I have at times been quite frustrated with Steve Francis. The guy can shoot from anywhere in the court and can jump out of the building, yet has not been able to lead this team to the playoffs. But the attitude that many seem to have that Steve is uncoachable, doesn't listen, doesn't pass to Yao etc is just plain and simple garbage. From the day Yao Ming arrived in Houston, Steve was picking him up for practice in his Hummer and spending time with the new Rocket center. He was asked in his early years to score and iso, then we expect him to change his game overnight this year. He has sacrificed his scoring, his instinctive game and has tried very hard to play defense and create opportunities for others. You can tell he is concentrating very hard while he is playing, and that the actions are not natural yet. When these actions become second nature as they will in time when he learns the system and a structured system for the first time ever, he could flourish. He has never said anything negative about Yao, or any other Rocket. He never pouted when his boy, Rudy T, was let go and came to Van Gundy ready to work and learn his system. Though he may not have the best basketball IQ, lets not question his heart. The guy has done almost everything that has been asked of him up to his abilities and tries harder than almost anyone in the NBA. If Yao had half of his passion, he would be dominating. Though the DUI, the Superbowl fiasco, and the bumps in learning a new system are there, he has always tried to do what was best for the team and whatever was asked of him by his coach. He may be a fundamentally flawed bball IQ player, but lets not question his heart and make him out as a malicious character. He came into the league and deferred to Barkley and Dream, then almost carried his team to the playoffs the next year. The next year he had his migraines and last year was a dissappointment in not reaching the playoffs in the toughest conference i've ever seen. I think JVG is creating a base of a team that will flourish in the playoffs, versus that of a Mavs team that is a great regular season team, but can't do much in the playoffs. Part of that is a penetrating, strong, guard named Steve Francis.
Absolutely. He has never had character issues. It's no accident he has stayed with one team unlike Marbury.
I couldn't agree more. I'm sick of hearing all this "Trade Steve" garbage too. We could never get equal value for him. Remember all we traded just to get the guy? He wants to win, and he hates to lose. Yeah, he has had some run in stuff, like the Super Bowl thing, but I'm willing to work through that. If Yao ever takes over, with the way Steve would be freed up, the Rockets could be unstoppable. People just need to chil and realize it may not happen right away, but in the near future at least.
Well, wanting your team to trade you isn't necessarily a character issue. Many players have done that.
Khan I think you make a great point .. I think alot of people were upset with SF3 missing the flight and then our team going on to lose 4 in a row which is tough to swallow. Winning will help quiet things down.. so heres hoping to SF3 getting out of his shooting slump and being the floor leader we all hope he can be. I also hope Yao can hurry up and develop into the superstar we all expect him to become (may a bit too early) but who knows. J
This is the key point right here. Not only did the drafting of Yao affect his game, people forget the strong finish to the 01 season, and the strong start to the next season and then Steve was struck with the migrane problems. He really never got a chance to capitalize on his improvement during his second year, and then last year had to totally readjust his game, not just once but as Yao seemed to improve and the offense could go through him more and more as the season progressed. He never complained, and has generally tried to buy into the new system that Rudy tried to install and now the one JVG is trying to install. Complaints of selfishness are really unfounded when you consider this guy was hands down the best player on the team three years ago, asked to do everything and then asked to change his game for the benefit of the type of player he has never played with before.
Don't be a douchebag. Everybody knows Canadien "teams" don't count. Francis is a freaking choir boy with hops.
By no means am I stating that he is a perfect fit for this team, Yao and its style; but I am saying that he has done most everything asked of him. Kobe and Shaq bickered publicly on many occasions and it makes them look silly. Steve has put aside his ego, and opened his arms to Yao. He looks to pass it inside every time Yao seals off his man (which is what he needs to work on more to get it in the post) There may be others that fit the team better and would lead us to greater success, but even if Steve is traded I will always admire the work and passion he put into wanting this team to succeed. Whether he was not able to based on lower bball IQ is different than letting his ego get in the way. He has completely changed his game this year based on Van Gundy and Yao and is doing it without complaining. That is admirable.
I don't really have a problem with anything Steve has done since he has been here. Yes I would like to see them make the playoffs, but I feel strongly in saying that the Rockets not making the playoffs had little to do with Steve not performing well or playing hard. If Steve did in fact go to the SB then YES he was wrong and JVG dealt with that. But I think that Steve considering going to the SB in Houston as a once in a life time opportunity just shows everyone that he truly considers himself a Houstonian and for alot of us it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Steve can afford to go to the SB every year for the rest of his life but he felt going to a SB in Houston was special and with that I can empathize. Was he wrong YES but I have to admit I think I would have done the same thing.
