Buy (out) the Franchise

[Spurminator]

I expected coaches to finally wise up and realize Francis should not be leading a team. But I never expected for him to fall this far from grace.

[Roxsfan]

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Roxsfan taking over spurscenter's duties, eh?

[remingtonbo2001]

While he has mellowed a bit, PJ is at heart a disciplined coach, and FAR too smart to let a "me first" mother er like Francis anywhere NEAR his young players.

I really don't think PJ would like being choked again.

[Indazone]

hahaha..actually the Francis story is a drama line for the entire NBA. Here is a former All-Star who got shuffled around to Orlando to NY and back to Houston. He got traded out of Houston for T-Mac. In Orlando he lost the starting job to Jameer Nelson and refused to go into a game at garbage time. Next day he was traded to the Knicks. Larry Brown really wanted Francis but the feud between Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas spilled into onto the court in which players got time. Eventually Brown was fired and Isiah Thomas tried to make a backcourt of Francis/Marbury work thinking they would be the new Earl Monroe/Walt Frazier from the Knicks Wonder Years. Trouble was Marbury and Francis are exactly the same type of player. Last year it came to a head and Francis got the injury bug or you should say the Blue flu. He called Yao and tried to come back to the Rockets behind the scenes even to play for Van Gundy. New York and Isiah refused to buy him out but made a blockbuster trade to Portland. Channing Frye and Steve Francis for Zach Randolph. Portland wanted none of Francis and bought him out. Francis was now a free agent and chose Houston because he had a home in Houston and always considered the Rockets "The House that Stevie Franchise Built". He gave up money and offers from the Miami Heat, Clippers, Mavericks to play for Houston. He thought he'd be the starter and even said Bobby Jackson couldn't hold his jockstrap. He showed up out of shape in Preseason Camp and couldn't figure out the Adleman offense. Consequently he got benched and lost his starting job to Rafer Alston. So now the fans are screaming "We Want Steve" at every home game hoping to see a reemergence of All-Star Franchise.

So it's all this drama that keeps us tuned to the Franchise story. Can Francis return to the starting lineup? Can he regain the All-Star form he once had? If not, does he still have enough left in the tank to make a solid contribution? A lot of people are watching Francis. A lot want to see him make it and return to his All-Star form and a lot of people want to see the train wreck and have him completely fail and fall out of favor with Adleman. I guess it's just drama and everyone loves a great story whether or not the outcome is good or bad.