I thought Griffin's intensity on D was fine. He does need to learn when to jump on blocks and how to keep his position better, but that will come w/ time. I am more worried abt his ballhandling at this point. Colson makes a mockery out of the PG position. He cannot run an offense much less make effective passes. ------------------
Griff's d was pretty damn good I must say. There were about 2 plays that were kinda Cato like, but he had enough good plays to make up for them. However, one of the 2 plays was quite dispicable. I believe it was a fastbreak, and Stevenson had the ball, and he was comin str8 at Griff. STevenson jumped up, and Griff dint even contest the shot, and Stevenson ended up makin a weakass fingeroll. That was inexcusable in my opinion, BUT I'll give him another chance because everything else he gave was quite impressive. Langhi will definately be better than Bull or Whiz... he just needs to bring that smoooooth stroke of his. ------------------ its not the hours you put in your work that counts, it's the work you put in the hours - alaskansnowman [This message has been edited by alaskansnowman (edited July 26, 2001).]
Right on Crash! You captured the essence of everything I meant to say but was too lazy to type! ------------------
Cerebral? Eddie Griffin? ha! The man has a proven track record of an inability to verbalize problems leading him to physically *assault* members of his own team. Did you hear his pre-game interview? Good gosh, his speech makes Carl Hererra sound like Alex Trebec!!! We drafted a 19-year-old college drop-out, not Niles Crane. please Yeah, he sure looked "cerebral" when summer league scrubs were faking him out of his jock strap. The guy was patrolling the lane waiting for a chance to leave his man and take a wild swing at a shot attempt. He wasn't playing defense. Rudy's gonna sit him until he learns that the number of blocked shots he tallies isn't entirely reflective of his overall defensive performance. ------------------ My Kroger card should say "Signature" on it, because that's the grocery store I shop at. I felt slighted, because the store is of a higher quality than the *regular* Kroger. So that's why I penciled in "Signature" on the front and back of my card.
Oh please. My cow just died, and I don't need this bull. Eddie Griffin was practically reading word-for-word from the Big Book of **** you Say to Reporters. That was the perfect cliched interview, if you're going to judge him on that . . . well, I'm shocked someone would judge him on that. As for his defense, it was excellent. ------------------ The time for logic and reason has come and gone. It's homer time now. Believe.
Steve and Cat display enough emotion for the entire team. Griffin showed he is clearly an all star talent. Did you see those 2 strings where he just hit three tough shots in a row? He clearly showed he has the ability to just take over a game, on BOTH sides of the floor. You see those beautiful turnarounds, and jumpers from everywhere, and the long lean frame, and it's Rasheed Wallace minus the 'tude. The guys that were able to push him around did so because they had supreme size- Jarron Collins is about 6'10'' 260, and rock solid. There were a few mental lapses where Griffin didn't seal well, but I think a large part was that Griffin was actually trying to hard-He was trying to be the defensive anchor, and was trying to leave his man to help out others and occassionally got burned. The Jazz were clearly aware of Griffin's defensive presence. The guy was consistently getting TRIPLE teams. No way they do that for the real Rockets, or Francis, Mobley, and Mo will absolutely demolish the other team. He's going to get better oppurtunities. It'll be so fun to watch him and Mo play together at the forwards. I was dissapointed in Colson for not getting Griff the ball more. Colson seems like a broke man's Marbury. Gotta love Langhi, he's looking like he'll be our 6th man. He's got that scoring attitude, and hit a pretty tough and clutch shot. It looked like he's worked on his ball handling even more. Morris had a pretty dissapointing game. Shot wasn't falling, and he wasn't completely in the game. He'll bounce back. ------------------ "I always thought Hakeem was the better offensive player and DRob the better defender." Spurever Shaq would probably agree.
I thought Griffin's interview was fine. For a 19yr old he actually seemed quite articulate and composed. I see no problem w/ his attitude or intelligence. I think once the real season starts he will benefit from having a real offense to set him up w/ clean looks instead of having to create as the go-to guy. He is already an adequate finisher both inside and outside. ------------------
Before I start sounding like a Jazz fan, I want to make clear that I am a *huge* Rocks fan. Griffin has a lot of potential, this much is true. The problem is that 90% of this board is praising him as if he has already fulfilled it. What he needs is someone (Larry Smith?) dogging his a** all through training camp to light a fire under him. He has to ratchet up the intensity, he has to hit the weights, and he has to improve his overall defensive effort before he sees PT in the 4th quarter. Once he delivers on these things, he will have the ability to take games over like Duncan and Garnett. ------------------ My Kroger card should say "Signature" on it, because that's the grocery store I shop at. I felt slighted, because the store is of a higher quality than the *regular* Kroger. So that's why I penciled in "Signature" on the front and back of my card.
You have clearly missed the essence of this discussion and forgotten which arena it is that Eddie Griffin works his skill in. Eddie Griffin is not cerebral in his ability to recite Shakespeare, he is cerebral in his ability to constantly evaluate the situation that exists on the Basketball floor. He is constantly thinking when he is on the floor. I saw only once that Eddie Griffin was pulled off of his feet and fouled. The time that he did not challenge DeShawn Stevenson was simply because he new if he came off his feet in that situation he would be called for the foul. In that situation his was called for the foul because he raised his arm to keep DeShawn from falling into his body unfortunately Eddie will learn that he can not do that or he will still be called for the foul. ------------------ Women can not fart, belch or burp...therefore they must b**** or they will explode.
