Eddie G is labeled a bust? end of this year...all-star break? While I am all about letting his game develop and I am optimistic that things will come together, who here can say they aren't at least a little dissapointed in his performance. Our top 2 rookies this year are Thierry Brown and Torres as opposed to Morris and EG..I'm a little dissapointed.
Jermaine O'Neal was labeled a bust. T-Mac was labeled a bust. If EG is labeled a bust this early, he's in good company.
Well, he is 19. It took Jermaine O'Neal 3 years to develop into a well-rounded player. Kobe Bryant took at least 2. I think we'll see flashes as the season progresses, but it will probably be a couple of years before we can honestly say how good he is gonna be.
it will be impossible to judge eddie griffin until he is consistently receiving 35 minutes per game. by consistently, i mean at least a full year's worth of games. even then, it's a judgement on potential alone. big men, generally speaking, develop slower than guards. they usually show an aptitude for rebounding/shotblocking early (as griff already has), but the offensive game takes time to develop. that is, unless you're shaq and are allowed to run over people, travel, and dunk in the paint (all followed by the famed "big man walk")...
He rode the bench for quite a bit of his first season with the Raptors, and even had Darrell Walker questioning his work ethic publicly. Here's a tidbit from the Chronicle (Eddie Sefko) in late November of his rookie season: It would surprise nobody if Toronto makes a splashy trade in the coming week or so, perhaps sending teen-aged flop Tracy McGrady somewhere such as Philadelphia for Jerry Stackhouse. Other players would be included on both sides. . . .
Dave Jamerson, take it easy on the guy. He is young and will mature into a star. Just dont jump on the bandwagon when he is tearing it up in a couple years
Some of those writers looking for things to write, and name recognition may start calling him a bust this year. So what. As the other sentiments in this thread have echoed, it really would be premature. Stromile Swift looked terrible last year, and had an extra year in college, a higher draft slot, and a worse team. Swift has played well this year. Look at Jonathan Bender, he was a top 5 pick, and hasn't been given his chance yet. Unless, knock on wood, KT or KW goes down for a significant amount of time, we won't find out just how good, or bad, Griffin can be this year. He's showing the flashes this year. He's got the great rebounding instincts, the ability to dominate on defense. He's shown an outside touch, and at times his turnaround. I think crispee said it best, comparing him to Ratliff with a Sheed turnaround. He still has time to put on muscle, and everything we've heard about him says he can and will.
Every 19-year-old on this board who's prepared to have his future judged on the basis of what he's accomplished over the last two months, raise your hand.
Special Patrol Group: He was never labeled a bust......I was there in Toronto when he was playing. I even remember the tv broadcasters, Leo Rautins and John Saunders saying that "McGrady hasn't even scratched the surface"......after he had a good game early in his career. I don't think that you should argue with me.
Oh, well, I had no idea that the local announcers were in love with McGrady from the beginning. My mistake.
Whoa back up T-mac was never a bust his problem was he was on a team run by Vince....T-mac is a stud and i compare his worth ethics to MJ... Griffin is not a bust if you watch him on the court hes getting a feel of the players moves and he reads them like a book. Griff will be a superstar no need to jump the gun
will, i would raise my hand if i was being paid millions of dollars to be doing what i have been doing in the last 2 months.
No, you wouldn't, because you would take those circumstances in context and realize that your career had a long way to go before agreeing that it was a failure.
Mcgrady WAS labeled a bust. What some teams home announcers say means absolutely nothing. Do you honestly think Gene Peterson or Bill/Calvin would EVER say, "well this rookie is a bust"? The feeling around the NBA was that Jermaine O'neal and McGrady were busts. Doesn't mean everyone was buying it. I personally said numerous times that O'neal was going to be an awesome player on this BBS and I also thought that McGrady would be a good player, however that still doesn't mean that he wasn't labeled a bust.
McGrady was drafted the year b4 VC and the year after Camby the real bust. Be that as it may for about the first couple of seasons everybody thought Tracy had a bad work-ethic and attitude. The fact is they were right but a few went too far and right off called a teenage player a bust. At first he was unmotivated and then when Vince started doing his thing he felt unappreciated. Now his talent is doing the talking. If you have even an iota of patience you won't expect the world of Eddie for a couple-few years. He'll come through and the talent is enourmous. I know right now though with the losing it feels like patience is a virtue we don't have time for but it will have to wait.
Griffin - A real bust. This guy needs to move with the ball. He needs to create for himself. He is no REGGIE MILLER taking jump shots. He doesn't even jump when he shoots. He shoots like Mario Ellie shooting the 3 ball. I don't want to here that he is just 19. There are plenty of 19 years olds that look like they have potential to me this guy doesn't. I looked up all stats on KG, Al Harrington, Miles, they all shot between 45 - 50 % when they were 19. I thought EG was going to play like Reef, Camby, Marion, Ratiff. He doesn't create for himself. I don't know if Rudy T tells him just to shoot. He plays like Mo Taylor or Jason Collier so I think it is Rudy T stupid coaching. He needs to take the ball to the rack and create. We don't need another Cato we need inside playmaking.
