Here's a tidbit on Steve Francis. It's not ON him, which is why I didn't just start a new thread, so I brought it here. I always wondered in what category of players Steve was considered. Is he considered in the same tier as monsters like McGrady and Kobe, or semi-stars like Elton Brand and Richard Hamilton? Here's what Ric Bucher wrote (article on Kobe): "Are there times he forgets about his teammates and tries to do it all himself? Absolutely. Are there times he forces the action rather than letting the game dictate what he's going to do? Of course. Does he sometimes go the other way and try too hard to involve his teammates, as if he's trying to prove a point? Without question. Have not AI and Stevie Franchise and Vince Carter and Jermaine O'Neal and Jerry Stackhouse and Tracy McGrady and Kevin Garnett and Baron Davis, to name a few, been guilty of same? Truth is, after six games, Kobe has 1.6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, is shooting 44 percent from the floor and 31 percent on 3-pointers. While playing three positions. " Maybe Steve is much much more appreciated OUTSIDE of Houston?
Steve is dominating the ball from the moment its brought in. Dream dominated the ball in the flow of the 'offense', being that he was the primary scoring option. Huge difference. Think of it in FB terms. Steve (for now) is the QB who takes the snap, and, unless his WRs are wide open, tucks the ball under and runs. Dream was the big, workhorse RB who carried the ball 30-40 times a game. Again, huge difference.
Live: I like the comparison to football. I agree with Dreamshake... it's not just that Steve isnt passin the ball enough, it's taht when he does pass it, there is no further ball movement after the pass. I think Steve WILL start to use the roller in the high pick/roll more often, but the key is to initiate more passing after the initial pass.
Many players passed/dumped the ball down to Dream; Horry, Maxwell, Elie, Drexler, Cassell, etc. Multiple passes were made before Dream touched the ball, Multiple passes were made after Dream passed the ball back out. Two completely different style of offenses. Presently, we have Steve who is the initial passer and creator for usually one, only ONE other teammate, that teammate usually being Mobley or whoever is lucky enough to bail him out of a quick double team. So with Steve its usually just him, or him and one other player involved in the offensive posession. Nachbar and guys like Rice sit on the bench because these guys **** up the spacing Rudy wants for his guards. They move and cut. They suck at standing on the other side of the floor waiting for a bail out pass from Steve. Its difficult for them to score that way. Matt Bullard was king at that sort of thing. Moochie and Bullard are more valuable to Rudys style than Rice, Nachbar, and Ming. It stinks!
Good point, Live, in the QB and RB analogy. I hate to bring this up again, but if the point guard is our best scoring option, then maybe he should be moved to shooting guard. To me, unless you are Nate "Tiny" Archibald, to have your PG be your leading scorer is not fundamentally sound basketball. And I have to agree with verse, Dreamshake, about how if guys aren't getting touches that they are more likely to miss shots. They start to get the feeling that Francis has no confidence in them and they are not into the game on offense. Before too long, it becomes 1 guy doing it all with 4 guys standing around and watching. I hate watching a team play offense like that. We have one of the most talented teams in the league on paper. But if we could play offense like the Kings then we could really talk about going deep in the playoffs.
1) Of those 9 assists vs Seattle, 1 was an Alley Oop to Mobley, one was a a FB pass to Mobley and one was a Griffin shot that was blocked by Jerome James and when the ball came back to Steve, EG already had inside position for a very easy dunk. If you are trying to use this game as an example of getting teammates involved, you are painfully mistaken. 2) Vs Seattle, the Rockets were ahead by one at the half. Francis left mid Q3 with his 4th foul and they were down by 9. During the next 12 half court sets that occurred during this 10 point swing, Francis and Mobley dominated the ball. Other than them, the only other touches included a bailout pass from a drive to the Hawk with the clock running down, a missed (Mobley) shot putback by Griffin, and poor Alley Oop attempt to Cato. Contrast this to Payton's first play of the second half - drive and kick to Drobnjak who was 0-5 in the 1st half. Drobnjak hit that and his next 3. Ever seen SF pass to an 0 for 5 player? 3) Regarding assist comparisons to Stockton and Kidd. Whether you use your 9 or my "adjusted" 6 assists, the 5 TO's that went with those asists tends to diminish the impact. 9a / 5 TO's = 1.8 a/TO ratio - not very good.
