Early last month he looked like the guy we thought he could be, the last 6 weeks he's been the guy we knew and were disappointed with - a 6-11 shooter who doesn't shoot that well; he has been on a shotblocking tear though recently, so he gets credit for that, otherwise - blah: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3517 It will be interesting to see what kind of attention he gets in the offseason, it really could go either way.
3.6bpg in the last 5 games, He's going to get some money this off-season unless he just totally falls face first before the end of the season.
Both his FG% and 3P% have fallen every month. His 3P shooting in particular is now back to earth- just under 36%, and falling. A "power forward" who has never shot better than 40% in his career will have a limited market. Griffin's rebounding and shotblocking will keep him around in the league at least a little while longer, but if he has another meltdown, I think that may be it for him. I'll be curious to see how things go for him- his offcourt stuff makes giving him a multi-year deal a pretty risky proposition, never mind the on court play.
The interesting thing is that his stats this season are almost precisely in tune with is career stats: Season 8.8 ppg .389 FG% 6.5 rpg 1.6 bpg Career 8.7 ppg .384 FG% 6.0 rpg 1.6 bpg Treadmill!
That isn't allowed under the current CBA and I'd have to doubt that the new CBA would allow it either. Currently, only one option year can be included in a contract and it has to be the final season of the deal.
Says to me that he's made zero effort to improve on his skills since he came in the league. Grade A talent, F desire. He'll be out of the league in 2 years. Too bad, he could've been an all-star, now he'll transition straight from "unrealized potential" to "never was."
I agree, but partially due to his problems. I think he'll hang around longer due to pure talent...ala Derrick Coleman, although Coleman had more talent (offensively) to begin with. Which is why Coleman hung around as a starter...Eddie will be around as a reserve until he goes bezerk.
I bet if Minny passes on EG in the off season, Rudy will land him LA. EG should be had at or near the league minimum.
I know Rudy was making a run at Eddie during the offseason, but I'm sure Eddie liked the fact that he would be playing alongside KG.
Griff had 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 blocked shots in Minnesota's win over the Pistons today. We should've kept him anyway.
2 years? Eddie has enough talent to stick in the league. There a lot of players in the league that just stick around, they definitely don't deserve to be in the league, but they are (ex: Spoon). Eddie is atleast putting up decent numbers, especially since he didn't play basketball all last year.
Not a very good 1st BBS post. He shot 3 for 10 and he has sucked in the last month when put in perspective. Advice for you second post; say anything positive about Spanoulis or Badiane and your status will be elivated automatically.
Exactly! Gucci: Eddie liked the fact he'd play alongside KG? They play the same position. He should have wanted to play somewhere he could work back to starting. Another example of him not showing the desire to excel. Qwerty: It's that kind of thinking that brought us long contracts for such stars as Matt Maloney, Moochie Norris, Kelvin Cato, Mo Taylor, Brent Price and on and on. No Worries: Why shouldn't Rudy pick him at at the league minimum? He'd be a bargain at that price because he'd still have to prove why he should even be playing in the L, and he'd have to hustle here and there to maintain the dream of making big bucks instead of bagging groceries. The real question is why such a talent will be available for the minimum. Gucci again: The example of Spoon is bull. Spoon is a Barkley type with less talent; an undersized tweener that worked his ass of and made it out of sheer hustle. He got selected high (but not as high) like EG even though he didn't have the natural talent and he produced at way higher numbers as a young guy than EG ever did. I wish Eddie Griffin all the best. I've said before and I'll say again he is a manic depressive, self destructive, substance abuser who needs help to be productive in the NBA. The Rockets did all they could for him and anyone who suggests the Rockets screwed up with Eddie has it backwards. Eddie had it all and he should have been an all-star. The Rockets did all they could for him and wound up faced with a guy who was pulling guns on girls when he should have been focused on improving his questionable game. And, after all that, he still hasn't improved his game. He ought to take a year off for therapy and another year off to learn how to want it more. If he had any desire, any passion to better himself, he'd be a bargain at any price. As it is, he's a 7th pick (traded for 3 first rounders) who can be had by anyone who wants to risk the minimum. How sad is that?
Fegwu 14 points on 10 shots? Seems like he was fouled a few times - probably while he was shooting. 14/10/7 from any of our big men would be a good night. No, it would be a great night!!! Keep Eddie? Always dicey - so not sure I agree with the other poster's conclusion. But then psychiatric exams should become standard prior to the draft. Then all the teams need is psych insurance in case some fool shoots a gun or runs up into the stands, or wants time off for his music career.... As far as the last month - seems like the wolves as a team have sucked but then I don't read where anyone has been following them close enough here to comment intelligently as to why - inidividual problems, team chemistry, etc.
Which is why players are never judged based on one night. Griffin's point totals right before this game were: 7, 7, 0, 7, 6, 4, 3, 5. That's the problem. The guy will have a few games where he shows what he can be. But most of the time he looks like what he really is: a mediocre backup player.
There's more to basketball than scoring. And there's more to a season than a stretch of 8 low-scoring games. In that same stretch of 8 games of bad shooting, he's also had 3 games with 3 blocks, and 3 games with 4 blocks. He's also averaged almost 8 rebounds per game on only 22 minutes, including one game where he grabbed 18. Our power forwards can't grab 8 in 48 minutes, much less 18 in 32. Even in this "slump" he's still producing more than we can hope for from any of our 4 PFs. Stop the hate; the man's good.
