HELL NO. consider what attributes this team needs from guards: shooting, safe ballhandling, pinpoint passing, good defending, excellent court iq. what out of those things is francis good at? ZERO. francis is and always will be a scoring point guard. ny and orlando have experimented with his as a 2 guard and he has not been successful. why? because he is not capable of catching and shooting. he is a rhythm shooter...someone who needs to shoot off of the dribble. nothing wrong with that, but not the #1 trait you look for in a sg. to steve's credit, he has tried to adjust his game. he doesn't focus on the catch and shoot because he, imo, knows that it is not his strong suit. so, he has started penetrating and dishing more almost in an effort to be a good distributor from the 2 spot. the problem is that you don't really need that from the 2 spot. you need a zone buster...a space creator...or in some cases, a person big enough to create matchup problems which force double teams. once again, francis does not fit the criteria. do you guys realize that francis has played with two of the most dominant big men in the nba? yao ming and dwight howard. now do you realize that francis had to be jettisoned from both teams in order for the big men to flourish?! does that not ring bells for you guys? francis said it himself: "i don't know. i've never really had to play with someone like (yao) before." what guard says something like that? a selfish one that doesn't realize that ANY dominant big man makes like a hell of a lot easier for a guard. that's not lacking court iq, that's lacking common freaking sense! the best scenario for francis is the "iverson" scenario. go somewhere where he can maximize his talent. he is, without a doubt, one of the tougher covers in the league. he is, without a doubt, capable of putting up 25ppg, 7rbs, and 6 assts. those #s sound so good to stat geeks who don't realize that it isn't about "how many" as much as it is "how". "how" you play the game. "how" you involve your team. "how" you set up your shooters. "how" you lead by example...particularly as the defacto coach-on-the-floor. it's why players like AI and "franchise" will never win championships. they put up "empty numbers". big stats + underutilized teammates + sh*tty leadership skills = PASS on francis. tell me again what team - AT ANY LEVEL - has ever wanted francis to stay??? HELL. NO.
I'll take Francis back any day and find him minutes. If that means someone else playing less, fine with me. The starters are playing too many minutes anyway and the bench guys aren't very reliable. So far, with McGrady losing a step, the Rockets struggles to get any kind of penetratioon going. Snyder does some of it, but he's raw and often makes mistakes on his drives. Steve, for all his faults, can penetrate and finish. He also did not appear to be a defensive liability under Van Gundy. For the vet minimum? Hell yes, sign him up. I'd rather count on him than count on BBW6.
you are right, but francis was never iverson and never will be. francis is not capable of putting 25 ppg. it would be hard to see francis getting a iverson scenario. francis is not the dominant player ai is. ai got very close to winning a championship, franchise?
I like him for a vet's min, but we have our guards position filled. I think Alston is fitting in very well with us, so Francis will have to come off the bench if he wants to be PG. As for the 2.. I already like Snyder and Bonzi (if he turns out). We're filled, especially with our prospect in V-Span on board. I wouldn't trade anyone for Francis, but would consider JHo and JL3 (if anyone will take him). Plus if Francis comes, it'll remind him of the good old days he had with his ex flame, Cat. He'll just be saddened and wish Cat was back. We can't have a star playing in our team with a broken heart.. that'll do us no good.
I don't see him fitting the team at all. We can't have a guy dribbling the crap out of the ball. Would be nice to get some scoring and rebounding at that position, but the negatives outweight the positives.
$5 2-year contract, player option waived, no trade-clause waived, and a no-speaking to press clause. Then I'd take him back.
great post. LOL at everyone who would take him back. It's cute, really. Everyone b****es about Rafer not being able to play defense or shoot open 3's and then you want to bring Francis back. Cute. Why don't we just ISO Rafer - it would be easier than going through the trouble of signing Francis to the contract.
Hell no !!! The guy was an athletic freak, but as his athleticism wanes, he will become less and less productive as he is not all that great of a thinker on the court. Tmac will be able to age gracefully because he can do other things...if Francis can't get by his man and jump out of the gym, he will be worthless as a basketball player. DD
a 5 for 1 trade would work, ie juwan, bonzi, padgett, sura, and lucas. rockets convert non-playing players into someone who'll actually contribute on the court. ny dump salary.
why would the knicks want juwon? they have blackman, lee, cato curry, rose all to play the same spot. nothing to say about padgett...
lol, I would even take Rybo back for the vet minimum, just for the heck of it. Seriously, I would take him back for a full MLE.
I would gladly take Francis... that's the only missing piece we need .. we need a consistent PG that can play real basketball, not AND1 and street ball.. get Franchise.. the only problem that would mess up the team is shot distribution between players.. if Franchise wants to be a ballhog, Houston is not a good place for him, if he is ready to accept his role as complimentary players that takes 8-15 shots a game, plays good defense, and give Tmac and Yao the ball, I would get him.. TRADE any combination of these players: Juwan, Rafer, Padgett, Vspan, and if necessary, BOnzi (even though I really like him on this team) for him... the most important thing is that Rafer leaves, I just hate the guy.. he played really well against Dallas, I know that he can be a great player, but he is NOT consistent.. and I think the key to our wins is the PG position.. everytime Rafer plays well, we win, everytime he sucks, we lose.. unless he becomes more consistent (I dont see that coming any time soon), trade his a$$ I wouldn't do it though until I get guarantees from Franchise that he will do what JVG wants him to do and he wont take away shots from Mac and Yao (I know this is going to be the biggest problem)
ok, so you're basically saying that francis could take snyder's minutes. why? because he is a better penetrator? i disagree. snyder's penetrations are decisive, instinctual and within the flow of the offense. steve francis is a tampon. he stops the flow. francis has to - stop - then dribble - then crossover - then crossback over to the defense he just faked out - then dribble in where, if impeded, he will make a bail out pass to ANYONE within his limited eyesight. as for steve's defense under jvg, you are mistaken. dude was a freaking colander out there. even with a 7'6" giant behind him and arguably the best defensive mastermind in the nba on the sidelines, he was never considered a good defender. his defense was right on par with rafer's. have i mentioned that he has never been accused of being a good team leader? have i mentioned that his replacements (jameer nelson, jamaal crawford, bob sura) have all benefitted their teams more than steve did? jameer jacked steve's position and never turned back. the magic immediately started playing better ball and haven't turned back. dwight howard's spiked development was as a direct result of this change. in ny, they are already talking about how the knicks play better with crawford starting. are they winning yet? no. but they are definitely playing better. again, the "how" and not the "how many". and bob sura was twice the floor general that steve was. as a rox fan, i'm sure you remember how cohesive a unit we were when sura was playing point. not a coincidence at all. again, i will point out. what attributes do we need from our guards? shooting, safe ballhandling, pinpoint passing, good defending, excellent court iq. which of these attributes does francis excel at? even with kirk, you have respectable shooting, safe ballhandling, average passing, good defending and good court iq. his forte is penetrating and he is quick to do so within the flow of the offense. also, who do you think is a better entry passer? kirk or steve? 6'6 or 6'3? you ready for the "francis won't pass to yao" threads? i'm not. saw enough of them 3 years ago. the makeup of this team does not allow for francis-type players. believe this: put francis on this team and it would be a bloody mess.
hell yes! i would take francis back dunno who i would trade...juwan is the only guy i can think of and sura, but dunno y NY would take that deal
i just fell out of my chair. francis is a consistent point guard and dikembe is really 40 years old...
