Steve Francis: "There's nothing wrong with me. I can still play"

Sorry you feel that way but I said once Francis athleticism waned he would be out of the league, and that is exactly what happened.

DD

 

He's done. He might want to try the D league but he is no way capable of playing in the NBA. He needs to just find a way to invest his money properly and avoid what iverson and guys like Derick coleman are going through.

 

let's just ignore the fact he was a troubled soul after being separated from Rudy and Mobley, leading to addiction.

Dude has no mom or dad, raised by his grandmother and had 3 coaches in four years before meeting Rudy and Mobley. He finally had a stable family as a Rocket.

Lay off, Stevie.

Your "I told you so" moment here is not the right story.

 

Addiction? I said nothing of that - seems that is a much worse accusation than what I was saying.

DD

 

Generally players as they get older can leverage strength and experience to replace speed and athleticism, when you're tragically undersized, you're SOL

 

I agree that super athletes can deteriorate fast. But Vince adjusted. imo, Stevie would have too under Rudy, because he had a midrange game from the gods. I'm just saying Stevie's story is not the best example of what you're saying. that's all.

cheers

 

He was a talent, but damn watching his iso plays were difficult to say the least. The only reason I was sad when we traded for MerGady was because we let the Cat go as well.

 

Can you imagine Cat rather than Luther Head in the Utah series.



To this day I still think that trade from ORL's side was about ensuring Stevie got everything he wanted ... thus, Cat.

 

Well there is always room in the league for great shooters. Nash comes to mind as someone that played into his late thirties. It's just been the last 3 years that he's been plagued by injuries.

Dwight Howard even tho is a big man faces a similar fate. Once his athleticism and speed declines he's done. He has no skills to keep him in the league as a top star.

 

He won't be as dominant, but it's not the same, Dwight with declining athleticism will still be more athletic than his opponents well into his 30's. He's still an elite defender, and this is with an injured knee, plus his rebounding has never been about his athleticism, he barely gets off the ground. Francis had literally nothing besides his athleticism, add to that, even prime Francis wouldn't be a great nba player by modern standards.

Dwight is more akin to a Mutombo (who had no offensive skills at all), they can be productive for years, albeit in a reduced role as a function of position. Centers just don't fall off the map like undersized point guards.

 

Stevie Franchise. The player who built the Toyota Center. Good times.

His downfall (IMO) was JVG. (In fact the entire Rockets' offensive downfall was JVG.) After that no team wanted to build an offense around him, which was why his production on the floor went down. Less touches = less production. Stevie always had to have the ball in his hand. He was too undersized to play off the ball. The only reason most people remember Steve run the shot clock down was because of JVG's stagnant offense. McGrady did the same thing under JVG, it's just he was bigger and could shoot over people (much bigger mis-match for defenses). Steve's number's before JVG were among the best in the league. One thing you can never question Steve Francis on is, PASSION. He was never able to passively "get by" with athleticism or size alone (i.e. McGrady, Dwight, Amare, heck even if Shaq was 4" shorter and 50lbs lighter he wouldn't of been what he was). I never understood why JVG didn't take that back screen Alley-Oop play Rudy used to run with Steve.

Hakeem Olajuwon was the reason I became a Rockets fan. Steve Francis was the reason I became a BASKETBALL fan.

After the decline of Hakeem, and before Yao was Yao, Steve Francis was the only thing going on in Houston. (Astros were good during these years, but I'm referring to basketball fans.) He gave us something to cheer for. Yes, I agree those teams were some of the worst that have graced our NBA court, but it could of been worse (i.e. Clippers). His career kind of came during the transition of the NBA in between the ISO era (led by players who imitated MJ (i.e. Kobe, Carmelo)) and the modern era (Lebron, KD). Overall, I agree with a lot of people that these were the "dark years" for the NBA. The Tim Donaghy scandal, Lakers winning, weird drafts (Kwame Brown, Greg Oden). Just a weird time.

All in all, "The Franchise" did great things for this organization (outside of getting us T-Mac), and was really fun to watch.

*Sidenote* I really liked JVG, he was the right coach for Yao, but not for Stevie.

 

Riiiiight

 

Agreed

Though I must admit. . .sometimes I wonder if JVG's Grinding in the paint is what increase the wear and tear on Yao . . . .[along with the year round schedule]
In the Rudy days Yao was a good shooter and passer . . .all around game
JVG limited him to the lowpost

Rocket River

 

BTW - I never liked the TMac trade
I thought Steve and crew needed one more year at least
They lost of a very Strong Laker team . .. and played them strong and with passion
The best team the Rockets ever lost to in the 1st round this century

With Steve the Rockets were Rising
When they got TMac . . .they rose a little but never ascended further

In the end .. . it was a lateral move at best. . . ..

Rocket River

 

I know many people have fond childhood memories of Francis, but he was a loser. Steve Francis made one playoff appearance his entire career. Any team with Francis as a foundation piece was destined for mediocrity, at best.

T-Mac for all of his problems at least got teams to the postseason.

 

Rocket River,
I feel as if we are bound together by this website and Steve Francis.

In the end, yes nothing more than a lateral move. Looking back however, I think at the time as much as much as I hated seeing Francis and Mobley leave, it was the right move. No one could of foreseen the injuries to Yao or T-Mac. I never liked the trade but felt it was "logically justified. Steve Francis, in my eyes will always be the 23-6-6 all-star. The one that could float through the air and give us Rockets fans highlights "night in and night out". I do think we could have done something with that group, just not with JVG at the helm. IMO we would have done better with the SF3 team under Adleman or some offensively/defensively "balanced" coach. JVG was just way too lopsided with the defense to offense ratio. What other playoff team has only 4 players score in a game???

I think that's why a fire has kind of rekindled between me and the Rockets. James Harden. I haven't been this excited about a player since Stevie. By no means has my fandom diminished over the years, but to have such a young player doing what he's doing now. Something special, just like the early years with "The Franchise".

I love walking through memory lane!!!

 

In the Eastern Conference. BTW, Steve Francis' Rockets had a better record than T-Mac's Orlando Magic the year before they were traded for each other. Magic made the playoffs because they were in the EAST.

Steve Francis' Rockets are also one of the only teams in NBA history to sweep an entire division. Just FYI.

 

At the time.

 

man its sad to see him like this. He used to be my favorite player, and always loved his competitiveness.