I think Steve was tight tonight but he needed more help and didnt get that, so what he did was step it up. I think we will be way better this comming friday, we get Rice back and Thomas back so that is good news. Steve will get his shots and his assist with Rice back!!! GIVE YAO MINUTES!!! Mobley you tight man
Here's the problem. If Steve keeps passing it to the guy who's 1 for 11 then people will say why did the Rockets keep running that play. Sometimes you run the play that gives you the best chance of scoring. Tonight that was Steve. The other guys had their chance. They got wide open shots. They were set up nicely. They didn't respond. It might have been better if Steve kept passing them the ball no matter what. But at the same time will it help the teammates confidence if he keeps getting the ball and never sinks a basket? That could damage a guys confidence as well. I'm really torn in wondering whether Steve should have kept passing the ball to teammates who played uninspired basketball or not. Any way I can at least accept as an argument those that say he should still pass them the ball even though they were missing the open shots. I can't accept the argument that we lost because Steve didn't pass the ball more. But I can see where it could lead to better basketball to keep trying the pass.
Its the age-old situation of "damned if you do, damned if you don't". If Steve took 10 shots and passed the ball to his teammates all night long who proceed to shoot 20%, then its "why did Steve continually pass when his teammates weren't hitting their shots?", or "why didn't Steve take over the game, he wants to be the man why doesn't he prove it?". If Steve then takes matters into his own hands and shots 13/28, then it's a case of "Steve is a ballhog and can't involve his teammates". In the preseason when TMo was having his "breakout" games, I think it was either Steve or Cat said something to the effect of "Terrence had the hot hand, we did our best to feed him the ball". Giving the ball to the player who has the proverbial "hot-hand" gives your team the best chance of winning. If Griffin had of taken 30 shots and hit 20 of them, would he be called a ballhog and selfish and unwilling to involve his teammates? No. It would be a case of Griffin was feeling it, lets feed him the ball and see what he can do. What about if Yao had the hot hand (I mean if he touched the ball tonight ) and pulled another 21-21 performance? No he wouldn't be selfish either. I know that different positions have different roles, and Steve as a PG should work to get his teammates involved in the offence, but if you teammates can't hit the ocean from the beach, then why not see if you can take over and LEAD your team? Why not try to set an example, then perhaps your teammates will see and think to themselves "Hey, Steve can't do it all on his own, lets step up and try to help him out!" Obviously tonight no-one stepped up and followed his lead, but if your team is floundering on offence who do you turn to? Your best player/scorer. Tonight that player was Francis. Great game, Steve. Hopefully next time the rest of the team will follow your lead and give you the help that's needed to pull out the win. Now lets get back to 1-1 at Denver.
Do I dare say that Cato out played Yao tonight, who would of thunk it . Any how Steve played a great game toninght, and led the team in assist and this was playing with one of the starters shooting 1 for 11 (Eddie Griffin). Cuttino played a good game as well, and Cato had a career high game. I know many people are hating on Francis because we loss, but if we won hell I doubt the haters would of even of showed up tonight. Unless they just lead a bored dismal life.
rather than blame steve here is something we should look at. if jason kidd, the best pure pg in the league was running the team tonight they still would have lost, maybe more, maybe less, but almost certainly. the surrounding cast was not ready for the big time this game. absolutely steve has to get some flak but not nearly with the force in which it's coming. it's a team loss and tonight the rocks just got beat by a currently better team. give them some time to work through this. 9 points on the road, opening game is not that bad.
I don't think it was a loss on the offensive side of the ball, we got beat because our perimeter defense was awful. The Pacers were shooting uncontested shots all night.....this is our new committment to defense? Ugh !! DD
If that was the case, then I would be on the other side of this debate. I would be telling people, "Don't worry. The offense was moving and in sync. We just missed open shots. But, based on the way the TEAM played together, I see good things ahead of us." Tonight, we missed open shots, but failed to keep the "5-man offense" going. Actually, Cato should NOT start. He has NO offensive skill. The best players should start. Rookie or not. P.S. Also, don't forget about that other aspect of the game: DEFENSE!
Francis fairly distributed the ball to the open man, but none of this guys really hit a good shot, Collier, Grif, Cat and Cato. every single one of them are out of sinc!! Except for Cat on the second half of the game!
Steve failed. Everyone failed. They lost as a TEAM. Remember that word? TEAM? Cuz I'm not sure the Rockets do.
