Francis to start season off the bench

Don’t think that just because Beijing Shougang’s newest import happens to be a three-time NBA All-Star and a former teammate of Chinese megastar, Yao Ming, he’ll be able to walk into China on a whim and be handed the keys to the Chinese Basketball Association palace.

Steve Francis, who has yet to practice with his new Beijing teammates as he prepares to fly into China’s capital city within the next few days, will start the season off the bench whenever he is declared fit for game action by both himself and the team, as announced by head coach, Min Lulei. The 6-3 guard, who is signed up to play professional ball for the first time in over two years, has already been ruled out for the team’s first two games on December 12th and 15th as he works to get back into game shape.

“Regardless of how old the star, he still must listen to the coach’s plan,” said Coach Min . “Francis will definitely start the year off the bench.  The other players have all been practicing together for a while and they’ve also played in some warm-up games. There’s no way he can start right when he comes here.  He’ll need to start out on the sidelines to look at what we’re doing and to understand our overall strategy.”