Yeah those nine assists that Francis had last night in only 33 minutes really do prove he doesn't pass. Look at how much better the WHOLE TEAM did when Steve was in the game. Look how much worse they did when Steve was out of the game. Especially look at the 3rd Q. Steve was on the bench and our one point lead evaporated. In the 4th Q. when Steve was back out on the floor the WHOLE TEAM again played better and we had a pseudo come-back closing the Seattle lead to just five points with 30 seconds to go. Steve did a great job last night of making everyone on the floor with him better. It seems to me that Stevie can grasp the team concept and the concept of wanting to win. I don't think the Rockets owe Steve an apology just the posters that try and blame him for our losses. Of all the problems that caused us to lose both the Indiana and Seattle games, Steve Francis is last on the list.
If you'll read my post that you quoted you may note that I did not blame anyone, including Francis for anything at all. I did imply that Stevie doesn't seem to have a team concept in mind when playing. I think it's a fair assumption after watching the last four games and seeing him pass up an open man time after time. The nine assists shown in the box score do not reflect what was actually happening on the court, IMO. I never said we lost because of Steve Francis. I've just implied that he doesn't have his teamates in mind when playing right now. He's trying to do everything himself. This could be because he doens't trust his teamates or it could mean he is selfish. I won't pretend to know. But I think even you can agree with me that basketball is a TEAM sport not a one man show.
I agree it's a team sport, and I think for the most part Steve is playing it with the team in mind. He's not perfect, and there are times that I get mad at him for not passing it. But he's showing improvement in that area IMO.
forget the last point will kills any cred your post has but remind me again who guarded Kemp and Malone for a large portion of both finals series and remind me again of the result, Longley's defense against guys much smaller and quicker was very much better than adequate.
