Can some one tell me what Eddie Griffen is good for?

I don't know how accurate the rest of this post is, but this jumped out at me. What is your definition of horrible? Right now Eddie is averaging .2403 reb/minute, which, when pro-rated over the avg. minutes of the top 10 rebounders in the NBA, would give him 9.1 reb/game, tied for 10th...in the entire league...at 20 years old...That's horrible!?!?

 

EG is 49th in the league at rebounds per 48 mins at about 11.6. Not horrible but not outstanding either IMO.

Plus I think this is not the main of the original poster. EG is not exactly an athletic freak compared to other 20-year-olds (Amare, Chandler etc) so I personally can't see much "upside" in him in this department of the game.

 

eddie sucks. period.

eddie does have the potential to be a decent role player. stephen king books have the potential to be good movies (by the way... don't see dreamcatcer). but... the fact of the matter is ... is that both of them suck.

hopefully somebody will bite the trade bait.

 

A 2 page thread about the 5th option on offense. Fantastic!

Eddie shouldn't be starting and is 2 years away from being the player he can be, but what other option is there at PF? Let the 'foul-magnets' named Taylor & Cato start? Start TMo, who's just as raw? Start Rice and weaken whatever interior defense the Rocks have even more?

Let's state a few more facts:

* The Rocks are an inconsistent defensive team
* The Rocks are a poor passing team and very few of them move without the ball
* The Rocks have 1 player (Yao) who consistently looks to create for others, their other offensive players dominate the ball to score
* The Rocks live and die by the 3

Yeah, I can see how Eddie is the 'odd ball of the bunch.'

 

Nah, EG will turn out great. And if ya'll give up on him now u'll be sorry. I actually think EG might be better off on the second team, and anyways the starting lineup needs a little more offensive push with MoT. That way he'd get more of a chance to dominate the ball, develop his skills, and show us what he can do. He was kicking a** in the summer league, and he was the MAIN offensive weapon, and should be able to do much the same on the second team against opponent's weaker players. Let him develop.

 

I think EG will be great, but let's not forget, he's like 20...

Last night showed us what a true PF is. CWebb...

It was like watching a stick against stump...

MoT handled CWebb much better and wasn't afraid to post up...

That's what EG will do over time...

 

i dont really understand why this thread pops up after this particular game. Eddie was a beast tonight defensively, and he was very agressive on offense. He got a steal, hustled for rebounds, filled the lanes on fast breaks, then you people come on here and bash him one after the other! For those of you who cant see the games, Eddie has been more agressive for several games now, and he's been pretty productive in his limited minutes. He's also been hitting a pretty decent number of 3's, to everyone's chagrin. Yeah, i know he's struggling with his midrange shot, but i like the way eddie's been playing lately. He'll get exponentially better with experience and strength, this is why we are playing him good minutes.

 

What so scarey about EG is we don't know what kind of player he will be. He can either be a Wallace or Tim Thomas. If he can be Wallace, he's be awesome. If he'll be Tim Thomas, what a big disappointment he will be.

Tims Thomas has been in the NBA for 6 yrs and these are his career numbers.

FG% FT% 3Pt% Pts
44% 76% 36% 11.5

I don't think it's wise to put in as a starter and get slaughtered. Why put him as starter when he's one the worst starter PF in the NBA. Everytime he touches the ball, the opponents let him shoot because they know he can't shoot.

 

When you criticize Eddie for taking a wide open jump shot, what would you rather see him do? Pass the ball? Then you would be all over his a** for not being aggresive enough.

As a 20 year old player in his second year, Griffin has shown a great knack for two things: Shot Blocking and Rebounding (It should be mentioned he does both exponentially better than Maurice Taylor already). Whenever Eddie receives substantial minutes, he average 10 rebounds. Despite his recent shot blocking slump, save last night, Eddie remains one of the best young shot blockers in the game. Nobody here mentions his block on CWebb, run down the court, receiving of the ball and nice turnaround J.

Don't tell me the kid doesn't have potential either. 6'10'', with long arms and good leaping ability. He even posses a three point range, a rarity among power fowards. Why does he need handles? The guy isn't KG and won't be KG. Why everyone here criticizes his dribbling is beyond me.

His needs to be retooled, but he still has a long time to work on it.

Truth of the matter is, the guy will not significantly improve until he bulks up. Amare has succeeded like he has because he has a prototypical NBA body already. Griffin, like a normal 20 year old, has quite a bit of devopment left.

 

Oh my God, this has just gotten silly.

Eddie is 20 or 21 years old and has LOTS of space for improvement. This is unlike Mo, who will never be a good rebounder, or Cato, who will never be an offensive option.

Griffin is already a good rebounder and shotblocker. He has work ethic, and he has good coaches. All he lacks is size and training.

NO I'm not saying this is not true for other 20 year-olds, and NO not any 20 year old can achieve this. WHY? Because at the moment, Eddie Griffin has a work ethic superior to MOST (if not all) other HS'ers.

Yes, I do realize he's not a HS'er, but he is is the same age group as Curry, Chandler, and Kwame.

 

Some player's skills are in decline.

Some player's skills are staying about the same.

Some player's demonstrate steady, perceptible improvement.

Some player's plateau for a long period, then out of the blue show a sudden dramatic spike in their play.

I hope Eddie is in the final category, but it sure would be nice to see some arch on his hopelessly flat shot.

 

I do too agree that EG has a lots of upside.
The Roz were not stupid to trade 3 1st round picks for him.
Remember this:

HOUSTON, June 27 (AP) --
"Usually, you have to go through a lot of pain to get a player like this," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "The main thing is we got someone special. There are benefits to having three picks, but how many times do you have a chance to get someone special."

Those are big words!
And I think EG can still fulfill them. Players in the NBA need 3-4 years to develop. Wait till then to judge him.

 

hikanoo49:- With the exception of Rice and Moochie Norris, all of the Rockets are development projects in various stages . Most of the players are expected to reach a high level of performance and team chemistry in the 04/05 season. This year they are only learning about each other and findind out what works. So during this time of blending and improvement Griffin has adequate time to show that Rudy Ts faith in him was well founded. Look how difficult it is for Yao Ming to get his role coming into a Guard dominated team, so Eddie must be having a struggle to find his niche.

 

LOL..."With the exception of Rice and Moochie Norris"
Yes. All players are always developing into better players. And aging takes place...
By 2004-2005, Francis will be 29!!!
We better start winning now...Mobley will be 30something!!!
That's why we bring instant success in...Elton Brand.
And get some veterans right away.

 

The simple fact that he is 20 years old, and is constantly battling the upper level pf's of the west bodes well for his future. I don't consider Griffin any more special than Chandler or even Kwame Brown, but being so young and gaining so much precious experience at such a young age will only make him a better player. Griffin isn't explosive like an Amare Stoudemire or Stromile Swift, but despite that, he still has the physical tools necessary to be a great player - ie 6'10, long arms, quick "pogo-stick" type jumping ability for blocking and rebounding. And like I said, I am seeing improvement from him, but just in little increments and spurts - he's putting the ball on the floor more than ever before (even though it's still a tiny amount), and etc.

I think probably the main thing with Griffin is that he WAS predicted to go #1 or #2 in the draft before he punched out his teammate at Seton Hall, causing his stock to fall. Anyone slated to be picked that high and still at a young age now will have a great deal of long term potential.