Wow, I didn't realize he gained that much weight until these new Stevie pictures showed up. He really does look like Young Steve. Deke must be sharing that fountain of youth with Francis. Either that or Steve has been busting his ass in the offseason. Not even sure if hes cleared for full contact yet but looks great.
That's what I've thought all along. And while Steve's recent thinness doesn't prove he's been working out (he could just be eating less, or low-carbing it), it's certainly encouraging. But let's say he *is* in less pain and is working his way into great shape, that doesn't mean everything's rosy for this year. There are still lots of questions: How well will the effects of the surgery hold up? Will he *stay* painfree? How much of his athleticism will he get back? How much has he learned to play a smarter game that doesn't rely solely on that athleticism? Can he learn to work within Adelman's system? How well will he defer to the team's new stars? Can he play under control more than he has in the past? Still, if Francis is healthy, it definitely strengthens the PG position and gives Adelman lots of options he doesn't have otherwise. Example: If Rafer needs a rest and the other team subs in a 6'5" PG, do you really want Brooks to be the one guarding him? But obviously, if Steve is healthy and plays a smarter, more team-oriented style, this is going to be a very tough team for anyone to beat. <BR>
Maybe i was wrong righting him off earlier.if he can come in for twenty to twenty fove minutes a night and average eight to ten points, were gonna be unbeliveble.
These are some good points. I believe that Steve's mindset is there to play a team-oriented game. In the few games he played last year, he put himself in a role as a pass-first point guard. One thing I'm still iffy about him is whether he can be a natural point guard, meaning that he not only passes the ball, but also knows how to control the tempo of the game and direct players to successfully run a specific play. This is something that Rafer is already very good at doing for this team. For Steve, there's some concern because Steve in the past always dominated the ball playing an one-on-one isolation game for the most part and used to have problems just throwing an entry pass to Yao in the post. Although Steve has lost some athleticism for sure, he still I think much more athletic than most of the point guards in the league, so thats not really a concern. I just hope that Steve can stay healthy and can somehow find a niche on this team.
If Steve does get a role I don't think it's that important how well he will run the offense , he will be a scoring pg , spark off the bench for us , and Barry will help him with the pg duties. What I am concerned about is if he can get that athletic ability back , without it he is very very mediocre. Not a good 3 point shooter , will have a much harder time finishing at the rim , and not quick enough to stay with fast point guards. Honestly , besides that put back in the 1st pre season game , he really looked bad athletically.
This is Steve's contract year. I do believe a 31 former all-star in his contract year. He must have been working out during the whole off-season.
OK, I'm on the Francis bandwagon. He looks formidable again. I hope it translates well on the court. I can't wait for the season to start already. I wish Shane did take up the offer to play in the Olympics, that way I could watch a Rocket play in the off-season.
He's only going to surprise people who think he has anything left. I fully expect him to be a bench warmer and collect a ton of DNP this season.
The only way he gets DNP's is that his style doesn't fit the system, and he has to think too much which is not good when you are thinking instead of reacting(he looked lost trying to fit in and find his niche). That was one of his biggest problems last year besides being out of shape and dealing with his knee issue. It had very little to do with the skill and ability he has left, because in short spurts he looked good but just couldn't sustain it when he had to log alot of minutes. And that was more from the problems I stated above.
Kelvin Cato had some sick dunks when he was a Rocket. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Gj1DV4bLogk&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Gj1DV4bLogk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I really hope you are wrong. He is still in his low 30's! He SHOULD be able to play basketball at a decent level. If he really is done, I can't think of another player in the league that fell off as fast as he did at such a young age with out having a serious knee injury. Anything that he gives this team is cherries on top! If he can somehow bounce back to form, I will be so happy. So very very very happy.
