eh.. Wrong. This is beyond math, and that's pretty obvious. The point is that once Kobe lost Shaq, he became just as effective as far as over results as Tmac has been. Put Tmac where Kobe was during the Lakers' championship years. What would have happened? Then remove Shaq and leave Tmac w/ the current Lakers squad..
I watched them all. Yes, Steve played hard on the offensive end. I guess you can "have heart" by playing hard on one side of the floor and coasting on the other side? I can say Steve does bring "fire" in that he is always enthusiastic and aggressive but he doesn't have much heart IMO. Sorry, but guys with heart don't force the team that drafted them to move them because that isn't where they want to play. Guys with heart don't skip a game to watch the Super Bowl. You are throwing around a word that should be used to describe guys like Hakeem and even Mario Elie but not Steve Francis. I have a feeling that *if* you watched Francis the first time around as a Rocket you were probably a kid. He didn't perform well in the clutch most times as evidenced by most of the older members here laughing about him dribbling the ball off of his foot or dribbling the clock down the nothing and then jacking up an off balance jumper. To be honest, Mobley was the guy who was most clutch when he and Steve were the Rockets back court. You probably remember some sick dunks Steve made or the ever exaggerated forearm to Amare and to you, a fledgling, young Rocket fan that was heart. Do I like what Steve brings to this team? Hell yes. His FIRE and assaults on the rim are just what this team needed. He is even hustling on defense the whole time he is out there. He didn't even do that before. I have been cheering for the guy to get time all season even if he didn't deserve it by coming in and playing himself OUT of the starting PG position. I guess that took heart too LOL. I swear, with some of you kids it is all or nothing. If the rest of us don't agree that your favorite player is God-like then we must hate the guy. If we don't join you in remembering things that never happened when the guy was here before then we must be bashing him. Sorry but that is not the way I operate. Nobody is perfect. Not Steve, not Tmac and not even Yao (who has the most heart on this team, BTW).
Francis doesnt have a lack of talent? In his prime all he relied on was his athelticsm. He is just as talented as T-MAC and probaly was more athletic before his knees got shot and New York ruined him. The issue with Francis was his BBall IQ not his talent.
