What if...what if...what if.....I guess you have no clue about what those meeting were about either. My point, is that they should have had something in place BEFORE it got to a point where they needed a meeting. And what gets me is that you have no clue as to what they tried to do either, (other than a management cover their a$$ take )yet you dismiss a notion that perhaps they did NOT do all they could. In the name of talent? WTF are you smoking? Of course it is the name of talent, that is what matters when you are running a business that lives or dies off of talent. How is that so hard to see? I have already said that he may never have become this player if he stayed in Houston, but I firmly believe ( and that is all any of us can do, since we don't officially know ) that the Rockets screwed up by not being prepared to draft a 19 year old kid with a questionable background. And furthermore, if they are not prepared, then they should not have wasted THREE FRICKEN draft picks on this guy. You can not take a gamble like this, a roll of the dice, and simply walk away, when you hold all the cards. That is just plain STUPID !! DD
Sam, Your skin is so thin that you could play a tom tom drum off your forehead. I am talking about protecting an investment. My take on all of this ( and that is all any of us have ) is based upon Rudy and his comments after they drafted EG saying that they did not know how EG would fit in because they have never drafted such a young player before. This tells me that the franchise was unprepared to have a 19 year old kid on their roster, and assuming that is correct, they should have never drafted EG, or if they do they should put a support system in place to help the kid mature. Am I frustrated....WELL HELL YES !! The guy is exactly the type of player this team needs at the 4 spot and we had all the cards and just let him WALK away. I guess that is ok with you, right? DD
If you run a business, and make these kind of horrid decisions the investors in that business should demand a new leader. And JVG and CD are making HORRIBLE choices about talent. Time to go boys. DD
To coin a Dakotaism HELLLOOOO... I'm not the one judging them, you are! I'm the one saying nobody knows. Christ you're dense - there's Lead, Uranium, and then your skull. I deal with facts. In this instance I don't have all the facts. I can't pass judgement. You don't have the facts, yet you are passing judgement. The facts are - Eddie Griffin screwed up everywhere he's been. Even after getting a 2nd and possibly more chances, he screwed up. We don't know what specifically the Rockets did for Eddie Griffin. You cannot judge them because you do not know either. Those are the facts. I'm not pulling crap out of my ass like you usually do in your posts and then making judgments right and left. I'm also waiting to see where you stated the Rockets should get this kid a mentor after he was drafted, Captain Hindsight. Are you going to answer? Talent at the expense of the individual. Nice. Neither you nor I know if the Rockets got rid of him just so he could leave the town and get away from his problems, but that doesn't matter to you - you just see him as a talent lost.
Obviously you are frustrated. That's why you posted a emotional rant devoid of any discernible logic, as per usual. Let's examine some of your suggestions in depth: Of course it is, because you are the amazing Retro-kreskin - you can see...THE PAST! What solution is this that you propose? Prior to trying to figure out what the F his problem was, by, you know, having a meeting/call and asking him, you think they should have had a solution? What? A 24 hour personal chaperone? An electronic monitoring bracelet? A ship-in-a-bottle kit to pass the time? And what is the precedent for it? How many other college freshman or younger required this extraordinary treatment that you propose? Garnett? Marbury? McGrady? Kobe? Nowizitski? Really? In 2003 whe we let him WALK away, he was the exceptional rebounder and a good man defender that we need at PF? That's odd, because I'm pretty sure in 2003 he was an underachieving loser who quit on his team and spent his spare time committing various felonies and misdemeanors. I mean, I would think with somebody with your supernatural gift of past-foretelling would get that, but I guess not.
Um, Knucklehead...in 2003 we suspended him then released him. My point is that in 2003, we had to pay him anyway, why release him? Suspend, fine...release..stupid. DD
The funny thing is after all Eddie has done, and after all the Rockets went through to get him and get rid of him. He is exactly what this team is missing.
Yeah, Retro-Kreskin, I know that. You're the one who is screaming about how we "let him WALK" That decision was made in 2003. Not 2004, not 2005, but 2003. No, actually, stupid is paying a criminal millions of dollars in 2003-04 to hang out on your payroll all year and who is not contributing anything other than distraction, and who was going to continue being a criminal. That would be stupid, because that is what he did last year. But anyway thanks for answering my questions.
Yes, those are SOME of the facts, the facts also are that he had a guaranteed contract in which we had rights to him, and we RELENQUISHED those rights when we STILL HAD TO PAY HIM !! Get it? Got it? Good ! As for my point about a mentor, I have been saying that since the day we drafted him. Yes, that is how he is viewed, a talent lost, and since the Rockets are in a TALENT business, to let him just walk away is assinine, and to not have a plan in place BEFORE drafting him is also assinine. It smacks of bad business planning, and this is just another piss poor decision by Rocket management as of late. DD
Why keep him? He didn't play the rest of the year for anybody. Whats the difference between keeping him on the suspended list the rest of the season, and he doesn't play, or releasing him, and he doesn't play? And please don't go to the "bird rights" card. Go read the CBA/Larry Coon's FAQ. His bird rights were irrevlevant given the money aspect of it. Geez.
Except that we could have extended his contract before all of this for one more year, at a very reasonable rate in today's NBA, and then we would still have a valuable asset. DD
The Rockets made the right move in letting him go. The reason why he's progressing there is the offense that's being run there. JVG's offense here is crap. Another thing is, they have no true center like we do. They run the offense mostly through Garnett, who is mostly at PF and SF. When you have two good guards (Spree and Cassell), it doesn't matter who the center is. Candyman is an ok center, but he's just there to grab rebounds and defend, which he's doing. The question is still out on Yao if he's going to develop into the Great Wall. Right now, he's more like the Great Fence or the Great Poster.
So that you can use the roster spot.and not have a walking distraction beating up random strangers on your roster. Duh. Oh loook, the irony, he's having a vision again: Un-freaking-believable Can you read? I will post this again. In 2003 he was an underachieving loser who quit on his team and spent his spare time committing various felonies and misdemeanors. I mean, I would think with somebody with your supernatural gift of past-foretelling would get that, but I guess not.
At the time his 4th year option was being decided, he was AWOL from the team and had just shot at someone. You really think they should have just given him that 4th year at 2-3 MIL when a) He wasn't showing up to practice or games and b) he had two court cases still to be decided??
And if that is the case, then perhaps the Rockets did all they could. They held onto Eddie, but perhaps not long enough. I dont know. Jeff, For the record, I am not "dismissing any behavior if the guy can drop 20 and 10." I am not saying Eddie isnt at fault. He is clearly to blame. I am not justifying his actions. Not at all. No "dismissing" here. I am just saying that I recognize this is a guy that has had some mental problems ever since his brother died. Clearly it is obvious he NEVER got over that loss. And it took him hitting rock bottom to realize where his life is headed. Eddie IS accountable for his actions. I think we all realize that. I think there are some here that believe in second chances and understand his illness situation and others that dont. That's where the line is drawn.
This is exactly what I don't get about the line of reasoning. The guy was missing practices, shooting at people, and all people can think about is "duh, but he's a talent - we wasted 3 draft picks". I initially thought it was a mistake to get rid of him, but later came to the conclusion that I sure as hell wouldn't want his distractions on my team. They made the right move. So did the Nets. So did Roman. Any other team that booted him that I'm missing out on?
