i'm also a little worried how Francis will react coming off the bench. i think he'd be fine with coming off the bench if he got good minutes, but if he gets about 10 mins a game i'm sure he'll be upset. i remember a reporter asked him earlier if he was starting and he said "i better be!". funny because now hes being benched for rafer and he may not even be a key contributor on the team.
Did Francis say he can play the four different pisitions except the center? I think that he will play around 20 mins here and there, based on the two pre-seaon performances.
Francis is the only wing player outside Snyder that consistently attacks the basket. He will get his minutes. We need Francis to get to the line and keep the defense on its heels. When everything bogs down in the playoffs and you need someone other than Tmac to create something out of nothing. Francis is the only one capable of doing this.
So you're saying he fits in the playoffs when everything else is not working. I cna live with that setup.
Are you sure we even need players to attack the basket in this offense? noone attacked the basket when rick was in sacramento. they did all their plays with cuts, screens, and great passing.
Well, seeing that Francis still has his explosive leaping ability.....I think he will really help the team. We'll see what Adelman does. He answered a reporter's direct question on Rafer...he didn't just bring the subject up. Who knows what he thinks of the other guys or what Morey's plans are for Rafer. I know that we are keeping an open mind, but they still went out and got 3 point guards... The point guard situation is so confusing.
I think that when Francis regains his confidence there will be no problem about getting playing time. I still think that McGrady will play Small Forward and Battier will be his back up. If this is the case then Francis might back up Alston. Francis/James/Bonzi starts at Shooting Guard and Francis.James/Bonzi backs the starter up. Yao, Scola and Chuck play the big man role Harris, Head,Mutombo and Novac specialist role players or something like that!!!
...as part of our rotation at the one(esp.until Brooks cranks out 2112 w/Rafer being dealt) and more time at the two.
I was watching Rox vs Pacers last night from 3/20 on my DVR right after Yao got back. Yao/TMac were both on the bench & our lineup was horrible with a 6 min drought at beginning to mid of 2nd quarter. Juwon / Deke / Snyder|Hayes / Alston|Head And the announcers were talking about how Synder was the .5 in the 8.5 rotation JVG had. Synder had a big 3 and 2 nice cutting dunks, Alston was bricking, but got into a pissing match with Jamal Tinsley & had a nice cut/layup after Tinsley posted up Alston twice.
I'd imagine its hard to tell exactly where Francis fits in when the team has only played two preseason games. This is a guy that hasn't gotten a lot of playing time over the past two season because of injuries and other circumstances and is rejoining a Rockets team that is, with the exception of Yao, completely unfamiliar to him in a system that is just as foreign. It's gonna take time for him to get a feel for things...but when he finds his comfort zone I'm sure RA will find a place for him. All this talent helps in one important way, reduced pt for our core players, reducing their risk of injury and fatigue and saving them for the playoffs. Remember Alston played nearly 48 minutes last year...I'd imagine that would come down quite a bit; and McGrady's time should come down a little as well and I'm thinkin Battier might have a slightly reduced role too. Plus this glut of pt guards gives RA opportunities to throw out smaller lineups that do better against the faster teams in the league. I'd be curious to see how, just for a change of pace (during a game), what a lineup of Scola, Tracy, Bonzi, James/Francis, Alston might do.
Further evidence that I am an utter Rockets basketball junkie: I read this and I immediately remembered the EXACT moment you were talking about. Especially the pissing match between Tinsley and Alston.
They had Bobby Jackson who was pretty relentless when he wasn't hurt. Their lack penetration was one of the main reasons (and the refs)they couldn't get it done. When the Spurs start slowing the game down and buckle down on defense in the playoffs, you need a player that can raise some havoc. Tmac can't do it unless his three is working.
You can't base it on preseason games surely but you can predict rotation. I think that Francis,James,Alston will split their minutes playing at both guard positions. It gives more flexibility at guard position and it can be truly destructive So where Francis fits,or James, Alston we can see only after some real games,maybe in mid December we can say everything. Until then,just guess
