NBA Rookie Watch by Terry Brown Thursday, January 17 Updated 12:52 PM EST In a draft class loaded with assumptions and question marks, Eddie Griffin, the 6-foot-10, 220-pound soon-to-be college sophomore, came with simple instructions. Just add water. In his first game as a pro, he scored three points on 1 of 3 shooting to go along with three boards and three personal fouls in 11 very forgettable minutes. In his latest game as he returned home to Philly to play against the Sixers, he scored 17 points, grabbed 10 boards and blocked two shots. In between, he's gone from scoring 3.9 points per game in his first month to 8.8 in his second to 16 points per game in his latest. He's done the same in rebounding (2.9 to 6.5 to 7.8), blocked shots (0.4 to 2.2 to 3.3), field-goal percentage (28% to 39% to 55%) and three point percentage (29% to 36% to 52%) by simply following the same process with minutes per game played (13 to 24.9 to 33.3). Just four days ago, he exploded with 25 points on 10 of 11 shooting from the field and 3 of 3 from beyond the arc to go along with eight rebounds and five blocks. Match up his January numbers of 16 points, 7.8 boards and 3.3 blocks on 52 percent shooting with any rookie on this board and you can see why he's jumped from relative obscurity to striking distance of winning the whole thing despite not even being invited to participate in the All-Star activities for NBA rooks and sophs. But then, again, David Stern and Co. aren't the first ones to overlook Mr. Griffin. This is going to be the first in a long line of reminders from writers across the country that in the 2000 NBA Draft, the Nets traded for what's-his-name, where'd-he-go and what-were-we-thinking by sending this rail-thin kid with a somewhat checkered path named Eddie Griffin to the Rockets. The reminder may came before or after you mention that this was the same franchise that chose Kerry Kittles ahead of some high school punk named Kobe Bryant. In the month of January, the entire New Jersey rookie class of Richard Jefferson, Brandon Armstrong, Jason Collins and Brian Scalabrine has combined for 17.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 51.6 minutes per game. Griffin's about to blow those numbers out all by himself in 19 fewer minutes. And it isn't even that close. NBA Insider Rookie Watch 1. Pau Gasol, F, Grizzlies Stats: 36.3 mpg, 16.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, 0.4 spg, 2.4 bpg, 50% from the field Comment: Not only have his stats improved for the third month in a row (from 15.4 ppg in Nov. to 16 ppg in Dec. to 18.6 in Jan), but he's passed last year's best rookie big men, Kenyon Martin (12 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.6 bpg) and Marc Jackson (13.2 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 0.5 bpg), and is already working over last year's best veteran big men in Antonio Davis (13.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per contest as an All Star last season) and Vlade Divac (12 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest also as an All Star last season). 2. Jamaal Tinsley, G, Pacers Stats: 31.9 mpg, 10.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 9.3 apg, 1.9 spg, 0.6 bpg, 37% from the field Comment: Despite December's funk, Tinsely remains the league's No. 3 point man with 9.3 assists per game behind only Andre Miller and Jason Kidd and just caught fire again by scoring in double digits the last five games while also dishing out a total of 53 assists. 4. Eddie Griffin, F, Rockets Stats: 21.7 mpg, 8.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.2 spg, 1.7 bpg, 40% shooting Comment: See above 3. Shane Battier, F, Grizzlies Stats: 39.8 mpg, 14.8 ppg, 5 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.5 spg, 1 bpg, 40% from the field Comment: This model of consistency, scoring between 16 and 14 points in wins or loses, at home or on the road, is just happy he doesn't have to play the Lakers everyday, against whom he's scoring only 9 ppg on 25% shooting. Unfortunately, that is usually when the most viewers get to see him. 5. Jason Richardson, G, Warriors Stats: 27.8 mpg, 10.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.1 spg, 0.4 bpg, 40% from the field Comment: The lines are beginning to blur between rookies Joe Johnson, Richard Jefferson and Andrei Kirilenko as the season moves on, the difference between Richardson and San Antonio point guard Tony Parker being that the former has gone from averaging 10 points per game in Nov. to 11.3 in Dec. and 11.8 in Jan. while the latter went from 11 to 9 to 8 in the same span.
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