jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Mar 8, 2018 12:48:21 GMT -5
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the_way
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Post by the_way on Mar 8, 2018 12:58:44 GMT -5
What?
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Post by iheartdurenbros on Mar 8, 2018 13:09:41 GMT -5
This may be some revisionist history.
I used to listen to Pops' 980 show fairly frequently. Say what you will about Pops, he was an excellent interviewer. Really got people to talk. The interview with Steve Francis, who at the time was on his way out of the NBA, was an unforgettable interview. During that conversation, Pops asked why Francis didn't come play for him. Francis said it was because Thompson was too tough. He scared him.
There may be truth to both stories, but I'm pretty sure the Tribune piece is not the whole story.
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Post by hoyadestroya on Mar 8, 2018 13:10:43 GMT -5
Boy time hasn't done him well. His picture looks a little rough.
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hoyaboya
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Post by hoyaboya on Mar 8, 2018 13:12:14 GMT -5
The relevant portion of the story: A year later, I had Gary Williams and John Thompson calling about me. Oklahoma and Clemson were coming hard after me, too, but I’d grown up watching Len Bias and Patrick Ewing. For me, it was either Maryland or Georgetown, period. And it was almost Georgetown. But I’ll never forget the conversation I had with John Thompson. He said, “Steve, we like you. We do. But I just had Allen Iverson. I can’t have you right after Allen. I just can’t have it, Steve. I’ll have a heart attack.” I respected it. He was right. He saw all those hangers-on who were around Allen all the time at Georgetown, and he knew they’d just be waiting for me to come through. So my junior year, when I was already 21 years old, I transferred to Maryland. I was a Terp. www.theplayerstribune.com/steve-francis-i-got-a-story-to-tell/
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the_way
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Post by the_way on Mar 8, 2018 13:54:39 GMT -5
Ironically, AI wanted to be a Terp and wanted to play with Virginia native Joe Smith. But given everything that transpired with his case, he had two options, Georgetown and I think Temple.
Yes, Coach Thompson's 980 interviews were great. When Caron Bulter was with the Wizards, JT2 would always tease Butler about how badly he wanted Caron to play for Georgetown. He'd joke that he never forgave Caron for not coming to Georgetown. JT2 said the same thing about Al Harrington too.
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TC
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Post by TC on Mar 8, 2018 13:58:09 GMT -5
And it was almost Georgetown. But I’ll never forget the conversation I had with John Thompson. He said, “Steve, we like you. We do. But I just had Allen Iverson. I can’t have you right after Allen. I just can’t have it, Steve. I’ll have a heart attack.” And a year later we signed Kenny Brunner. I think JT2 screwed that one up.
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jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Mar 8, 2018 16:03:12 GMT -5
And it was almost Georgetown. But I’ll never forget the conversation I had with John Thompson. He said, “Steve, we like you. We do. But I just had Allen Iverson. I can’t have you right after Allen. I just can’t have it, Steve. I’ll have a heart attack.” And a year later we signed Kenny Brunner. I think JT2 screwed that one up. So you propose we sign drug dealers who don’t go to school and get GEDs just because they are great players?
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the_way
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Post by the_way on Mar 8, 2018 16:30:08 GMT -5
And a year later we signed Kenny Brunner. I think JT2 screwed that one up. So you propose we sign drug dealers who don’t go to school and get GEDs just because they are great players? Brunner had his issues too, as we found out after he left. Heck of a player though.
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TC
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Post by TC on Mar 8, 2018 17:13:48 GMT -5
And a year later we signed Kenny Brunner. I think JT2 screwed that one up. So you propose we sign drug dealers who don’t go to school and get GEDs just because they are great players? Yes, I'm suggesting that was not beyond the pale for our recruitment strategies 1994-1998. How much trouble did Francis get into at Maryland? Meanwhile, we had Victor Page (1996-1997, the year this recruitment took place), Kenny Brunner (1997-1998 - the guy who ostensibly took Francis' place), and Ed Sheffey, so I'm not sure why you're so high up on Mount Pious.
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hoyaboya
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Post by hoyaboya on Mar 8, 2018 17:25:29 GMT -5
So you propose we sign drug dealers who don’t go to school and get GEDs just because they are great players? Yes, I'm suggesting that was not beyond the pale for our recruitment strategies 1994-1998. How much trouble did Francis get into at Maryland? Meanwhile, we had Victor Page (1996-1997, the year this recruitment took place), Kenny Brunner (1997-1998 - the guy who ostensibly took Francis' place), and Ed Sheffey, so I'm not sure why you're so high up on Mount Pious. Not to mention Allen Iverson...
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jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Mar 8, 2018 17:44:14 GMT -5
So Allen Iverson was in a fight in a bowling alley that divided along races lines and was the only person charged with a crime after he picked up a chair. I put this in a different category than being the neighborhood dealer.
Maybe I don’t know enough about Victor, Brunner, and Sheffey, but I am guessing they had different fact patterns as well.
