Steve worried about is Creditability in the League

This will turn into a new school vs old school type of argument. The old school believes in team first and accolades 2nd. This team of thought goes back to the old 60's celts,Lakers and Celts of the 80's, and Bulls and Lakers of today. The new school appeals to the hip-hop behind the back look at how many times i can shoot and dribble the ball, AND1 type of crowd. None of which have won anything but all star votes and no rings. Although I grew up and still listen to alot of hip-hop, my heart goes the old school players.

I know that was off subject a little, but understand what I'm going. This team has tried it with the iso,1 on 1 ,watch me make the fancy plays and lose type of ball Francis and Mobley have displayed. The only time in his career where they have had a winning season has been when Hakeem was still pretty effective and that was before the new zone rules. Like it or not, no matter what kind of numbers Francis put up, this team will only go as far as Ming takes it. When this team slumped or slumps, its mostly because Ming isn't playing well. When Ming plays well, more times than not, the team plays well. Bottomline.

What the zones and international prospects have done is the same or almost the same effect that Bird and Magic had in the late 70's selfish basketball play. The same trend that affects the Rockets selfish play affect other teams in the league. Iso ball is dead,movement,scorers, and multidimensional players are in demand.

I really think that Francis kinda resents the fact that Ming gets so much attention and success for the Rockets record, he's like "what about me?" Make no mistake about it, he wants to win very badly and I hope that he sees that his best way to win is with Ming, but sometimes you have to wonder. Watching the games makes you wonder why he didn't see the man wide open. I wonder all the time whether he finishes or not. If he gets the ball close, he has as much chance to get fouled as he does to finish or not finish. I've seen Ming drop off passes to cutters, they miss the shot, but if that same guy cut and was open , Ming would hit him again. An open shot in a good scoring opportunities with a player should be given or received regardless. It comes down to whats best for the team. Team success=individual success.Had Steve not gotten all those tech last yr and his team won a little more, he would have been on the WC team instead of Miller or Davis. Perception and attitude proceeds you just like reputation. If teams,coaches and peers repect and perceive you a certain way, then that goes a long way towards accolades and whatever else.

Anyone not named Kobe would kill to have a big skilled,unselfish, big man like Ming. You put Ming with Tracy,Ray Allen,Iverson, or any of those other guards and they would only speak volumes and would know that their team success hinges on him. I think Steve knows this , but his pride or whatever will not let him admit it.

 

Yao averages 12.4 points on 8.8 shots. Mutombo averaged almost 12.6 shots a game his rookie year. Getting the ball more keeps you involved in the game, and sends you to the free throw line more. Very few people are saying Yao should get 20+ shots a game, but somewhere around 15 shots that aren't are result of some desperation pass would be reasonable.

The first poster brings up a point that we all notice every game. When Cato's in there, Francis plays like Jason Kid moving the ball around and even giving it to Cato in the low post, not just alley oops. All the sudden Yao comes in, and it takes 9 minutes to get the ball to him. It's completely obvious that Steve either consciously or not, is freezing him out. That's what ESPN2 noticed about the Chicago game, and ESPN noticed about last night. I don't know if its jealousy, annoyance, whatever, but it's clearly happening and it's hurting the team.

 

Mutombo and Yao are very different players; I doubt many people around the league would put Mutombo in the same class offensively as Yao, even at this early stage in his career.

If the offense ran more through Yao, his numbers would obviously be better.

also, I doubt that any of the rockets players or coaches would say that Yao "clearly lacks hussle". He may be getting tired, but he works hard.

first of all, I think many would agree with me in saying that the forward positions are clearly more stocked, talent-wise, than the PG position. In fact, I'd say the only thing more rare than a true C is a true PG, but what does that really mean in this era of athletic "tweeners"?

Second of all, Steve is a 2nd tier all star in terms of talent (before you start flaming - this is purely as a PG, not athletic ability). He got voted in by the fans. This doesn't mean he's a better PG than Nash or Payton. If someone said I could have Payton right now for Steve right now, I'd do it. Maybe not for the long term, but definitely for now. Obviously, this depends on how big your tiers are, but I'm inclined to agree.

If the coaches were picking from everyone in the conference, and there was something big at stake- their children's lives, for instance- I would bet that Steve would not be the starting PG.

haha.. an article about how valuable Francis is printed by the partisan media of a team we just lost to because Steve wouldn't pass to Yao. Of course he's valuable - to them! Just kidding.

