Nervous Griffin eager to please

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/967722

Nervous Griffin eager to please

Youngest Rocket excites coaches

By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Eddie Griffin felt an odd sensation, one he never had experienced. He had handled everything so easily, so smoothly, from the draft-night shuffle from the New Jersey Nets to the Rockets, to tough questions about incidents thought left in his past, he saw no reason to expect the feelings that were catching up to him.

Griffin never imagined himself so nervous on a basketball court. He did not know quite where the nerves were coming from, even after he felt them filling his adrenaline-charged body. But he knew the world he had entered, knew the ramifications of being declared a draft-day coup worthy of the first pick of the draft. He knew of the excitement his selection had inspired in Houston.

He began his career Thursday in a small college gymnasium with jitters in his legs. Within a minute, he had sprung to head fakes that had never fooled him before and had been benched with two fouls in the first minute.

But as the Rockets considered what they have seen from their prized draft pick, they viewed even the nervousness as a positive sign, as a reminder of how young Griffin is despite everything they had seen in practices. It even offered a glimpse of passion that belies the insouciance in his expression and reputation.

They had been excited on draft night. But they have been even more encouraged by what they have seen since, even in his jittery debut.

"We know the guy can score, rebound, block shots," Rockets assistant coach Larry Smith said. "He can also do all the intangibles. That's huge for us. He does have 3-point range. He's shown he can shoot it really easy. He's a very skilled player. But he's going to get a lot better. It's scary how good he can be."

Griffin made three of nine shots in his first game, but as he calmed his nerves he began to show the skills that had so excited the Rockets coaches through their two-a-day preparations. He sucked up rebounds and swatted far more shots than the two with which he was credited.

In Friday's second game, he continued to mix growing pains with flashes of potential, dropping a 20-footer and completing a strong move to a jump hook, but also air-balling a turnaround on the baseline and missing an open eight-footer.

Griffin continued to struggle with his shooting touch, making just five of 16 shots for 10 points. He grabbed 13 rebounds.

"The guy has the skills," Rockets assistant coach Jim Boylen said. "He has the talent. Usually young players are physical specimens, a Kwame Brown, and they keep developing the skills. This guy has the talent and will keep developing his body."

For now, Griffin is playing almost exclusively as a power forward, and said it does not matter to him which forward position brings him playing time. In many respects, such details will not be the key to his initial success.

Just as he had to adjust to the excitement of playing his first professional game, he will have to carry the weight of hopes and expectations. Those pressures can be considerably more daunting that a game in the Los Angeles Summer Pro League.

"It's coming real fast," Griffin said. "I'm not scared about it. I'm excited about it, a little nervous. But I'm ready for it. I've never been nervous before. Last year, when my first season in college started, I wasn't nervous at all. I just went in and played. I'm nervous now. I just have to play through it.

"I heard that everybody was real excited, that they didn't think they could get me. I'm happy to be picked by Houston. But I don't think there's a lot of pressure put on me. Even though they traded three picks to get me, I'm going to go out there and play my usual, normal game. Hopefully, I can make a good, immediate impact."

Said Smith: "He just can't get caught up in all the hype. He's mature for his age. He'll go out and do his job. We're happy to get a guy like him."

Griffin would seem well-equipped to handle some excitement. He rarely changes his poker face, and has earned criticism about lacking intensity.

Griffin said he was used to the criticism and even laughed at the idea of mixing his stoicism with the theatrics of Cuttino Mobley and Steve Francis.

"Everybody's got their own personality," Griffin said. "I'm not the hyper type. I just try to fit in. In high school, I had a rep for not playing hard because I had the same straight face during the games. That gave me a rep for not playing hard and not enjoying the game. That's not right. I'm out there working hard, playing hard. You can't tell because of my playing style.

I'm a smooth player, a jump shooter. That hides it a little, too. I'm just going to go in and work hard. Hopefully, I can get a lot of playing time. But people can expect me to be a hard worker."

They might expect more, and in truth, he does, too. For now, he will be happy to show what all the excitement, and maybe the nerves, were about.

"I want to show everybody what I can do," Griffin said. "Right now, I especially want to show the coaches. I didn't work out for the Rockets. The coaches really didn't get to see what I can do.

"They may have watched my games at Seton Hall, but they didn't get to see me up close. I want to show them what I can do, that I can be a contributor. I want to show everybody."


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