Oh god, now Ive heard it all...I guess Kidd and Stockton dont get assists that way either? What Im trying to point out is that Steve is doing a decent enough job of passing the ball around and being our top scoring threat. Guess what, he is our best offensive option and regardless of where he plays he is going to put up shots....lots of them. When our team becomes better at swinging the ball around (LIKE our old championship teams), instead of taking the pass and seeing as their oppotunity to score, then we will become a better team. This must coincide with some off the ball movement. Steve can improve...yep. But its the lack of motion from the off the ball players and lack of second and third passes that is killing this team right now. Steve is doing just fine thank you. I guess by your some of your guys thinking, Steve should just stand around and feed a worthless (up till this point) KT? I mean his position "DICTATES" it right. Keep feeding KT, and Cato all day long....maybe he should keep passing to Mobley and just let mobley put up 25 shots a game. Frankly, it doesnt matter how we get them, points are points. Regardless of who gets em. If you guys are watching the games your seeing that Francis isnt dominating the ball when he's not doing well from the floor. Why on Gods green earth would we want to take the ball out of the hands of someone shooting 50 percent and averaging 30 PPG and around 6 assists a game? And pass to a KT or a Cato....would that make you guys more happy? Then we could blame Francis for not being more assertive with his shot selection. Didnt we hear these complaints 2 years ago?
And Verse, what does that matter. But to answer your question....Ive been over six feet tall since the 8th grade. That was in '88. Currently Im 6' 4". Ive played organized ball since I was 8 and joined my first Church league.
You have to be more disciplined and pass it to your open teammates...this is no excuse for being selfish... even if your teammates were missing 10 straight that night, law of averages say that they'll make their next 7 or 8 out of 10.
1) When one player is handling the ball that much, the opposing defense basically stands around or clogs the paint and conserves energy which is used on the offensive end. Noticed a lack of Rockets defensive intensity this year? 2) Kelvin Cato's career FG% is greater than 50%. 3) When Francis goes down, since he is the only one initiating the offense the team becomes a Lottery looking to happen because there is no offensive scheme. 4) Players that have decent shooting touches have poor shooting touches because they never get into a rhythm. It is no coincidence that former Rockets Dan Langhi, Walt Williams and Oscar Torres are shooting 50%, 47% & 62% from the field this season. 5) In crunch time, you double Francis and you have no problem defending a lead. 6) Because I have heard Charles Barkely, Kenny Smith, Glen Rice and every 4 opposing announcing teams say something to the effect that the ball isn't passed enough. 7) I am not aware of any 30 ppg Point Guard that has won an NBA Championship. If you find one, list their assist totals as well. 8) Yao Ming will never develop as a postup player without touches. And the few passes to the post I have seen were very poor. Post entry passing is not a skill one picks up by osmosis. Don't take this personnally, but I strongly suspect you have not played much pickup basketball. I was always on the team that missed the FT'S but we usually won...it's still a team game. And one last thing - I am aware that Kidd gets assists on the breaks, but who else on the Rockets besides Mobley does Francis pass the ball to on a break?
Just out of curiosity, because I honestly do not know the answer, how many times has the leading assist man in the league won the NBA championship that same season?
I will have to verify, but I would certainly think Cousy and Magic would qualify. Possibly Oscar Robinson who scored but also dished.
Those two first came to mind also. Im thinking the only other ones that were even close to the league lead, would be Cheeks and Thomas.
Here is an even better trivia question: Who is the only player in NBA history to lead the league in scoring AND assists? Try not to use a google search to find the answer.
It is not Oscar or Wilt. It was a guard and he was one of the NBA's all-time top 50 players (that were announced in 1996).
