i completely agree. steve isnt much better than when he came into the league, and without looking up his stats, havent his turnovers actually increased a bit w/ each year? all this doesnt bode well for the rockets. most players have their biggest learning curve the 1st 3 or 4 years. its pretty safe to say that after this time what you see is what you get. with steve i see a guy who does not have good basketball smarts and does not have the ability to be a gametime floor leader. he gets by on his tremendous athletic ability, but that wont last forever (see vince carter).
By posting that you are in essence justifying that there is reason to compare him. Thus by bringing up others statements that you agree with makes you accountable for the agreement.
The point that I'm making is that you can't expect to win when your point guard keeps giving away the ball. My primary complaint of Francis is that he keeps looking for his athleticism to carry him and when it fails to do so, you get those blasted turnovers. Don't misunderstand me, I am not one of the Francis bashers who calls him a ballhog and such but at the same time I am not all that impressed with his level of basketball skills particularly his decision making on the court at this point in his career. I just feel that he should be playing the PG position a lot better than he has so far. Now a lot of his poor play can be attributed to the "style" (if you can call it that) of offense he's been trapped in for the past 4 years and we have yet to see how it will change under JVG.
Now I'm not going to pay too much attention to the anti-franchise sentiments - they'll all change once we make the playoffs, which, barring serious injury problems, will be next season. Of course, after that it will be the talk aobut how Franchis can't get past the first round, blah blah blah. If I recall correctly, it took a long time for most Rockets fans to be satisfied with Hakeem. The team wallowed in mediocrity for a long time after we traded away Sampson. It'll certainly take a championship for most Rockets fans to appreciate Steve Francis. You can't say at this point that he'll never be a leader. You just can't. You have 'til the end of his career to determine that. Everyone said that AJ couldn't lead a team, but most of those people shut up one they won a title. You guys just have to be patient. I know some of you find it difficult to wait - especially you egn, since you can't even wait for the offseason to end to declare that the Rockets will stink next season - but that's what you're gonna have to do. Wait until his career is over, then we'll see whether or not he was a leader.
Well, this "so-called" Rockets fan is of the opinion that this sort of comparison is less than meaningless - these guys are in the Hall of Fame while Francis has yet to play in a playoff game. Now, numbers aside, can you really compare Francis as a basketball player with Oscar & Magic? No way! Granted, he's a phenominal athlete but the level of his basketball knowledge and skill have a long long ways to go before he can be considered a great player in the company of those two. This is not a slap at Francis but rather a realistic look at what he is now and not what he could "potentially" become. I don't believe that to indulge in reality makes you any less of a Rockets fan.
But how much of this is really Francis' fault? For a player to succeed, he has to play in a system that is designed to nurture and maximize his strengths on the court. He has to play for an organization that has a sense of purpose and direction. Looking back over the past few years, does this describe the Rockets to anyone here? That's why I think the Francis and Cuttino bashing is misplaced. True, their level of play is part of the problem but this is a problem that goes beyond the players on the court and reaches all the way up to the owner himself.
Note to HILLBOY. If Bush is President, Francis is a ballhog. If the sky is blue, Francis is ballhog, if Houston's summers are hot, Francis is a ballhog, if..... I have played with them, coached them, watched them. If I have ever seen one, it is Steve Francis.
Nonsense!!!! Who are you to write false statements in which I never mentioned. And I don't need to wait untill his career is over to make and assessment on his lack of qualities or characteristics that I believe make a leader.
Just remember the name "egn" everyone. When steve leads us deep into the playoffs we will see who is talkin...
hmm so when steve droped his shot attemps to 12 then hes still a balll hog. Kid also is more of a ball hog since he takes around 15 shots per game...
What everyone will remember is how YAO will lead the Rockets to the playoffs. Not Steve. He had four years and produced nothing.
See your being hipocritical... When, last year did Yao show leadership skills. You, yourself said you cannot learn or improve being a leader...
Slightly a different circumstance. You are talking about a person that has never played an NBA style of basketball, never played with NBA caliber players at an NBA pace. Also a person that is in a foriegn land, knows virtually no one, and speaks very little english. Yao has the ability to be 7'5", with some serious skills and a mind for the game. Once Yao can showcase his abiltiy and learn the NBA style and maybe some english along the way, he will lead this team to playoff wins. And there is a difference in what I have said and what you are trying to point out. Him leading the team to the playoffs is not the same as him having leadership skills. His height and basketball skills alone will lead this team to playoff wins.
If there is a stat on "player time of possession" and I don't think there is, Francis will be off the charts. Shots taken doesn't tell the story.
I clearly remember. I think you were the "40-42 wins TOPS!" guy. I'll look up the thread if you'd like. Could you name said qualities? From everything I've seen of him, Steve wants to win, and would do whatever it takes to win. He has a good relationship with his teammates. He works hard during the offseason. I don't buy this stuff about him being a ballhog. When you're the team's best scorer and ballhandler, you're expected to have the ball a lot. I just don't get it. You dislike Rudy T., you dislike Francis, you dislike Mobley, you're convinced the Rockets will miss the playoffs against next year... I'm not sure where you fit in. You don't really pass as a Yao-only fan, since that's what I started out as, but you can't really be considered a realist, because you thought we'd lose a playoff spot to the Sonics. Slinslin? Is that you?
he is a pg... he should be the guy with the ball most of the time, besides the fact that he is our star player...
it is so hot here. i just want to say i don't trust this person: francis¡£ the fans who believe him is poor . you would get pain and it is no end.
So If we goto the playoffs this year . .it is because of YAO if we don't . .. it is because of Steve?? Rocket River just wanna get your hypocracy str8 now
I'm just telling you it is not as bad as you make it out to be. Your original post said he has played with talent, which is not true, he has played with only one all-star, and a guy whose stats weren't very all-star like in the first place. I think Francis has had one dissappointing season, this past one. Year three was written off to injury, his second year, they won 45 games, and I'm not making excuses, but it is the highest win total of a team not to make the playoffs. I just think the "he hasn't made the playoffs yet" argument is ridiculous when you consider the whole picture. To me, that argument only applies to this season, and it isn't Phoenix I think they should have beaten out, I think the only team in the playoffs they clearly had more talent than, were the Jazz. But to totally ignore the other factors is biased. You may say I'm biased for my support of him, but I think his detractors are also biased.
