Steve Francis Returns to the Rockets

[kevC]

James/Francis/Alston/Brooks
McGrady/Head/Snyder
Battier/Wells
Scola/Hayes/Landry
Yao/Butler/Mutombo

I love how the Rockets starters are suddenly become 3rd stringers because of this off-season.

Not sure how Francis will fit though. Still nice to add talent for cheap.

More trades are coming too. Rumors of Head for Foster and JL3 to the Hornets for a TE and a 2nd rounder and such.

God I love this offseason.

[Jing]

Didn't see this coming... Franchise and Dynasty reunited... and Tmac.

[---]

Great addition, personally I would start Stevie over Mike James. Steve Francis (even now) = Starter material, Mike James = Backup.

The guy is only, what - 29 or so?

If he can remain somewhat healthy, he can help this team quite alot. They have been lacking a great point guard for a while now, and while Steve isn't exactly a pure point guard, he's better than Mike James and Rafer Alston. If they don't make the 2nd round this year, it's a huge disappointment. As a fan of Tracy McGrady, I'm very happy with the job management has this offseason. It'll be good to see Tracy happy again, and I don't know but I think this may be the season where he gets put back in that upper echelon of elite NBA players. Alot of people didn't realize how well he played last year, almost writing him off (with his back injuries( after the 05-06 season. He basically averaged 25/5/7 for the year, one hell of a statline. Basically played a point forward type role.

I would go:

C - Yao Ming
PF - Luis Scola
SF - Shane Battier
SG - Tracy McGrady
PG - Steve Francis
------------
6th - Mike James
7th - Rafer Alston
8th - Chuck Hayes
9th - Luther Head
10th - Bonzi Wells
11th - Dikembe Mutombo
12th - Aaron Brooks
------------
13th - Jackie Butler
14th - Kirk Snyder
15th - Carl Landry

Wow... I just realized now how incredibly deep this team is. They are literally 12 deep. Every single one of those guys on the active list is a player capable of playing 10+ minutes a game.

[[Q]]

got damn that is going to be one cheap team in 2k8.

and i thought i hated playing against the rockets in 2k7.

[cyanide]

Ack, three selfish point guards. Not good.

[c0nr4d]

wow damn...didnt see this comin either.

i sorta agree with Cy tho, Francis will have to work hard to get to a level where he can be good again and not selfish like with the Knicks

nonetheless, its a good pickup for the Rox

[JT_55]

Wow, Rockets are the team to beat next year. Great off-season for them.

[Jing]

Wow, Rockets are the team to beat next year. Great off-season for them.

Not even close. Countless teams are better than them. With this lineup, and them not being selfish and being injury free, i'd say the best they can possibily do is conference finals.

[Anthony15]

Shannon, and every player from that list is capable of getting a 30+ games missing with an injury.

I like the team though, very strong team now and quite a contenders now, but you never know, T-Mac's curse of getting out of 1st round can stick to the whole Rockets team

[JT_55]

Not even close. Countless teams are better than them. With this lineup, and them not being selfish and being injury free, i'd say the best they can possibily do is conference finals.

We'll see, we'll see. This coming from a Rockets fan or hater?

[Dro]

Shannon, that starting 5 is horrible, imo. T-Mac and Yao are the two guys that need to be fed on a consistent basis...Francis has no place there. They started the offseason with one glaring hole: reliable, great passing point guard. They've added Mike James and possibly Francis, neither of whom are players that can fill that hole.

[Jing]

Not even close. Countless teams are better than them. With this lineup, and them not being selfish and being injury free, i'd say the best they can possibily do is conference finals.

We'll see, we'll see. This coming from a Rockets fan or hater?

A Yao fan. Which I suppose makes me a Rockets fan by association.

[Air Zoom Kobe I]

The rockets are going to run the west. I bet dat they win 50 games now that they signed Stevie Franchise. Its SHOWTIME!!!

[kevC]

Um, we won 52 games last season already... I'm going for 60 wins.

[---]

They definately aren't the team to beat. Defensively, they are a top team. I don't know how much that will change under Rick Adelman though. Offensively, they have scoring threats everywhere. Bonzi, T-Mac, Yao, Battier, Luther, Mike James, Stevie are all capable of putting up double figures every single night. Not to mention Rafer Alston and Luis Scola. Rick Adelman will have this team clicking on offence, something they seem to have lacked recently.

Still, Phoenix is a better team. San Antonio is a better team. Dallas is a better team. The Jazz were the better team during the last playoff series.

If the Rockets somehow get a legit, starting level, pass first point guard to run this team properly, they are as good as anyone in the league.

Shannon, that starting 5 is horrible, imo. T-Mac and Yao are the two guys that need to be fed on a consistent basis...Francis has no place there. They started the offseason with one glaring hole: reliable, great passing point guard. They've added Mike James and possibly Francis, neither of whom are players that can fill that hole.

Well, it's either Stevie, Mike James or Rafer.

Of those guys, it probably goes Francis>James>Alston (or Alston = James).

