Stevie wants to remain the Franchise

[Jihforce]

http://www.nypost.com/sports/6466.htm



Francis declares, "I'll do anything to win and make any sacrifice to make the playoffs."


"In the five years I've been with the Rockets I think I've earned being the No. 1 option and I want to keep it that way," he stressed to me couple weeks ago while in New York to participate in The Wheelchair Classic.

So, which one is it I wonder???

[gear02]

Please oh please don't kill the rockets Stevie!

I'm a die hard Rockets fan, and we're on the brink of becoming a NBA power for years to come. We have a great PG, a great C, and a good SG. We have young talent that can get better once the free agents realize that we're good again. What's going to kill this is Francis or Yao to think that they can go somewhere else. I pray that those two remain lifetime Rockets.

[Jihforce]

personally, i think Stevie might blow it unless he sees the light like Starbury did. Problem is that it took 2 trades for Starbury to see that.

[GraingerGuy]

As much as I agree with you gear, I think Franchise should remain the first option until Yao proves himself. Yes...Yao is a good player, but I don't think he's proved that he can REALLY be a first option yet. He still has a lot of learn.

That being said...Franchise NEEDS to learn to trust his teammates a little more.

[Jihforce]

Originally posted by GraingerGuy
As much as I agree with you gear, I think Franchise should remain the first option until Yao proves himself. Yes...Yao is a good player, but I don't think he's proved that he can REALLY be a first option yet. He still has a lot of learn.

That being said...Franchise NEEDS to learn to trust his teammates a little more.

As much as I would like to agree with you, I think that you can't develop a guy unless you give him the rock. Perfect example as I mention before is Stephon Marbury. Francis and Marbury are cut from the same mold. If Francis doesn't learn how to be a POINT guard, then the Rockets aren't going anywhere. Just look at how Amare turned out, do you think he would have done that well if Marbury hogged the ball? Probably not. I think Francis' job isn't to be 1st option, but its more to make his teammates better. He's got solid players around him, I don't see how he needs to be the 1st option.

[gear02]

I actually don't want anyone to be a first option. Rockets teams in years past have been a one on one type of team, where one person goes against one other player from the other team while the others clear out. Or where the post player takes the ball and dishes it or shoots (ala Hakeem). This kind of offense doesn't work anymore while team offenses rule (see Sacramento, Dallas, New Jersey, even Lakers).

When JVG came on, I had hopes that our offense would open up and that they would actually PASS the rock.