In my opinion..
Marbury: Sitting back, playing mediocre ball so as not to get traded. Trying to fool everyone into believing that he's playing Isiah's way of ball, or whatever the f*ck you wanna call it. The fact is great point guards know when to pass and when to shoot. There's no way Marbury is not capable of AT LEAST 18ppg this season, I think we can all agree on that.
I think it's great that he's passing the ball off and getting other people involved in plays, but that's all he's doing. He is not leading the team. He is not driving in for and 1's when we need big buckets. The times that he's been on the floor in the crunch, he's been perfectly content with dumping the ball off into someone else's hands early in the shot clock and letting them make the critical desicions that will win or lose the game. The only thing I've seen Marbury do in the crunch is shoot a 3 when he's wide open. Uncharacterisic of him not to beat his defender and draw the foul.
Marbury has had an apathetic approach so far, he really doesn't seem to care whether we win or lose. When Marbury plays with passion, I really love his game.. But this season, he's trodding around the court like a f*cking corpse.
Francis: In my opinion, playing much better than Marbury. Though not the Francis we've seen is seasons past, he still plays with a bit of his fire. And I have to admit, he does a decent job of getting his teammates involved as well.
I don't know why Francis gets alot of the negativaty that he does, but I think some of it is unwarranted. He's more vocal on the floor than Marbury is, showing himself to be much more suited as a leader for this team. Isiah doesn't play him in the crunch, though if he did I'm sure Francis wouldn't mind taking some of the big shots, at a higher percentage than Crawford mind you.. I'd like to see Francis on the floor during the crunch of a close game more often, then I'll really know what type of player he is this season.
I think it's completely possible for these guys to coexist, they just need adjust their styles, obviously. I think Francis has made more of an attempt to make the relationship work by balancing his talents (trying at least), being vocal with his teammates, and not complaining over minutes. Marbury needs to look for his shot more while continuing to distribute the ball, and he needs to step up and lead this team like he should. Until he does so, he should expect the boos to continue..
BTW, does anyone else think Isiah has been doing a mediocre job of coaching?