At the end of the 3 o clock segment of ESPN Radio's Dan Patrick show, the host passed along a pretty sad story. It wasn't Patrick, it was someone filling in for him, and he said a few years ago while in New York (I think) he was in a stretch limo and he noticed a VCR. So he asks the driver if he has any tapes. The driver responds that all he has is a tape of his brother playing in high school basketball. He watches the tape and it's Eddie Griffin. "I told his brother 'MAN! You really hit the jackpot! Watching this guy in high school was unbelievable! He was completing alley-oops that nobody had any business getting to!" According to the host, the brother was the one of Eddie's who died shortly after he was drafted. I'm not sure why I posted this, but I just found it to overall be a pretty sad story. From Eddie's deceased brother to the promising career which never was. I see alot of threads calling for CD to be fired. I don't agree with the majority of his moves, but you can't fault him for trading for this guy in the first place. He was amazing when I first saw him at Seton Hall and when we got him, I honestly thought this guy had greatness written all over him.
I was pretty high on Eddie, too. Hindsight is 20/20 and I wish the Rockets had actually scouted him better before wasting three first rounders like that. Brother's death, fights with teammates, complete apathy toward everything. When he fell to #7 and the Nets, I guess the Rockets' brass fell for fools' gold. Not that it hasn't happened before. I just wish it hadn't happened to our team.
From what I heard about EG in college, he put up great numbers against bad teams and sucked when it mattered. Even before that,remember that High School game when he and Darius Miles went at it and EG was completely destroyed to a tune of 40+points by Miles. Also,EG, despite putting up 18/11/4.5blocks in college couldn't get his team into the NCAA tourney. It's got to be hell losing your brother, but Griffin had troubles before this happened. It had an effect on EG, no doubt, but he's always been a headcase and the Rox took a big chance on him.
That is truly a sad tale. We can't know for sure what is inside someone at that age. Had Eddie's brother lived, perhaps his steady influence would have made the difference. Eddie may still find his way if he stays out of jail. It won't be with the Rockets. And that's a damn shame.
All of this Eddie business is depressing the hell out of me. I'm starting to feel like it was a bad move to just let him go. Then he gets signed by the friggin Nets! I was joking when I said they'd probably be the team to sign him. I was bitter about the Pippen deal, but this easily tops that. I't's sad that EG has depression problems, can't keep his groupies in check so he has to shoot at them and can't leave his doobage at home so he doesn't get busted driving around with it. I'm furious how this situation has been handled by all parties. It sure isn't easy being a Rockets fan.
Eddie's brother died shortly before he officially declared for the draft if my memory serves me. His brother was his main advisor- they were very close. That Seton Hall team also had Samuel Dalembert who played with the 76ers for awhile (still does, I think). The coach never had control of the team, and the guards were brain dead. I disagree that Eddie sucked when it mattered- do you remember his break out game, against the Lakers on national TV? What was it, 24 pts, 13 rebs, 5 blocks?
What is sad is that the Rockets Organization did not take care of their investment. A lot was invested in Griffin (3 #1 picks) and yet the Rockets were not able to put up enough of a support system to help him get help. We kept letting him slide on little things instead of calling him on it right away and helping him. It just got worse and worse to the mess that they have today. And then when he DID get help and try for a fresh start we cut him!
As bad as this sounds I think I'll be sick if I see Eddie florish as a Net. I hope the best for the guy but hate to see it at such a ridiculous Rockets expense.
You can offer help to someone, but it does not mean they will take it. Wether or not they want to recieve help is up to the individual. If I was really close to one of my brothers and they died, I wouldnt want to speak to anyone either. First thing I would do is turn to my GF and bang the hell out of her every day until I was over it.
That was a pretty sad story. Thanks for the post though. It would sort of suck if EG became a star for the Nets, but I hope he does.
Wrong. The Rockets did everything they could. Have you ever tried to help a person with a drug problem or a drinking problem? You can support them all you want, it's up to them to help themselves, and he made it worse by blatantly defying the Rockets and not showing up. I hope people don't start laying this on the Rockets laps and be like "Oh, poor Eddie, the Rockets abandoned him when he needed help", because that isn't true at all.
Ok, then the flip side for ya....if the Rockets KNEW Eddie was a headcase, that these were CONTINUOUS problems, then why did they not trade him for Rashard Lewis or Shareef Abdur-Rahim when those trade scenarios were being brought up?!?!? Why did the Rockets HOLD OUT then...and THEN not hold out now? Either give up and make a move or hold on...but they did the worst thing they could do, they held onto a stock until it was too low to sell and then when it bottomed out they sold instead of holding on to see if it can rise in value! That's my beef with the situation! And yes, I AGREE it is up to the individual to HELP themselves, but when Griffin DID...what did the Rockets do? cut him! Like I said, why didnt they just trade him when he WASNT helping himself earlier in his career? He still had PLENTY of value and we knew all the inside info on him. We just look stupid no matter how one can spin it!
