guys, this is getting ridiculous. nobody should expect eddie to become a superstar right away this year. although this guy is filled with potential, and a CRAZY amount of skill, EG is not going to be the guy that takes us to the promise land just yet. When Steve Francis came out of school, he was a lot more fine tuned and mature than EG is right now, and yet, he still had a lot of growing up to do. Remember? He got torched by Sam Cassel in his first game. That doesnt happen much anymore, but thats because Francis knows how to play the pro game now.....the scary thing is that hes still learning and only better things are to come! So Eddie will obviously come along a lot slower. Of course, he'll probably command his fair share of minutes by the end of the year, but thats after experience. Experience is something that you just cant mess w/. Rice can be a great role model, or he can be motivation for Eddie to prove that he deserves that role. A lot of us hear the comparisons to Kobe, and we think, hey thats a champion, so we'll sky rocket right away. Kobe SUCKED his first year or 2. He learned with experience and had to work hard. Personally, I think that Eddie can do the same and more one day. But not right away is the whole point. The Rockets arent hyping this guy up to be a superstar. The whole excitement about the guy is that hes 19 years old! 19! How can we possibly judge if hes a bust already? Come on now.... Whether or not hes a bust depends on who he looks upon as a role model: Kelvin, or Stevie. Chances are that EG will end up kickin Kelvins ass for screwin up an alley oop or sumthin, so Stevie will be the obvious choice. Lets just enjoy the raw talent that we have, and limit our expectations of this kid to our daydreams of a Rockets championship parade. And lests wait to judge if its a bust or not until Eddies been given the time to prove if hes succumb to the peer pressure (Kelvin....i mean come on, he must think its cool to be lazy or something, why else would you want to be hated?) or if he has that winning mentality that we all hope he does.
I think it is fair to compare Griffin to another former 19 year old lottery pick with only one year in college- Lamar Odom. Odom would have easily been the rookie of the year if he were on a better team. He will be one of the top five players in a couple of years. Yet he lived up to most of the expectations of being the most talented player in his draft class, something Griffin likely won't be able to do. I'm sick of the Rockets brass touting potential superstars that aren't realistic- like Maurice Taylor, and probably Mobley and Griffin. Get real RT and CD!
Why the attitude towards Griffin? He hasn't played one season game for the rockets and you have him as a waste. That seems very unfair. All we can do is wait and see.
Hey so was Steve Francis on some championship contender that I didnt hear about? How about Elton Brand? Wasnt it supposed to be Rockets-Bulls in the Finals that rookie year? Great point man, Lamar Odom was limited by his team . I mean it makes perfect sense, the player thats proven himself to be the most talented doesnt win the Rookie of the Year, and doesnt even have his team on the brink of contention. That sure is the cream of the crop right there, huh? So should Rudy and CD say say somethin like this: " You suck MO, we just signed you because we had to! " Is that what you are asking for? That would be a marvelous PR move, and also great for team morale.....And are their comments that unrealistic? Mo Taylor is a very integral part to this team. Should they downplay that to trick the opposition or something? The fact that you even mentioned Cuttino is fascinating. Have you even seen a Rockets game in the last three years? Do you really think that Rudy/CD are really going to say anything bad about this guy, their future? Now on to Griffin: How can you give Odom a chance to prove his game, and then in the same breath write off Griffin before he even plays a real NBA game? This won't be an immediate transistion, and nobody can really expect it to be. Odom is a fantastic player, but did you even consider that Griffin is actually farther along in his game? Look at these college stats: Griffin: 17.8ppg/1.8apg/10.8rpg/4.4bpg compared to Odom: 17.6ppg/3.8apg/9.4rpg/1.5bpg Considering that those stats are fairly similar, why not give Griffin a chance? How can someone who hasnt even played yet be a bust? All we can go on is that the kid has great potential, and an immense amount of raw talent. That said, we dont have anything to base anything bad on. Once again, the guy is 19. He will not be a superstar, and he shouldnt be. He has lots of learning to do. That said, a lack of immediate impact shouldnt be his ticket to Cato treatment.
If you remember, Odom was phenomenal during the first couple months of his rookie season and was looking like the runaway choice for ROY. But after a couple months of being on the Clippers(who worse worse and had a dimmer future than either the Rockets or Bulls) he got depressed and his numbers declined considerably. In fact he has yet to fully recover from that! I don't expect Rudy to trash Mo Taylor or Cuttino, but to talk about them as superstars is ridiculous! There probably aren't 15 of them in the entire league at any given time. You can say a lot of positive things about a player without calling them a superstar! From the kind of things they have said about Griffin, he should be held to a high standard, and win ROY at the very least. Rudy said that if he had a choice to pick ANY player in the draft it would be Griffin! Now if a high schooler like Kwame Brown wins ROY, it will look pretty bad. They should watch their words before they spout off. You don't have to call every promising player a potential superstar!
