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TheSage
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Joined: 2/20/2003
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March 1, 2006-NY Times
As Francis Starts Over, Knicks Seem a Good Fit
By HOWARD BECK
The staid look was familiar to anyone who had followed the circuitous career of Steve Francis. Nearly seven years ago, Francis walked across a stage at the MCI Center in Washington and entered his N.B.A. career with a blank expression.
No smile, no fist pump, no twinkle in the eye. Francis had been drafted by the Vancouver Grizzlies, and he did not hide his disappointment.
Seven nights ago, Francis sat at a table at Madison Square Garden, making his first appearance as a Knick after a trade with Orlando. Everything — the team, the time, the circumstances — was different. Only the expression seemed the same. No smile, no twinkle.
It was a strange first impression, and given the sorry state of the Knicks, it caused some understandable consternation: Did Francis want to be here? Or would this be merely another brief and unhappy stop on his rambling N.B.A. path?
"I was fatigued," Francis explained, waving off any doubts. The news conference was, in fact, the endpoint of what Francis called "not the worst two weeks of my life, but it was the most draining time."
His relationship with the Magic had soured. Trade speculation had Francis landing in Denver, Minneapolis, Los Angeles or New York. He had a fiancée and a 6-month-old daughter to consider. Then came a whirlwind day in which Francis attended a morning meeting with the Magic in East Rutherford, N.J., spent three hours on the phone getting updates from his agent, Jeff Fried, and, finally, made the trek through the Lincoln Tunnel and headed straight to his news conference.
"There was a lot that happened within the 12-13 hours before I was traded," he said.
The intrigue, the mixed feelings, the multiple destinations and the exhaustion made for a nice microcosm of Francis's career.
He is starting over, again. The Knicks are Francis's fourth N.B.A. team, including one he never played for, the Grizzlies. From high school through college, he played for six different schools.
That makes 10 new beginnings in 13 years, enough to make anyone road weary. So here is the truth, Francis said: He is not only happy to be with the Knicks, despite their ghastly record, but he also wants to be with them for the long haul.
Fried called the Knicks "our first preference by far" when the trade became inevitable. Indeed, Francis said he felt it was partly the rough edges that made the Knicks attractive to him. Francis is owed $62.5 million over next four years, not counting this year.
"I know it probably sounds crazy," he said. "I'm a guy, I have scars as far as the things I've been through in my career. Just like Coach Brown, just like Isiah Thomas, just like Stephon Marbury, just like a lot of players on our team."
It was a surprising explanation. But then, nothing in Francis's life has been easy or predictable. He grew up in Takoma Park, Md., with little money and no father. Francis was reared by his mother, Brenda Wilson, who died of cancer in 1995, and by his grandmother, Mabel Wilson.
His mother's death left him so disconsolate, he gave up basketball for two years. It was the first of many detours in his jagged career path.
Francis led two junior colleges — San Jacinto (Tex.) in 1997 and Allegany (Md.) in 1998 — to undefeated seasons and berths in the national junior college tournament.
By the time he signed with Maryland in 1998, he was entering his sixth program in six years. He led the Terrapins to 28 victories and a Round of 16 berth in 1999.
"He was very unselfish," Maryland Coach Gary Williams said. "I think he averaged 13 shots a game, and he could have taken 20 a game with his individual skills."
N.B.A. scouts were not sure how to classify Francis — as a shoot-first point guard or as an undersized shooting guard — but his gifts were clear. He had a 43-inch vertical leap, the instincts of a running back and the fearlessness of a street fighter.
Francis's first move as a pro was a crossover dribble. Taken No. 2 over all in the draft, by the Vancouver Grizzlies, Francis demanded to be traded.
Two months later, Francis joined the Houston Rockets in an 11-player deal. He was criticized on both sides of the border as a pouting prima donna, an image he has fought ever since.
"He rubbed me the wrong way when he came into the league and demanded that Vancouver trade him," Scottie Pippen, the former Bulls star, told NBA.com after the trade last week.
Francis said, "There are situations that happened, things you have to mature from."
In five seasons with Houston, his teams won 34, 45, 28, 43 and 45 games. He teamed with Cuttino Mobley in a frenetic, high-scoring backcourt that ranked among the best statistically in the league. For four seasons under Coach Rudy Tomjanovich, Francis was given free rein.
But everything changed when the easygoing, player-friendly Tomjanovich was replaced by the controlling and uptight Jeff Van Gundy.
Van Gundy helped guide Francis to his lone playoff appearance (a 4-1 series loss to the Los Angeles Lakers), but Francis was gone two months later, traded to Orlando in a package for Tracy McGrady.
"Jeff wanted to trade him a soon as Jeff took the job," said Knicks forward Maurice Taylor, who played for four and a half seasons with the Rockets. "Jeff ran a type of system that he didn't really want most of the scoring to come from his point guard."
Under Van Gundy, Francis averaged a career-low 16.6 points a game, down from 21 the previous two seasons. Francis seethed. He said he saw the experience differently now.
"I've matured so much," he said.
He once felt the need to be his team's top scorer, but now Francis said he was comfortable playing a more complementary role. Referring to Van Gundy, he said, "It took me a year or two to realize that he was just trying to help his team get better and help me get better."
Yet there was another bad ending in Orlando. On Jan. 11, Francis defied Coach Brian Hill, refusing to re-enter the game in the final minutes of a blowout loss to Seattle. He was suspended for two games, prompting the trade talks that culminated with last week's deal.
"He was eager to get out of the situation he was in," Mobley, now with the Clippers, said by phone.
So Francis, who bounced through a half-dozen schools, who forced his way out of Canada and who was kicked out of Houston, was on the move again.
"I still have time left in my career that I can help this team win games and get to places that they haven't been in a long time," Francis said. "One of my goals is to leave the Garden with my jersey hanging from the rafters. When I got traded, I went into the gym and I was looking up at the history, the legacy of that arena. Now that I'm one of them, I'm thinking what can I do to get myself up there, what can I do to help my team get one of those banners."
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3/1/2006 10:34 AM
