HT: 6-3 | WT: 193 | AGE: 22 |YR: 2
PTS: 18.0 | AST: 6.6 | REB: 5.3
By Fred Carter
Special to ESPN.com
Steve Francis does so many things for the Houston Rockets. He brings ton of energy and some oncourt leadership as well as an ability to score, pass and rebound.
Francis is a tremendous homecourt player; the fans really follow his lead and get involved in the ballgame. He was a great pickup in last year's draft-day trade with Vancouver because he is going to be a star. I like everything about Francis' game, but he still needs to improve his defense, shot selection and judgment with the ball. When he minimizes his mistakes, the Rockets really excel. Already this season, the Rockets lost their first game when Francis had six turnovers and won their second when he had none.
Francis is still a young player who is going through some growing pains. He has to a tendency to take bad shots and have poor judgment in terms of passing. Once he cleans up in those areas and focuses on things that accentuate winning, he can be an outstanding player.
His growth and development will depend on him. I was an assistant coach with the Bulls when Michael Jordan entered the league in 1984, and the first few years he looked primarily to score. Once Jordan established his identity as a player, then he became more comfortable with himself and getting his teammates involved and focusing on winning.
The same thing applies to Francis. He must be able to learn and understand the game, know when to score and when to pass. That's part of his maturation process.
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HT: 6-4 | WT: 212 | AGE: 27 | YR: 7
PTS: 14.3 | AST: 10.1 | REB: 7.2
By Dr. Jack Ramsay
Special to ESPN.com
Jason Kidd is the Phoenix Suns. Kidd is the hub of whatever good happens for the Suns.
I know the Suns have only played two games, but he already has one triple-double and leads the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. Last year Kidd averaged 14 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds a game. As a point guard, he was the second-best rebounder on the team, and the best rebounder when Tom Gugliotta got hurt. Kidd will rebound the ball on the defensive end, drive up the court and make the scoring play, whether it's an assist or a score himself. He's very unselfish and has a great knack of finding guys in traffic.
He had a 3-to-1 turnover-assist ratio, which is good, but not great. You'd like your point guard to have a 4-to-1 ratio, but not many do. Kidd contributes 35-40 points a game because some of his assists come on 3-pointers and others come on drives to the basket in which the player gets fouled and has a three-point play and is fouled yet doesn't get the basket. That doesn't show on the stat sheet, but it's another way he is contributing.
Kidd is not a great one-on-one defender, but he's an excellent team defender. And he will get a few steals a game. He is simply a one-man band. Without him, the Suns are a run-of-the-mill team struggling for a playoff team.
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