Offensively, Griffin looks worse with limited minutes and touches (down low), Kenny Thomas looks worse (if not starting) with limited minutes and touches (down low), Mo Taylor looks worse with limited minutes and touches (down low). Is this a problem?
You call 38% from a 6'10" PF some bad shooting? I call that attrocious. And yes, I do think offensively there are many failures on this team. Until people can hit the open jumper, this team isn't going anywhere. Hopefully that will start to change once Taylor finds his shot and either Boki or TMo can step it up. Until then, this team is an offensive failure.
Well, to give credit where it is due, he's handled Rasheed Wallace well. 2 of 13 one night, iirc. But Wallace is a finesse player, and both Webber and Brand can break you in two. So a lot of it could just be that he's not big enough and strong enough to handle a "power" power forward. Some of that could be countered if his shot were sweet, but his PSA (points scored per attempt) is: 128/(135 + 0.44*21) = 0.887; The NBA average is 1.02, by comparison.
i'm sorry, i think it is unfair to blame eddie for sucking (which i do admit he does nowadays). but, you have to look at the real problem....rudy t and developing rookies. let me begin here...did anyone watch the finals last year? we traded richard jefferson, jason collins, and some kid out of providence (i think that is where he was from) for eddie griffin. every rockets fan, including myself, loved that trade. but, you have to wonder...why was eddie griffin not getting his playing time/experience last year when we had an injury depleted team and a horrible record, yet richard jefferson and collins were playing significant minutes on the nets during the nba championships? it doesn't make sense. not only that, rudy allowed eddie to shoot threes last year, and didn't teach him that there is nothing wrong with going past the three point line. and now eddie is in "rudy's doghouse" for shooting too many threes...i blame it on rudy. granted, eddie should know not to depend on the three, but look at our garbage offense, look whose hands the balls are in the majority of the time, and remember eddie is only 19 years old. i believe eddie could still be a potential star, and the reason he isn't on the fast track is b/c rudy cannot develop young players...i hope this is not the case with yao.
<b>For those of you who are calling EG out, you guys will eat it next year</b>...remember that this year will just be his JR year in college...he's going to be stud on defense, you just wait and see... Our problem is the stupid boneheaded selfish play, period. I haven't seen Eddie do anything selfish this year yet...with our telent, just playing unselfishly will take us a long way...
Well...why I'm picking on Griffin is because I highly doubt that he'll ever shoot a decent percentage and that's not just based on his first year plus. He also did not shoot very well at Seaton Hall. But I completely agree with you. The team can't shoot! The team FG% is 43.9%. Now if you take out Yao's amazing FG% the team is is shooting 42.2%! Take out Yao and Francis and it drops to 41.4%. Over the course of a season, that will not yield a .500 team let alone a playoff contender. How long until Steve gets totally fed and and reverts to all of his old ISO ways? I pray that Rudy won't let that happen but some guys have to step it up and soon. This team misses entirely too many wide open looks. Who's gonna start hitting his shots and allow this new offense to properly develop?
persiandog--Eddie got plenty of minutes last season as a 19 year old rookie. He got more minutes than any of the other man childs when they were rookies. Actually, I think he may have gotten too much PT. Too much pressure placed on his fragile ego to produce. Let him sit on the bench and save his energy for shooting drills and weight lifting.
