Francis was a “reach” when recruited and nothing has changed.
That is why Tugler starts and why Sampson has recently signed stud Big Men.
AgreeTugs has much better hands. He needs to get rid of the left handed hook and do more power driving to the hoop.
When he gets some touch around the basket he will be a huge problem to opposing teams
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I’ve always compared him to a baby giraffe learning how to walk. Clumsy with wobbly legs.
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I actually think Francis is dynamite as a rebounder. I’m glad we have him. He provides great minutes. Hopefully he finds his touch. I think Tuggler is the more dynamic player. Francis the more dynamic leaper.
Slow reactions, though… great athleticism
I have a drastically different opinion than most people on this thread, and that’s fine.
I think Francis has good touch. The issue is his lack of fluidity and clumsiness in getting to where he wants to be. However, when he gets there, the touch is evident. I don’t think he has missed a single clean look around the rim all year (though, to be fair, his form often looks odd).
In the last two games, he missed two shots—a 3-pointer and a midrange attempt—but made the two layups he took.
Some have noted that Tugler has better hands, but I disagree. Tugler is the opposite of Francis in many ways: he has incredible fluidity for his size and moves well to get great shots, but his hands are poor, and the shots themselves are often hard bricks.
This issue with Francis is, at times, he seems to think he’s prime Hakeem, taking overly ambitious shots with tunnel vision. For example, he might attempt a double-team spin move into a far hook layup, leaving us wondering, “Why would you take that?” The biggest issue for me is that he seems to want to be more of a scorer than he likely is. That said, I still think he has good touch.
Overall, I believe Francis is being downplayed here, and there’s some recency bias at play. While he hasn’t been amazing this year, he’s coming off an injury. Admittedly, Carlton is a far superior offensive player, but the defense Francis played last year was outstanding. Before injuries thinned out the roster, we were on pace to be one of the greatest defenses ever. Francis played the most minutes at the 5 on that team, with a crazy block rate and was listed as one of the top 5 most impactful defenders nationally according to advanced analytics. I don’t think he’s a “reach” or a “developmental disappointment.”
The defense hasn’t been as strong this year, but I believe Francis will bounce back to form defensively as the season progresses.
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This is 100% how I feel. He doesn’t seem in total control of his limbs and moves a little awkwardly. I honestly thought he was on the Fabian path to stretch out his game but that never happened.
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What I’ve noticed about Francis is he leans back into the post defender too far and when he’s passed the ball it takes too long to get back up to take a step forward to catch it. If it’s a bouncepass, its a guaranteed turnover.
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We all agree he’s a good defender…
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I’d priortize a different aspect into the equation… that being his “main role” being defensive shotblocker and disrupter.
Granted, he is trying to regain some of that too. But i think that is the potentiallly the most important element he is expected by the staff to bring.
Wow… he doesn’t miss CLEAN looks… baller alert! 
I thought it was J’a’v’ie’r’
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My coach called me frying pan hands and would put his hands together and scream " clang clang clang".
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You were close in your post about Francis using Fabian and stretch in the same sentence, but I would rearrange the words. Comparing Francis with Fabian is a stretch.
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They had similar traits coming out of HS. I thought I remember CKS mentioning Francis was working on his shot but he never developed
Tugler will play more and Francis will play less.
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Too clumsy to be Josh. I know that.
We could count on JC to make a bucket.
we CANT. Count on Francis. It’s more likely he’s one the floor and not with the ball.
Ye’s of lil faith!!!
Y’all remember what happened last year, right?
During non-con we all were scratching our heads wondering why Coach Samps didn’t hit the portal for a big… but then conference play happened.
Let’s see the season play out… Francis is still coming back from an injury
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That injury affecting his hands…?
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Probably affected his game rhythm… but defense is his bread and butter. If he was playing defense like he was last year, I think we’d see less complaints