Yet another classic example of ESPN putting down the Rockets. Out of the July 23 issue(mariners on cover)... PICK & ROLL (a short review of all the big moves in the draft, p.68) -Jon Pessah The Play "Worried that CWebb would never make a decision, they bet big on Eddie Griffin, whose off-court problems devalued his stock. Took underachieving Terp Terence Morris to keep pal Stevie Francis happy." -I didn't see any problem with this part, despite the fact that they would've taken TRock anyway. Here's what made me angry... The Chalk "Okay, so maybe this won't be the year the Rockets come of age. Consider these numbers: 7.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 15.5 mpg. Those are Kobe's rookie stats-and Griffin is not Kobe." -Now, is their any particular reason they are comparing him to KOBE!? I know we had a thread not long ago about this, and now its in a national magazine. I don't think anyone expects him to be Kobe or like Kobe...they don't even play the same position! Kobe's a G, and came out of high school. Griffin is a F, and spent a year in college. Why should they be anything alike? There style of play is totally different. It just makes me laugh that ESPN can praise Griffin so much before the draft, and the minute he becomes a Rocket he is a non-factor, at least for his rookie year. When they went over the Nets, they went as far as to say "Truth is, they would've taken Jefferson over Griffin anyday". That I find very hard to believe. It looks like this unknown Jon Pessah is well on his way to becoming an ESPN senior writer. ------------------ Who needs teachers? I can learn my own self. [This message has been edited by DieHard Rocket (edited July 13, 2001).]
The last thing the Rokets need is an extra scorer...they need rebounding and interior defense, consitentcey in both of these parts, and Eddie Griffin will bring this. They Rockets fill an over-riding void. These writers are stat lovers, they look at scoring, and don't recognize a particular teams real needs. And oh yeah, Kobe came straight out of highschool, Griffin went to college and dominated most of the time -- big difference IMO. ------------------
DH, I believe time will prove us right. Five years from now the trivia question will be what 3 players were traded for two time all-star Eddie Grif... ------------------
Rudy has loved Morris' game forever, they should try some research before writing this stuff. Griffin could be a player of Kobe's caliber. The talent is definitely there... Oh and if you want to talk about dropping, Kobe drafted 13 by Charlotte. ------------------ The title will come to ClutchCity once again.
This irks me to no end. Comparing Griffin to Kobe is like comparing Apples to Polar Bears. If you are going to compare him to someone, compare him to someone who is at least similar to him. Some examples that pop into my mind are Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Lamar Odom and Tim Thomas. ------------------ It was the time of the preacher, in the year of '01 Now the preachin' is over, and the lessons begun . . .
It seems they are using Kobe as a barometer for Griffin, using Kobe's poor rookie statistics as evidence to say that Griffin will also have a poor year. Never mind the insanity that comes with comparing a high schooler shooting guard to a defensive oriented forward who played in tough college basketball games. All I know is they better stick by this ridiculous logic next year... because even if Eddie has an average 11/7 type year, he will have blown Kobe's numbers away. But if Griffin can't do good because Kobe didn't his first year, by that same line of logic wouldn't Griffin appear to be a better player than Kobe if he had a much better first season? Of course that reasoning is insane, but that is what ESPN suggests. P.S.-- If you didn't think ESPN and other media networks didn't have a bias against us before, you have to now. Anyone who thinks that an NBA team would've take Jefferson over Griffin "anyday" is either completely out of his mind or has such a hatred towards a team that he cannot look at it objectively. Make sure and remember these quotes guys... when we're playoff bound and one of the better teams in the West next year, let them have it in every chat, fan response section, etc. I knew we weren't media darlings, but to read a quote of someone suggesting that an NBA team would take Richard Jefferson over Eddie Griffin is sick and ridiculous. ------------------ Draftsource.net-- the premier source for draft info. Profiles, rankings, mock drafts, and more! The Mo Taylor Fan Site
Well the Nets did claim that they only drafted Eddie Griffin because he had the highest trade value. They never considered him as an option for their team. So it is reasonable to say that they preferred Richard Jefferson. At least God forbid, I hope that is their logic. Because it was basically a one for one trade when you discount Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong as being "bust" picks. ------------------
"Okay, so maybe this won't be the year the Rockets come of age. Consider these numbers: 7.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 15.5 mpg. Those are Kobe's rookie stats-and Griffin is not Kobe." I especially love the way they stole that exact line from the Houston Chronicle. "For what to expect, try these numbers from a 1996-97 rookie: 15.5 minutes and 7.6 points per game, 41 percent shooting, 91 assists and 112 turnovers. They belonged to Kobe Bryant. Eddie is not Kobe." How awfully similar. ------------------ Protrolls.com! "I want to be like Olajon." -Sagana Diop has the right idea... Keep the ???? alive!
How the hell writes this stuff? I don't read ESPN Mag, but I listen a lot to ESPN radio, specifically the afternoon Dan Patrick show on the way home. They cover nationally of course, but when if comes to the Rocks, they're actually pretty cool about them saying "they're at least a year way from being contenders", which isn't bad considering they were ripping every other team when analyzing who would compete with LA next year.
Its amazing how similar the Francis situation is to the Griffin situation. Both were expected to go #1 a couple of weeks before the draft, both ended up slipping, and both were traded to the Rockets on draft day. And both times, the "experts" predicted that they will be dissapointments, and in STevie's case, he would "ruin the Rockets franchise". I think this will be a nice post to bring up again 2 years from now when Griffin is putting 16-10-3(blocks) while Jefferson has 7ppg, Collins is injured, and Brandon Armstron is averaging 25ppg...in Europe. ------------------ __ Ñ _ _ _ /_ ______ _ \ ÝÝÝÝl____| * |___ lÝÝÝÝ ¡,.-ñý¯Ç ¡,.-ñ~ñ~ñ-.,¡ `¯ýñ-.,
Steve was traded to the rockets on august or september,not exactly "draft day" I believe. For the rest,I hope you're right and Griff ends up as good as wink. ------------------ Bigamy is having one wife too many.Monogamy is the same
I think all ESPN is saying is to not expect a rookie to push a team into the playoffs. Look back at the thread where people are talking about project ROYs next year and many on this board are expecting Griff to get 14/8 or so his rookie year. Griff will be fine but he's only had 1 year of college. I will be psyched if he gets 8pts/5rbs every night. I agree ESPN does have a bias vs Houston, but at the same time I think many of us have too high of expectations for Griff in his 1st year.
Jefferson will be a good player most probably, probably not as good as Griffin, but a good 4th or 5th guy. Collins will be a good big man off the bench. ------------------ The title will come to ClutchCity once again.
