MoTay could be a poor man's C-webb, if he works hard enough. That would be great for us. Plus, it's comaring apples to oranges b/c MoTay's contracft, as big as it is, is nogthing compared to Cwebb. by the way, cwebb is way overrated. he has never wanted the ball in the clutch, except last year, when he got hurt. he has never made the big shot. he does not have a go to move that is nearly unstoppable. don't cite his half hook. it's not at the crunch time unstoppable level. if cwebb has the ball with the game on the line, i'd let him shoot. he is no more dangerous than motay in that situation, which is an indictment of cwebb. after all, greatness is measured by performance when it counts.
cha-ching! we have a winner. that said, i'd welcome a mini-webb on this team, which is what i believe motay's ceiling is. what i find encouraging is motay's propensity for taking a charge. that shows that he has the foot speed to play defense, is not afraid of contact, and has *at least* a rudimentary understanding of defense. that's a decent start. i hope JVG can advance motay's career considerably...after all he is still very young.
This is one of the most informative and entertaining threads I've read on here in a long time. Great job!
y'know, that's what i've always thought too, and you're the first that i've heard to say it! moT can and will take a charge! and if nothing else that shows he's not afraid to be bump and bang. jvg should be able to develop him better for a more aggressive offensive and defensive game. i don't think rudyT used moT effectively nor efficiently. i think jvg will start moT. he's got the experience and like someone said it'll take some of the pressure off eddie. i still think we need a tough banger/enforcer. with moT and eG at PF, we got the most laidback PF spot in the league...better check their eyes...
Eddie Griffin has had a lot of youth problems- He hasn't learned how and when to put the ball on the floor and finish. Once he learns to find a move to the basket and finish he will be fine offensively. He also is getting stronger and having to adjust to the physical men in the paint in the NBA. Griffin will be alright if he dedicates himself to improve. I'm not sure he will push himself to be the best and therefore like Robert Horry underacheive for his physical talent. At least Horry gives it his all for the last 5 minutes of playoff games.
Eddie has been and would be an utter, complete, and total failure at 3. One fundamental requirement of a 3 is to be able to dribble the ball more than one time in a row. Eddie can't do that and would hurt himself trying. If you though Horry was seriously lacking in that department, just look at eddie. He makes Horry look like a freakin globetrotter. Camping Eddie on the perimeter is not a viable solution. We might as well trade him for a toyota sequoia. The toyota would be more useful.
I don't really have a problem with our PF spot. By all accounts, Mo was workings his ass off two offseasons ago to become a beast and continue his solid second half of the season. His injury cut that short. I don't know how much his injury will linger, but he will definitely be better this year than last. I still expect Griffin to blossom into something good...perhaps not amazing, but we don't need that. I think that by year 4-5 he will be a solid PF. I think that, at the least, they should both be given another year to see how they can progress and to see how they respond to JVG.
Eddie needs to hire David Carr's strength coach. I'd like to see Carr's arms and shoulders on EG, and we will let VG work on his line drive shot and heart.
anyone know how EG is progressing in the weight room this off-season? i remember last off-season people posting about how much bigger he was getting
I disagree with the fact that just because MoTay is willing to take a charge that, that makes him willing to bump and bang. The strange thing is that he has the size and athleticism to somewhat be an inside enforcer, what he doesn't have is the mentality which is the biggest weakness at our pf position. The willingness to give up your body every game just because its your job to and you want to do your job right. Its one thing to just stand in front of someone when that 's all you have to do. Good defense is when you keep bumping and banging until you make the offensive player show his outside touch not because he wants to but because he has to. Griffin tries but he is just too weak physically and mentally (more mentally). This is our weakest position defensively. To make a long story short their is no power in our power forwards.
I think EG lacks alot of explosiveness in his lower body. The rockets should have him doing a combination of weight lifting and plyometrics to increase his vertical leap. He has an uncanny ability to block shots due to natural born timing, but if he could just develop some of those fast twitch muscles in his legs he could potentially lead the league in shotblocking. Also stronger legs would help the trajectory of his shot since 70 to 80% of your jumpshot is coming from your legs.
no, that's called fouling. good defense is 100% about positioning. it's anticipating the offensive players moves by studying and learning their tendencies, then being motivated (and talented) enough to force the player to either do something different or get a charge. that's good "d". bumping and banging until you force someone to go outside is a recipe for fouling out. in fact, the only time it's effective is when you are significantly stronger than your opponent....and that can be neutralized offensively with a simple drop step or spin move. the perfect example of this is antoine walker. watch what happends when toine posts up a player of equal or greater strength. spin or drop every time...and it's quite effective. of course, toine has *arguably* the best post footwork in the nba. if he'd use it more (and the 3pt line less) he'd be a complete package, HOF-type of player.