Sorry, I got frustrated and posted that before reading the second page. Good point to those of you making the "team" point. Okay, so guys weren't making their shots. So Francis decides to take it all upon himself. So we lose. And so we will continue to lose if that scenario continues to play itself out. At no time should Steve Francis be trying to win this game all on his own. And that is why he is as much to blame as anyone. The win and lose as a team. If guys haven't been making their shots for the first three quarters, you don't stop trying to create plays. They stopped trying to create plays, and instead tried to create as many shots for themselves as they could, thereby taking it upon themselves to win the game. I'm talking about Steve and Cat. That's not team basketball. That's losing basketball.
Well, they closed my thread which was the one of the originals of Steve's ball-hogging and predictable dribbling....Thanks GUYS!! By the way, there is only 1 particular thread that talks about Steve. And mine would of made number 2. There was no use of locking mine... And on the Steve Francis issue, he ran the offense as a 1-man offense, never made an option to pass, and padded his stats. They might have lost as a TEAM, but there is no I in team!! (Got that from DoD)
The ball went though his hands because he's a playmaker. Bottom line: Steve makes things happen for this team. How many fouls did he draw from the Pacers trying to stop him? I'll admit that he could've passed the ball more, but they were VERY short-handed tonight.
Cato should start. I believe Yao will be a good player but until he learns the offense and gets comfortable with it, he's more of a liability to the team right now. He also has got to get stronger. He just needs time and he'll be ok.
Why don't the Rockets learn the type of offense that the Mavericks run? They pass pass pass and get the job done. On defense, well, that's a different story....
And that was against 6'6" stalwart Ron Artest. That being said, I don't think Steve did anything to help the team win. Yes he can score. But, the other 4 guys on the floor were bored. Well, maybe not Cuttino. But how many times did Steve take advantage of Nachbar? How many times did Collier cut to the basket and appear wide open only to have Steve chunk it? I used to complain that he didn't shoot enough, now I think he's trying to win the mvp a-rod style. Imo, the offense should go through Ming/Mo/KT in the beginning. Let those guys kick it out ot our guards. That's how we set up easy shots. I think Stevie is our best overall player, but the guy, point guard or not, has to get others involved and make it fun for them. For all we know, Boi could have scred 15 tonight . Of course, maybe Rudy told STeve and Cat to shoot it.
Well, there is one a silver linning.... You know, when something doesn't work, you change it. One of these days, Francis will realize this...
A couple of notes: 1) Just looking at Francis' assists at the end of the game doesnt tell the whole story. Try figuring out his attempted assists, then u might have a better idea as to how much he was getting the other players involved. I mean c'mon, u can pass the ball around all you want, but if the players you pass it to don't knock down the shots, well that's hardly your fault. 2) Saying Francis should've kept passing to his teamates despite their complete lack of ablity to actually make shots tonight because he needs to learn to trust his teamates is utterly moronic. Sure, everybody must learn to trust one another..but that was not a trust issue. When you go out there to play you have to prove that u deserve a chance to contribute, it doesnt just get handed to you. And if you're playing lazy, lifeless ball and not hitting shots, you certainly do not deserve to be passed to. Plus, when you play a game, you go with what works. Steve seemed to be the ONLY (exception of Cato) one working tonight. Not to mention the fact that GREAT leaders know when to pass and when to take over the game. Steve recognized his teamates were not getting it done and so he took over, just like a Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, Iverson, and any other leader would do. Lets see, Francis did exactly what Bibby did last year in the WCF Game 7 when everyone one else on the Kings were too gutless and timid to contribute to a win, he STEPPED UP. 3) What in the world is this crap about, well even if we did win it would have been the WRONG way bc Steve did everything and did not get his team involved. How the hell do you win the WRONG way. A win is a win. It doesnt matter if it was the ugliest game ever, if its a win, i'll take it (as opposed to LOSING THE RIGHT WAY??!!!) Granted, if you played some horrendous basketball and STILL won, yes, u need to figure out why you played so terribly and still won, cause next time you might not be so lucky. But to go so far as to say you would rather have a loss, c'mon. Interesting indeed.
JunkyardDwg, The jury is still out. We'll see if the things you are talking about are true. If we continue to lose/OR WIN games like this one, then yes. We will never get by in the playoffs.... ...no matter how much it gives you warm fuzzys in your tummy about winning (by doing ISOs).
