I hope the Rocket's don't ruin Griffin!!!!!

They won't -- rather they will help him. The Griffin will grow physically and game-wise.

 

I agree, I hope they don't ruin him. But he's definately not Horry! I don't think Eddie will have a career hanging around the three point line. But if he does, then the Rocket's surely have done it this time.

 

What have we seen from Eddie offensively that doesn't come from the perimeter? I'm sure he has post moves, because I've seen him in college, but it takes a while to translate everything to the NBA game. Defensively, he's great, as well as rebounding, shooting, etc. But offensively, he's been very subpar at creating his own shot from the post. He's only going to get better by bulking up and practicing. And practicing doesn't consist of getting five more touches in the post per game. The kind of practice he needs is at team practices, with a big man like Kevin. If EG wants to get better in the post, which I'm sure he does, the best thing for him is to have someone like Kevin Willis defend him in the post on an everyday basis, and learn what it's like to bang with NBA players. Rudy doesn't need to treat anyone, not even Eddie, like they are better than anyone else. Make them earn the touches in practice. It's not like giving him five touches per game in the post is going to help him all that much. No need to force Eddie into a post game until he's ready.

 

EG at the big man camp the summer should help lots...

 

the cat is completely right, we're playing eddie based on the skills he has shown thus far. Rudy has done nothing wrong with his development. right now he can barely dribble and he has very litle footwork in the post. fotrunately he has a beautiful stroke and is unflappable. but seeing that little bank shot and the quick release i believe he can definitely be force in the paint. unlimited potential.

 

I agree with the original post.

Which is why I 100% do not want Griffin to play the 3, in this offense.

The 3 has always been the position where we get the least amount of productivity from.

Rudy pretty much misuses the 3, and uses them as spot up shooters, ala Pippen and Horry.

Remember during Horry's 1st and 2nd years here we thought he was a star in the making? Turns out he was nothing more than a good backup PF.

Rudy's system did not allow Horry the necessary touches to do anything but shoot spot-up 3s.

I think our other positions are used the way they should be, ideally speaking, but the three will remain just a position that's there because we must have 5 guys on the court.

It's very ironic because Rudy, himself, was a highly skilled 3 who did more than just shoot open jumpers. You would think that Rudy would want to showcase the 3 player more than he does.

Like Cat said, I know that Griffin has had a post-up game from HS and college. It's just a matter of Griffin getting some touches inside, as well as Griffin getting stronger.

Let's just pray that Rudy realizes that Griffin's stardom lies down low at the 4, and maybe the 5 position.

 

I have to agree with kidrock and the mugg. The Rockets must utilize EG more in the paint or he will end up being a Pippen or Horry. Not that he's doing bad, because he's actually doing great, especially on defense. I just don't want to see a guy with this much potential, to end up shooting 3's every game. A straight 3 point type player is not a consistant player!!!! I say let EG expand his entire game!!!!!

 

Griffin needs to improve his footwork and postup moves and learn to pass out of the double teams.This will require time and a lot of hard work which I think he is capable of.Developing into a true power forward or a center at the professional level takes at least 3-4 years.I would also like him to improve his dribbling and ball handling,then he could play more comfortably when opposing players are attacking him at the 3 point line.
He has more talent and greater potential than Horry,Rudy is bringing him along at the right pace.He needs guidance from both coaches and fellow veteran players.Red is right, he could learn a lot if he goes to the big man summer camps during the off season.

 

I would like to see Griffin post up as well. But right now, he doesn't have the bulk to do it. It's been done a few times with only moderate success. Let the kid bulk up, and work on that part of his game more, and the Rockets will do it. The season is longer and Griffin has already said that he's feeling it. If he was taking the constant beating of posting up, it would only be worse and possibly get him injured right now. I think it's great that Rudy is breaking him in slowly.

As for misusing Pippen or Horry I have to disagree. If you are going to post someone up on those teams, I would have to think Hakeem would be the better option.

 

I never ever said that the Rockets should have played Pippen or Horry as post-up guys.

I said that the system, in effect forced them to be entry passers first, and spot-up shooters second.

Clearly, Pippen had much better skills than to be a role player who just dumped the ball inside and shoot open 3s. This is probably the worst way to use Pippen actually. Pippen was great in a free lance role with the Bulls, but the Rockets were way too structured, for him to succeed. The Rockets rarely utilized his slashing skills, and his ability to create for himselves and other.

To a certain extent, Horry's skills were "robbed" by playing for us. He had the athleticism to be a Shawn Marion type player. Yet, Rudy thought he'd be best suited as an entry passer and a jump shooter.

Obviously, Horry is not an offensive whiz, but he could have been a great away from the ball SF, who could average 15 ppg.

Again, I never said Pippen and Horry should be post-up players.

They both are used as reference because they played the 3 under Rudy. And I listed reasons why Griffin should not be a 3, as long as Rudy is coach, or until Rudy changes his philosophies regarding SF's.

 

You are all Tankers.

EG has shown that he can do one thing well offensively: hit the 3/perimeter shot. He has not shown an ability to operate offensively in the post. And what do you want to do? Remove him from the one area where he excels, and dump him into an area where he has been weak.

Yeah, yeah, you'll say that he needs to learn how to become more of a post player, but I say: why use his game PT to learn that? What the hell is practice for?

Leave him on the perimeter until he learns in practice how to execute post moves consistently. Don't piss away games by putting him where he is currently least effective.

 

I guess he's not strong enough to shoot from the ft line. Why can't we pnr and get him shots there or diving to the basket. He's not strong enough to post every trip down the floor, but half should come from post ups and the other half from ft line extended jumpers. Even from the ft line a pump fake and a dribble will get you to the basket. I don't like the way he's used even if he's hitting three's, its kind of like bail out. In the future, if he's struggling inside, i think he'll move further rather than closer to the basket. The last thing i want is for Eddie to be a low fg% shooter like Coleman and Walker. Yes they get their rebound points and blocks, but for a Coleman (in his prime) and Walker to shoot 41% from the feild is really disgusting. On his current pace, I can see Eddie duplicating those numbers. I hope he doesn't, but soemthing tells m he will rely more on a 3pt shot than a jump hook in the lane.

 

Wow, I don't know where to dig in.

To begin with, I don't think anyone suggested that EG should quit shooting 3s. Just because he should be inside more, doesn't mean he shouldn't shoot open 3s. If anything, he should shoot the ball more overall.

Also, there just isn't that much practice time during the season, for Eddie to improve on his post-up moves. If he only worked on his game during practice, it would take Eddie 6-7 years to develop a post-up game.

By leaving him on the perimeter, he may become too "comfortable" to start going inside. While I do like him shooting his fair share of 3's, I'd rather see him attack the basket, if he can. I don't want him to have a Chris Webber mentality.

The playoffs are a very long shot, so we might as well get our players to work on their games and improve for future's sake.

Eddie will develop a post-up game if he works on it during practice, and most importantly, during games.

Yes, he is not that strong at the moment, however, post-up moves aren't solely based on strength. Footwork probably has more to do with post-up moves. Strength is useful if you are going to do a Barkley-like pound to the bucket. Strength is irrelevent for turnaround jumpers, hook shots, and baseline moves.

 

A lot of people thought we were ruining Francis, some still do, and tomorrow he will be the starting point guard for the Western Conference All Stars. He leads the Rockets in ppg, reb, and ast.. I guess you could say we really screwed him up by asking him to pass the ball .