Steve on Rome in First hour

I only caught the tail end of it.

Rome asked him if he could see himself staying in Orlando. Francis said, he liked the weather. Then said he hoped the fans could start coming out to the games. In other words: completely avoiding the question.

 

Was it me, or was the interview kinda boring? It seemed to me that Stevie was a little out of it, and from the way he was talking, I'm thinking he feels that the season was already over. Anyways, here's what I remember from the top of my head:

1. Commented on how good D. Howard especially at the age of 19, mostly complimenting Howard's rebounding skillz.

2. Magic are struggling right mostly due to injuries to Grant and Hedo; but he also mentioned how the Magic lost both Cat and Christie this year since Christie only played 5 games for them. But also said that the Magic will continue to fight and play hard for the rest of the year.

3. Likes the current head coach Jent, and wouldn't mind at all if Jent became next year's coach. Francis said that Jent dealt with most of the player personnel issues when J. Davis was the coach anyways, so the team was comfortable with him.

4. In regards to the cameraman kicking incident, he says that the media basically made it look really bad and really over exagerrated the incident. He claims that he didn't really kick the cameraman hard at all, and it was more of a push off. He then reiterated that it was blown out of proportion.

5. Commented on how Weisbrod deserved to get more credit and less criticism (citing T-Mac as the principal critic here). He like Weisbrod's aggressive approach as a GM and feels like that's the best way to manage a team.

6. Francis also responded that he was really emotional when he heard that Cat was leaving the Magic, just like how he was really emotional when he heard he was being dealt to the Magic. He sayz he understands it's a business (sorry forgot what he said after this).

That's about all I can remember.

 

I will do you one better, here is an audio file of the whole interview

Forgive me for the audio quality, I know it ain't that good, but it is comprehensible:

http://l1.yousendit.com/d.php?id=E4M5MZ3DFDSGITFOG7IJNGG0

 

Thanks for the recap. I think you're right that he feels his season is over because it is.

Steve didn't exactly have a prize year over there in Orlando, hell, the same can be said for the entire Magic Org.

But there are some bright spots:

1. Grant Hill- what an amazing comeback, Hill really deserves it.

2. D. Howard- this kid is already doing a double-double. I can't wait to watch this kid develop, he's going to be a star.

3. J. Nelson- not much has been said about Nelson, but I've watched quite a few Magic games this season and I like his
game. He plays in control and has a great jumper.



I honestly think the best thing for the Magic to do is to build around D. Howard. Sounds kinda obvious, but if they could get fair value for Francis, then they should.

 

i really feel sorry for him. first he was bundled up and traded away from 'his' franchise. then the bundle was split up - cat got shipped to the kings. then he's not an 'all star' anymore. now, after only one visit to the playoff, with the rocks, it seems his current team is eliminated from the postseason, again.

 

Oh, Jesus. Francis casting his lot with Weisbrod?!?! If he hasn't lost the bulk of his Houston-based fans already, this should certainly do the trick...

 

I was thinking the same thing. I would be surprised if Weisbrod is gone by next year, the guys a moron

 

So he should cast his lot with who? That's his employer now. Is he supposed to talk negatively about his own GM?

 

Yes. It worked for TMac. If Stevie talks trash about him, he will probably get shipped to Denver or Memphis. Sure would be better than Uh-Orlando.

 

So did he prefer the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, or the Spanish Steps?