The Daily News: Rockets’ star Francis comments on changes

Because it was Francis that said it, and people here seem to like ripping into Steve for anything he says.

If Steve were to blame someone else, they would have easily bashed him for not taking the blame. But since he actually blames himself, they try their hardest to try and bash him for that.

 

Thats cool and all he took some time for the kids but I dont care what Steve does off the court really. But on the court I just want to see him NOT totally choke by shooting 39% percent for the second half with that matador like defense he played. thats not asking much for a max player...

 

I love Steve, but he is not exactly the smartest guy in the world. He has said plenty of stupid things in his short career:

"Dallas can only beat us by playing zone defense." - Well no ****! Zone defense is allowed in the league you dork. Just because Francis does not believe in any kind of defense doesn't mean opposing teams are going to stop playing defense.

"If I wanted to I could score 30 pts per quarter." - I think he said that in his rookie or soph year. The team could not score worth a damn then and Francis was worried about getting the teammates involved. For some reason I don't think Rudy would have stopped Francis if he could score 120 pts per game. We would win 99% of the games with scores like that.

There are some others too, but I am not really in the mood to bash Stevie today.

 

I'm pretty sure he said if he wanted too, he could score 30 pts per game.

 

No, it was per quarter.

 

I dont think theres anything wrong with loyalty, but this team is a little to buddy buddy and they needed someone like jvg to jump down there throats now and then. rudy was an excelent coach for hakeem because he had to slow him down and make him get the team more involved but its the wrong kind of approach for steve , he needed to have someone else running point and let steve go wild on other teams.

 

What ragingFire was trying to say was similar to what you said...

Yes, Francis took the blame. But then he goes on to say that if Rudy would have been healthy then things would have been 100% different. That's where some fans disagree. Things would might have been "different." But not enough to make any significant differences.

Rudy never had the knowledge to "teach" Francis the game. It's almost like Rudy was teaching like he played; like a shooting small-forward. No clue about the point guard position. Not sure how Rudy was going to pass on some "great knowledge" about running a team or ball distribution. Rudy knew little about this. He was a scoring small forward, and that how he taught. The "shoot first" mentality. Passing skill? What's what?

Francis, well...that's the last thing he need to be taught (shoot, shoot, shoot?). Well, unless he moves to the 2-guard spot.

No. Francis need's a system-coach that knows team oriented x's and o's. Plus he needs a techniques coach to teach him the point guard position. Rudy wasn't that person. Healthy or not.

If Van Gundy and staff get fired in 3 years, then we'll know what the "real" problem is.

I beleve that most students (young athletes) can be taught. But you need a teacher that can actually pass on and convey that information. Knowlege first, and then communication skills to actually pass on that knowledge.

Rudy lacked point guard knowledge (running the team, ball distribution skill knowlege), and wasn't a very good communicator with Francis. Rudy has always been on the shy side; lacked confidence or shied away from the spot light. Not what we need for a HEAD coach. A coy personality.

 

"Things would might have been "different." But not enough to make any significant differences."


We finished one game out of the playoffs, and had the tie breaker. I think there would've been a major difference.

 

Prove it.

 

Nah...we'd might have lost 3 more games. Heh...

Besides, by just squeaking by one game and making it to the play-offs would have caused Rocket fans to suffer for more years.

Rudy would have not been fired and we'd still be playing the same simpton-style we've always played; complete with Francis turnovers.

The "difference" that gets us that one more win would have been a band-aid; temporary victory and cause people to think that things were ok. They would not be.

 

Dude, don't even waste your time. The guy is a Rudy-basher to the bone. He rips on the '94 team all the time, saying Rudy made them suck or something. It's not worth it.

 

Hmmm, to be fair, Steve wasn't making the max last year yet. He was still on the rookie scale.

But that's besides the point. I see no problem with what he said, and I guess I almost agree with him, I think things would have been different if it had been Rudy coaching instead of Larry Smith.

 

Surprised no one really picked up on this nugget.

It appears Francis has yet to fathom that there's something to the game other than shooting the ball.

I guess I have to put in a smiley face or the SF brigade will eat their shorts:

 

Some of Cat's comments related to JVG (from NBA.com)...

How are you preparing for this season with a new coach in Jeff Van Gundy? "The worst thing is that we don't have Rudy (Tomjanovich). The best thing is everything is new now. We're rebuilding on a positive note. We're strong. We have to be consistent. Jeff is an X-and-O guy. He's very organized, so that's a good thing."


How much will change on the floor with coach Van Gundy?
"He's more disciplined. He's just as intense as Rudy. I think a lot of things like that will change. There will be a demand to do different things. Steve (Francis) and I will be doing more different things on the floor. We were seventh in the league last year in defense, so if we push that up to three, that's the difference between winning one or two games and making the playoffs."

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Hearing these differences b/w Rudy and JVG (from Cat) makes me feel that the players 'took advantage' of the autonomy that Rudy gave them....

 

Looks like Steve and Cuttino have accepted that they're gonna have a different role on the team, and they're willing to change in order to win games. Maybe now people can get off their backs!

 

How dare Cuttino even think about about playing defense!?!?!

I was sure he was planning ways to throw up more crazy shots.