Rick Adelman is a very, very talented basketball coach .... and I don't know exactly what he was doing keeping Francis on the bench so long in the early part of the season ....but Francis stepped up in a big way out in Phoenix to help his team win that key game.

Hats off to Adelman for finally giving Steve the chance he needed .... and hats off to Steve for getting the job done when given the chance. He's no longer Stevie "Franchise" but he certainly is Stevie "the contributor" ..and he could really help this team in a potential run to the title.