Francis Taking Off Quickly

Steve Francis faked right and went left, leaving his defender flat-footed. He dribbled toward the basket where he eluded lunging Los Angeles Lakers forward Robert Horry for a reverse layup that brought a roar from the crowd.

“That was Michael Jordanesque,” Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “He took the offense outside and then went inside against a bigger guy. I thought it was his best finesse move of the season.”

It’s way, way too early to start comparing Francis with Jordan, but the way he has taken over the Rockets in his rookie season, he might someday be a candidate.

Carroll Dawson, the Rockets vice president for basketball operations, appreciates another aspect of Francis’ development.

“The spectacular things he does are for the people,” Dawson said. “I get more excited out of seeing him do the basketball things that he’s learned. Oh, I do like seeing the fancy plays, too.”

Francis should show off some more of those during All-Star weekend. He was selected for the slam-dunk contest and rookie game.

Despite all his early accomplishments, Francis didn’t intend to be the Rockets’ main offensive force as a rookie. The only plans he made were to stay out of Vancouver, which made him the second player chosen in last year’s NBA draft.

After refusing to report to the Grizzlies, Francis became part of the largest NBA trade ever, involving three teams and 11 players. He ended up in Houston, expecting to be surrounded by Hakeem Olajuwon, Scottie Pippen and Charles Barkley.

Instead, Barkley sustained a career-ending injury, Olajuwon went on the injury list and Pippen was traded before the season even started. The Rockets’ future became their present.

“He’s a great player,” said Baron Davis of Charlotte, the player chosen after Francis. “He makes things happen and you can tell it’s his team. It’s a perfect situation and I’m very happy for him. He is taking full advantage of the situation.”

Olajuwon has returned from the injury list, but it is no longer his team. The Rockets are a more up-tempo offense with Francis leading the way, although they are struggling at 20-30.

“At first it was hard because I had to learn to pass the ball around,” Francis said. “I think now I’ve done a great job of learning to pass out to help my teammates.”

Francis is leading NBA rookies with 18.3 points and 7.1 assists a game.

He’s taken his sudden success in stride, but Francis doesn’t think of it as “his team.”

“I’ve been trying to tell people it’s not,” Francis said. “It’s our team. We all work hard.”

It’s been a hard road to this point for Francis. He played only one season of high school basketball. He dropped out during his senior year after his mother, Brenda, died of cancer.

Francis took refuge in the gym. He got a tattoo on his right arm, a 4-inch cross. On the top it reads “In Memory.” On the bottom, it says “Brenda.”

After recovering from the loss, Francis played two seasons at two junior colleges. He transferred to Maryland for one season, and earned second team All-America honors for the Terrapins, leading the team with 17 points and 4.5 assists a game.

A season later, Francis is doing the same with the Rockets.

“This is what I envisioned,” Tomjanovich said. “With his personality and his work ethic, the odds are pretty good he’s going to succeed.”

Tomjanovich is looking forward to many more highlight reels of Francis in a Rockets uniform.

“He’s like a kid out on the playground,” Tomjanovich said. “The street lights are on. Dad is calling him home for dinner. He’s saying ‘Yeah, a couple more.”’