The kid is freaking 19 years old. Give him a break. Besides, Richard Jefferson is good because of Jason Kidd, Kidd makes anybody better.
Here's a guy who played 1 yr of college, was taking 3rd and check him vs Eddie. 96-97 Mem 80 71 35.0 6.9-15.2 .453 0.1-0.3 .259 4.8-6.5 .746 1.0 1.0 2.8 2.5 0.0 2.7 4.2 6.9 2.2 18.7 97-98 Mem 82 82 36.0 8.0-16.4 .485 0.3-0.6 .412 6.1-7.8 .784 1.1 0.9 3.1 2.5 0.0 2.8 4.3 7.1 2.6 22.3 98-99 Mem 50 50 40.4 7.7-17.9 .432 0.2-0.7 .306 7.4-8.8 .841 1.4 1.1 3.7 2.7 0.0 2.3 5.2 7.5 3.4 23.0 99-00 Mem 82 82 39.3 7.2-15.6 .465 0.4-1.2 .302 5.4-6.7 .809 1.1 1.1 3.0 3.0 0.0 2.7 7.4 10.1 3.3 20.3 00-01 Mem 81 81 40.0 7.5-15.8 .472 0.1-0.8 .188 5.5-6.6 .834 1.1 1.0 2.9 2.9 0.0 2.2 6.9 9.1 3.1 20.5 01-02 Atl 77 77 38.7 7.8-16.8 .461 0.3-0.9 .300 5.4-6.8 .801 1.3 1.1 3.2 2.8 0.0 2.6 6.5 9.1 3.1 21.2 02-03 Atl 16 16 37.4 7.3-14.4 .509 0.5-1.2 .421 6.4-7.8 .824 1.0 0.5 2.7 3.5 0.0 2.3 5.4 7.7 2.9 21.6 G GS MIN FG FG% 3P 3P% FT FT% STL BLK TO PF DQ OFF DEF TOT AST PTS Totals 468 459 38.1 7.5-16.1 .465 0.2-0.8 .300 5.7-7.1 .802 1.1 1.0 3.1 2.8 0.0 2.5 5.8 8.3 2.9 20.9 This guy is now in Atl. His name is Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Notice how many 3's he shot when he wasn't strong enough to man the post all the time. Look at his ft attempts per game. This is what i was hoping were getting, but its looking more and more like we wound up with ?
Eddie is 8 years from reaching his prime. All threads demanding that 20 year old Eddie perform at an all star level should be locked up.
lets just hope that he doesnt become a star in his 3rd/4th year..then bolt to another team when hes a free agent...ala t-mac
I would like to see Eddie post-up more. He has lost his confidence. Its part of the growing pains in the NBA. He just needs time and he'll come around.
If Eddie could shoot inside the 3 point line, I'd have some faith in him. Unfortunately, he can't. He also can't dribble, create his own shot and defend against a true power forward. There's zero guarantee that he'll bulk up and be able to play with the big dogs. I fail to see the hype in this guy. I'm sick of everybody saying..."But he's only 20 years old. Cut him some slack". The blind Griffin supporters preach patience with Eddie. They mention the other man childs and their early struggles. That's fine and dandy but those kids could shoot as rookies! Jermaine O'Neal was 18 years young as a rookie and shot 45%. That bean pole who sat at the end of the Blazers bench bettered his numbers the next year shooting 49%. Garnett, also 18 as a rookie, shot 49% from the field. Abdur-Rahim was 19 when he broke into the league and managed to put the ball in the cylinder 45% of the time. You can even go back to 1989 when Shawn Kemp was a 20 year old rookie without any college ball but he still managed to hit 48% of his shots. Can somebody enlighten me why Griffin is going to be a star in this league? I don't see it. He didn't shoot well at Seaton Hall and he's shooting terribly in the NBA. I really hope I'm wrong. Griffin is a great kid and I wish him the best. He'll at least be a nice role player in this league. Stardom? Don't see it. Prove me wrong Eddie. Prove me wrong.
