So what. He's not perfect. With all the scrutinizing I have to say that we are lucky to have him. Sorry guys. It's true.
I'm saying Nash is a better POint-guard overall. Shoots the ball with a little more consistency, a better floor general and does not make bonehead plays. Sure Francis is as athletic as they come. Can do awesome 380 dunks and would be on the highlight reel everynight. But how much is that worth? Basically these days anyone coming out of the draft is just as athletic if not more. Athleticism alone wont bring championships. Just ask anyone on this board who they would rather have. Francis or Nash?
Jesus. Tony Parker? Or, Tony "Jesus" Parker, I should say. I don't mean to steal Ginobilli's thunder, but Parker is the league's most overrated player. Bar none. I like him(And Ginobilli too), but the way people talk about him, you would think that they were already clearing some space in the HOF for him. If he handled the ball at the same frequency as Steve, I would guarantee 3+ turnovers. He's a young guy, so he has an excuse, but he makes just as many boneheaded decisions as Steve. There's not a point guard in the conference that I would say is a better player than Steve. StupidMoniker, have you been watching the Rockets lately(I only ask, because I'm pretty sure you live in the Bay Area)? I wouldn't say that Steve is a stud(Nor would I listen to anyone that said he is), but he has improved vastly. He is no longer a liability, which is a decent start.
I have seen almost every Rockets game (the exceptions are games against Golden State, the Minny game from Sat., and any game on NBATV). Francis is not a good defender. Period. He is the weakest link in our defense. Is he better than he used to be? Yes, he is. The problem is he used to be one of the worst defenders in the league. Now, he is just a below average defender.
SF is a great athelet, but he is not a great point guard. The major problem is his low level of intelligence. He is a talented athelet, but he is a very stupid basketball player.
I disagree. Steve plays "D" with just as much intensity as any of our other players besides Yao, Cato, and Jackson. With the backstop of Yao and Cato, we really don't need shutdown guards. It would be nice, but not necessary. I would be perfectly happy if he maintained his current level of defensive intensity and just played smarter on the offensive side of the ball.
You just listed 3/5 of the lineup. Unless you think Steve is a better defender than Mobley (he is not), then you don't disagree. He is the weak link in our defense.
Tony Parker makes around a million. He's not going to getting max contract money. If he wants max money, he's overrating himself. He's not overrated. I don't think anyone has said Tony Parker is a great point guard. He's an above average point guard who does his job well which is to shoot and distribute the ball to his teammates. I haven't seen him dunk yet, so that might be why some folks do not think he is good. Mike Bibby can't dunk too. I guess he's overrated. He's also the point guard of the leading Western Conference team. I disliked John Stockton back when he was using those elbows to set picks, but I am beginning to admire how he was able to fit all his teammates together for 2 consecutive runs to the Finals. Like I said before, if a team does not have a dominant #1 player like Shaq or Duncan, that team better have a good point guard who can distribute the ball to make sure the entire team's talent is utilized efficiently.
Steve Nash can't dunk. I guess he's a bad point guard too. I thought dunks and layups all count for 2 points.
You stating that Steve is only athletic is laughable. In his first five seasons he has averaged 19.7ppg 6.3 apg 6.3 apg . Someone tell me the last PG who has averaged those type of numbers in their first 5 seasons. He does have the downside of high turnovers, but Steve haters dont realize what he brings to the table that makes up for the turnovers that other PGs dont bring. People forget that as bad of a season Steve is having, he's 13th in the league in assists, AND only 1 person above him on the list plays for a team that has a lower FG% then the Rockets. The Rockets dont exactly have a high powered offense. They cant play the type of game that the Kings or Mavs can with the personal they have - this has nothing to do with Steve. Trying to adapt our roster to beat them at thier game is the wrong way to a championship. I am convinced the majority of the people on this board dont watch actual Rockets games. They just feed off each with meaningless and unrealistic player analysis. If they are watching the game, then they are doing so non-objectivly, with a preconseved hatred for him. Steve IS a fan favorite in Houston, and across the country, for both the excitment he brings to the court and the contribution he makes to the Rockets. I could care less that the vocal minority of fans on Clutch City dont like him.
Vocal miniority? It is may observation and recollection that Francis has lost every popularity poll in this forum in recent memory. THERE HAS TO BE A REASON FOR THIS. Can you name one other NBA fan forum where their "franchise" player is held in such low regard? Rightly or wrongly, Francis has given to many fans the impression that he has a personal agenda, that he is more concerned about his "star" status than the success of the team. Of course, he wants to win; certainly, he wants to go to the playoffs. BUT, that negative impression still lingers. Also, Francis does not fit the profile of a traditional point guard, we have been over this ground a thousand times. Once a player gets the labels of "selfish," "ball hog," "turnover-prone," "show-off," etc. they are hard to shake. Francis has brought much of this on himself by some of this on court antics. However, I think Francis is currently changing his game, but, ultimately, he is not the kind of player that fits the system JVG is building. I respect his effort to change, but it is a "round peg in a square hole" problem. I think he will be moved. In the meantime, fans like you will be amazed that other fans don't adore him, while many other fans will grow more frustrated with him.
That argument doesn't pan out if you look at the teams that actually won the championships. Each of those teams had absolute monsters who could basically score at will. There was not a necessity for those teams to have a point guard. John Stockton basically ran into a buzzsaw in MJ. Steve is not MJ even though he thinks he might have MJ talent. I don't think Steve has MJ talent. Teams without the dominant players better have a point guard who can make sure everyone is being utilized to the fullest potential. That goes from Maurice, Cuttino, JJ, and Yao.
I think that says more about the decline of the level of basketball played in the NBA more than anything else. Have you ever watched the so called Dream Team play international competition the past few years? If you had, you would have watched these foreign teams using their superior knowledge of the game of basketball to close the gap if not completely level the playing field between them and the superior athleticism of the U.S. They play the game right. NBA players play the game wrong. Have you watched the Milwaukee Bucks play lately? T.J. Ford, one of the few pure point guards currently playing in the NBA, has lead a team of rejects that many predicted would be the worst team in the NBA this season to the #4 spot in the Eastern Conference. Did you ever watch the Stockton Utah Jazz play? If you did, you would probably have been scratching your head trying to figure out how that collection of scrubs stayed in contention against teams with 2, 3, and even 4 all-star caliber players in the primes of their careers while the answer was right in front of you in Stockton. So to answer your question, not a lot of pure point guards have lead their teams to the NBA finals lately. I think that is because owners, advertisers, etc. have calculated that they can sell the more exciting, playground brand of basketball more than they can the fundamental brand. Furthermore, kids growing up do not try to learn the fundamentals of the game because they all want to be able to dunk like Michael, crossover dribble like Hardaway, and slash like McGrady. That doesn't mean that this brand of basketball is more conducive to winning than the fundamental style of play that a true point guard can bring to a team if the team is willing to build around a team-oriented concept instead of selling the team's one or two stars.
