<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> Steve Francis couldn't be more lost if he were tossed out of a moving car blindfolded in a forest at night. In Siberia. With a broken GPS device. And bouts of dizziness.</p> It's far too early to say it wasn't worth rolling the dice at all to bring home the erstwhile Stevie Franchise. But watching him practically grope his way along like Stevie Wonder in a crowded theater without an escort in Rick Adelman's offense through the exhibition season makes you lean in that direction.</p> Of course, times have changed. He's no longer the man in charge, handling the ball on most possessions at the top of the key, the one responsible for making something happen.</p> But one thing you never would have said about Francis during his first incarnation was that he was unsure of himself. And that's exactly what you see now. Few crossover dribbles and crackling drives to the basket. No using that jab step to create separation and then pulling up to stab in that defiant jumper.</p> His shot clanked off the rim against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night. His bold first half move to the hoop ended with him being called for a clear charge into Hakim Warrick. He's shooting a little more than 40 percent in the exhibition season. But he is in form constantly talking and carping at the referees.</p> It's not any problem with tendinitis in his knees or another physical breakdown, those concerns from back in the summer. Does he look a little heavier? Probably. A touch slower? For sure.</p> But mostly, to this point, it's about Francis being unable to find the place to fit in on this Rockets roster that has more talent and more moving parts than any in the last decade. This is now a thinking man's game that the Rockets are trying to play this season and Stevie doesn't have a clue. His double-figure scoring game against the Grizzlies notwithstanding, he's running behind Rafer Alston, Mike James and Luther Head in the crowded backcourt battle among the horde of small guards.</p> There were times right after the Rockets signed Francis last June, when you might have wondered if it wasn't the perfect fit, a chance for him to come back to his original NBA roots and help lift the team to the next level. Remember what Chauncey Billups did for the Pistons after years of bouncing all over the NBA?</p> Francis, as we have seen early, is no Billups. In fact, to date, he's been a far cry from even being a shadow of himself.</div></p> Source: Houston Chronicle Blog</p>
