HLBT Daily: Watch it, Freddy

John Lucas recently had some very good things to say about Steve Francis. "He's different, different, different. He's changed. I've seen the maturity click in. I've seen a different passion for basketball. He's not a young colt learning his way anymore. These next four years will be the prime years of his basketball career.

"Steve is as gifted an athlete as LeBron or Kobe, any of them. Every year he doesn't make the All-Star Game is an embarrassment. We're trying to get him to slow down and see the game. I've really challenged him in front of his peers. He never answered back. He did the work. Normally, it would have been, 'I don't have to hear this (stuff) from Luke.' Now, he's just worked hard to put it all together."

It seems so long ago that Steve Francis was averaging 21, 7, and 6. Whatever has been going on inside Steve's head lately has prevented him from playing at that level. Hopefully with comments like these from John Lucas, who works with a lot of NBA players in the offseason, Francis has gotten the mentality that he needs to be a good player again. Athletically, he's still got it, though he won't have it for much longer. Francis is 29 years old - the beginning of the end of his prime.

Isiah Thomas is also optimistic, offering “My whole goal is to get him back to the point (when) he was an All-Star. He was one of the top 10 players in this league. I don’t see any reason he can’t get back there.”

I came across this video on youtube... found it to be entertaining so of course I will share it with you all.