HELL FRICKIN NO. Jesus... Do you guys realize what a huge insult that would be to the guys whose jerseys are already in our rafters? I like Steve, but the only season we had with him where we even made the playoffs, we had to take the ball out of his hands more, he had a significant statistical dropoff, and he bailed on the team to go to the superbowl. NOT a jersey retirement resume by Rockets standards.
You do realize that the OP basically set this up to be a Francis bash fest? None of Stevie's fans are actually calling for this.
If so, my bad for fallin in the trap. I honestly did not read the thread and just found the suggestion insulting as a Rockets fan. Had to defend the integrity of the team. You understand.
I think SF3 deserves a position there. We shouldn't estimate a player just by his achievements and how many titles he has brought us, but how many efforts he has made for our team. Steve Francis was drafted in a dark age of the rockets team. Steve was our franchise player through the darkness until he was traded for tracy mcgreedy. Our team would be as poor as today's thunders during that period if Steve had not been on our team or played like today's tmac. Our team was in a pretty bad situation during that period but not as bad as thunders or grizzlies. But for Steve, our team may have lost most of the fans and have to move to another city as the sonics did this summer. It's steve that saved our team from being transplanted onto another place. During the seasons since dream retired till steve got traded, the only reason for us to attend the compad or toyota center to watch the games was just Francis who was our only hope. Steve was our God but now he is frozen on the bench. Steve had been the rockets team-leader for 5 years and kept our team from getting worse. We were bad in the past but steve didn't allow our team move from bad to worse, so we didn't get a record as 12-70 that the heat got last season.
he will get the same retirement bobby sura got. letting his contract expire. thats it. and with similar but less deserved nostalgia.
That's really too bad. If they are going to highlight guys like Thorpe and McCray they really should've highlighted Francis and Mobley. Yeah it was a dark time for the Rox but after the Moses Malone era we had a even darker time when Robert Reid was about the best we had. Francis doesn't deserve to get his number retired or be counted among the all time Rockets great but he does deserve some respect for being in the upper, but not top, tier of Rockets and a Rocket through and through.
First off, that clip of "The Rockets 41 years of Tradition" was one of the best I've seen. I really appreciated that one, it gave me a burning feeling in my gut and made me smile at the same time. It's kinda of funny, cuz I have a hard time commenting on anything that I wasn't there to see. Example: The Malone, Hayes and Sampson years. So my point is that, if you weren't living in Houston and didn't follow the team on a everyday basis, attend games and ride the roller coaster that Rockets fans were on at that time you wouldn't understand even if we slapped you in the face with it. Do you forget the years of Matt Maloney, Bryce Drew, Kelvin Cato, Eddie Griffin, Shannon Anderson, Glen Rice and Scottie Pippen. We basically blew up our team to bring Barkley aboard and that blew up too, with not rotating fast enough on a switch at the buzzer,(and a small bear hug). At one point in time Stevie Franchise was our savior, all-star and the man that loved Houston and still does. We rode his coat tails and then cut his throat for Tracy. The fact is that Tracy hasn't brought us any further than Steve did and I bet if we let Steve hit the floor today, he'd put better numbers than 2-12fgs in 30 minutes. Sorry I believe Steve deserves his number retired as much or more so than Tracy. How about this? A Race! A race to bring us home a Championship and the winner gets his jersey retired. and let's say Tracy has a head start since he's played all of the regular season. BTW, That clip of Kenny Smith getting his jersey retired was the funniest!
me neither. but notice there are those that not only consider him to have been good, not only to have been great, but think he should have his jersey retired!!! there are posters that place him alongside the icons of houston. check other threads. francis one of the greatest point guards the rox have had?? it is incomprehensible to me also, until I consider the collective bbiq of some believers. imo, there are very few ways 2 get your # retired: 1) HOF Rocket player/coach (rudy/dream/murph) 2) integral part to championship(s) & Houston treasure (glyde) 3) franchise player & top nba player for an extended time (~10 yrs) cult hero doesn't cut it for me. I'd sooner retire cassell or horry before francis. but that's me. some would argue that steve "carried" the team in dark years, leading motay, moochie and cato to the playoffs &, as such, is worthy.
I agree that they should have at least given him a bold lettered intro. Another note, I heard there is some type of shrine in the locker room area that shows all the different eras in Rockets History and they skipped the whole Francis era. It goes from the last championship team, to the Yao and T-Mac era. I guess they are just trying to forget the Dark Days . I think if somehow he gains a rotation spot and helps us get a title, they should retire his jersey. If not, at least let him come in on Rockets Legend Night.
You created a poll with a false premise to expose some alleged vast Francis Clutchfans cult, and got three pages of overwhelmingly negative posts regarding him. Yet you're still trying to spin the handful of posts that defended him? And people think I have a mad-on for Tracy... It's always funny to see people proclaim how puzzling it is to see all the Francis love on this board, considering the mere mention of his name is sure to draw dozens of completely negative responses ranging from spitting on his prime to celebrating the possibility that his career is likely over. The reason Steve has such a loyal (but make no mistake, it's very small) following is because he left it all on the court every night. If a certain someone gets a pass for never doing anything with inferior surrounding talent, why should Francis be crucified for doing just as much with even less? He also represents the player we always dreamed of and needed in the Big Three era, when Matt Maloney was getting torched every night. Please, stop insinuating that the handful of people sticking up for the guy are clamoring for the Rockets to build a statue in his likeness.
FLASH21 MemberJoin Date: Jun 2008Posts: 130 Member: #31877 Yesterday, 03:20 PM #18 Honestly, I think he did a pretty good job as a PG. Really that isn't his true position as mentioned above he had a loser team and did what he could to win. The only reason he left Houston was for us to p/u TMac, and that hasn't worked out too much better. What I always wonder when I see a great player is, When they retire do you think they'll do it as a Rocket or another team? With T I really don't know cause he really had his glory days with Orlando where he scored tons of points. And now he's with us and hasn't done much but lose in the 1st round. But if Stevie does get his jersey retired I think it will be as a Rocket. That's a big if. I may be wrong but this may be where this thread came from.
despite his matador defense and bad decision making, we still loved to root for Steve (not because he's Yao's buddy). I believe this is because he started here as a rookie and we saw him rise and fall . Kinda like your own family. Tmac didn't start here, so he doesn't get the inherit love that Steve gets. Steve had that passion that all Rocket heroes had. that's why we like him. Despite painfully knowing that we couldn't win a championship with him, we traded him away. but that's whole era of basketball that should have been highlighted in the video.
