Smack / Jul 20, 2007 / 3:15 am

Right Franchise?

By Dime Magazine

There was a time when having T-Mac, Yao and Steve Francis on the same squad meant you had an instant contender on your hands (or at least a team hyped up as one). With Francis agreeing to a deal with the Rockets yesterday, though, now it’s just a decent guard who’s past his prime joining a team already loaded with guards, and he’s not making them that much more of a title threat. Was this the right move for Stevie Franchise? We were sure he’d go with the Clippers, who need him more and have the bonus of Cuttino Mobley being on the roster. But where does Steve play on the Rockets? They’re stacked at the one with Rafer, Mike James, Aaron Brooks and John Lucas III, and then T-Mac, Bonzi, Battier, Luther Head and Kirk Snyder could all conceivably play the two. You would think someone’s getting moved soon … Of course, the Heat are in the market for some backcourt help. Miami was reportedly one of Francis’ final two options; after missing out on yet another free agent, maybe they can swing a trade for one of Houston’s point guards … Chris Paul will be on the cover of NBA 2K8. We’re not mad at that … Lawrence Frank to the Bergen Record on Nets first-round pick Sean Williams: “He’s just green on both ends, but he’s got unbelievable athletic gifts. As long as he’s willing to have big eyes, big ears and give a big effort, then he’ll make strides.” Big eyes and ears, huh? Must be the Popeye Jones Technique … Blazers GM Kelvin Pritchard admitted that by re-signing Travis Outlaw, the team is letting Ime Udoka walk. Big mistake, if you ask us. Yeah, so Outlaw is young and has potential, but he’s going into his fifth year in the League and still hasn’t shown anything to make you think he’s gonna become a star. This isn’t Jermaine O’Neal all over again. Outlaw only seems to put up numbers in blowouts and end-of-the-season “let’s see what the young guys can do” games; never in meaningful spots. Udoka isn’t a young freak of an athlete like Outlaw, but he’s a great defender and a smart player who does a lot more for Portland than Outlaw does … On the flip side, great move by the Pacers, agreeing to terms with Travis Diener. Indy’s only real PG behind Jamaal Tinsley before this was Darrell Armstrong, who’s already got one leg in a coach’s suit and the other leg in his uni … The Raptors keep stockpiling players with international experience. Maceo Baston — the ex-Michigan star who was a star with Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) before coming over to the Pacers last year — signed with Toronto yesterday … The rosters for this year’s Elite 24 high school showcase at Rucker Park are in the process of being released. Lance Stephenson, Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday — all on the cover of our current issue — are confirmed, and yesterday they were joined by New York wing Sylven Landesberg, Ohio center B.J. Mullens (committed to Ohio State), Georgia wing Al-Farouq Aminu (Wake Forest), Connecticut-via-NY forward Devin Ebanks (Indiana), New York big man John Riek and Atlanta big Derrick Favors, another one of our June/July cover guys … First we heard Wang Zhizhi was getting interest from a couple NBA squads, now we hear he’s got an offer from the ABA’s Georgia Gwizzlies. Yeah, you read that right. Here’s the logo … If you have NBA TV, no doubt you’ve seen that “NBA Vault: Top 10’s” show by now — they’ve been replaying it more than “Sportscenter” every morning. We’ve seen it about 100 times in the office, and every time they follow up Kobe and Amare’s Top 10 plays with Duncan’s Top 10, it turns into Christian and Justin sneering, “That’s a highlight?” while Austin vehemently tries to defend TD’s clips … And next time you watch the show, check how many times the Sonics show up as highlight-victims. And a lot of it is Earl Watson — who’s supposed to be Seattle good defender at the PG spot — getting carved up. No wonder they hired P.J. Carlesimo; they need some defensive help badly … Caught a replay of the ‘96 Orange Bowl, Florida State vs. Notre Dame (including Derrick Mayes with his ND jersey rolled up so high you could see all of his abs). One of the announcers said tackling Warrick Dunn is like “trying to eat Jell-O with chopsticks.” … We’re out like Jell-O and chopsticks …

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18 Responses to “Right Franchise?”

  1. July 20th, 2007 at 5:50 am

    Tom Callum says:

    Chris Paul on the cover? the dunk over howard-pic would be sick!

    http://www.squidoo.com/ChrisPaulDunk/

  2. July 20th, 2007 at 8:23 am

    Rodnets says:

    I believe the rockets are a truly contender, afet inking Argentinian PF Luis Scola. You can watch his moves in Vegas during pre-olympics.

