Plain and simply, SF3 is the sexiest rocket to ever grace the number three. A close second could BS, or maybe Dick, but SF3 is still number one at number three. I mean this in a total straight way.
First of all, have you ever SEEN Francis run a pick and roll? he'll go over the pick and start dribbling between his legs until the defense recovers. just ask any Knicks fan. they rejoiced when Francis got traded out of there.
Agree: Mike James can tend to ball hog at times, but Rafer's problem is not his tendenct to jack up threes. His problem is his tendency to miss threes. With Yao and T-Mac drawing the doubles we need people to be jacking up threes. We just need players who hit them closer to 40% than 30%. On Steve: 10, 5 and 5 would nto be "bad" numbers for our starting point guard. The real problem will be the large numbers of FGA it will take for him to get those 10. And the high TO rate to go witht hose 5 assists. Steve is not a control, high plus-minus player who is going to go out, defer to the big guys, play good defense, run the team and be content with 10, 5, and 5. I would love to see it happen. I just don't think it will. What he has shown so far is that he needs to be the first option on a not real talented team, and I am not sure he has the legs to even continue to do that.
Rafer would have to take more shots to get 10 pts. Unlike Rafer, Steve's FG% isn't under 40% each year. Francis may average 1-2 more TOs per 40 minutes, but he'll get 2 more rebounds and 4 more free throw attempts in those 40 minutes too. In addition, Francis' D is much better than Alston's and even slightly better than Mike James. Just look at the stats on www.82games.com or www.basketball-reference.com. It's not so much a question of whether he will fit the team well, it's about value. I mean, Francis doesn't fit the Mavericks or Heat all that well either, but they're still interested. Why? Because he's cheap. Wouldn't you want Baron Davis coming off your bench for $3 million/year? Francis has the potential to be better than Davis, heck he has been better than Davis for most of their careers. Simply put, whether a player fits in a system depends on if the coach can figure out how to use them effectively. If not, they're worthless. People are clamoring for Francis because of the insane talent/price ratio he has right now, and to be honest, I think he is well worth the risk.
I still think, specially now the way NBA favors the fast guards, SF would be an asset to the rockets. Many of you argued the role and PT that SF would be getting. I for one, don't really care, Just sign SF and then let the rest flow on its own course. Alston, if not traded would work best as our starter, he will set the tone for us in the beginning. where Yao would perform the best due to his condition and energy. Than either James or SF at 1 and 2 position and get our starters some rest. Don't forget I am talking about playoffs and not reg season, I can care less for the 82 games as long as we are in playoffs. If we want to go far we need good players that can relieve our core on scoring pressure. Last season Jazz was able to concentrate on shutting us off by limiting the role of tmac and Yao. we had no legit 3rd or 4rd scorer who can create and help out. I would like SF no matter what u think he is or will be, he can play and score for us. If people here still would like to give bonzi a chance than i see no reason not to give SF one.
I have to agree with you man. Francis may have had his troubles but he's a good player and good scorer in particular and I don't really think havin him on the team can hurt us.
i would LOVE Baron Davis to play for us, but NEWFLASH, Francis ISNT Baron Davis and he will NEVER be as good as Baron Davis. at least B-Diddy can run a simple pick and roll and a fast break. Francis is inept at ball movement. I can't believe you just compared Francis to Baron Davis. your credibility is shot .
Exactly, Francis will be a good asset to add to our team. He can be our starting PG, and play some SG minutes. If T-Mac goes down, he can be a good back-up!! Even without T-Mac, some combinations of SF, MJ and Bonzi will still look really sharp! Bring Steve Back!
Your the one who's killing your credibility. Baron Davis has had nothing on Steve Francis until the past 2-3 years, and has only really passed Francis this past year. Baron Davis isn't exactly adept at the pick-and-roll either, but I will admit that he's better in a fast break than Francis. Look at the numbers instead of always just saying things until you believe it. 1999-2000 to 2006-2007 FG% Francis: .445, .451, .417, .435, .403, .423, .435, .408 Davis: .420, .427, .417, .416, .395, .387, .389, .439 FT% Francis: .786, .817, .773, .800, .775, .823, .787, .829 Davis: .634, .677, .580, .710, .673, .761, .675, .745 3PT% Francis:.345, .396, .324, .354, .292, .299, .301, .378 Davis: .225, .310, .356, .350, .321, .333, .315, .304 Pts per 40 mins: Francis: 20.0, 19.9, 21.1, 20.5, 16.4, 22.3, 17.2, 15.7, 16.8, 16.7 Davis: 12.8, 14.2, 17.9, 18.1, 22.8, 22.9, 19.6, 22.8 Assists per 40 mins: Francis: 7.3, 6.5, 6.2, 6.1, 6.2, 7.3, 5.8, 5.5 Davis: 8.1, 7.5, 8.4, 6.8, 7.5, 8.7, 9.7, 9.2 TOs per 40 mins: Francis: 4.4, 3.3, 3.8, 3.6, 3.7, 4.3, 3.6, 3.2 Davis: 3.7, 2.8, 3.0, 3.0, 3.2, 3.3, 3.2, 3.5 Rebounds per 40 mins: Francis: 5.9, 6.9, 6.8, 6.0, 5.4, 6.0, 4.8, 5.1 Davis: 4.3, 5.1, 4.2, 3.9, 4.3, 4.4, 4.8, 5.0 FTA per 40 mins: Francis: 5.3, 5.5, 7.2, 7.2, 5.4, 8.1, 6.7, 6.8 Davis: 4.0, 4.2, 4.1, 2.8, 5.2, 6.1, 5.9, 6.6 Francis was clearly better than Davis when he was here with the Rockets. Francis was never as good of a PG since he usually has 1-2 fewer assits and last two seasons, Davis' assits numbers have jumped significantly so now the difference is close to 3-4 assits. TOs show the same story. Francis has about 1 more TO per 40 mins than Davis, but the gap has dimished over the years. Maybe Francis' ball handling has gotten slightly better. Francis has historically out rebounded Davis . . . at least until the past two years (again) where Francis' rebounds have dropped slightly and Davis' has improved slightly. Scoring is where Francis shines compared to Davis. He gets to the FT line more than Davis and shoots at a higher percentage from the floor, 3pt range, or from the line. He also jacks up fewer shots, unlike Davis who scores 3-4 more pts per 40 minutes, but doesn't get to the line as much and shoots at a lower 3pt% and fg%. In the past two years, the gap has narrowed and Davis had a jump in FG% this year, but it might have been just a good season for him since there's no trends to back it up. Simply put, it is a legitimate comparison. Up until two years ago (after Francis' first year in Orlando), it was pretty clear that Francis was better than Davis. In the past two years Davis has improved significantly on many fronts and Francis has dropped off. Based on the past two years Davis is better than Francis, but to say that "Francis will never be as good as Baron Davis" is ludicrous because Francis has been better than him for 5-6 of the last 8 seasons.
