What is with the Francis love fest?

What exactly was Francis distrupting? Total suckage from Cato and Taylor? Should Francis have stayed out of Mo's way and allowed Mo to perform like the MVP that he was?


Francis' on/off court +/- during his last two seasons in Houston (one with Van Gundy, one with Rudy T), were +6.3 and +8.7, respectively. He was a +7.3 in his 2004-2005 in Orlando.

Iso-mania may or may not be watchable, but he must have done something right during those years.

 

ok. and for the record, i don't think deke should be resigned either.

 

This is a rehash of a thread already started. Only a gloryhound would post this up.

 

The answer was definitely NOT WATCHABLE. But that crappy boring style, plus some nice lottery luck, got us Yao.

 

Hope we don't sign Francis nor start Alston as our PG. Brooks will bring life to our PG position. I really hope that Brooks will have a spot on our rotation this year. He could be the missing piece!

GO ROCKETS!

 

Reasons to want Francis over Alston:
1)cheap
2)rebounding. Francis gets to balls on boards more than Alston by almost the same margin as he is more likely to turn the ballover than Alston for their careers.
3)gets to FT line. Francis has about 5 FTA for every 8 FGA while Alston gets a little more than 1 FTA for every 6 FGAs. Basically, Francis gets 3 to 4 more points per game just from the FT line over a similar period of time played.

But I guess Alston's magical creating ability is makes up for lack of rebounding, not getting any points from FT line, and all his missed FGAs. The only thing I like about Alston is he doesn't turn the ball over for as much as he does with it. I'll take Francis's 3-4 points from line and 1-2 rebounds versus the 2 less turnovers one would expect Alston to make in the same time period played.

The complaints I hear about Francis's offense should be said twice about Alston except in regard to turnovers.

 

Just replying to the original post of the thread:

I think it has to do with having a prodigal son return home. Steve has always made it clear that he feels strongly about Houston, and that means something. While most everyone can agree that his game and his decision-making during his time here (and after) weren't conducive to winning, plenty of people did like him personally (including myself).

Speaking for myself, I like entertaining the hope that he would return humbled with more of a willingness to be a role player in a scheme greater than himself - but still exude the passion for the game & city that he displayed the first go round. I don't say that because I think that is what WILL happen, just the idea that I HOPE would happen.

It's not unlike the contingent that has chimed in about Cassell returning. They don't like to hear it, but he left on vaguely similar grounds (i.e., a brat).

Evan

 

I have a friend whos a bigtime Francis fan, so much so that he has a hard time even admitting something as simple as T-Mac is a better player. The truth is, to the post Olajuwon Rocket's faithful, Francis was a savior. Even though Clyde and Hakeem were worlds better players, Steve was the first guy the Rocket's had who had a major shoe deal, was consistently on the Espn Highlights and basically a bit of a media darling. Most diehards had a major chip on their shoulder from the lack of recognition that the Rockets got during the Olajuwon era, Francis came and sort of reversed that. You heard major sports commentators bandwagon the soon-to-be great Rockets team which was an entirely new experience for their fans.

The problem was that it never materialized. The Rockets should have sought a wing that could take over primary ballhandling duties, because frankly Francis couldn't cut it. People bring up stats that say Francis was one of the best defensive PGs, but as someone who watched those games I'll tell you, in this case the stats do lie. I waited for years for Francis to change for the better of the team, but it never happened.

I don't mind Francis coming back to the team for a sort of redemption, but not at the expensive of pieces that fit better. If the Rockets can shift their roster to account for Francis weaknesses then I'm all for it, but as is hes a Mike James who does shoot from the outside as well or play as tough D.

 

Francis at the two and Alston running point would be effective with T-Mac at the 3 position. James be at the one but James is also a scorer so I'd see it more like Alston at the one with James at the two otherwise James will have stats like he did in Minnesota. Brooks can play the one and Francis the two or the one...the combinations are endless. Sure is nice to have the option isn't it.

Sorta reminds me of Golden State or Phoenix with multiple players being able to come in.

 

TMac at the 1, Francis at the 2, and Battier at the three is better.

 

I'm just not sure what all skills Francis will really provide. He's not a great shooter, doesn't pass very well, and is turnover prone. Francis was a hell of an athlete and was really willing to give his body up for abuse.

My guess is he'd be incrementally better than Alston in terms of scoring and rebounding, but I like Alston's ballhandling ability more. Sadly, I prefer Alston. Ugh.

*note - I would, of course, prefer the Francis of 5 years ago to Alston at any stage of his career.

 

Whats this? Fans wanting a player back on their team who's game doesnt fit into the scheme, has too many flaws in his game, never delivered on his initial promise, might have dedication to basketball issues, and might be a nuisance to coaches? Unbelievable, I'm not for it..


Signed by

 

Why can't people just look at the statistics? Everything else that's being said is pure opinion from different things we remember from watching Francis and Alston.

I think if anybody looks at the numbers, it's pretty obvious why Francis >> Alston. Just make sure they aren't biased numbers like the ones posted earlier which didn't factor in minutes/game. And don't put up stupid useless numbers like Francis wouldn't be in the top 200 in FG%, top 146 in 3PT% based on his career average. Those numbers mean NOTHING. If Francis' FG% puts him under the top 200, then there's probably 400 players after him, including Rafer Alston and Baron Davis.

If you want to complain about him dribbling the air out of the ball go ahead. I'm not denying that he might do that with us. But the thing is that if we keep Alston and James, we've got too decent replacements so that we can bench Francis if he starts dribbling too much or doesn't share the ball.

 

Great Post, that is where its at............

 

Nobody knows if that's true until Francis signs somewhere except for maybe Morey or Adelman. So, quit your stupid yapping and post something that actually contributes.

Oh wait, I see what this is, it's just a Francis and Francis supporter bashing thread, and you can't stand it when your silly claims are proven false by the numbers. If you don't want to see Francis here, fine. If you want to convince others to your viewpoint, put up some legitimate arguments. If you're just here to shove it in other forum members' faces when Francis doesn't sign with the Rockets, then you're just a pathetic internet troll who doesn't deserve any more attention.

Whether Francis comes or not isn't the end of the world. When the dust settles, we're all Rockets fans. At least that's why most of us are here, I'm not sure about you though.

 

Thats funny...when did Francis have a player with the abilities of Tmac or Yao

 

When he played for the magic and had Howard and Hill, not as good as our combo but still a pretty dam good combo.. not to mention Mobley aswell.