    Peace

  3. July 20th, 2007 at 10:33 am

    Amar says:

    Rockets are just going to shore up 3rd place in their dividsion 1.5 weeks earlier. It’s not like they solved any of their problems (save for the mythical Scola), they needed a pass first PG who could be a complimentary player to Yao and Tmac. They went out and got Mike James who is a shoot first, never ask questions gunner. Then they went out to get Steve Francis, who needs the ball to be effective. They also drafted this guy that Kamla is always hyping to be the next AI due to size and disdain of passing. They got a coach that is supposed to revitalize Bonzi Wells, but that coach runs an offense which plays the center at high post. This center, btw, is the Rockets most effecient weapon by being a 7′6 dude with a back to the basket game (just not against mehmet okur). Adelman’s uptempo offense may even just anchor yao ming to the bench, who knows. Lots of redundant parts, some trades need to be made. But at least they’ve stockpile name talent to spread the blame around so they can continue to not criticise Yao after another failed season.

  4. July 20th, 2007 at 10:36 am

    Amar says:

    in other news, Gilbert Arenas has taken CP3 being on the cover of 2k as a personal attack, and is going to drop 50 on the hornets this season. he just can’t understand that 2k is trying to court the 12-17 year old girl fanbase with the doe-eyed paul.

  5. July 20th, 2007 at 10:46 am

    Jim says:

    “They’re stacked at the one with Rafer, Mike James, Aaron Brooks and John Lucas III”

    Are any of those guys starting NBA PGs? How on earth does that qualify as being stacked?

  6. July 20th, 2007 at 11:20 am

    Austin Burton says:

    what other team has 5 point guards?

  7. July 20th, 2007 at 11:21 am

    Amar says:

    why no mention of Paul Millsap (pick #47) taking the game to OT with a three, and another game winner in the OT, while #5 draft pick sheldon williams gets 9 points to paul’s 20?

  8. July 20th, 2007 at 12:01 pm

    Celts Fan says:

    They’re “stacked” because both Skip and Mike James get starter $$$ and they spent a 1st rounder on another PG, and then signed Francis (who we’ll call a 2 here, just for the sake of argument), so, with a salary cap, I don’t think they can go get another one, though I think the word they meant to use isn’t “stacked” but “stuck”

  9. July 20th, 2007 at 12:21 pm

    Pat says:

    Maceo Baston already played for the Raptors in 2002-2003. Hope he got better with the extra tick playing overseas…

  10. July 20th, 2007 at 1:37 pm

    SWAT says:

    ok ease up Amar…honestly i think-hope franchise killer will only come off the bench. Brooks carved up the summer league and with Adelman hopefully will get some pt. I expect to see Lucas and maybe even Alston gone in the next couple of weeks. Im happy with the Mike James signing since that gives us another scorer…ignore his year with the T’wolves and remember what he did with Toronto. I do agree with you though…i really don’t see Yao running uo the court like Amare. We will have to wait and see.

  11. July 20th, 2007 at 2:27 pm

    Bust Jlaze says:

    Funny line from yesterday, not sure which article, but something along the lines of, “A team with T-Mac, Yao, and Stevie Franchise sounds good on paper…IF that paper was written back in 2004.” That was right on the money

  12. July 20th, 2007 at 3:11 pm

    Jules says:

    the GWIZZLIES?

    Who’s the owner, Elmer Fudd?

  13. July 20th, 2007 at 3:47 pm

    JC says:

    Good to see Warrick turned into a solid pro…

  14. July 20th, 2007 at 3:49 pm

    Veezie says:

    haha Jules that was great!! Elmer Fudd

  15. July 20th, 2007 at 5:02 pm

    Celts Fan says:

    anyone else hear about the Kurt Thomas trade.

    Suns gave up Kurt Thomas and 2 first rounders for only an $8M exception. What a joke! If I was a Suns fan (or even moreso, a player), this would be the last straw. They’ve already given up 4 first round picks (including just straight up selling them) that could have been a real backup PG and Luol Deng just to name a few, and then they make this trade. This literally is costing them a ring. Those picks would have gotten them to the promised land at least once. Say what you will about Mark Cuban, but he would NEVER have done something like that. This just proves that if you’re not a real fan, you shouldn’t be able to buy a team. What a joke…

  16. July 20th, 2007 at 5:24 pm

    RIDGE says:

    July 20th, 2007 at 11:20 am

    Austin Burton says:

    what other team has 5 point guards?

    MINNESOTA LOL!!!!

  17. July 20th, 2007 at 8:20 pm

    IGP says:

    Fuck you Tim Donaghy.

  18. July 20th, 2007 at 9:40 pm

    Jim says:

    I love the anonymous quote about Donaghy on SI.com: “This guy is an *******.”

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