http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5231976.html Quite an interesting dilemma. Certainly sounds like Francis is playing catch up to the rest of the gang. Given the acquisitions of James, Francis, and Brooks, I give a ton of credit to Rafer for seemingly winning the starter's job. He can't afford many more performances like tonight, or he'll go from starter to end of the bench. That's the luxury we didn't have last year.
...and it sounds to me like Francis is on the outside looking in at the moment. That's something that would/will upset a lot of people around these parts, but Adelman knows better than they do, so that's all there is to say.
I think Head fits in with the bench of James and Bonzi than Francis...why?? Because there is just one ball to play with and Head is a lethal shooter and does not demand the ball in his hands all the time. But i think it's between Head and Steve. There are night Head might not play at all and there are night Steve might not play at all.....it depends on match up and who's hot i think.
again, i think the rotation for the PG position will not be fixed in stone even if he decides on a rotation. alston might be so bad shooting the ball (he was 1-6 today w/ some god awful floaters) that although he might distribute well, adelman might seem him as a liability. then he could add francis in then. right now he doesn't want 3 PGs splitting 15 mins a game. he wants consistency so prollie gonna go 2 just 2 guys. alston and james for now. but again, francis could still sneak in if alston does not stay consistent with his shot. for bonzi, i think he'll take wahtever minutes are left b/t tmac and bonzi. he has proven to be VERY VERY good for us so far and he has to play a lot. head might sneak in a few here and there.
Agree, Francis is definitely looking more and more like the odd man out rotation wise. On a sidenote, really disappointing to hear that fitness and conditioning issues may have played a role in his slow start given all the propaganda we have been inundated with regarding his special summer workouts in New Orleans.
Yes indeed it will. But both the SF lovers and SF "haters" should realize that things will change over the course of the season. It is highly unlikely the rotation will be the same at the end of the season as the beginning. My prediction is MJ will clearly emerge as a better PG option than Rafer. Notice how Delonte West torched Rafer/AB/SF in the 1st half but slowed to a stop during that 38-19 3rd quarter demolition with MJ guarding him. MJ's performance will increase while Rafer's will decrease. I also think SF will improve a lot but it will take more time. To start off: PG: Rafer and MJ. MJ to swing to SG on occasion. SG/SF: Tracy, Shane, Bonzi. All 3 are swing players though Bonzi less than the other two. PF/C: Yao, Scola, Chuck. Scola will swing between PF & C. Chuck might also in rare instances. That will be our 8 man rotation to start the season. If Adelman goes to 8 1/2 or 9 players, add Luther or SF to the mix. If the teams gels, we should have a decent amount of blowout wins so the scrubs should get sporadic time.
Heh its funny though. I don't think anybody would have guessed that Rafer Alston would be a lock into this roster.
Our offense with SF3 running the show didnt look good. I love him, but honestly right now, MJ and Alston are ahead of him. Francis rebounding ablilty, tough plays are still there, but he still isnt a smart player.
I actually did. I guess I never understood why so many people thought he was out the door for sure. He got in trouble with the law, but nothing major. It seems his scuffles were blown out of proportion. Then the Rockets went out and got more PGs for the roster. Well, duh. We only had ONE who was capable of running the team, and that was Rafer. Once we got Brooks and MJ, Lucas became the odd man out, and when the chance to pick up Francis came along there was no better player to chase. Not for the money the Rockets had. There might have been motivation from Les to sign him purely for the increases in marketability, not to actually push for the starting job. So in summary Rafer had some minor legal trouble and management stockpiled talent at the position where we had the least depth. I don't understand how that ever spelled certain doom for a guy who, as much as he struggled shooting, was part of the best statistical starting 5 in the league last year. Especially now that the offense calls for a distributing PG and Alston is the only one we have. I've thought it was his job to lose from day 1.
Francis is a washed up loser. The sooner he realizes that, the sooner he can take his place on the bench.
I wouldn't set the point guard rotation in stone either. Rafer was already being annointed...but, the starting unit played great when Mike James was in there. MJ made some good passes to Battier and others....if he can pick up the offense, he would bring more to the table. Defensively, Mike James won't get torched as easily. Today, Rafer kind of showed his old self...he couldn't finish very well around the basket and his outside shot is not reliable. I don't know why he's so streaky....maybe his form is not correct or whatever it is. He didn't look as great going up against a good point guard in Delonte West. As far as Francis, there's physical shape and basketball game shape. Francis did some conditioning with his trainer...but that's different than getting used to NBA speed. When Adelman was talking about giving someone more time to play the one in the next preseason game...was he talking about Francis? It seemed like it was about Francis since he said he struggled with playing off the ball and had to go between playing the 1 & 2... It's a long NBA season and some players get stronger as they get used to a system and some players go into slumps. Fortunatley, we have so much depth that we can afford to substitute in guys. I would just hate for it to be Steve because he's a veteran and a former all-star to boot and I don't know hoe he would deal with it.
I've been saying this for a couple of days & I think seeing the play last couple of days, here is how I forsee the rotation & our 12: Starters: - Yao - TMac - Battier - Hayes - Rafer Bench: - Scola - Bonzi - James - Head Random Mins: - Francis - Brooks - Novak If not Novak, Harris/Landry. However you want to round out the 15, but only 12 are on the bench. Then if Rafer struggles, MJ can be promoted.
Too deep team? I wanna Francis to play really. We need his agressivess. Brooks is also good, I'd even pick him over Snyder who sucked last night.
Ok right but you see how the situation looks like. I love this depth too and it's gonna give us a lot of wins but now here is a big problem. Who would play in the rotation. It doesn't matter which option will you choose cause there always will be a player who isn't happy. And we have James, Francis, Snyder, Brooks, ALston, Head. Who would you choose? So tought decision for adelman
I don't think Rafer is a lock to start. Right now, it is his job to lose. But if he misses shots in the remaining preseason games like he did last year, he may end up at the end of the bench, like NIKE said. I think we need to trade Francis somehow. It doesn't look good for him here with Adelman. This is not the first time Adelman is quoted to say Francis doesn't fit well. I'd rather have a young player sitting on the bench, waiting for his chance, than having Francis sitting there rotting.
