Griffin's Rockets audition continues Van Gundy seeks more of an inside presence from forward By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle GALVESTON -- Steve Francis grabbed a corner of a training table next to forward Eddie Griffin when it hit him. "Three years, Eddie?" Francis said. "Man, I'm getting old." Griffin, as is his custom, said nothing. But if Francis wanted to marvel at how quickly time in an NBA career passes, he would have considered how much has changed for Griffin since he joined the Rockets. Three seasons ago, Griffin was overflowing with possibilities as the seventh player taken in the NBA draft. So giddy were the Rockets with their presumed draft-day coup, they happily gave up three first-round picks to get him and said they likely would have made him the first pick of that draft. Now, Griffin still teases, rather than rewards with his potential and waits for a court date on a mar1juana possession charge dating to a traffic stop on Richmond Avenue on April 6. The Rockets have not shown signs of giving up hope, but in contrast to their public enthusiasm on draft night, they have not exercised their option to extend Griffin's contract to a fourth season. "I've got until the end of the month," Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said. "There's no need to do it sooner." It's not unheard of that a team might wait before getting around to the formality of extending a key player's contract. The Nets have yet to exercise the fourth-year option with star Richard Jefferson, still a nagging reminder of all the Rockets gave up to get Griffin. (Nets president Rod Thorn has said the team would extend its options on the contracts of Jefferson and Jason Collins but not guard Brandon Armstrong, the third player taken with draft picks acquired from the Rockets.) But the Rockets exercised their fourth-year option with Francis and Kenny Thomas well before the start of previous camps. With Griffin, 21, they seem to want to see more before deciding. But with Griffin, there always has seemed to be a need to see more. "Coach (Jeff) Van Gundy probably wants to see what I can do, see what kind of player I am," Griffin said of the delay in picking up the option, which is worth $2,937,205, on his contract's fourth season. "It's not a concern. I'll know about the contract when the time comes. I'm just playing, letting everything fall into place. "Nobody has said anything to me or my agent about it. I don't think about it. But I do want them to do it." But Griffin insisted he had not given his contract status a thought, much less let it become a distraction. He said he also would not concern himself with his court case until he must. His agent, Arn Tellum, and attorney, Rusty Hardin, did not return calls Friday. For now, Griffin can worry about bringing his offensive game in from the 3-point line. Griffin, a 6-10, 232-pound power forward, has taken more than a third of his shots from beyond the 3-point line. Shooting 33.1 percent on 3-pointers for his career might be acceptable, but as a power forward, he is expected to shoot better than the 38.3 percent he has shot in two seasons. By moving inside, he might also be able to grab more than his average of 1.7 offensive rebounds per game. "I like Eddie," Van Gundy said. "It wasn't wrong what he did. He shot 33 percent from the 3. For how they wanted to play, that was good for him and them. I just want for us to have his head under the basket a little more. (That's) not to say he's not going to take some 17-, 18-foot jumpers, because I think he will. "I want him to become a little more of a paint player, too, so he's got versatility so he can shoot jumpers and play in the paint. I want him on the offensive boards a little more. It's difficult if you're spacing beyond the 3-point line." But Van Gundy said he had not seen enough in Griffin's summer workouts, early camp or Friday's first full-squad workouts to have a feeling whether Griffin can make that adjustment. Griffin said he was open to the change. Though he seemed to miss his old friend the 3-pointer, Griffin said he has prepared to find his shots in the lane. "He told me right off the bat he didn't want me shooting 3s," Griffin said. "That's really what I was doing my first two years. He told me he wanted me inside. I feel like I can shoot 3s, but that's not what he wants. I'll do what he wants. I can play that way, too. "Hopefully, I can get more plays down low. I think I'm ready to do some work on the box this year, and hopefully they feel the same way." It was not clear how the Rockets feel. But if his contract status is any indication, as Griffin enters his third season they are trying to make up their minds. Just another Feigen article, pretty much saying things we already know. What do ya'll project Eddies #'s to be this year, my guess: 12ppg 8bpg 2bpg
I wish Feigen had mentioned whether Eddie gained weight/got stronger over the summer. He did list him at 6-10, 232 lbs. Does anyone remember how much Eddie weighed last year?
I thought I heard something about Eddie gaining some weight. His arms look a little bigger in this pic though.
I thought he weighed at 237 lbs last year and haven't we heard that he as gained 15 lbs over the summer? It's good that JVG wants to use him as a PF instead of an outside shooter.Griffin sounds disappointed about missing chances of shooting from the 3 point line and it's obvious that he has a lot of work to do in the paint.He needs to practice putting his jumphook down and getting better position in the low post.Unless he gets physically stronger and changes his mentality of being an outside shooter he will never be able to make the transition to becoming a PF. Right now he doesn't have a true position.He needs to work very hard.He says he is not thinking about the option but he wants it done as well and this could be a distraction for him. If he doesn't do well it will be a major blow to the team's chances of making the playoffs.His option shouldn't be picked until he shows major improvement during the season.