I wish people would get off Eddie's nuts. he's just turned 21 for crying out loud. He still has a load of untapped potential. I think JVG can comfortably make him into a Camby type player.
I think the references were more to the fact that he doesn't have a problem being physical, he hasn't been taught to bang as part of his defense. Other posters were saying that with JVG and Ewing teaching him how to body up against his opponent, and the fact he seems willing to sacrifice his body on a charge may mean a more physical effort in the future from MoTay.
from Rileydog: Nice thread Rileydog, I agree and disagree with a few things. Horry's role on the team was different, and he was a 3 that we were able to utilize as a 4 (when O.T. was traded) because: 1) we had the best center in the game 2) the "no-zone" rules in the NBA then created some problems for teams defensively where Horry was concerned. He was often guarded by 3s who couldn't defend his shot and his length enabled him to get to balls when his defender was in front of him. I wish he'd slashed more often too, but I really think the scheme kept him a little uninvolved which hurt his game, but helped Dream's. And as for him being soft, I point to the '95 WCF's against the Spurs. There was a general feeling then among a lot of people that even if Dream did put up an historic performance against Robinson, it might not matter because Rodman was going to brutalize Horry. Horry played inside most of that series and had dominant games. Yeah, I was marveling at Dream, but I can't say I was shocked. Horry shocked me that entire series and Rudy must have done a hell of a job convincing him that he had to get beaten up for the Rockets to have a chance. Rodman's game that year (probably his last one) could offset or whip any PF in the league. And Horry's performance in that series is by far the best he's ever played. People always say we won the Championship in '95 because of Dream and Clyde and role players. If Horry had become an all-star for the next 8 years they would have said we won in '95 because we had three Hall of Famers. Horry was huge in that run and in my mind as vital as Clyde's. Eddie's still younger than Horry was in '94 and was never drafted to be a 3 by the Rockets (everyone else, maybe). I'm still a little sick about the Rudy situation, but I do believe that Rudy's system might have hindered his game. It was Rudy's first teenager and I do think there was a protective element in the way he utilized Eddie, not to mention that no doubt Rudy hoped he might be more successful, but wasn't going to push too much too soon. I don't think it's hurt Eddie's development, but combined with his mistakes, his ugly shot and his demeanor, I think it looks a little deceiving. (HeyP, if you're out there, I don't disagree with your scouting reports on Griff, I just disagree with your conclusions). Rileydog, I totally agree with your analysis on MoT, and Elie's "he can and needs to bang more". As it looks, we are weak at the 4, but it might not turn out that way this season. I live in hope.
Yeah, Riles, I agree that the lack of handle is a real problem for the Eddie as 3 campaign. However, his designation on offense doesn't really concern me. I think that, considering MoT's offensive versatility, JVG would have little difficulty finding a way for them to play together, minimizing their deficiencies. For me the question is defense. Now, I've seen little of Eddie in the last year, but the last time I did, he had a difficult time staying in front of 4s who faced the basket, much less slashing 3s. Now, the guy is quick, quick, quick and significantly longer than his height. If he could ever develop into even an average defender, I could conceive of EG and MoT playing together, at least part time. The good thing about a guy like MoT is that he's super skilled super versatile. I've become a real critic of his over the years because of his lack of rebounding and consistancy, but you can't deny his offensive talent and versatility. Whatever EG cannot do on offense, MoT can, so I feel like EG finding his way on defense is the only obstacle for an EG + MoT lineup. Is it realistic that he can become a good enough defender to stay in front of 3s? I really have no idea whatsoever. I really haven't seen him enough to say, and truthfully I don't think we will ever know unless JVG likes the idea of EG swinging between the 4 and 3 and makes a real effort to train him.
By the way jump shooter, are we watching the same guy? If there's anything about EG that is truly exciting and uncommon, it's his fantastic leaping ability. Yes, I agree he doesn't look explosive on the offensive end, in the post, shooting turnarounds and whatnot. That's footwork, that's confidence and chiefly getting past his hesitation (see confidence comment), but just watch him play the weakside on defense crossing the lane for blocks. It's about the only time on the court you ever see EG going 100% straight ahead without hesitation and it can be something to behold. There's nothing mother nature can offer that EG doesn't possess in excess (down to a soft natural shooting touch), it's just everything else that needs work.
I think if Taylor doesn't crack the starting lineup this season, he'll be a sixth man of the year candidate. I'd like to see him in the starting lineup, but he should be on the floor with Cato for the majority of his minutes because he obviously can't rebound. That being said, the minutes he gets with Yao will most likely cause many problems for our opponents(on the offensive end). I'd love to see a lineup of Yao, Taylor, Pikee, Cat and Francis. We'd get taken on the defensive end, but atleast we'd score a bunch of points. Possibly enter Hawk for Cat????
