Playing with Kidd has nothing to do with it, unless he can teach E.G. to shoot threes. Playing for a coach who's gonna force him to play inside will improve his game. That's what upsets me the most because it seemed like JVG was taking those steps.
This is a good point. Not so much because of the geography, but because of the timing. Anyone really think that he was a basket case last month but that he's basically okay now? If anyone respects the historical fact that I was dead set against the original Griffin trade, mark this down: the sad sack guy will not contribute to the Nets this season. (And yes, please bring it up and ridicule me if I'm wrong. ) But if you read what his lawyer has to say, it's still disturbing. The guy says that Eddie still has a long way to go emotionally and that he's by no means out of the woods. Then you hear Eddie talking about how everything's behind him now and he knows himself better already, and any of you over age 17 or so are thinking what I'm thinking: uh-oh, this is not going to end well.
You win some and you lose some. Remember we pretty much stole Steve Francis from Vancouver. Steve Francis acts like a spoiled brat and we get him while Vancouver gets screwed. Eddie acts like a lazy, crazy, women beater and we get screwed. Some people are angry with CD for picking up Eddie, but lets face it Eddie has potential. CD deserves credit for giving him a chance. Eddie has a chance to be a shot blocking machine. If he ever picks up an inside game he will be awesome. Remember, Rudy had him shooting at the three point line last year.
Maybe Griffin never wanted to play for the Rockets in the first place? He probably played semi decent his rookie season to build up our hopes, then intentionally played really crappy during his second season, planted weed in his own car, and finally capped everything off by orchestrating a domestic abuse scandal with a woman he hired to be his girlfriend, knowing that he would avoid any jail time because of his celebrity NBA status. He knew that the Rockets are a very image conscious organization and would release him, rather than take a chance on his alleged misconduct. Next thing you know, he signs with the team that originally drafted him and that is also close to the school he played college ball. Very creative scheme....Maybe Griffin is smarter than we all made him out to be...
sounds like something out of the wwe....... mcmahon vs. austin.......eddie vs. cd....... go figure........
I don't think this will be so problematic as you think. It has already been demonstrated that it is possible to perform well in the NBA despite addictions, bad attitudes and mental problems (see Artest for the most recent example). It is a bit of a balancing act, but it can be done. EG lost his balance and fell into a non-productive (and personally self-destructive) state. But, he doesn't have to become 'normal' to be productive. He just needs to get into a groove where his struggle with depression doesn't interfere with his play to be worthwhile for a team to have him on their roster. Remember January of his rookie year when he was having those great games and looking like he was the real deal? He was likely prone to depression then as well. I see him much like Artest. They have have got mental problems that occassionally get in the way of their game, but for the most part their talent will shine through often enough to be worthwhile. New Jersey might have a headache coming, but he'll probably make the team stronger too.
As usual, you make a lot of sense, JV, but I do believe it's a question of degree. Players manage to deal with many off-court distractions, but a problem with depression can, at best, reduce a player to Vin Baker in Seattle. And this is much more than depression problem, when you add in the violent behavior that's been an issue now several times for Eddie. For what it's worth, those Baker numbers in Seattle would be the most I'd expect from Griffin in New Jersey this season. Maybe that's worth $0.4M to them. In either case, I don't think rushing back to the court is in the best interest of this kid. What do I know though? Maybe it's just what he needs, but years of being on a basketball court haven't helped him grow up or get stable so far.
January 31- mark it down, Nets@Rockets Time to get our heckle on! I will be the one holding the "Eddie Griffin--Sharpshooter: 40% Field Goals, 0% Girlfriends" sign
The sad thing is that if he just put some arc on the ball he'd be scoring at least 15 ppg. Add a post move and he could get up to 20 ppg with no problem. Add some emotion and he could get up to 25 ppg. But it didn't seem like he ever wanted to add anything to his game. It was mental. NJ is going to have to help him mentally.
I don't know why people keep saying we wouldn't get Yao without EG. That is SIMPLY NOT TRUE. Fact is, none of the players were good enough statistically or in terms of intangibles during those first 2 years to have made too much of a diff to our record. Here's what I posted in another thread.
Are you kidding? His career is over in Houston (as well as the rest of the league). Then the Nets offered him a job. You can say all you want about all the "oh my kid is here" BS but when the weed smoke clears, it's a monetary decision.
Can you please tell me my future also Mr. Soothsayer. Come on, none of you guys can say what would have happened with last year's draft position had the team made different personnel decisions leading up to that draft. Its a silly argument.
Hey, if we're gonna add all those ifs... We'd win championships every year if we had Yao, TD, KG, VC and JKidd on the same team. Half of all the players in the league would be better if they shoot better, post better and have no excess baggages.
Wrong! Rox was not supposd to pick #1 in 2002 anyway, should be #5 on the list. The reason Rox picked #1 is purely because of LUCK. Even without Eddie, Rox might still have the luck to win the #1 pick. 2002 is the year Rox had the luck.
Mr. Soothsayer, that's a good one. Of course you also CAN'T say what happened in last year's draft wouldn't have happened if we didn't have EG. As great a science as you probability is I'll tell you I'd much rather rely on tangible stats (albeit on other teams) than your outright assumption that those players could have changed our team record significantly. Put simply, we were 28 - 54 in 2001 - 2002. To avoid the lottery we needed 45 - 37 (1 game ahead of Utah). Unless AK-47 or Zach Randoph WERE good enough to give us that 45 - 37 record (which many HoFs couldn't do in their sophmore year), we would have landed in the lottery and had a shot at Yao. In plain English, we had a shot at the big guy with OR without Eddie Griffin, who is ONE OF THE GREATEST DRAFT DAY BLUNDERS IN NBA HISTORY.
"I would have Double Bagged it" "I would have looked out for Water Mains" - Brett Farve and all you other MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACKS Rocket River
If you have taken any finance course, you know you can reduce your risk while keeping the upside by diversification. To trade away 3 1st round picks for 1 1st round pick is to put all eggs in one basket. To trade 3 1st round for the #1 overall pick is one thing, to trade for a #7 pick is a totally different story. If EG is so good, while didn't other teams pick him up? The fact EG fell into #7 should give a signal to Rox that EG is not as good as they thought. Plus, Rox has never interviewed the kid. The #7 thing is enough a revealed information so that Rox should not trade 3 picks to get EG. If Rox kept 3 1st round picks, I am pretty sure at least one of them will turn out right because you have 3 chances.
I forgot to say, if you assume that AK or Zach MIGHT improve the Rockets record significantly that year, you should allow for the assumption that we could tank worse with them during that year (ie. more shots at the #1 pick), which would mean we had more chances to land Yao Ming. In either case I don't think EG affected our chances to get him.
