I agree that Dream was the main reason why the Rockets won 45 games last year. Francis is what's wrong with the NBA. He is annointed a "Franchise Player" before ever playing an NBA game and after three seasons of not making the playoffs Steve still thinks his s**t doesn't stink. 26-44 stinks pretty bad.
And its all his fault damnit!! Lets just cut that b*stard son of the devil for not getting us to the playoffs last year, and being the sole reason we are losing games this year. What a selfish SOB!!!
Steve missed 2 games last year. This year, we are .500 with him in the lineup, with no post-up game and poor interior defense, which Hakeem provided. To say Hakeem is the main reason we won 45 games last year is like saying Adam Vinatieri is the main reason the patriots won the super bowl. Hakeem provided something we needed and need to replace, but how many games would we have won with no Francis?
Hey Tulsa.. keep in mind that this year the injury bug had struck.. Francis can't be blamed for the horrid rocket's record this season.. I mean he's missed 20+ games and had many games playing with migraines.. and saying Francis hasn't led us to the playoffs the last two seasons is quite ridiculous.
winkfan- very well said, that is exactly what hakeem was to the rockets last year. this year we are seeing what missing steve does to us, not what missing hakeem does.
My thoughts exactly. Stevie is 24th in FGA per game, he should be at least 24th in total points. The guy is a cancer. He's basically Vince Carter w/o the hair or 37 inch vertical. He needs to be more efficient.
Hell, was Barkley a leader at 35 when he threw that midget through the window? How many championships has he led his teams too?
Agree with DaDakota here. Hakeem is actually the main reason the Rockets won 45 last year. Just look at this season: Dead LAST in FG defense. Hakeem helped cover up for Francis and Mobley's matador defense. And let's not forget, the Rockets were by no means a great or even good team last season. They fattened up against a pathetic Eastern conference. Against the true elite teams in the West, the rockets were not even competitive. I also agree about Francis lack of leadership. His attitude is extremely immature. And as for the person who called Cuttino freakin Mobley a Superstar, what the hell is that about? Take off the Rocket tinted glasses, Cuttino is a middle of the pack SG. I've never seen a bigger ballhog in my life, except for Dominique Wilkins. Mobley is all about stats and points, the guy has absolutely NO CLUE of team basketball. His shot selection is putrid and his defense is below average. To call a guy like that a Superstar is ludicrous. Even Francis is probably just a "Star" not a "superstar" Mobley's just one of those guys who puts up #'s on a bad team, ala a Ron Mercer or Derrick Coleman. He's just too damn stupid a player to be considered a top player.
You guys know that to win in the NBA, you have to have two Stars (3 is better) and the complementary role players. SOMEBODY has to be the stars. Just let it be.. By the way, there's no " * " in T-E-A-M....
Let me clarify my earlier statement before I take any more abuse. I am not solely blaming Francis for this year's horrible season, there are a lot of reasons for that (Dream leaving, Taylor out for season, Rice trade, etc., etc.). My problem with Steve is that when the Rockets actually win a game, Steve is acting like they won the freakin' Western Conference Championship (i.e. the Minnesota game a couple of weeks ago). And Steve's quotes after the Utah game are ridiculous. If your teams stinks it up for an entire season, as a player maybe you could at least share SOME of the blame? The Rockets will never get better until their best players make a commitment to improve their games on both ends of the floor. Steve has no concept of the Dream's motto - Stay Humble, Stay Hungry. With Dream gone, it is clear that this team lacks leadership.
cato=bum- so because we beat up on the eastern conference last year, we we were still bad? so i guess philadelphia must have been horrible. how could they give the mvp to some guy whose team plays a bunch of east teams all the time.
I think a lot of people are confusing the effects of having/not having Hakeem. Did Hakeem help us win 45 games last year? Most definitely. Is he the reason we did? Definitely not. Is his not being here one of the reasons we suck this year? Of course. Why? Because all the production we planned on replacing him with went down with inuries. And he was our main defensive player. It is NOT because Hakeem would stare down Francis and Mobley and all of a sudden they'd stop doing dumb stuff. Heck, the reason he left was because he thought no one was respecting him. Does anyone seriously think that if everyone on our team was healthy all year that this isn't a playoff team? Add this year's version of Hakeem to the Rockets, and maybe they win 3 or 4o more games. Great What has this injury ridden season shown us. That Steve and Mobley both need a lot of work in terms of leadership, but that they are way ahead of the curve in many many areas (including some areas of leadership - such as Francis' positive effect on Cato, etc). Give the team a chance when everyone is healthy and we have a few more weapons.
Guys, Francis is a good talent, but the FACT that Rudy just had a talk with him about leadership more then validates our point. If you are going to lead...then LEAD, if not, get the HELL out of the way. DaDakota
steve is what 24, 25 with all of 3 partial seasons under his belt? i hope rudy has many many talks with steve about his role as a leader because he has yet to achieve the experience necessary to do it all by himself. this is still a learning process for him.