I like Eddie Griffin. I hope he gets his extension. Seems that Jeff Van Gundy is going to evaluate him and make a decision at the end of the month. That being the case I hope Eddie masters all aspects of the game during this month of preseason and Van Gundy is impressed enough to where they pick up the last year of his option. That would be a perfect panning out of circumstances for Eddie but things usually don't work out that way -- sometimes - but not usually - so he's gonna need some help. Like Francis and Co. - if they're good guys - knowing Eddies contract situation, perfecting many precise passes to Eddie so he can impress coach and management during preseason.
Ok so if they wait past the month they cant sign him up for next year? And if they dont he walks at the end of the season. Thats confusing I dont understand why the Rox would do that. I may be TOTALLY wrong but I see Griffin on this team for a long time. If Van Gundy is a good of a defensive coach as they say then he should be able to take Griffin's natural shot blocking talents and make into the perfect PF for Yao Ming. Its so obvious that all he needs to do is get stronger, and im thinking the other things will fall into place. Im wondering if this the same stuff you hear about players like Stromile Swift, and Kwame Brown though.
If JVG can get Griffin to play in the paint more and grab more offensive rebounds and score some more easy buckets his game stats could be around 10ppg and 10rpg. I really think that should be Griffin's goal this year. If we can get that rebound production out of him and raise his FG% (because he will take closer shots / put backs versus long 3ptrs) then I think he will really help out this team.
Has anything been said about Eddie changing his shooting form? I know the coaches decided last season that they would wait unit summer to work on it. So did they? I'd hate to see another season go by with Eddie shooting so many bricks. If he doesn't have that flat shot fixed this season he'll probably never change it.
Eddie must remember what his position in on the floor for. It's to get rebounds first, then to intimidate players driving in the basket, it's for him to get shots within 5 feet. Him shooting 3 pointers is something that should only come when the game is a blowout or it's a desperation shot. So, Eddie don't fret about the what Van Gundy told you concerning 3's, you'll still shoot, say 5 or 10; in the whole year.
It has been stated that Griffin spent the offseason working out under the direction of Rockets coaching. Anyone remember this?
Jermaine O'neals minutes per game in his first four seasons: 96-97 10.2 MPG 97-98 13.5 MPG 98-99 8.6 MPG 99-00 12.3 MPG that was all in Portland. It wasn't until his 5th season when he went to Indiana that he started playing serious minutes and went up to 32.6 minutes per game. I'm not even going to bother with the other stats. I'm just saying he came into the league one year younger than Eddie Griffin and it wasn't until his 5th season in the league that he found himself a real contributor on his team. In his 5th season he still only scored 12.8 points per game though he did also get 2.8 blocks per game and 9.8 rebounds per game. There was an earlier post in this thread where it was suggested that if Van Gundy works well with EG this year that the goal should be 10 and 10. Very similiar to the production of Jermaine O'Neal in his 5th season. It's only Eddie's third. It kind of amazes me people are so ready to give up on him.
Oh, and I should have specified that I'm not saying Eddie Griffin is going to develop to a player of the caliber of Jermaine O'Neal at all. It would be amazing if he did, but that's not really where my expectations for him lay. I'm just saying if it took a player of Jermaine O'Neal's caliber that many years to develop then surely there is still lots of hope that Eddie Griffin can become a very talented player that can very adequately fill the power forward slot for lots of years to come. Also, I failed to mention that it was actually Jermaine O'Neals 6th year in the league that he had his real break out year averaging 19 ppg and 10.8 rpg. SIX SEASONS! I wish I could arrange it to where when this post was read the reader would find themselves listening to the Guns N' Roses hit "Patience". That would be funny.
No. If the extend him he costs $2.9m. If they don't extend him, he becomes an unrestricted FA but the Rockets still have his Bird Rights and can match any offers. If it's a given that some/any team will offer more that $2.9m, and you want Griffin, then it would be fullish to not extend as it would cost you money.
I agree with this 100%. The Rockets should do whatever it takes to keep him here for at least 2-3 more years. If I remember correctly, the only thing that worried us about using so many draft picks was his fighting in college. Other than that, he was the conference player of the year in his freshman season, showed a well rounded defensive/offensive game, had a decent rookie NBA season, and then got the sophmore jinx. I don't think that Rudy T was the greatest teacher, which could explain his lack of development between his 1st and 2nd year. The optimist in me hopes that EG will blow people away this year, but the realist says that he will have a decent season and need more development before he looks great. My prediction is that he will end up coming off the bench to provide shot blocking and rebounding, while sacrificing his scoring because Van Gundy won't want him taking too many shots.
Feigen, slow it down bud...you're rapidly churning out these fluff stories about each of our players. If you don't watch it, you're gonna use all of them up well before the start of the season! And then you'll have to write about...I dunno, our assistant coaches or something. But then again, I enjoy reading anything Rockets related...just wish there was a little more meat to the story. So who's next? I'm thinking it's got to be one of our new additions to the team this year...
lol..yeah..like one story per day now! That's amazing! Rockets.com number one stop? Houston Chronicle is challenging! I like it. I love more content related to the Rockets! Tomorrow...12 pages on Rockets and Toyota Center!
GATER,thanks for telling all of us that Eddie would get 2.9 million if he is extended.If I understand you correctly the Rockets can extend him for 1 year? If he is going to cost us that much we should keep him unless we get a much better player in a trade with the 6.5 million exception which is probably unlikely to happen. I had thought he would cost a lot more for extending him.
