
