eddie griffin reminds me of tim thomas. both played one year in college before jumping into the nba. like tim thomas, griffin is considered by many people to have the potential to become a perenial all-star with his all-round game. they can drive to the basketball, challenge big men for rebounds and shoot from the outside, especially 3s. so far, griffin does plays like thomas. they both don't care about defense. in offense, they sit behind the 3-point line and throw up bricks. hope the rockets don't make the same mistake as the bucks did with thomas. they signed him to a huge contract, and now they can't move him anywhere.
I made the same comparison a year or so ago, and still feel they are carbon copies, at least offensively. The difference is that Thomas is much better at putting the ball on the floor. I can't remember a time where Eddie actually dribbled the ball forward.
Since when does Griffin drive to the basket? Interesting note... Griffin and Thomas are cousins I believe. As far as game styles, I think Thomas is much more molded in the form of a guard than Griffin will EVER be. We are grooming Griffin to be a big man down low that can mix it up from the outside... Thomas, from what I've seen is in the same mold as Kobe, Tmac, and Paul Pierce. NOt sayin that he's as good as those three, but he plays the same way they do.
kidrock8: Eddie has better shotblocking instincts. I still think he's one of the most intuitive weak-side shotblockers I've ever seen. He's not so good on the ball, but Thomas isn't good at either.
Tim Thomas is not a bad player (he averages 15 ppg this season I think). As long as we don't give EG as big a contract as TT, what's the problem?
It's all right to see Griffin make the occasional 3 pointer but he should keep on working on his low post game which is better than before but he has a long way to go and is unfortunately very inconsistant. Tim Thomas has better handles and finishes on the break well but he plays more like a SF than Griffin.
thomas is just an average player, and he got a 6-year $67 million contract. how much should the rox give eddie griffin? i'll give 7-year $14 million. if he asks for more, give him a one-way ticket out of houston.
I wish Eddie would stay in Houston and play some at Westside...that's some pretty good comp and it would allow the ROX coaches the luxury of assisting Eddie with acquiring the skills that he needs, as they see it. I've compared him to Rashard Lewis ( a younger Lewis), too skinny, too soft, jacks up threes, can't dribble, etc. Can EG learn to dribble? Yes! Can EG learn to post up? YES! Should EG concentrate on one or the other in the offseason? YES! Eddie's shot blocking ability provides him the ability, if he develops some low post girth, and some post up moves, to play with his back to the basket. Neither Thomas nor Lewis are adequate in that regard and neither has the fast twitch muscles and timing on blocks that EG possesses now. Eddie is the man and I won't hide my biased opinion.
I was thinking offensively... Defensively, he sucks, but Thomas does as well. And since EG is a good shotblocker and decent rebounder, he has the edge there. But I don't know if EG will ever average more than 12 ppg.
Tim Thomas is an awesome player. He could easily be 6th man (when Karl decides to let him come in off the bench) of the year for the last 2 or 3 seasons. Eddie is far away from his prime so right now there is a big question-mark over Eddie's head. As of right now, I'd rather have Timmy Thomas.
I would rather have Mo Taylor than Tim Thomas for the same kind of money. Both are weak defenders and rebounders but at least Mo is more of an inside scorer while TT is just another jump shooter.
I think I'm going to cry. carayip just said Mo's advantage over another player is that he plays inside, and that the other player is just another jumpshooter. Right now, obviously Tim Thomas is better. But Tim Thomas had the luxury of learning from the bench for 3 or 4 years, then starting. Griffin is in his 2nd season, and has had to start for both years. Plus, Griffin NEEDS bulk, while Tim Thomas doesn't. For Tim Thomas, it's a matter of acquiring the skills. For Griffin, the attitude and skills are there, it's just a matter of adding some strength and size.
I agree about size and strength, but what skills has EG really shown? He has shown to be a good 3pt shooter at times, but also a very poor one at times. He can block shots well, and rebound decently. Other than that, he hasn't shown anything with his dribbling, passing, posting up, man defense, etc for me to think he has skills that are there right now.
No kidrock. It's not he can block shots well, and rebound decently. It goes like this: He's an incredible shotblocker, and rebounds very well. He's shown that he has a very flat shot, and his 3-pter is inconsistent because of it. It's not even decent, but he seems to be able to hit them when we need them, and that's good. He has a very nice turnaround jumper too, btw. He has put the ball on the floor this year, and has had success doing it. Right now, I'd say everything Griffin has worked on has had positive results. He added size. Not enough, but it helped. He decided to be more aggressive, that's been great. He decided to concentrate on defense, rebounding, and shotblocking with positive results. Here's what I hope we will see next season: He'll bulk up to a point where he won't go outside anymore, because he'll be able to hold his own on most nights. His turnaround jumper along with his improved ability to make short strides to the baskets with one or two dribbles, will open up new things for him. I would say that if he added10-15lbs of muscle and a spin move over the summer, he'd be better than Tim Thomas already. What does Tim Thomas do exceptionally well?
Once he puts on some muscle EG is going to be a scary MoFo. Stop dissing the boy before he can even buy a freaking beer. Chill. If Ming had come into the league at 19 I would have hated to see all the hate. Like Eric Clapton said "Let it grow, let it grow"
bulking up and having a mindset to battle are the two things griffin needs to work on in the off season. blocking shots is good, but doesn't mean much if the guys are not intimidated. raef lafrentz blocks many shots, averaging about 2.5 a game, but nobody is afraid of him. therefore, if i were him, i don't worry about blocking shots instead should concentrate on grabbing rebounds.
