The Rockets need to trade Steve (with apologies to MacBeth)

SF is too small to play shooting guard, too dumb to play point guard, and he don't have the ability Iverson has to put the ball into the hoe. You can't get a franchise player if trading for SF.

 

Both Steve and Yao, they need time to mature. Yao need time to turn from mama's baby to man, Steve need time to turn from a blind donkey to a smart old dog.

 

Yao and Steve are the foundation of the Rockets and we need them both if we want to be an elite team. What we really need is comebody that feeds the ball to both of them. We need a real PG.
Let's move Steve to the 2 and bring a decent PG.

 

francis can put the ball more easily in the hole than AI. DId you forget francis is stronger, and actually shoots better.

 

mobley is the man (more bang for buck than francis). the new rockets core should be mobley and yao. trade francis for a future first round pick and for the cap room.

 

Interesting example. What would a smart old dog do? I never saw a dog giving up sh*t to other dogs.

 

benji

 

A Train you are of course RIGHT!!! Your observation are correct and thats what I haver been saying for 18 months. I often wonder though if Steve was ever told that the oranisation was developing the Team to be a Center Oriented Team. Its always possible that this was never done and both Steve and Yao Ming are in Limbo neither having a clear direction of what is required of them. At the present both Players are not being used to their maximum potential. Steve is not a playmaker but a scorer and Yao Ming is no a stand still under the basket Center. If JVG used both playing their natural Game then possible with the addition of a decent Point Guard both might coexist!

 

Lo & Behold, Bro A-T hast spoken...

 

our offense is the ugliest in the league. we make every opponent look like a great defensive team. i thought a coaching change would shake things up but the team refuses to change. steve has the most trade value and is the player most responsible for our lack of improvement this year. the players all look to steve to set the tempo and he's struggling mightily. i have lost patience.

 

Exactly. And to add to that, if the Rockets decide not to trade Steve, it isn't necessarily and endorsement of Steve Francis. I think they gave him the kind of money that makes him near untradeable unless it's a 3-1 deal ala the Pippen to Portland trade in which the Rockets get several role players for a star player. The long term signing of Francis is looking like a mistake that will take some very intelligent team managing or an owner with deep pockets that isn't afraid of the luxury tax to correct.

 

all i can say is NOT YET

 

I tend to disagree with this theory. I believe that you are what you are and Francis is exactly what he appears to be. In his own words, he's been playing this way for going his entire basketball career (going on 5 years now in Houston) and I feel that it's simply unrealistic to expect him to undergo such an elemental change to his game. His playing style is too deeply ingrained. He simply is not cut out to be a playmaking guard. He lacks the court vision, passing skills, basketball knowledge and most importantly, the mentality necessary to be that type of player.

It's not a chemistry problem between Yao and Francis and this team - it's a basketball problem. These guys come from a completely different system of basketball - one where individual skills and physical talents are prized over the ability to play team ball. Francis is virtually the poster boy for this system - a tremendous physical athlete with a mechanical knowledge of how to play but lacking an fundamental grasp of how to play the game.

Yao comes from the opposite direction - team play has been preached to him from day one. Yao was taught to play WITH his teammates and to understand the game from a fundamental aspect not being taught in the West. You see this often with European players who come into game with a deeper knowledge of the game vis-a-vis their American counterparts. This is the cause of the apparent disconnect between Yao & the rest of the team - why they often appear to be out of sync on the court. It's because they are seeing entirely different things out there out there on the court. Yao tries to play team ball and everyone is screaming for him to be more selfish. Something is very wrong here.

It would take years for Francis to make the kind of changes you are talking about and the Rockets simply don't have that much time to wait especially after watching him stumble through the lottery wilderness for four straight years. It would take an act of supreme dedication and unselfishness - traits I don't attribute to SF at all - for him to not only change his entire game but to take it to a higher level for the good of the team.

Bird did it. Magic did it. Jordan did it. That why they can be considered true superstars while Francis is still yearning to be one.

 

Please don't bring up this argument anymore. They are not nor will they ever play in the East. I absolutely hate that "excuse".

 

Bingo! Right on the money. I simply don't feel that they have the right people on the roster to consistently "burn" teams from the perimeter and that's a major reason why I expect the Rockets to struggle all season until this is rectified either through trades or the draft.

 

i say trade him....we need a true PG on our team...how many times have SF screwed up a fast break by tryin to take the defender one on one while on a 3-1 fast break!...its not jus one, but soooo many times...and he keeps turning over the ball and ball hoggin his butt off...PG's arent suppose to score...then get theyre teammates involved first! i emphasize on the word FIRST! thats a PG's role

 

its not r****ded if u can get nash in return......