Seriously, he's valuable to this team statistically, because he's our leading scorer and assists guy (+ turnovers, unfortunately), but that doesn't mean he's the only valuable piece, and that he should freeze out everybody else who could potentially help! He's hurting almost as much as he's helping sometimes.

PG is a position that runs the offense, that gets everyone else involved. Until he does more of that, he is clearly not the best point in the league, conference, wherever.

 

No one questions YAO'S ABILITY AND POTENTIAL. BUT HE IS NO WAY READY TO BE THE 1ST OPTION. WHY IS PEOPLE COMPLAINING ANYWAY. OUR RECORD IS 24-19. lAST YEAR WE COULDN'T EVEN DREAM THIS RECORD. ALSO IF LOSING TEAMS SHOULDN'T HAVE ALLSTARS WHY DOES LA HAVE 2

 

Those championship rings and Finals MVP's make any difference to ya?

 

Being a leader is having the ability to make your teammates better...

...not scoring the most, or getting the most air-time on ESPN.

Steve "should" be the leader of this team.

We'll see if he can make his teammates better.

 

Steve is the leader of this team.

I'm sorry, but Yao will never be our leader. He is our best player...maybe, but he can't be a leader. He can barely speak to the other players. How can he lead? He is too nice and compassionate...he cannot lead. He is our franchise player, but usually he is not trying to score. He is trying to find opportunities for others to score. Steve's objective is to score. He should be more of a point guard...like yesterday's game. Yao has made a difference, but he is still not our leading scorer. He will never lead. He will just be the nice friendly giant.

 

The question is not even if Yao should be our first option in offense. I felt so frustated when I saw Yao hustled up and down the court, setting up picks, rolling or cutting to the basket, at times WIDE WIDE OPEN, and didnt receive the ball. This has nothing to do whether all offense should go through Yao first or not. The role of the pg is initiate the flow of the offense, involving his teammates, and pass the ball to whoever is open, including Yao, unless you are absolutely positively sure that your teammate cant shoot the damn ball. Ironically, quite often I saw more ball movements when Cato was in for Yao. You might say Yao needs more times to know our system, I think I read that comment here many times in the beginning of the season before Yao had his breakout games. I couldnt believe it was brought up in some of the threads here again. How complicated could our system be, especially our offense. It's mostly guard-oriented ISO plays anyway. Just my 2 cents.

 

Yao plays better when he's pissed off!

 

Err, I can name many leaders who don't lead their teams in scoring. Your logic seems to be a bit twisted.

 

Yao is the leading scorer and rebounder in Shanghai Sharks.
Maybe we can revisit this thread 2 - 3 years later.

 

That remains to be seen. But how could you be so SURE that Yao couldnt be our future leader in this team. By the way, its not so much whether you could master the English language or not, it has more to do with whether you speak intelligently in any language at all. On and off court, Yao's comments or behaviors are nothing short of intelligency or maturity. As you pointed out, Yao was trying to find opportunities for others to involve(score). Isnt that a major quality a leader should possess if you believe the true root of basketball is still teamwork. Yao will find the opportunity to take over the game when the time is right. But I am glad he prefers to postpone that until he gets his teammates involved first .

 

are you being sarcastic here DD? steve has made it clear in interviews that he knows he needs to defer to Yao.

this is just freaking silly to make up what steve is thinking just because you think its true.

 

AAAAActions speak louder than words. Amen

 

I think it's our fault. We nicknamed Steve "Franchise" barely half way through his rookie season. This thing must get into his head.

On another note, Kobe's generally recognized as the best player in the league even he's the 2nd option at LA. Steve should learn from him.

 

Steve is equal parts creative genius and dumbass. He is literally not smart enuf 2 b a PG. He would be a great 2guard with a good/great point along side him. The Franchise pointguardsmanship is like a giant albatross around the neck of the Rox' championship hopes.

WildArkieBoy

 

As of right now Steve is the leader of the team..and he is NOT jealous..people are just blowing him not passing once or twice wayyy out of proportion

 

True but there is still another problem. How can we make steve believes that yao is actually cutino?

 

Dribble, crossover, jack up wild shot and whining to get Ts

 

Say, "And 1," after every shot.