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the_way
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Post by the_way on Mar 8, 2018 20:11:56 GMT -5
So Allen Iverson was in a fight in a bowling alley that divided along races lines and was the only person charged with a crime after he picked up a chair. I put this in a different category than being the neighborhood dealer. Maybe I don’t know enough about Victor, Brunner, and Sheffey, but I am guessing they had different fact patterns as well. Brunner was a head-case, and had to go. But his bad stuff happened after he was gone. Victor was not a problem while at Georgetown. His problems came after he left. Sheffey was suspended by JT2 and then transferred. Guys with tough backgrounds was not an issue for Coach. He had recruited guys like that in the past. If the conversation between JT2 and Francis is accurate, sounds like JT2 wasn't interested. I mean, Francis was only there at Maryland for one year. Wasn't worth it. JT2 put all the time and effort into Iverson. At least AI stayed two years.
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jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Mar 8, 2018 20:36:23 GMT -5
So Allen Iverson was in a fight in a bowling alley that divided along races lines and was the only person charged with a crime after he picked up a chair. I put this in a different category than being the neighborhood dealer. Maybe I don’t know enough about Victor, Brunner, and Sheffey, but I am guessing they had different fact patterns as well. Brunner was a head-case, and had to go. But his bad stuff happened after he was gone. Victor was not a problem while at Georgetown. His problems came after he left. Sheffey was suspended by JT2 and then transferred. Guys with tough backgrounds was not an issue for Coach. He had recruited guys like that in the past. If the conversation between JT2 and Francis is accurate, sounds like JT2 wasn't interested. I mean, Francis was only there at Maryland for one year. Wasn't worth it. JT2 put all the time and effort into Iverson. At least AI stayed two years. That was what I remembered. There is a difference to me between someone with a challenging background and the neighborhood pusher. We are probably better off without the latter even if he is Steve Francis.
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the_way
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Post by the_way on Mar 8, 2018 20:56:49 GMT -5
Brunner was a head-case, and had to go. But his bad stuff happened after he was gone. Victor was not a problem while at Georgetown. His problems came after he left. Sheffey was suspended by JT2 and then transferred. Guys with tough backgrounds was not an issue for Coach. He had recruited guys like that in the past. If the conversation between JT2 and Francis is accurate, sounds like JT2 wasn't interested. I mean, Francis was only there at Maryland for one year. Wasn't worth it. JT2 put all the time and effort into Iverson. At least AI stayed two years. That was what I remembered. There is a difference to me between someone with a challenging background and the neighborhood pusher. We are probably better off without the latter even if he is Steve Francis. Well, he gave up selling drugs when he went to JUCO and then being recruited. Again, if this conversation was accurate, I think JT2 just didn't want the headache from the spectacle of Francis. There was a lot of hype when Maryland landed him and leading up to his first game with them. Plus, Iverson was from Hampton, VA. A good distance from D.C. Francis was from the area, so keeping the wolves away would have been an even bigger challenge.
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TC
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Post by TC on Mar 8, 2018 21:34:41 GMT -5
So Allen Iverson was in a fight in a bowling alley that divided along races lines and was the only person charged with a crime after he picked up a chair. I put this in a different category than being the neighborhood dealer. Maybe I don’t know enough about Victor, Brunner, and Sheffey, but I am guessing they had different fact patterns as well. Exactly. Iverson committed a violent crime, Francis committed non violent drug offenses. We should have taken Steve Francis. Also : "Steve Francis was only there for a year" - that's longer than Kenny Brunner was there for.
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hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on Mar 8, 2018 22:38:10 GMT -5
So Allen Iverson was in a fight in a bowling alley that divided along races lines and was the only person charged with a crime after he picked up a chair. I put this in a different category than being the neighborhood dealer. Maybe I don’t know enough about Victor, Brunner, and Sheffey, but I am guessing they had different fact patterns as well. Exactly. Iverson committed a violent crime, Francis committed non violent drug offenses. We should have taken Steve Francis. Also : "Steve Francis was only there for a year" - that's longer than Kenny Brunner was there for. This set off my sarcasm meter. I hope it's accurate.
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TC
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Post by TC on Mar 8, 2018 23:55:44 GMT -5
No sarcasm. If we're taking someone with Iverson's background (and yes, I buy all the arguments that he got railroaded by the justice system), I don't know why the same arguments don't apply to Francis. I'm not sure Victor's background was all that different from Francis' - he had a record too by the time he got to Georgetown.
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the_way
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Post by the_way on Mar 9, 2018 0:35:39 GMT -5
No sarcasm. If we're taking someone with Iverson's background (and yes, I buy all the arguments that he got railroaded by the justice system), I don't know why the same arguments don't apply to Francis. I'm not sure Victor's background was all that different from Francis' - he had a record too by the time he got to Georgetown. Vic had a rough background. So did other guys who played for Georgetown. That wouldn't have been an issue for JT2. Locally, Vic was known, but Francis had bigger hype Nationally coming from Juco. Plus, we don't know all the details. We are just taking Francis at his word. Again, if what Francis is saying is true, then JT2 didn't feel like dealing with another Iverson situation. Not the background or past, but the hype and spectacle of it all. Sounds skeptical. JT2 is a smart guy. Sounds weird that a coach will tell you he doesn't want you when he is trying to recruit you. JT2 was a different type of guy. He had his selective reasons for going after some guys in recruiting, and other guys he did not.
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jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Mar 9, 2018 6:56:25 GMT -5
So after the Rayful Edmonds (sp?) situation in 1990 timeframe, JT Jr. Is now going to sign high school drop out dealers. I don’t buy it.
If you equate Iverson situation with Francis’, that is ridiculous.,,,,and a tremendous insult to Iverson.
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