wow fans still rag on steve and it was the friggin all-star game. whos cares how he did, it was just a fun game. supposedly he can do no wrong on this board but i read more negative than positive about him. he only had 4 points so i guess it's time to start thinking of who we could get for him. the guy was obviously in pain and i'm sure that's the only reason he got less minutes. Nellie has NOTHING against him. he probably just wanted some minutes as respect to the fans but he was more content to pass it around then shoot at a basket which he was probably seeing 2 of. give em a break he's our best player and an all-star.
Is everyone on here who thinks Steve is either: 1. Just a horrible player who can't shine in an all star game. 2. The victim of a conspiracy by the NBA. 3. The victim of a coach who didn't want him to succeed. STONED??? Nelson said himself that Francis felt horrible. Anyone here had a really bad migraine and tried to go out under the bright HOT lights and sweat and play basketball? Good grief. You'd think the guy just spent an entire season averaging Manute Bol-like numbers or that the NBA has decided to put "We will do everything possible to make Steve Francis and the Rockets suffer" into their mission statement or that Don Nelson actually made Francis sick in the first place. Chill! The guy was sick. He struggled. The game meant NADA. End of story.
Agreed on Payton. Absolutely the best PG in the league right now. I think he does everything that Kidd does, but is a better shooter. McGrady is scary athletic. He's one of 7 or 8 players I would trade Steve for.
True, the All-Star Game is just an exhibition. I think a lot of us were a bit embarassed on Stevie's behalf for his performance (migraines aside) in the national spotlight. The NBA All-Star Game is an event that even casual fans watch, and those who hadn't seen Francis play couldn't have left with a very good impression of his game. As a longtime fan of his, I felt bad for him, especially with the way the commentators were breaking on him throughout the game. But in the long run, you're right, it means nothing (though I hope it doesn't hurt his All-Star fan votes for next year).
Hakeem looked like crap several times too, no big deal. However, did you notice that Kobe was bringing the ball up most of the time? I guess even Nelson recognizes that Steve is a 2. DaDakota
I'm just saying Duncan made SF look bad more than once. He was waiting for the pass from under the basket, Duncan would look right at him, then turn away and pass it to Kobe. Basically he told Steve where to stick it. I think KG, Kobe, and Duncan brought it up the court more times than Steve. As a result Steve tried to overcompensate and do something spectacular when he finally got the ball only to make things worse. I don't actually believe that the conspiracy against the Rockets runs so deep that they would try to prevent Steve from playing well. I don't believe that Nelson dislikes Steve. I just believe that someone should have told Steve that he wasn't going to be playing the point tonight, because he didn't seem to know it.
I don't believe it was an anti-Houston thing either. I also agree that Nellie probably likes Steve. I think, maybe, Steve's on court antics or even intensity (for a player whose team is sub .500) rubs some players the wrong way. Total speculation on my part. Maybe Duncan is mad that Francis plays well against SA? He and Steve are polar opposites, personality wise. Again, nothing against Tim, total speculation on my part.
at least Steve didn't take the game too seriously and enjoyed himself. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/1249484
Dont diss on Nash, he was the only one passing Stevie the ball in the final minutes. Everytime Nash touched it, it went straight to Stevie.
Is everyone here such Homers that you think that everything is a Conspiracy? Steve had headaches throughout the whole game. Don Nelson confirmed it after the game in the press conference. Steve just was sick, and had a horrible game. It is unfortunate that the Rockets had such a horrible weekend though. the Slam Dunk was totally forgettable, the All Star game was just cursed by the headaches. I don't blame people not passing it to Steve if he was going through that. I mean, if you know he has the monst headache, you aren't going to make him exert himself more than he has to. It was all in fun and I just hope Steve gets to go back one day, hopefully next year when he can really shine. The Slam Dunk Wheel of Doom was an interesting idea. They were trying to bring the magic from old dunk contests into today. I see the idea and with a little tweaking, it could actually work. Lastly, everyone don't overreact. Hey Iverson only had 6 points and they were playing on his court! So chill out.
