<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (808Hornetsfan @ Jul 11 2007, 12:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I think the Rockets would be a good fit, it's the only place he's been successful in. Plus, wouldn't that be a slap in the face to Orlando if they got Francis back in town? Another possibility is the Clippers, I know that Cuttino Mobley would somehow convince him to come to LA. It's not like Sam Cassel is going to run the point forever, and Livingston won't be back for a while. Why not be a Clipper? </div>Lol.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 11 2007, 01:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Portland should have kept francis. Right now he is a much better player then any pg they have, and nate mcmillian is a great coach who I doubt francis would have problems with.</div>Francis has problems with most teams he's been on, and I wouldn't take the chance if I were the Blazers.. They've done a GREAT job cleaning their image, and Steve Francis would just be a small step backwards.. He is not a true PG - he's a score first G, and he plays PG because of his size. Jarrett Jack is a great guy, and he's a solid player. He's a smart player, good passer, and he can score some too.. Honestly, I would rather have Jarrett Jack than Steve Francis on this TrailBlazers team..
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Portland should have kept francis. Right now he is a much better player then any pg they have, and nate mcmillian is a great coach who I doubt francis would have problems with.</div>I think Jarrett Jack and Sergio Rodriquez are better fits for the team. Plus they have Petteri Koponen to groom. He might be better to have now, but in the long run, they'll better off building chemistry with the group of guys they plan to keep together for years. Francis should be back with his BFF now in Los Angeles.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kingjamez @ Jul 11 2007, 01:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Francis has problems with most teams he's been on, and I wouldn't take the chance if I were the Blazers.. They've done a GREAT job cleaning their image, and Steve Francis would just be a small step backwards.. He is not a true PG - he's a score first G, and he plays PG because of his size. Jarrett Jack is a great guy, and he's a solid player. He's a smart player, good passer, and he can score some too.. Honestly, I would rather have Jarrett Jack than Steve Francis on this TrailBlazers team..</div>Steve Francis brings alot more table to the table then jarret jack though and with NY he really had no character issues and played well in a limited role and shown that he isnt the ballhog he used to be. Right now the blazers are a defensive minded team and have no true number one option that's proven. They could have used a game who can bring some perimeter scoring because while Roy is a great scorer, he isnt quite established yet to be a number one option nor is Aldridge,Jack,Miles,Oden, or Frye.edit: also the blazers could use a vet on their young squad.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dsounG @ Jul 11 2007, 09:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Lol.</div>Now that's a true friendship right there. Honestly, I think Francis hasn't lost a step. He was in a completely different situation in NY and could not get the minutes he needed at PG to be successful. Put him on a team like the Clippers, he immediately becomes the leader of the offense at the point and will be able to get EB the ball. Francis will not, in any way, prevent Brand from scoring the numbers that he already does. For Brand it would be nice to get consistent PG play night in and night out without injuries and bad play. They are most likely going to keep Maggette, Kaman should improve a little after a down year, Cuttino Mobley has great chemistry with Francis and will be able to help him out... All the while having nice young role players on the bench, not including Sam Cassell. PG Francis- 16 ppg, 4 rpg, 5 apgSG Mobley- 13 ppg, 3 rpg, 4 apgSF Maggette- 17 ppg, 5 rpgPF Brand- 21 ppg, 9 rpg, 2 bpgC Kaman- 10 ppg, 7 rpgThat's a nice lineup.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 11 2007, 12:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Portland should have kept francis. Right now he is a much better player then any pg they have, and nate mcmillian is a great coach who I doubt francis would have problems with.</div>I disagree. They have jarret jack and brandon roy to handle the ball, and francis isn't the kind of guy they want in this environment. If you're going to take a veteran, don't have one with an ego. I think it was a good decision to buy him out.
With Shaun Livingston's ACL tear, Sam Cassel aging, and his buddy Cuttino Mobely pushing for him, he's likely going to the Clippers. He'll likely get the minutes he wants playing with Cassel. It could be the addition that pushes the Clippers back into the playoffs after their dissapointing 06'-07' season.
PrimeTime, I definitely disagree with you. Francis may be more talented than a guy like Jarrett Jack, but I would much rather have Jarrett Jack on my team than Steve Francis, even if I wasn't factoring in the age difference. Francis is a ball-hog, would disrupt the ball movement in their offense (we all know how McMillan runs structured sets), and he plays zero defense. Francis is not what they need at all, and a lot of people (including myself) anticipated a buyout as soon as the deal was announced.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dsounG @ Jul 11 2007, 01:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Lol.</div>:HAHAHA:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32 @ Jul 11 2007, 05:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>PrimeTime, I definitely disagree with you. Francis may be more talented than a guy like Jarrett Jack, but I would much rather have Jarrett Jack on my team than Steve Francis, even if I wasn't factoring in the age difference. Francis is a ball-hog, would disrupt the ball movement in their offense (we all know how McMillan runs structured sets), and he plays zero defense. Francis is not what they need at all, and a lot of people (including myself) anticipated a buyout as soon as the deal was announced.:HAHAHA:</div>Steve Francis was not a ballhog at all with new york. He accepted a limited role and the knicks made a big step in coming close to the playoffs especially with where they were last year. He isnt even a terrible defender 82 games.com shows that he basically scores as much points as he gives up(which he doesn't give up as many as you'd think) and he is no worse a defender then jarret jackson. Last year he even averaged 4 assists playing off the bench which speaks further to that he isnt as much of a ballhog as his image makes him seem. Right now he could have helped and can help start on most nba teams. He can still score, isnt a terrible defender, and is an average passer. On a team lacking offense like the blazers he could excel, and jarret jack could have also played minutes seeing as he doesn't mind playing off the bench at times and would have been a hell of a 6th man. He is by no means a franchise player but he isnt half-bad.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 11 2007, 08:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Steve Francis was not a ballhog at all with new york. He accepted a limited role and the knicks made a big step in coming close to the playoffs especially with where they were last year.</div>He had little to do with their jump, especially since he was hurt most of the year and Marbury played much better when Francis was down.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>He isnt even a terrible defender 82 games.com shows that he basically scores as much points as he gives up(which he doesn't give up as many as you'd think)</div>Because he is usually given a fairly easy defensive assignment. Giving up as much points as you score isn't exactly a good thing, especially for a player whose biggest asset is his scoring.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Last year he even averaged 4 assists playing off the bench</div>...in 28MPG of action.But I do agree with you that he can still definately help a team. If you make him a starter and trust him, he can still give you around 15/5/5. He has a bad reputation for one reason or another, but he can still produce as a very good starter in this league, possibly an X-factor for a team on the brink of making noise.