You're kidding right? He got depressed?? You couldnt come up with anything better than that? They had a dimmer future than the Bulls? Really? We're still talking about those Bulls that play in Chicago right? I guess you're pointing out the obvious in saying that Stevie/Elton lucked out when they got the ROY.... I don't expect Rudy to trash Mo Taylor or Cuttino, but to talk about them as superstars is ridiculous! When exactly as he talked about them as being superstars? I must have missed that press conference....And just to let you know, have you ever considered the possibility that Rudy talks about his players in terms of the team??? Is it that far of a stretch to think of Mo Taylor and Cuttino as superstars to the team??? Without those two, do we succeed? I reallllly want to see an argument on this one.... You can say a lot of positive things about a player without calling them a superstar! From the kind of things they have said about Griffin, he should be held to a high standard, and win ROY at the very least. Rudy said that if he had a choice to pick ANY player in the draft it would be Griffin! Now if a high schooler like Kwame Brown wins ROY, it will look pretty bad. They should watch their words before they spout off. You don't have to call every promising player a potential superstar! Ive gotta hand it to you man. That is simply amazing that for the sake of argument alone, that you would actually post that. Ok tell me man, what would you do? You get INCREDIBLY lucky and steal what you and your personnel feel is the best talent in the draft. Do you: A.) Show natural excitement, and get your fans hyped up in the process B.) Say something to the effect of, ' Yeah, we got Eddie Griffin from Seton Hall, and thats all we're prepared to say right now' C.) I guess we had an OK draft. What you have to understand is that what Rudy/CD says effects not only the fan base (us), but also the player in question. Showing excitement about a player, shows the player that he's wanted, and therefore provides incentive to perform to the highest level possible. How will it look bad if Kwame Brown wins the ROY????? He was the freaking #1 pick....Do you really think that ANYONE besides yourself is going to hold Rudy accountable if Griff doesnt win ROY? Thats just absurd man... Arent potential superstar and promising player in a way synonyms? Anyways, youre overexaggerating, and please have basis for your next argument. BTW, nice waste of posts w/ tha smileys
He will be one of the top five players in a couple of years. So in two years Lamar Odom will be better than two of Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Chris Webber, Tracy McGrady, and Kobe Bryant? I find that hard to believe.
<i>I do not consider Ratliff or anyone who simply averages a double-double and a lot of blocks to be a superstar.Joe Smith has done that several seasons (albeit w/ not SO many blocks). I think Griff will be a solid player, just not one of the top 15-20 players in the league. </i> Joe Smith has averaged a double double several times? Care to name one?
I remember a 18 ppg season and a 15 ppg season, I don't remember the rebounding stats. At least 7,8 though?
I don't understand this at all. Kwame Brown was the number 1 pick in the draft. Griffin was not. Also, Eddie Griffin is YOUNGER THAN KWAME BROWN! Why would it be bad if a #1 draft pick won ROY over a younger, #7 pick? It's way too early to be throwing around words like "BUST".
I find it funny that the guy hasn't even played 1 NBA regular season game and there's a thread that wonders if he's going to be a bust!! I know that EG was hyped up and at one time every draft expert was saying that he would go #1. However, that was hype -- the reality is that all rookies will struggle at some point during their first season. Why go ahead and put unnecessary pressure on the kid? He's only 19 and it's not like he's Leon Smith (at least I hope he's not) in that he won't be able to make the adjustment to the pros at such an early age. I think that Rudy and CD are doing the right thing by bringing EG along slowly. I never expected him to start regardless if we kept Shandon Anderson or not, but more like the 6th man to 7th man & maybe by the end a possible starter (if we kept SA). However, the faster he is able to make an impact, the more dangerous we will be. Let's just be thankful that we were able to get a player with his skills and watch him develop into a key part of this team.
<i>I remember a 18 ppg season and a 15 ppg season, I don't remember the rebounding stats. At least 7,8 though? </i> 7 or 8 rebounds doesn't get you a double double, does it? That was my point, he has never averaged a double double for a single season, let alone for several as stated.
Steve Francis, freshman do not perform the way Eg performed in the Big East. He has tremendous skils at the present. He's definitely the 6th or 7th man off the bench. Just imagine if he picks up Karl Malone's work ethic, he will dominate in the league and go head-to-head with the top power forwards in the league once his upper body develops. His jumper is much better than other 19 year old, including Kevin Garnett when he entered league.
He will emerged and develop his work ethics from Francis and Mobley. He will be killer in the board night in and night out. Every scouts in 2 years, will be turning their heads to Griffin.
Be realistic He is 19 years old and has never played an NBA game. Give him a chance. Even if he warms the bench with Dan Langhi, this year he should not be considered a bust. We should see results next year. The biggest improvement for most basketball players is from year 1 to year 2.