What i dont understand the most is how people can miss the fact how bad we are without Steve. Not just the phoenix game, but whenever he sits on the bench. We have gone through stretches with yao, cat, even JJ on the bench and actually done better, for whatever reasons. But never without Francis(except maybe the NY game). We wouldnt win 30 games w/o Francis this year.
Whatever else you might say about Francis, he's certainly proved to the doubters this year that he's a cut above many of the me-first stars in this league. Has he obviously not enjoyed the offense this year? Yes. But he hasn't vented his frustration and still plays hard.
Houston has had the Super Bowl twice in my lifetime and if they are awarded it again (as expected) within the next 6 years, that will be 3 times (as long as I'm still around). By the way, since it was a once in a lifetime event for you, did you go? Were you able to log on to ticketmaster or go down to the box office and get tickets? Should the entire Rockets team have shown how they are Houstonians and disregarded their team duties to attend the game? His duties to his chosen (and richly rewarded) profession outweigh his duties as a civic minded Houstonian.
This logic gets typed with some degree of regularity. What I don't understand is how so many (Francis-only?) fans conveniently ignore that if Francis weren't here, it would be because he was traded or the Rockets used his $10m for a FA signing. A great many NBA teams suck without key players...the Spurs suck without Duncan, the Lakers suck without Shaq...the Mavs sucked without Dirk earlier this season. But that doesn't put Francis in the same category as any of them. The Rockets (or any NBA team) have the personnel they presently do because of managerial and financial decisions made about who is the key player to build around. In some cases, it works. In some cases, it doesn't (Jamison @ GSW, McGrady @ ORL). In some cases, it's a work in progress (Rashard @ SEA, Marbury @ NYK). IMO, you could remove the top player from every WC team and the Francis-less Rockets would still be a top 8 team. The Kings and maybe the TWolves and Mavs are deep enough to compete. Otherwise, a Gasol-less Grizz, or a Melo-less Nuggets, or a Shaq-less Lakers, or a Duncan-less Spurs are no better than the Rockets. Is he a talent? Yes. Is he the right talent? IMO, no.
So what!!!! Get over it and find another team to cheer for. I'm tired of so called "fans" that never see the positives. Steve has done everything that this organization has asked him to do. We can only hope that Yao can conjure up half of Steve's passion and heart. I don't blame him for not making the playoffs.....and anyone who do, doesn't know basketball at ALL. I don't think I need to explain why I don't blame him because Khan pretty much sums it up. We do not have TRUE Rocket fans here anymore like it used to be...it's watered down. I had to deciding whether or not I should make my donation to the tip jar yesterday and found myself stuck in the middle. On one side, I enjoy and appreciate what Clutch does with this site....It's unbelievable. The other side has me barely visiting Cluth City because of clueless, bandwagonish fans that turn on player faster than an eye wink. I really don't care to read this garbage, so I just visit every once in a while. I know that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and so am I. My opinion is that this forum is not what it used to be and that it needs more TRUE FANS and not the watered down version.....The "I'm a fan when everything seems to right at this exact minute, but help me God if we drop two in row!!"
Interesting. San Anton - Duncan = lotto Lakers - Shaq = playoffs? Minn - KG = toss-up (last year would be lotto for sure) Dallas - Dirk = playoffs? (last year probably lotto) Sac - Webber = playoffs Rockets - SF = lotto In our case I think it's a matter of depth. If we lost Steve for the season due to injury, I think we'd be a BAD team. Same goes for San Anton' if Duncan went on the IL. Lakers have all sortsa depth, even without Shaq they can compete. MN has a good back court and their zone D is better than ours (despite what our players say). Dallas is deep, though they're not very cohesive. Sacramento's proof is already in the budding. Who's Chris Webber?
Rather than prove your point, you just prove your bias. You object to an attack on Steve, yet immediately insult Yao.
Steve has done a lot for the team, and has normally gone above and beyond the call of duty, and it's true that he rarely receives the credit for that. I believe that will change with wins and a playoff appearence especially if it's a good playoff series with Steve performing well. But... There is no way that people who are upset at Steve about his recent exploits should be berated for not being true fans. Steve made a bad decision, and he will have to live with that and those consequences, some of which will be negative reaction. If Steve didn't want to give those against him ammo to use he should have been on the team flight. I will say in light of all else he's done that putting this behind him and playing well from here on out will repair most of the damage. I've always been a fan of Steve's and all the Rockets but this has lessened my respect for him. Steve can win it all back plus more depending on how he rebounds from this.
I did not attack Yao..... Yao is sweet! I said if he had half the heart and drive that Steve has, Yao would be unstoppable. It's clear that he doesn't YET, but I will never give up on him because I LOVE THE ROCKETS. He needs time to because magical. Don't even try!
