Saw an interview with EG during the pregame tonight and EG said, "Right now, I'm playing the four but eventually I'll be a three. I just have to work on my ball handling skills." The interviewer said the Rockets project him as a three and Griffin agrees.
Yeah we need more jumpshooters... The way that interview sounded, it seemed like they were going to groom Eddie into Robert Horry Jr... I really wish they'd make Mo the SF and work on EG's post skills...
I'll tell you this. The Rockets think EG is WAY WAY more talented than Horry ever was. They thought Horry was a good athlete with great defensive skills. They consider EG an eventual priamary offensive option. He already has post skills. If he develops ball handling skills as well, the kid will be a dominator.
I'd rather see Griffin as a 4/5, instead of a 3. Some of Griffin's best assets such as his shotblockin and rebounding will not be utilized to their full potential if he's playing as a 3 on the perimeter all the time. I wonder - did Griffin make the choice to become a 3 or did the Rockets make it for him?
If he can work on his ball handling skills and becomes a 3, I see him as being better than kevin garnett because of his fantastic shooting ability and he's determination to keep shooting where as you see KG score 30 by the half and then score 4 the rest of the game.
Actually, coming in, Rudy said he was definitely a four. Eddie was the one who said he hopes to be a three. Personally, I don't see him as a traditional 3. I don't think he'll always take the 3 of the other team. I do see him as a Garnett-like player but I kinda would rather see him at the 5 than any other position.
Wow, a 3!! What do you think that means for Rice, Walt, Langi, TMo? I guess that Walt and Langi will be allowed to walk via FA. I suppose that also explains why he's camped out at the 3 point line. Shawn Marion gets double digit rebounds from the 3 spot, so I guess its not unheard of for a 3 to lead his team in rebounding and shot blocks.
No matter what position he plays, he's still going to give weakside help, hes still going to get those blocks, and hes still going to get those rebounds.....He's playing on pure raw talent and natural ability right now, and grooming him to be just a certain position cant take those assets away....id still rather see him as a Garnet type player, but as long as we exploit the MO/EG combination, we'll be jussst fine.
I don't like it anyway you cut it. EWddie has a great wingspan, but he isn't nearly the explosive athelete Garnett or even Rasheed are. I would hope they don't play him at the 3 just because he might have trouble gaining weight and stregnth. It could be argued that he and SAR are about equal and he played the 3 once they got othella, but I don't really want another jumpshooting big man. If he's such a good post up player, why are they so afraid to let him play there? I see the production from inside, but all they want him to do is pick and shoot long jumpers. I went to the game tonight and to say I was disappointed would be a understatement.
Me, I have no problem with Griff at the 3. Imagine if he can defend some of the better 3's out there. Imagine if he can put it on the floor. This does seem to answer why he's been camped out there at the 3-pt. line. Might as well get that shot down. Ain't gonna be too many dudes who can block it.
You know, he said this day one. But I just can't find the quote in any of the summer Chronicle articles to save my life. He said he views himself as a 4, but wants to eventually play the three.
No one really said "definitely" anything, did they...and least not beyond this year...that is, after Walt leaves. Rudy said a 3 position "type guy." Whatever that means. Your interview quotes sound identical to what I remember after draft day. alaskansnowman, there is no question in my mind that Eddie said from day one that he wants to play the 3. Also, don't worry about the defense. I have seen him switch on defense. Right now, Mason abused him in our win. Absolutely just muscled him to the lane. Griffin is not that good against power, right now. He is better used as a zone defender...a rover.
I find this disappointing, since it was his interior defense that was exciting me most. I really believe with the system in place now that the guy at SF has to be able to knock down the open 3 consistently. That suited Robert Horry, but Horry didn't have nearly the skills of Eddie. Additionally, is anyone comfortable with Eddie guarding the perimeter? I almost feel like he'll be a weakness guarding guys on the perimeter, which is even more of a shame considering the defensive skills he has. I'm much more comfortable with TMo doing that. I hope the Rockets move Eddie around a lot. Like Nowitzki, I'd like Eddie to see minutes at all three front-court positions, if that's the case. I guess this is what Rudy T. had in mind all along. Adjust the line-up, and exploit all mismatches. If Eddie can't bring his average close to 40% on 3s over the next few years, I'd like to see the Rockets bring in someone like Bullard who can. We have got to obtain a center next year, either by draft or trade. Cato, Willis, and Collier are not going to cut it long-term, unless each of them significantly improve. The thought of Cato and Mo T trying to defend the interior really scares me.
There was a quote from Rudy where he said that "right now, Griffin is a 4 and can play some 5, but he is very versatile." Clutch and I were actually discussing this last night. The NBA is all about matchups. I don't see anything being a problem. Just because he plays 3 doesn't mean he is playing way out away from the basket all the time on offense or on defense. Plus, with his size, they can move him around fairly easily. This debate is probably premature. The guy won't really even hit his stride until he has an offseason or two of weight training under his belt, so we probably all should just wait and see.
We've heard Rudy say enough times that he is definitely a 4. I'll wait for Rudy to call him a 3 before I call him one. For the next 4 years, it won't much matter if Griffin wants to be a 3 if Rudy wants him to be a 4 -- which he seems to want. It seems that sometimes players are caught up in the romance of the image of certain positions to their own detriment. There are dozens of PFs in the league that don't want to be considered a center, though they could play center better than their real center. Houston seems to have it bad now: Francis wants to be a PG, though he's better suited to be a SG; Griffin wants to be a SF, though he's better suited to be a PF.
JV, If I remember the feature correctly, it sounded like Eddie was saying what he and the coaches thought he would be. I'm sure that Rockets brass saw that we have KT, Mo, and EG and decided that EG would be the easiest to move to SF. Mo just had a major injury which could slow him down for his entire career, and KT's outside shot isn't nearly as consistent as Eddie's...so Eddie's probably the easiest to shift on the depth chart. I still wish he were made a PF, our team has been lacking a post game for a couple years now and Eddie could have finally been the man to join the other dominant PF's of the Western Conference. The way things are going it doesn't seem like Eddie's going to post up much in the future, he's shown to be pretty consistent at scoring in the post, yet they still only run plays that force him to take jumpers all night... If Rudy was seriously planning on using EG as a post threat, then he'd be putting him in the post now because he clearly has the moves now. The "he's raw" argument doesn't work for me because I've seen Eddie succeed multiple times in the post already...
I waffle on the "what position will EG play" debate all the time. The only problem is if he waffles to, and ends up becomming a player with no identity. I don't think this will be the case, though. I think right now he's still trying to find his role on the court, but I think in the not-so-distant future, we'll see EG rising to start status. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank that ESPN writer who labelled Eddie Griffin as the biggest rookie bust of the year already. Since that article, he's had 3 impressive games. I hope they write a follow-up about how bad he is real soon
This is just another example of ESPN's knowledge (or lack of) of B-Ball. I also think that Eddie will be much like Nowitzki and have the ablity to play all three front court positions. Cato and Mo does scare me, but when you add Eddie at the 3, well then it doesn't sound so bad. I think when Francis comes back, this will be a whole new team.
I still like the idea of having Mo play SF on the offensive end and having EG play the PF and then switch them up on the defensive end. I think Griffin is athletic enough to guard SFs. If he improves his ball-handling anyway that would make him lethal at the PF spot. Remember how dominant Barkley was because of the fact that he could put the ball on the floor and explode to the basket. Griffin is taller and much more athletic then Chuck. I like that option!