Are people that work for Realgm really this oblivious...look at their poll on their front page and it asks where you think Francis will sign. The choices include:HoustonL.A. ClippersL.A. KingsDallasMiamiI didn't know Steve Francis played hockey...
Has anyone made any offers for him? Depending where he lands he could be a candidate for MIP(although they usually only give it to young players) It depends on the situation,but he could have a great season.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 15 2007, 03:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Has anyone made any offers for him? Depending where he lands he could be a candidate for MIP(although they usually only give it to young players) It depends on the situation,but he could have a great season.</div>Supposedly the Heat are going to focus on him. I'm not sure how well Francis would work on the Heat. If he played like he did in his last Houston years/first year in Orlando, he could really help the Heat get back to the next level with his scoring and playmaking.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GrizzFanTaylor @ Jul 15 2007, 04:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Supposedly the Heat are going to focus on him. I'm not sure how well Francis would work on the Heat. If he played like he did in his last Houston years/first year in Orlando, he could really help the Heat get back to the next level with his scoring and playmaking.</div>I dont really like him with the heat. Their backcourt is already solidified in my eyes with williams/wade/payton/jones. They dont really need him. Scoring isnt really a problem for them considering they still have on top of that, guys like Posey,Walker,Shaq, and Zo. If I were them I would seek out a strong defender at sf. I doubt they go for it, but Ron Artest could do wonders for miami. If not a guy like Battier would be a nice addition.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 15 2007, 03:49 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I dont really like him with the heat. Their backcourt is already solidified in my eyes with williams/wade/payton/jones. They dont really need him. Scoring isnt really a problem for them considering they still have on top of that, guys like Posey,Walker,Shaq, and Zo. If I were them I would seek out a strong defender at sf. I doubt they go for it, but Ron Artest could do wonders for miami. If not a guy like Battier would be a nice addition.</div>Scoring is a problem for the Heat actually, seeing that they ranked 28th in the league in PPG. They really only have one consistent scoring option right now, and that's Wade. Shaq is a good option, but he's always missing a large amount of games. Past them, they really don't have any reliable options, and Francis would fix that.
Why would anyone want him? His knees are so banged up...he looked like he was in slow motion last year with NYK.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GrizzFanTaylor @ Jul 15 2007, 04:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Scoring is a problem for the Heat actually, seeing that they ranked 28th in the league in PPG. They really only have one consistent scoring option right now, and that's Wade. Shaq is a good option, but he's always missing a large amound of games. Past them, they really don't have any reliable options, and Francis would fix that.</div>Last year Wade was injured but when wades healthy he draws attention and opens up the offense for the rest of the heat. I believe next year they'll be back to having a heavy offense.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 15 2007, 03:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Last year Wade was injured but when wades healthy he draws attention and opens up the offense for the rest of the heat. I believe next year they'll be back to having a heavy offense.</div>Wade and Shaq always seem to be getting hurt, which is another reason why adding a guy like Francis would be a good move. When the Heat are missing one of them, they have trouble scoring, and with it being likely one of them, if not both, will be hurt at one point in the season, they'll have another go-to caliber scorer to bring in some offense.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GrizzFanTaylor @ Jul 15 2007, 04:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Wade and Shaq always seem to be getting hurt, which is another reason why adding a guy like Francis would be a good move. When the Heat are missing one of them, they have trouble scoring, and with it being likely one of them, if not both, will be hurt at one point in the season, they'll have another go-to caliber scorer to bring in some offense.</div>Eddie Jones is good for 10 ppg,Walker another 10,Posey close to 10, Williams another 10,ZO possibly 10 when he starts,and udonis haslem another 10+ Wade for a good 25 ppg and Shaq a good 15 ppg.Last year was an off-year for the heat, but they've got plenty of offense. They're going to need some kind of pure perimeter defender if they want to return to the finals.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 15 2007, 04:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Eddie Jones is good for 10 ppg,Walker another 10,Posey close to 10, Williams another 10,ZO possibly 10 when he starts,and udonis haslem another 10+ Wade for a good 25 ppg and Shaq a good 15 ppg.Last year was an off-year for the heat, but they've got plenty of offense. They're going to need some kind of pure perimeter defender if they want to return to the finals.</div>The Heat had a lot of offense, but it's starting to downgrade. They lost Kapono, their 3rd leading scorer last season. Antoine Walker is too inconsistent to be an option if Wade or Shaq goes down. Posey is getting out of shape, and could be on his way out of Miami. Jason Williams and Alonzo are both up there in age. It definatly would not hurt to bring in a good 3rd scoring option with Shaq being old and fragile, and Wade missing games here and there.