Duncan, Garnett and Bryant ALL looked Steve off and passed to another player ... Odd Steve took the ball upcourt maybe 5 times ... All-Star game so who cares but it was weird
I don't kno guys. The stage may have just been set for an MVP award next season. highpost, Ho exactly does Stockton OWN Francis? OH YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH.....You mean those 27 FIRST HALF points that Steve just happened to score on Stockton? Buddy, Stockton didn't even get voted in by the COACHES this season. ill Stockton ever get 17 rebounds in a game? Steve did. Will Stockton ever have more than one or two triple doubles a seaosn? Steve did. Will Stockton ever make Francis look like his botch? Steve make Stockton look 80. Please, if you have a good argument, fine. But if your gonna come up here, say unjustifiable stuff, and call our Franchise a punk, then just shut up.
I am sorry to hear about the migrane and all, but SF did the same sh*t that I have been complaining about for months: pounding the ball, cannot pass the ball or run a team, turning over the ball and shooting badly. You guys can make all the excuses you want, Francis is no point guard. Soon the rest of the league will figure out what we already know and the ref will stop giving him those bailout calls. He will be well-advised to work on his jump shots. He looked like Tmo out there last night. This year he has taken a step backwards despite the injury and migranes. He is not making the right decisions and RT is relying too much on him. He is limited and it is very embarrassing to watch.
DearRock- You're full of it man. What Steve did the most was pass. He hardly got to touch the ball and when he did he was feeding Webber. He turned it over a couple of times, but made good plays more often than not. Also I don't know where you get this idea that he's a bad shooter. He's been having bad games, but you know what, that's what happens when your head feels like it's going to explode. If you hate his play so much, just quit watching the games. Read about it in the paper the next day. If you need basketball watch another team until Steve's traded. I mean he sucks anyway right?
We should limit this site to Rocket fans only. Really, your act is getting old. FWIW, Stevie had a couple of beautiful assists in the first 5 minutes. Of course, you probably didn't see that. Root for the Lakers man or whoever is gonna be the NBA champs this year. You may want to check out the Kings or Mavs.
I think Steve is not used to not having to get all the teams rebounds and passing to guys who can finish!
An associate of mine at work today came and asked me what happened to my boy Steve last night. He told me he just looked out of place and lost and he was even embarrassed. As for his shooting! We thought that some of it had to do with the migranes, but this guy who played college ball said that Stevie is no point guard. All you homies with those dark thick shades can continue to defend Stevie but I am still waiting for him to prove me wrong. And you are rude to suggest that I support another team. I got League Pass in part because of what I thought Stevie was going to do. I also tape the games and watch and study the team plays, both defensively and offensively. And if you think that there is not a truck load of stuff to constructively criticize, something is wrong with you. The last time I checked there were no instructions on this site that commentary must only be positive even if not justified. I do not care if you think it is getting old. How do you think I feel when I see your boy, SF, doing things that I think are getting old. It is one thing to hold on to the ball and dribble into a double team when you are playing with the Rockets, it is a totally different thing when you are playing with All-Stars. Then homies will come on this site and say that he was waved off. What do you expect? The game was fast paced and there was no time to foul around and diddle dally. You think Garnett, Duncan, Webber and company are going to wait on you SF. They certainly did not have to wait for Nash and Payton. Those respected point guards had the team running like a sewing machine. You can thank God that Barkley, Ainge and Smith were not the ones commentating last night, else they would really let SF have it for the way he glaringly looked like he did not belong. I mean look at how everyone else looked. My god, these are the best in the world. How you(SF) find yourself in a position where Don Nelson have to make excuses for you and homies on this site have to claim that there was a conspiracy. I know you homies think it is old but if SF had taken my FREE advice, over a month ago, and lock himself in the video room and looked at over eight hours of plays from Magic, Thomas, Kidd and Stockton, there would have been no need to desperately call for an investigation into this grand conspiracy.
