http://www.nba.com/rockets/# (Clip of Stevie Franchise is on the bottom right part of the website under the Audio/ Video Launch Pad Section) - Stevie Reebok - July 18 - Steve Francis shows off his fancy new Reeboks and talks about the addition of Yao Ming to the Rockets lineup.
The whole "If not......" part made it quite obvious - he's not too hot on Yao. I'm sure 90% of other players would be like "I can't WAIT to play with Yao"..."Yao is going to be something special"...I hope they can just all get along.
He didn't say anything bad, atleast he recongnized our need for an inside presence, meaning he knows Cato isn't the answer. Thank God.
Another Stevie Franchise sighting at Rucker Park in Harlem, NYC with Moochie, Junk Yard Dog 2 & Kobe: www. insidehoops .com THURSDAY NIGHT - NYC: Inside Hoops was at Rucker Park today to catch what wasn't your normal streetball, thanks to some special guests - Kobe Bryant on one team, and Moochie Norris and Jerome Williams on the other. It was the EBC - Entertainer's Basketball Classic. Steve Francis was there, but he is recovering and didn't play. The game got called in the second half on account of rain, but there are details to be shared, and they'll come tonight or tomorrow.There was a fan talking crap LOUDLY about Kobe, and even directly to him at one point, and after Kobe threw down his main nasty dunk of the game, he.... (we'll tell the full tale tomorrow.) **************** reports that Kobe Bryant appeared to be wearing NIKE sneakers during the game. This is especially interesting because one of the main EBC sponsors is REEBOK.
Is Steve playing in the Entertainers Classic? I was watching the video and some one went up for the dunk and they called him the "Franchise", I couldn't see his face, but it sure did look like him from behind.
no, that "franchise" is some semi-pro guy who is on one of the EBC teams during the entire season, not our Steve Francis of the Rockets. He is more of a big-man type but he does have some street-ball skills. Steve Francis & Cuttino do like to go to Rucker Park alot though during the summer to watch & particpate when healthy.
This site banned the word "inside hoops" .com (if you stick the word together) and that site name because some loser kids who HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT SITE and who run around causing trouble on message boards spammed as if they were a part of that site, and some mod here actually believed them. Ban the spamming kids who are just trying to cause trouble and problems, not a good, large website that has nothing to do with them and probably banned them for doing the same thing!
I think you should look what players say about other rookies and then you'll see it's pretty standard. The coach is always thrilled even if the picks are guys like Collier and Langhi, and the players are cautiously optimistic. Francis, an allstar and superstar in the league isn't going to bend over backwards and say "Oh, Ming is great, all hail Ming." Ming is a rookie, regardless of how good he is, he is going to get the same treatment that all rookies do. You didn't see Dream and Barkley automatically saying Steve was going to be great before he had played with them. Of course, after the season was under way, the praise didn't stop, but before the season, they hardly ever talked about Francis. If you really want to understand why he isn't all over Ming's jock, listen to the last question, it spells it all out. "Have you had a chance to speak with Ming yet?" "No, we have not communicated, yet." Can a brother get a phone call?
"I haven't got a chance to talk to Yao yet." I do not blame Francis or anyone in particular, but some phone numbers need to be exchanged. If I played for the Rockets, you can (canjun)gaay-run-tee that I would have talked to my teammate. Someone needs to break that barrier and break that ice. The connection on the phone won't be that good, but it's still a phone and Yao's still your teammate. (I assume the connection is similar to the phones in neighbor Pakistan's)
