Well, you have only been here since December, but trust me, people were all over Griffin's jock last season. People were saying that Steve would need to learn to defer to Griffin, and I heard the magical phrase "max contract" uttered a couple times in regards to Griffin. Last year, it was "Well, he's only 19" This year, it's "Well, he's only 20" Hopefully, we won't be saying, "Well, give him time, he's only 28!"
You think Wallace is equall to Webber and Dirk? You say the only reason that his numbers are not as good is because all of the talent surounding him? Portland certainly does not have any more talent than Sac or Dallas. Duncan has and always will be a head case. Wallace is a very good Power Forward put I would not trade Wallace in his prime for Otis Thorpe in his prime. No question Otis was better. Brand is just a bad player on a bad team. LOL. Brand is an exceptional player...period. And there is no way in hell that I would ever take Wallace over Brand. That is just laughable.
Wallace’s numbers as a 20-year-old player on a very bad Washington team: 10 pts per game 1.3 assists per game 4.6 rebounds per game .8 blocks per game .6 steals a game 27.5 minutes a game Eddie Griffin’s numbers as a 20-year-old player on a not so bad Rocket’s team: 8.7 pts per game 1 assist per game 6.3 rebounds per game 1.8 blocks per game .6 steals per game 24.9 minutes per game Eddies over all numbers are better with fewer minutes. You can not blame it on Rasheed playing on a deep team. Eddie’s overall numbers were better as a 19-year-old rookie were also better than Rasheed’s numbers. There is absolutely no reason for me to believe that Eddie will not be better than Rasheed when he matures. Eddie is already a superior rebounder and shot blocker to Rasheed.
Raef LaFrentz his last year in Denver (where he was always the starter and played major minutes): 32.7min / .466 fg% / .434 3p% / 7.4 reb / 3 blk / 14.9 pt why didn't we traded for LaFrentz and Van Exel?
Wallace is quite a good all round player if he can control his temper. IMHO, he is more or less at the level of Chris Webber. One can also say Chris Webber is not Kings franchise player, giving their depth. But, if you place him in Cleveland, then Webber can easily be their franchise player. If EG finally develops into a Rasheed Wallace like player, we should be pleased. Then, worry about the cost to keep him with Yao+SF. KH
But you seem to be missing the rest of the stats: Wallace .487 FG% .329 3P% Griffin .397 FG% .341 3P% BIG difference on the FG%. The good news is EG's % is up from last year's .366, but his shot is too flat to be consistant. I'm amazed that his 3P% is higher. Wallace's worst year was last year's .469 with his highest being his sophmore year's .558. EG can only dream of FG% numbers like that. Bring out the donkey - because I don't think EG will ever have a .469 year.
Yes Wallace is better offensively but EG is either already better (rebounding and shot blocking) or will be better at every other phase of the game. As EG gets more mature and stronger his offensive game will get better but I don't think he will ever be a 20ppg scorer and I don't think we will need him to be one. In my 1st post in this thread I said that I think EG would get around 16 a game when he matures. Plus we don't have to worry about EG taking his team out of some games because of his temper.
Griffin's defense is what is carrying him now. His rebounding and his shot blocking. But his offense is setting him back. The only way he gets up there in the 40% FG area is if he develops a much stronger post up game for higher percentage shots and really reduces his 3pt attempts. A post up game with a baby hook shot would do WONDERS for his game. Jermaine Oneal, Rasheed Wallace etc all displayed post up games from the get go in their career thus their percentages were better. As I said before, this will be a BIG summer for Eddie's offensive development. I would eventually like to see him be a 14pt (46% FG) 10 rebound 2.5 blocks per game type of player. He probably will get closer to that rebound number faster than the scoring number though. Maybe next year he can get to around 10 PPG and 10 rebounds. Chris
EG could be great, and he shows it sometimes, but he has no energy, swagger, intensity, aggressiveness... Why'd we make this pick...
Dead on. I agree that the only thing holding him back from getting more minutes now is his offense. If he could average 34 minutes a game as opposed to 24 minutes a game he would already be at 9 boards and 2.5 blocks a game. Unfortunately when his offense is struggling at the same time the teams offense is struggling then Rudy T is obligated to put in MoT to try and get some scoring. This off-season will be huge for Griffin.
Well, we didn't make the pick. When Griffin was drafted, the Rockets had three draft picks and didn't have room for them. Our weakest position on the floor was power forward, so it seemed like a good trade to make. Of course, nobody can see the future.
Guys, Thanks for all your responses. Interesting to hear different opinions of EG from rox gurus such as yourselves. I think the consensus has been around 17 pts, 8 rebs, 2 blks 42% FG, 1.5 3 pointer or so. Pretty solid #s. But with that said, it is nothing "spectacular" and I think we all agreed that he will most likely NOT become a franchise type player. So my question to you all is WHY are so many of you so adamant about keeping EG??? I mean, there are guys that we can get NOW for EG through a trade that can produce those #s RIGHT AWAY. I have no problem holding on to a guy for 3 more years if I thought he was gonna be the next Garnett but if all he is gonna go at best is produce 17,8 , I would much rather trade him for an experienced guy that is PROVEN to produce those #s. More specifically, the RISK/REWARD has to be there. Right now, there is ALOT of risk with Eddie while the potential reward as we all agreed is not all that exciting. Especially considering that having a bruiser type PF will help Yao more and Eddie clearly doesnt fit that mold. Thoughts?
Even though I'm not hopeful on EG and I would trade him straight up for SAR - there has to be someone else included to make the deal work and it would have to be a rather large contract player (or multiple medium contract players). Cato? Probably not a large enough contract and who will back up Ming? MoT? And who plays PF? Rice? Maybe...but I have a feeling they'd want some good pick(s) and I don't think I'd do that. Brand would be ideal, but that just dreaming.
Who are the guys that we can get for EG that will put up those numbers now? The only one I've seen is SAR.
SAR as you mentioned. Even Rashard Lewis is close to the #s that I listed. 17.8 pts, 7 rebs, 43.7 FG%. His blocks are a bit low though @ .5.
Rashard is a small forward. SAR played small forward in the West. I am not convinced that SAR will ever be able to bang inside with the PF's of the West. If we trade Eddie we need to get back a power forward. Not any power forward but one that will be with us while we are contenders. So once again who do you have in mind. Brian Grant is in his prime right now but in a couple of years he will be entering his twilight years. Besides I think Grant is a little small to be banging with the big boys in the West on a nightly basis. I expect EG to eventially but up similar numbers as Elton Brand. Maybe not quite the scorer but as good of a shot blocker and rebounder. Get my Brand and I have no problem trading Griffin.
I dont think SAR can bang with the PFs of the West but Eddie cant either. As I said in the other thread, shot blocking does not always equal good defense. Eddie will never be a bruiser like Brand. They are just physically different.
