I use to be the biggest Steve fan, but I'm starting to realize what all the commotion was about when he was here. Where would Steve be a good fit? Uh, how about the Orlando Magic. That team has no real "system" and he can't fit in? Personally, I though WiseA$$ was a complete moron trading Cat. The Magic were playing extremely well with Steve/Cat/Hill/Howard, they were a run and gun team that was leading in PPG and fast break points. They were terrible defensively and they still are. The trade didn't benefit the Magic at all, their defense is still bad, they score less=more losses, and now they are stuck with Christie and his $9M a year.
I think some of you are finally realizing why some of us were very critical of Francis' game during his tenure in Houston. I cannot recall a player in the NBA who made so many mistakes game after game, year after year, who was defended so passionately by his fans as Steve Francis. For some, Francis can do no wrong. Well friends, Francis' "high-lite reel get out of responsibility chips" are running out.
In his prime, HIll was close to Pip. I thought he was on his way to surpassing him actually. I get the feeling that Steve may not want to share the spotlight with Hill in the long run.
It sucks but I think a leg injury either help steve get it or help him speed up his progress as a disappointing talent. Pairing him up with KG might do him some good.
I can see Steve playing w/ the Wizards. DC is near his hometown. I think the fans there would tollerate his game.
I think Francis being on a team with a "point forward" like Hill is a good thing. I mean when Francis was in Houston werent we all wanting a point forward to team up with Francis? Someone to take the ball out of his hands and help run the team? In "theory" it seems the Magic structure SHOULD be a good fit. The combo of Hill and Francis seems like a great match. The irony of Francis is this. You WANT to take the ball out of his hands so he is freed up to score and not worry to much about getting everyone else involved. You want to take the ball out of his hands so he doesnt committ turnovers. But the PROBLEM that is becoming increasingly clear is that Francis doesnt move well WITHOUT the ball. He doesnt move off screens. He is ONLY effective when he can massage the ball and be the PG. So really having Francis on your team is kind of "grin and bare it" type of thing. For him to be effective he HAS to dominate the basketball which leads to pluses and some minuses. This was very evident in the 2nd Magic/Heat game where Francis started out at SG and didnt do anything but later in the game was moved back to PG and then got on a roll scoring wise because he was able to massage the ball. And of course they lost anyway. I am not sure what the real answer is.
orlando fans already calling him "steve-o"..... looks like the franchise-label is gone - along with his pg-duties
Charles was obscenely talented when he came into the NBA. He succeeded because of that talent, and because he worked hard at the offensive end and rebounding. He was also great at tossing midgets through bar windows. If he'd ever put that kind of effort into defense, or dedicated himself to working out and losing the flab, he might have won a title.
Uh, you're a little late. In classic Francis style, he got rid of Stevie Franchise gave himself the Steve-O title during the preseason. On topic, Minnesota and Toronto make fewer than 13.5 turnovers a game- they could always use a few more.
the problem is hill is turn over prone also and they lost mobley explosion that took the pressure off of francis and hill, with christie on the court you don't have to guard him cato and howard. so when team play zone orlando can not score.
The problem with that train of thought is that you have to look at specific incidents. If he had been in better shape, would his back not have gone out in 1994 or 95? Was his shape the problem against Houston? Did he trade Dan Majerle for Hot Rod Williams' corpse, or sign Danny Manning? Was shape the reason John Stockton carved up the Rockets in 1997? Was his ass in the way when Jordan ran rings around the Suns (averaging 40+ for the series) in 1993? When his back went out during the Mario Elie series, it can be argued that his shape was the issue. But it can also be argued that banging around the NBA for 90 games at 6-5 was the issue there. There are a lot of reasons Charles fell short, but I'm not entirely convinced that his body fat was completely at fault.
If you think that carrying around too much extra weight doesn't lead to back problems, you're incorrect. And I didn't say that weight was completely at fault. But Charles didn't dedicate himself enough to the game, and that hurt his chances at a ring. He didn't get that, the same as the guys he's criticizing.
The perfect situation for Steve would be a team with 4 shooters surrounding him at all times. Steve would dominate the ball and either create a shot for himself, or drive and kick. That would be the extent of the offensive playbook, and would pretty much maximize Steve's game to the fullest. Now is this the way to build a contender? Probably not. The only way that a team like this would succeed is if they played lockdown defense and rebounded the ball like madmen. Funny how this team sounds exactly like what they've been doing with Iverson in Philly.