I just like the idea of Francis because he brings fire power off the bench. He can still create his own shot. His last 4 games before he got hurt last year he was avg 25 plus points per game. That's an assest any team can use. People love Mike James, but he's just a poor man version of Steve Francis. If I want a shoot first point guard on this team I'd rather it be Francis than Mike James. Cuz at least I'll get 5 rebounds and 5 assists to go along with it.
anon you cant keep looking at numbers. stephon marbury averaged 20 and 8 most of his career and deron williams is averaging 20 and 8 in his short career. the difference is everyone knows marbury is a cancer but deron williams is a unselfish, rising superstar. those stats are so useless. francis had those stats when we played Francis ball. he had the ball for 20 seconds every posession. baron davis played in a system where he wasnt the main man, but the ignition that got his team going. i could break down Francis' game and explain how he is quite possibly the worst PG in the league. there's a BIG difference between Francis and Baron Davis.
Francis is better in EVERY SINGLE way than our 2nd-in-rotation (presumably), Rafer Alston. Literally: Every. Single. Way. He's also better than James in most ways. That, plus he's younger, and I welcome him back because the guy was a genuine Rocket. He loved the city and he loved the team, and he played with his heart on his sleeve every damn night. He may not have always known the absolute best way to play (especially under JVGrumpy), but he always wanted to win, and he always wanted to win for OUR team. The dude freakin cried when he was traded. Yeah, yeah, winning comes first, but not only is this guy a cheap and undeniable upgrade at his position, but he is really one that any real Rockets fans should welcome back with open arms. His dedication, loyalty, and passion do matter to some of us.
You know, I could have sworn that it was only 4 years ago that I was at the celebration & parade that heralded SF3's being shipped out of town to Orlando...
The numbers show talent and capability. Whether that is realized depends on the system and whether the player will accept his role in the system. Davis and Williams both work in offensive systems that work in their favor and they know the role they're expected to play. Marbury plays his own game all the time. He won't change. Francis showed that he was willing to change in his last year here, when JVG was the coach. He conformed to JVG's system and his numbers dropped, but Yao's increased. I believe that Francis is willing to change his game to win. If you don't believe that, then sure, I would agree with you that Francis would be a bad idea. I certainly wouldn't want Marbury on our team even at the LLE. But since I think Francis will take fewer shots and pass more often if it means going deep in the playoffs, I'll happily take him for the LLE. If I turn out to be wrong, it's a small loss. How is Davis not the main man in Golden State's offense? He plays 35 minutes per game (not much really), but takes more shots than anybody else on the team, scores the most points, and has the most assists. Davis has been successful this year because he's learned how to distribute better so that everyone on the team is a threat. Once that happened, he got more open shots, hence the spike in FG%.
Well I wasn't. I was one of those that wasn't sure if it was such a good idea to trade a 15/5/5 player for a guy who only put up great numbers on a crap team and who also admitted to not giving 100% just because they were losing so badly.
Then you sir are truly a visionary. No, I was making reference to how much the worm has sure turned around here. I recall that 4 years ago there was so much animosity toward "The Franchise" that I was sure that a mob would show up at the TC to burn him at the stake. If you do a quick search on Cluthfans, you'll see mounds of posts expressing sheer unadulterated joy at his being sent packing. Now I'm seiing serious passionate arguments wanting him back. What is this? Bizzaro Clutchfans?
Well, I wasn't much of an active poster early on, but I discussed this with my brother I remember, and we both agreed that it was a risky move getting McGrady for Francis and Mobley. I mean seriously, he was playing the East! I do agree with you that there proabalby are people flip-flopping. From what I've seen so far in looking through old threads, there were lots of Francis haters, but they must've changed their s/n or don't post anymore because I don't see many of those calling for his return or even debating the issue much. Nevertheless, it is kindof amusing to look back at those old threads.
