Let's face it fellas.....he couldn't hold K Martin when he was pulled out to guard him at the elbow. Martin was blowin by him every time and he is a 4. Imagine if he were to guard a 3...EG just doesn't have the lateral quickness to guard players like that. It's just wasting his interior defense if we had him at the 3 in the future. There is no way that he will be guarding small forwards or playing small forward any time soon. He can't even make them pay on the other side on offense because he can't create his own shot or even dribble. Small forwards are used to guarding players out to the 3-point line, but 4s don't like to come to far out so it would be better if he stays as our 4 (or 5). All this aint a knock on Griff, it's just saying that he will be entirely useless on both ends of the court if he plays the 3.
I wasn't able to watch the game yesterday, but I still agree with you. IMHO Griffin is just not a 3. I wish he would grow just an inch or two more and puts on a solid 20 lbs of muscle in the offseason. He does not have to be huge to play a center in the NBA anymore. Besides Shaq, he basically would have no competition in the West. Eddie, Maurice, Rashard, Cuttino, & Steve = :drool: :drool:
This distinction between Griff at 3 or 4 is silly to me. Griff is a versatile player. He can guard the 4 or 5 on defense and play the 3 or 4 on offense. It also depends on matchups and substitutions as he'll move around during a game quit a bit. I'm tired of guessing, I suppose. He's growing and maturing and we won't know for sure for a while.
I've said it a million times. The brass will not say it, but they drafted Griffin to play the 4. That will be his best position in this league. Taylor nor Thomas can guard a 3 and that goes for Williams and Rice also. Eddie needs to get stronger and gain weight , but i don't see him playing center full time now or in 4 yrs. I think when its all said and done, Griffin will be the 4 and someone, hopefully Lewis will man the 3 spot. Cato can play the 5 simply because he doesn't need the ball.
Griffin will play whatever position suits the game. Griff is perfectly capable of playing 5 against 50% of the centers in this league. Griff wouldn't have a problem with Camby, for example. I agree he'll probably be listed and start games at 4. But he will shift all over the place because he causes so many problems for the other team on offense and defense. I don't think we need to be so categorical when trying to define Griff's position.
Let's look at the stats: Kenyon Martin 5-13, 11 points 1 rebound. I'll take that defense on any player at any time, even if he "blows by" the defensive player occasionally. If Griffin holds his man to those stats night in and night out (along with his blocks), then Griffin will be a perennial 1st team defensive player.
