Is it just me, or is it that Griffin just hasn't been looking that great as of late. Over the last few games, his shooting and defense seem to have gone south. I hope he hasn't hit a rookie wall or something.
I think he has to learn how to play with KT. When he was doing great KT was not in the lineup. They just need to get some chemistry together. DD
Give the dude a break, every player goes through stretches of bad shooting nights. He'll snap out of it soon, no doubt in my mind. Once KT and him learn to coincide with each other, we will have a front court to be reckoned with.
Looking at his stats, you are correct Dakota, but I cant figure it out. Why would his playing alongside Kenny decrease his output?
playing alongside kenny makes him the 4th option so he just doesn't get as many touches. he played well in the charlotte game though. also he's 19.
Tell you what--dude needs to stop all that scissor kick action whenever he takes a dribble in and shoots that leaning jumper. Any of you guys notice that?
Griffin would be the last Rocket I would be concerned about. He's already an all-star . He's already contributing a great deal to the Rockets' franchise and he's only a rookie. Rudy ought to encourage passing between Kenny Thomas and Griffin. I'd worry more about Mobley and Norris' passing or decision making.
The problem with EG lately is the law of averages. In this offense, he is almost exclusively a jump shooter . The whole offense is basically a bunch of jump shooters, with KT posting up some and Cato getting a few lobs each game. No jump shooter in the NBA has ever maintained the pace that Eddie did for awhile. He's not going to go 6 for 10 every night, mainly taking 3-pointers. Last night, I noticed him post up his man and call for the ball. TLD (the little dribbler) just ignored him, dribbled for awhile, then passed the ball to Steve who took a jumper just inside the 3-point line. The ball went in, but that's beside the point. If Griffin's jumper isn't falling, the Rockets should be trying to get him some looks down low. We barely won the game against one of the worst teams in the league. Golden State has won only one road game this year. We had to go to overtime to beat them. Why? Jumpers weren't falling. Rockets were 4-16 last night from 3-point range.
He's had a few good games and he's shown us what he can do, but he's still a rookie and lacks the experience of veteran players. I agree that he's too much of a jump shot person, he's pretty tall. I say give it to him inside and see what he can do with it. Hopefully he'll raise his stats a bit in the games to come.
I would hope that our guards would be smart enough to realize that if a big man posts up even if he can't score, it would help them in the end. Just a threat at all would help. I think EG is young and will develop an inside game with muscle.I also believe that KT is a ***hole to him in so many words. He probably treats him like any one of us would treat the guy who should be taking our job. They probably guard each other in practice and EG probably blocks his shots.He may be scoring well lately, but the future is EG.He knows it. Hey KT this is a team game!Remember that pass you gave Cato last night? It felt good right!Eddie could be there next time.Give the rook a break.Just be happy you don't have to play against him. I saw that guard out jump you for that rebound last night.
Sorry to burst your bubble of ranting rampage Dave, but KT did pass to Griff a couple of times last night.
Yeah, I don't understand this fascination of some posters that KT refuses to pass to Griffin. At first, it did seem that KT was hesitant, but lately (especially after both have been starting), KT has been passing fine. I don't think that anything is wrong with Griffin that might not go wrong with any other rookie. He seems to be hitting the wall, he is in a bit of a slump. It happens to the best of players, and he will work his way out of it.
You posted exactly what I was thinking. When Eddie's jumper isn't falling, he becomes a none factor. I wish the Rockets would use him more in the post. I believe he has a solid turnaround jumper down low. It is frustrating to see EG's teamates wave him off down low and opt for a tougher shot. Fortson was guarding EG a lot and I know with EG's height he would have had a good look over Fortson for his turnaround jumper in the post. The Rockets were fortunate to win last night. Folks, it's not going to get any better until there is a new system implemented.
This actually has more to do with Griffin not doing as well as before. I noticed many times yesterday that Griff would be wide open and Mobley or Mooch would just ignore him and usually make a bad decision (like Mobley jacking up a wild shot many times). Griffin is not in a slump, he just needs some shots so he can stay in a rhythm. He was cautious at first not c They don't even look for him when he's running down the court. As for KT allegedly not passing the ball to Griff, I don't see it. He made a great pass to Cato in the lane in OT and if he can pass to Cato he can pass to anybody!!!!!
The basic problems: Griffin is 19. He still needs to add muscle. He has been playin a lot of minutes all of a sudden which is no doubt wearing on him - i.e. the rookie wall. Defenses have adjusted to him. The combination of these things is having an effect. He'll get better.
it is getting comical I was wondering when someone would find a way to blame KT for this. . . . BTW was KT on the grassy knoll too? Rocket River
I would not worry about EG....he's played phenominally well this year....he's going to have bad games from time to time....he's only 19. Can anyone confirm his true height? Is it true he grew two inches to 6'11" or is 6'10" more accurate?
I agree with Jeff on many of his points. I still do not think defenses have adjusted to him because he still gets a lot of open looks. Did we all forget, he quietly had 16/9 at Charlotte last week. The other point is that they do need to work the ball to him in the post. He has shown a nice turnaround bank shot (similar to Garnett). I saw him get waived off three times when he had a mismatch in the post by the Stevie and mad dribbler...luckily we hit a three on one, but threw away the ball twice on the others. The meshing with KT is there too. All-in-all...he is way ahead of the curve and having a little shooting slump like KT, Mobes, Stevie and Torres had....