I know what you're saying, but I think Eddie was more highly-touted than any of those guys coming into the NBA. He was picked to go #1 on several early mock drafts! Watching him, I can't figure out why.
Everybody keeps talking about him putting on some weight, but what will that do? Do u think that it will make him more aggressive? He doesn't do anything but fade away or take jump shots. He can't dribble worth crap and has no game instincts on the offensive end at all. If there is a two on one fast break with Eddie in it...he wont be able to do anything except catch the ball and shoot a J without taking any dribbles. I see no potential in this guy...i mean, where is his skillz that everyone talks about except on the defensive end? I just noticed something...OK, in the next game.....just count how many dribbles he takes....everybody remember to count the dribbles. It is sad that he doesnt even take more than one dribble per shot attempt when facing the basket.
Why are some people now bashing on Eddie when he is a key to our defense. He's only 20 and everyone is acting like he should be playing like an all-star. Give Eddie a break, he's just to eagered to be making good stats. Everything will fall into place, time is our answer.
The thing with Eddie that's frustrating to me is that he has ALL the physical tools to be immensely successful... thus the potential that most on this board see in him. He's 20, jumps out of the gym, intuitive defensive timing, has an amazingly tantalizing game once in a while, nice 3 pt stroke that comes and goes (seems to have taken a hiatus this year though). He is, in a word, a TEASE. Objectively speaking, he is also frustratingly inconsistent and as is evident from the decisions he makes in games, does not understand the offensive flow of the game worth a lick (on that note, neither does Mobes or KT). And the Sac Kings games has just magnified that fact. What do I mean here? Look, with these guys, itz often not a team game, they either contribute through an effective individual game or they become non factors in the team game. For instance, one does not need to get an assist to be effective, knowing how to throw a pass enabling a team mate sufficient space to make the assisting pass can be much more useful than trying to force an interior pass. These people do not seem to understand this. Now then, analyzing this, given that our aim to to develop this potential in a few years, the debate is whether this end game is best accomplished by benching Eddie (to let him learn at his own pace with less pressure) or playing him (thus throwing him into the deep end...sink or swim). Objectively, there are successful and unsuccessful examples of both strategies. Given our particular situation however, I am a firm proponent of benching him and putting someone more ready to contribute immediately, someone who has a greater understanding of the team concept (for God knows we have enough talented individual minded ppl within the team). This will have two advantages: firstly, it will allow Eddie to develop the areas he needs in the conducive environment of practice instead of the pressure cooker of games, because sometimes players tend to stick with inefficient tactics which seem to have occasional probability to succeed rather than develop skills they sorely need. (psychologically, it's difficult to develop in-season) Secondly, the team identity can then be better established with more team oriented players. Now, with our current strategy, the team takes the hit while developing players make the inevitable mistake.
I think it could be that Rudy is stressed over working as a team chemistry and forgetting to help develop the players individual working skills. Everyone is focused on helping Ming out and are forgetting to help out the other young players.
It wasn't just Chris. Elton Brand put the hurt on Griffin. And while I agree he's a diamond in the rough, what do we do while he is growing out of his awkward stage? If you're a power forward, you have to be able to deal with the likes of Karl Malone, and if these guys score 20-30 on 60-70% shooting and send Griffin into a nonproductive funk, what's the point in starting him?
The Rockets are not letting Griffin play his game. Because of Yao Ming downlow. Griffin plays better downlow, not outside the arc. Yes I agree, Nachbar has more experience then Griffin. Nachbar has been playing professional basketball, but in Europe, Griff just one year of college. To me just play Yao and Griffin downlow and Nachbar outside. Agree?????
That was exactly what I was trying to say with the post originally. He's not showing enough production, and getting schooled by other PF's. Don't start him. Bring him in for 15 minutes off the bench.
If you want to call players busts and failures becasue of some bad shooting, then you might as well call the Rockets a bust and a failure.
I'm not expecting him to be an all-star at 20. Nevertheless, I do have expectations of highly touted players being able to shoot some. The two most fundamental things in basketball are what???? Puting the ball in the hoop and stopping your man from doing it. He fails miserably on each of these.