I was looking for old articles on Eddie, and I found this one that might calm down some of the Eddie critics. I'm trying to figure out why this kid was so highly-touted, and this article answered a lot of those questions. I was thoroughly hyped after reading it! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prospect Watch: Eddie Griffin By George Rodecker Special to SportsLine.com Jan. 2, 2001 Already the superlatives are piling up, already the runners who work for the agents are around his games. Eddie Griffin has the tools to become an NBA superstar.(AP) For a kid expected to go directly from high school to the NBA, Eddie Griffin is sure playing college basketball at an alarmingly high level. There is virtually nothing he cannot do during a basketball game other than possibly sell beer, because this already dominant kid is too young to handle alcohol, but skilled enough to handle competition. The current NCAA leaderboard shows him No. 18 in the country in scoring at 21.8 points per game, No. 1 in rebounding with 13.2 caroms per contest, and first in blocked shots with a mind-boggling 5.5 rejections per game. Eddie Griffin is one of the best players to come onto the college scene in the last 20 years. There are just so many superlatives to use that it's almost embarrassing. But let's begin by saying this. If Eddie Griffin plays a minimum of two years of college basketball he will very possibly be the first pick in the NBA draft. He will play NBA ball at a very high level, and he could potentially, in a 12-season NBA career, play in 10 All-Star games. He is simply that good! His game is one of grace and finesse mixed with explosiveness, all molded into one slightly framed body. His leaping ability defies description, and the many blocks he garners are as much a testament to his ability to get to the place a shot is being taken as it is to his super-elevating leaps. Several pro scouts thought Griffin would be an NBA draft pick playing this season in the pros and were surprised he enrolled in the quickly rising Seton Hall program. But they're thrilled he chose to play collegiate basketball and hone his skills. Griffin can handle the ball and take his man off the dribble. He can break down defenses, run the floor in remarkable time and end a break with either a ballet-type move or a thunderous finish. Through diligent effort on his part, Griffin's jumper seems to be expanding its range each game. The rebounding and shot-blocking prowess displays his defensive energies quite well. So why then are the scouts so happy he's still in school, you ask? Simply, Eddie Griffin is an outstanding pro prospect who needs every minute of the college experience he's getting. While all the skills are evident, the ability to play consistently at the highest level has yet to develop. And while Griffin is really quite good, he can become a great college player. Unlike Korleone Young, who unsuccessfully attempted to go straight to the NBA from high school, or Al Harrington, who has languished on the Indiana Pacer bench after bypassing college, Griffin can mold himself into an NBA-impact player. The college education he is currently getting on the hardwood is immense. The ability to grow up as a person, that Seton Hall affords, is grooming him for all the challenges he's face in his chosen field. A second collegiate season is the probable difference between goodness and greatness for Eddie Griffin.
Players can develop from the bench. They develop faster while playing. Hell, even look at Jermaine O'Neil. His second season as a starter was much more productive than his first, in which he was only serviceable. Is there really that much difference in a single year in a player that's been in the league that long? Probably not. It was the game experience that made the difference. Eddie needs bulk and a better shot. It's not like Mo nor KT are world-beaters anyway, so we don't lose *that* much when he gets significant minutes. I would probably play Mo more, at Eddie's expense... but he's definitely not a bust yet. Way, way too early to call him that. I still think he's going to be a star.
Thanks for the article DCkid. It's always interesting to go back and read these things a year or two later. I want to see that ball handling! If he can take his man off the dribble on the NBA level, it would make him ten times the offensive player he is now.
I remember reading that article. And I still think Eddie Griffin will be special, I just don't think he fits in well with the Rockets or something. Maybe he just needs time, if so then he sould just come off the bench. I remeber jumping for joy when he traded for him, because I thought he was going to be such a great player and thought he was going to be the best player on the Rockets team. Rudy is not using him right, because he is not a 3 point shooter. He needs to take it to the hoop and battle in the post. Sure he is skinny, but so is Keon Clark and he is not hanging around the 3 point line. I hope Eddie makes us all look like fools and breakout soon, maybe next season, but right now he looks lost on the court.
Is this the same George Rodecker who selected Joel Przybilla #4 in his mock draft? http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/ce/feature/0,1518,2459991_54,00.html I still have to reread this part: <i>Eddie Griffin is one of the best players to come onto the college scene in the last 20 years.</i> hmmm, I wonder if I'd be more convinced if he wrote that in ALL-CAPS with 3 exclamation points folowing.
I saw Griffin in the summer leagues two years ago and he was draining mid-range jumpers with regularity. Like the team, he started the season well, with more of an inside presence, then has regressed to last year's mindset. But then, the whole team seems to have done that. I don't understand this team, and understanding people is my business. The teams shooting problems confound me, none of them seem able to hit the jumper consistently. And free throws! Moochie is under 50% at the foul line!
HE'S FRIGGIN 20 YEARS OLD. 20!!!!!! HE CAN'T EVEN BUY A BEER YET, BUT EVERYONE THINKS HE SHOULD BE A 1ST TEAM ALL-STAR ALREADY. GIVE THE GUY A BREAK, IN A YEAR OR TWO, HE WILL BE BETTER THAN RICHARD JEFFERSON. MARK MY WORDS.
Eddie does have talents. And I still think that the Rockets did a good thing getting him last year. Be patient with the kid. He will bounce back.
heypartner- There aren't many college freshmen that have put up gaudier numbers than Griffin did in his freshman campaign.
well i dont think griffin is that bad. hes a good player and in the future he will be. he just needs to work harder and need more practice and he will be unstoppable.....well i dunno about unstoppable but he will be better than he is now. by the way does anyone notice that he looks sleepy all the time when they show him on tv?
He's 20 years young. 20. Give the kid a break. Who is dominating the NBA at the age of 20. I can only think of maybe Magic Johnson... and I think he was a little older. C'mon people... you call yourself a fan of the Rockets, then you bash one of our best "up and coming" players. Give him another season or two... he'll turn out ok.