Rafer wouldn't start over Mike of Steve. Mike is just as selfish and shoot first as Steve, except Steve can actually score.

I've talked about the Rockets need for a pass first point guard for a long time, but they really have no choice right now. Even Aaron Brooks isn't a pass first point guard. If they could make a trade like, Mike James/Bob Sura/Luis Scola for Andre Miller/Shavlik Randolph, they would be on the right track. That's just a quick mock trade, but Philly gets an expiring contract in Sura, a point guard too replace the loss of Andre Miller (until its Louis Williams time? When is that anyway?) and they finally get a post scoring presence in Luis Scola.

Houston loses out on Scola but finally gets a legit point guard who could run this team.

Probably wouldn't happen, but you get my point. It's obvious that one of these pointguards they got are about to go - the major weakness that a trade could fulfill? The point guard spot - just a pass first guy this time.

[NovU]

oh yes, francheese will be a starter without a doubt, although i didn't see any need for rockets to pick him up. personally i wanted to see mike james fitting in but i guess it will be francheese's year at pg now.

good: francheese adds playmaking & penetrating skills to the roster which they relied on t-mac last year.

bad: where is pass first pg like andre miller?


chemistry: mike jame & francheese both have experience playing with yao in previous days. so i think they know what's to be expected from them. they will be fine and ready to roll. scola is also top european matured pf who can bang like ricky martin & william hung. so i don't see y not he will be ok in rockets. i see rocket's chemistry will just work out fine, absolutely sure will be better than Denver's AI, melo, camby, martin chemistry. addition of francheese is another good pick up. i think more changes is to come but i really like wut rocket's management is doing with the team this offseason so i think they will be real threat in west.

[BZ]

If the Rockets somehow get a legit, starting level, pass first point guard to run this team properly, they are as good as anyone in the league.

Exactly. I think Francis will tend to hog the ball over T-Mac and Yao. I'd rather see the Rockets attempt to get a pass-first PG that's also a reliable shooter. But nonetheless, Francis/McGrady/Battier/Scola/Yao will be one hell of a lineup.

[Sauru]

Ack, three selfish point guards. Not good.

thats exactly what i was thinking. i dont see how having nothing but shoot first point guards is a good thing.; specially now when yao should be you first option followed by mcgrady(mcgrady should and will be first when he gets hot) and you got a new starting 4 who should get the ball often enough to keep him interested and happy. looking at the rockets the point guard should be the 4th and maybe 5th option for taking the shot but i guarentee it wont play out like that. then again, when the stars all go to the bench the points can get thier shots.

[BiGrEd819]

well that could all change depending on how well francis is going to accept his new role. i think he could be a great passer if he wanted to.

[mvpshaq32]

Wow......Francis reunites with Rockets. They trade him off for Mcgrady and now he's back. Still hard to imagine, but this is going to be a fun team to watch.
Still won't get further than second round though

[el badman]

cyanide wrote:
Ack, three selfish point guards. Not good.



thats exactly what i was thinking. i dont see how having nothing but shoot first point guards is a good thing

Yeah, i don't see why everyone's getting so excited about this, it's really a mystery for now whether or not Francis will alter his game to be more a PG than a SG. Plus he'll probably get injured once again for a bunch of games, and so will T-Mac and and Yao, so I wouldn't get my hopes crazy high with this team yet...

[Patr1ck]

Hopefully T-Mac can finally get out of the first round. I would have liked to see a Spurs/Rockets Conference final this past season.

I find it amazing how the guy who was initially traded for T-Mac is now his teammate a few years later.

[yosifun]

1) Too bad they already signed James because now they have four good players on the PG spot, I would send Brooks and Landry to gain experience in the NBDL.

2) The Rockets don't have three selfish PGs, Alston is a pass first PG and Stevie can pass 5+ assists per game if he sets his mind to it.

3) This team is probably one of the deepest teams, if not the deepest, in all the league. They have two (maybe three with Stevie) superstars in Tracy and Yao, together with some great roll players in Battier, Wells, James, Mutombo...

4)

More trades are coming too. Rumors of Head for Foster and JL3 to the Hornets for a TE and a 2nd rounder and such.

Who the hell are JL3 and TE??

5) The Franchise is BACK! (had to say it..)

[-BHZMAFIA-]

The Rockets will be ok next year. I still don't see them making any noise. Every year, they get hyped up about going deep into the playoffs, but they always fall short. IMO, the PG situation is a little ugly, but it may work out. If Bonzi can keep his head on straight, they might be able to get out of the first round. I kinda expect Francis to still try to score for the most part especially being in Adelman's offense.

And I hate to say it, but more than likely Francis, Tmac or Yao will end up getting hurt AGAIN this year. It's only a common matter.

[Andrew]

I don't think the move guarantees the Rockets much more success than they enjoyed last season though getting out of the first round certainly seems like a good possibility. Having said that, I'd still start Francis ahead of Alston and James; his "Franchise" days are a thing of the past but considering the kind of production he's given the Knicks in a reduced role the past couple of seasons I'd say he can still be effective.