To me, EG just seems to play a little soft. My girlfriend said the other night that he plays like a big ol puppy dog. I'd have to agree with her. EG needs to play with a lot more fire and rage. That would improve his overall game. I'm not sure, but I would think that playing with fire is something that you're born with, not something that will develop over time. Any thoughts?
Live, since I was unable to view the game last night I was wondering about Amare's performance. Did the Rockets really defend him but giving him space for the jumpshot and playing his right to force him to his left? Is this why he didnt have as productive a game as he did last time? I know we have been screaming for the Rockets to do this but they didnt do it in the first game. Would be nice to see them learning from their mistakes. Roxtxia, thanks for the info on David Aldridge. I was wondering where this EG for SAR news came from. It wasnt on ESPN.com anywhere that I could find. So DA is the one that reported that little nugget. Thanks! Chris
EG was exceptional last night against Amare. He just out rebounded him most of the night. He denied the ball to him and when Amare did get the ball Eddie was good at redirecting Amare right into Yao Ming. What I really liked last night was that there were a couple of times last night that Eddie and Yao Ming would just tip the ball to one another just when it looked like Amare might get the rebound.
Actually the Rox did pretty good with fronting Amare in the post. He didn't get too many touches last night. When he did get the ball in the post the Rockets did a good job of keeping him from the rim. His little 7 foot jumpers put a crack in their backboards.
Deuce, as everyone has pointed out, Griffin actually did a good job of fronting Amare, and didn't let Amare get deep position. Amare had 1 nice drive where he came across the middle, shot a floater, and drew a foul, but the Rocks certainly weren't letting Amare attack the rim at will. And like all young players, Amare wasn't involved as early as he usually is and kind of disappeared. It's just like the Big O told Steve during All-Star weekend, to paraphrase "..get your weakest (or youngest) player involved first, and he'll stay involved..." And don't get me wrong, Amare excites me as a player, and I feel good for the Suns that they have him. Just realize the Rockets have a nice player in Griffin as well.
I think Eddie is at one of them slumps as a young player. If he doesn't get out of that slump right now then it will be hard for him to become a great player! Sorta like Jonathan Bender. JMO
Let's see - EG has a lifetime 5.9 rbs and Wallace has a 6.7 - you're right - that's not close. Oh and how many years has EG gone over 8 rbs? 0. EG has a young career - but neither are a rebounding machine. You're wrong on the blks though - EG has a 1.8 average and Rasheed has 1.9. That's pretty close. The overall numbers do NOT belong to EG. And that FG% is HUGE. I'd much rather have someone who shoots in the .5s than someone who shoots in the .3s - expecially my PF.
Well, apparently on the ***********.com message boards, one of the posters claims that the ATL deal was supposed to be SAR & Emmanual Davis for Griffin, Cato, and Mobley. If that's true, uh...NO THANKS!
We were comparing them at the same point in their careers not life time stats. Of course Rasheed has accomplished more since he is 28 and in his 8th year in the league, no one is disputing that. When Rasheed was 20 and played with Washington his stats were not as good as Eddies. That is my point period. That is why we should not give up on Eddie and that is why I think Eddie is on course to be just as good if not better overall than Rasheed Wallace. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/statistics?statsId=3006 1. Rasheed has never averaged 1.9 blocks in his career. His best year was 1.8 in 01-02 after that his next best year is 1.3 and his lifetime average is 1.2 blocks per game. The more relevant stat in our discussion would be the fact that as a 20-year-old he averaged 0.8 blocks per game. Not Close to Eddie 2. As a 20-year-old Rasheed averaged 4.7 rebounds per game. Once again Eddie has a significant edge at 6.2 rebounds per game. Rasheeds NBA career average is only a pathetic 6.8 rebound per game, very Mo Taylor like. 3. Rasheed Wallace averages 7.9 rebounds and 1 block per game in 36 minutes of action this year. Eddie averages 6.2 and 1.8 per game in only 24.9 minutes per game. I don’t think that there is any question that Eddie is a better rebounder and shot blocker now.
Crash, I agree with all that you have said but I dont necessarily agree with the block shots= good defensive player correlation. Not sure if that was your intended message but if it is, I would have to disagree. More specifically, just because Eddie blocks more shots does not mean he is a better defender than Sheed or any other PF out there. Frankly, I think Eddie takes too many risks by going for every block instead of playing d with his body to get good position. Notice that the majority of times when Eddie guards a physical PF, he gets chewed up. Many of the top defensive PFs were not shot blockers. Horace Grant, Rodman, Buck Williams, Otis Thorpe etc.
I never said that Eddie was a better defender than Wallace. I have said all year that Eddie needs to work on his defense. IMO Eddies defense has improved quite a bit since the beginning of the season but he is not as good of a defender as Wallace is right now. He still needs to bulk up some more and get a little stronger so he doesn’t get bullied in the paint. Once again however, we are comparing Eddie as a 20-year-old to Rasheed as a 20-year-old. When Eddie has spent another year or two in the league then I think he will be a better overall player than Rasheed including defense. Shot blocking and rebounding are two key elements in defense and Eddie is better at both right now IMO.
That's the way I heard it too. Of course we may have been reading from the same place. If this was the proposed trade then the Rockets did the right thing. That's too steep of a price to pay for Shareef. It is however possible that this trade may still go down. Obviously the Hawks are going to try to get the most out of the Rockets and the Rockets will come back with a low ball offer. It's just positioning by both clubs. There's still time and before the day is over Shareef could be a Rocket, just not for that price. Shareef, and Yao in the paint wouldbe hell for clubs to deal with.
Thanks to all for the spot on analysis of Eddie's game versus Amare last night. Seeing Eddie improve on his game against Amare is very comforting. Kudos to the Rockets for recognizing Amare's game and for doing whatever they could to shut it down. Certainly it was a key to victory. Eddie's defense definately has improved versus last season, no question. Hopefully his offensive game will get some gains over the summer. I have not given up on Eddie. I still think he can be a key cog in this Rockets team. I really think the only way you trade him is if you get a known player in return that provides both solid offense AND solid defense, ala Elton Brand. Chris
All I can say is, DUH. Did y'all actually believe if it was a straight up trade? Abdur-Rahim makes six times as much as Eddie.
Crash - I was wrong on the rbs. I do think you are discounting the FG % a little too much though. And EG will always be around (or under) .400 as long as he shoots that flat shot of his - there is just no room for error. Call me pessimistic, and I would love to say I'm wrong again, but I just don't see EG ever turning out to be a true starter PF - especially in the west.
