The Glove or Franchise??

Oh give me a f***ing break Sonicblood. The Sonics played about the best quarter they have in years, in the third quarter against Houston. They were not cutting back. They could not have played any better.

I give them credit for their play, but to say that they weren't even playing their best ball is downright insulting.

 

There's a little more to it than that.

Barry is a career 46.1% shooter. Cato has a higher FG% and Joaquin Hawkins is at 45%. Barry has taken 30 shots so far this season ranking him only sixth on the Sonics.

Is there a chance the Rockets players would have higher shooting %ages if they got more shots? Peja Drobnjak has taken more shots than any Rocket except Francis and Mobley and only 10 fewer than Griffin.

 

DCkid-

Over the last eight seasons Payton has averaged 8.2 assists per game

Over the last six seasons his avg. is 8.5 assists per game

nice PG

 

The subjectifiy in here just amazes me sometimes. Ugh.

If I need to win a championship this season, give me Payton, hands down (not basing it on what he did last night).

If I want to win a championship over the course of the next 3-5 years and build a dynasty, give me Francis. (if Payton was 27 instead of 34, i might pick him here also)

Each player has their own advantages over the other. Francis is the better scorer, shooter and rebounder. Glove is the better passer, defender and decision-maker (turnover wise).

In the end, GP makes his teamates better than Francis makes his.

 

That's fine. I wasn't debating on how great a player GP is. I was just responding to a poster's insinuation that Francis needs to get 10+ assists per game to be considered a good point guard.

 

Let's be honest and admit that right now this team needs Steve to score, maybe not as much as he does but the other player's confidence is not helping things either. As for him jacking up bad shots last time I checked %50 was actually a great percentage for a point guard. It's not his fault as NewYorker so eloquently pointed out it doesn't happen over night besides I will take 2-2 rather that what was it 0-4 last year we're taking our lumps that's all.

 

Amen. I think it will take a little convincing b/c that would mean his buddy would be coming off the bench and I am not sure how either of them would take that. We have a potential all star 2 trying to be a PG.

 

Payton is SMART, sees the court in relation to himself and the other players. Payton is a leader and knows how to get and keep his teammates involved and into the game. Francis is not a leader at this point and doesn't seem to understand the importance of making sure everyones involved even at the expense of a lost opportunity for himself or a missed shot by somebody else. Does he see the floor in terms of the team or just himself? Will he get tired of putting up good numbers but losing and change his game? Maybe eventually, like MJ. If he doesn't then make him a SG. I'd take Francis because of age but give me a young Payton over Francis anyday. I'm sure any Rocket's fan would be happy if Francis has the career Payton has had if you could add a ring or two.

 

Steve is playing incredible, no matter what anyone says. He is averaging 30 points a game (2nd in the league) and is shooting over 50% from the field. Of the top ten scoreres, stevie ranks 2nd in FG percentage.

As far as assists go, Stevie is 14th in the league, and in the top 10 among pgs. There is nothing wrong with his numbers. It may be due to the fact that only 3 other rockets players are shooting over 40 % from the field.

Stevie deserves respect.

 

While Payton was dishing out the career high in assists, he managed to ONLY turn the ball over 2 times.

 

Payton averaged 2.06 Tos in his first four years. Francis? 3.72 career tpg so far.

 

Have you watched the games this year? BigM said it best. Look at the loss to Indiana. Jason Kidd could not have won with the way the Rockets supporting cast played that night.

Now look at the Seattle game. Francis had nine assists in only 33 minutes. He would have had more if people like Rice who are supposed to be able to hit the open jumpers would hit them. He would have had more if Yao didn't turn the ball over everytime he gets it. And it's not because Francis doesn't hit people in the right spot. In the Indiana game Eddie was missing layups. Moochie also missed layups. Eddie, also missed wide open shots from 10-15ft. FRancis got the ball to people where they belonged, but they didn't execute.

In the Seattle game when Francis played the WHOLE TEAM did better. They were winning. Then in the 3rd Q when Francis was out because of foul trouble, the team disintergrated. That was when the Sonics put the game out of reach. In the 4th Q when Steve was back in, the team brought a huge lead down to just five with 30 seconds left, and it was done through good ball movement.

We've lost two games and the last in the long line of reasons why we lost is because Francis was the PG. I'm tired of hearing that. Francis is not responsible for games when Eddie goes 1 for 11. When Rice goes 1 for 5, or whatever else. I'm tired of people blaming the one guy on the team who shows up and plays hard every night, while not really mentioning a supporting cast that does little, despite being given ample opportunities by Steve Francis.

Just looking at the losses we've had and neither of them were Steve's fault, yet he's the one that seems to get the most criticism.

 

lets not forget payton has a nice post up game for a point guard also, but steve francise is the most complete player.

 

These comparisons are getting ridiculous. If you want to compare Payton and Francis, why not compare their first 3 seasons? Surely that would be more fair? Or wait until Francis has had 10+ seasons in the league and then compare?

before last night's game, some people were crying out for Francis to get more assists and would have LOVED it if he had dished out 9. So he does. Then Payton has a CAREER night with 18 assists(yes, it was his career high) and now all of a sudden Francis' efforts still aren't enough.

Just what IS enough??