Please...the guy is playing with a bunch of nobody's...this is not a test of how good he is...the first game against Atlanto will be his first test...he's playing WITH a bunch of "cba" Talents...if he was going to be a star in the NBA he'd be dominating...but the thing is he's 19...you can tell it's going to take time with this kid...he's NO kobe Bryant where he's going to dominate the game like him...but only time will tell...and there's no point of getting angry at the interview...MOST nba players don't even know how to talk...they just say the usual sh-t they are told to say...and remember the guys 19. ------------------ <<..........>>
Duncan's a pretty good defensive player right? He doesn't show too much emotion, does he? It doesn't matter. Actually, I think it's good that Griffin doesn't SHOW emotion, cause in a game, if someone heard/saw him getting frustrated, they'd take advantage of it (especially veterans). He's 19. I didn't expect him to play this well. he hasn't fullfilled ANY potential yet, but he's started better than we thought, and that's why everyone's excited. ------------------
I'm surprised that folks on this board are so damn critical of Grif. I really enjoyed watching Grif, Dan and that Damn Russian play last night. We all need to keep this in perspective. EG is 19 with one year of college ball in his pocket. His play last night against the summer league caliber of player was great. He most of skills needed to develop into a super player. His interview was light years ahead of many athletes (remember Steve McNair). His game was solid, even exciting at times. C'mon folks this is a game, its suppose to be fun...let's not lose that perspective. ------------------
RichRocket, must of the posts have been right on concerning Terence. He needs to "look for ball more" going down court and at other times! His hands were bad tonight from what I saw, better hands would have resulted in some easy close-in shots. I would like to see Terence down court faster. One poster said he needed more focus which may be right but it also looked like he was not confident. He was open on many occasion on the perimeter, but guards don't kick the ball back much. Terence did look good on one penetration which he passed back to the open man. Terence had some good blocks. I saw Terence wore #44, will he wear that number for the Rockets since Elvin previously wore #44? I liked the interview with Rudy, but could do without the other interviews which hindered watching the game. I was very impressed with Griffin who looks like a No.4 and Langhi. The Rockets look like a playoff team if Hakeem signs. FREDTERP ------------------
The play where StatutoryRapist finger-rolled over Griff wasn't a lapse in defense. It was a one-on-one play where Griff had to decide if he was going for the jay, or the lay-up. Since Griff is no mind-reading Lady Cleo and the fact StatRapist was hitting his jumpers and the added fact Griff's best chance for a block was on a jumper or a lay-up, I'd say live and learn for next time. Any player would have been suprised StatRap would go for a finger-roll over a shot blocker, as Griff was when he instinctively put his arm out to protect himself but was called for a foul. Only other option there, try to draw the charge. ------------------ Can you smell what Dwayne Johnson is Cooking?
I think it's hard to make judgements about a player after watching one summer league game. Griffin showed his potential. T Mo struggled a bit, but who's to say he can't contribute to the Rockets? Langhi has looked good in summer league play, but does that vault him to the 6th man over his 12th man role last season? ------------------
Man, I wanted to see this game so bad, but... FREAKIN' TV PROBLEMS!!! From reading all of your posts, the game and performances went as expected. Griffin has a world of talent and potential, but he also has a lot of work to do. Langhi has not only improved from a skills standpoint, but his confidence has increased ten-fold. Morris is very talented and has every skill you can ask for from a F, but is also inconsistent. And Kelly may have played his way into an invitation to training camp. Just about everyone agrees that Griffin has some serious work to do with his ball-handling. Now are we talking: - "...why doesn't he handle it like Quitten does...", which isn't fair because we all know that Quitten is really a big PG posing as a SF with a sunflowers' fortitude, but Eddie can at least maintain his dribble and isn't getting ripped every time he puts it on the floor or dribbling it off his foot, just has a problem breaking down his defender - he looks like Horry when he's dribbling, like Horry he's OK as long as no one is pressuring him, just doesn't look very comfortable, can get better if he works on it - he's good at putting the ball down for a dribble or two and then making his move, he is and always will be a "finisher" - he can only catch-and-shoot, has no business trying to dribble, he needs to buy a "Pistol Pete: Dribbling Drills for Beginners" video ------------------
Memo to Maria and DearRock: you are idiots. Griffin was the best player on the floor last night by a long shot. ------------------
- he looks like Horry when he's dribbling, like Horry he's OK as long as no one is pressuring him, just doesn't look very comfortable, can get better if he works on it ------------------
Like Nike said earlier they were sending triple teams on Griffin all night long in a summer league game and Griffin still went off for 21 pts. I think they had him with 3-5 blocks shots offically, but of what I really saw was 8 to 9 blocked shots(changed shot to miss due to Griffin's presence only or blocked, but not accounted for, due to prior fouls by another Rocket player. And with T-Roc it looks like he just had a bad game. Griffin and T-Rock look similar on the floor except griffin is clearly better skillwise. The way that I see both of these players is similar to what Indiana had several years back with Antonio Davis and Dale Davis. Antonio the star and Dale the back up. Rudy in essence has done the same thing. He has gotten a starter and a back up at the same time for the future. ------------------ "Instinctly u recognize things,now take advantage of what u just recognized!".. Hakeem..
Maria, you must be the teammate that Griffin roughed up at Seton Hall because I sense alot of negativity toward Griffin from you. Griffin showed me more on the defensive end in one game than Cato showed all season. He has all the talent in the world and you're downing him. I admit, the guy is expressionless but so is Duncan, and I don't hear anyone complaining about him. Personally, I just think he's trying to be low key right now so he can clear up his bad reputation that he had a Seton Hall. And besides, once he gets around Philly native Mobley and pal Francis, I'm sure he will open up more on and off the court. ------------------ The intelligent prediction from Moses Malone: "Foe, Foe, Foe". [This message has been edited by j-bone (edited July 27, 2001).]
