http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-nets-griffin&prov=ap&type=lgns EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- Troubled forward Eddie Griffin practiced for the first time Thursday with his new team, the New Jersey Nets. The 21-year-old free agent, who signed earlier in the day, appeared rusty and out of shape. But he expected that. ``It's going to take me a little while to get into shape, because I hadn't been doing anything for a couple of months,'' he said. ``But I'm happy to be here in New Jersey. I knew that they had a good bunch of guys and they made me feel welcome right away.'' The 6-foot-10 Griffin was originally selected by the Nets with the seventh pick in the 2001 draft, but was traded to Houston for the draft rights to Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong. He averaged 8.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.63 blocks over his first two seasons. But Griffin ran into legal problems in Houston. He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in November, after a woman claiming to be Griffin's girlfriend accused him of punching her in the face three times and shooting a pistol at her car as she drove away. Griffin faces arraignment on those charges next week. He also faces a mar1juana possession charge in a separate case. Because of his legal woes and missed practices, as well as missing a team flight to Sacramento, the Rockets suspended Griffin, then waived him Dec. 19, after he checked into a Houston hospital for treatment of undisclosed problems. The Nets were among several teams willing to give the former Seton Hall product a second chance. His familiarity with New Jersey was one of the reasons he accepted the Nets' offer of approximately $450,000 for the remainder of the season. ``They always showed they had interest in me,'' Griffin said. ``I'm familiar with the New Jersey area. I have friends here from my days at Seton Hall, some of my teammates, my friends, my AAU coach, people who are close to me who are going to be a good support system for me.'' The Nets are taking a serious approach toward handling Griffin. They've hired a personal assistant to make living arrangements for him, as well as instituting a curfew in which he has to be in his hotel room or at home after 6 p.m. ``Right now, basketball is the least of his worries,'' head coach Byron Scott said. ``He has to take care of things on the court and off the court, but we want him to feel a connection that this team is behind him. ``We're all trying to take him under our wings and be an important part of his life. This is a young kid who can help us, but we have to help him first.'' The players also are making an effort to help Griffin. ``We tried to make him feel welcomed, treat him like he's been here all the time,'' said forward Kenyon Martin, who will begin serving a two-game suspension Friday for his involvement in a fight with Corey Maggette of the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. ``He seemed relaxed. I hope we made him feel comfortable. The kid can play. He's going to help us.'' Scott said there was no timetable Griffin suiting up. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have one question..... How is this possible? I thought he had a curfew in Houston which wouldn't allow him to play away games.
Read a while back on some NJ sites, that they felt they could get the curfew changed and the restrictions on him not to leave Houston also changed with the Judge once he was given employment, which obviously the Nets have done. After reading that back then i appears the curfew and other restrictions placed on him by the court weren't the main reason why the rockets cut him.
because JVG was probably an ass. If Rudy were her I can gaurantee Eddie would be starting right now. Its comments like these that make people wanted ``Right now, basketball is the least of his worries,'' head coach Byron Scott said. ``He has to take care of things on the court and off the court, but we want him to feel a connection that this team is behind him.
They say there is a once degree difference between love and hate (think about it...it's true)... I hate the Rockets by three degrees! I despise how they handled this situation with Eddie. No need to flame me, I realize I'm in the minority here and that there is a VERY vocal group who are glad that he is gone. I have even considered that I could be in the wrong... Good Luck EDDIE!!! oh well, CD took the easy way out! If he keeps Griffin and he doesn't develop, that's on CD's head as a bad move. CD cut him with reason, but it was the easy way out, since he has now washed his hands of EG without much of a mark. CD's slate is clean and he is (self) justified in his actions. If Eddie's ever on an All-Star (not a prison All-Star) team, CD can say, "what a shame he did that to himself, I had to cut him, I had no choice, you believe me right?.....right?...." I for one, will say then (it will be a lot easier then), if God gives me the opportunity - Uh, no, Carrol, you did not have to cut him.
Yeah. Lets see what they say about him after EG no call/no shows them a few games. Griffin was really wrong in what he did to the Rox. You can't keep giving a guy chance after chance when he's walking all over you. This is EG's character, its always been like that, its just a matter of time until NJ figures this out. The dude's a loser, plain and simple.
Hey Rodman was a pain in the ass. Guess what he ended up being one of the best defensive PF's and undoubtadly the best on the boards. Its not how well you act off the court its how well you perform on it. I will say that having someone with bad character can and most likely will affect the play of the team. The kid was just 21. Just think about it. He was going through some family problems and the team didnt help him solve it so he took care of it himself. albeit the wrong way. he took the easy way out.
Dunno why the Rockets are catching so much heat for what they did. Eddie had 3 big screw-ups in a very short period of time. Last season he had that drug bust, then he skipped road trips and practices, then the aggrivated assault. That's 3 strikes in 6 months. Not to mention that he has had some troubles before he was even drafted. I'm not sure, I think he got kicked out of his high school, and he got in a fist fight with a teammate at college. This guy is a trouble maker with a questionable attitude.
I'm disappointed with what the Rockets in giving up so much for Eddie. However I don't think it's the Rockets organization's fault for Eddie leaving. They gave him chances, but he blew it. The Rockets did the right thing in letting him go. It's good that the Rockets took a stand. Of course it's tough since we lost so much...
Despite Eddie's problems I still feel we gave up too early on him. I dont think he ever was a destraction and I dont think we have anything to lose and much to gain by seeing if he can contribute down the road.
what rocketstrike just said. Maybe the organization could have gone a different way about it. They could possibly have been more proactive about getting him help (although I have no idea whether they did or didn't) and they could have chosen not to give up on him so soon. But the blame begins and ends with Eddie. Eddie chose to hang out with the wrong crowd, got busted for pot, and was inexcusably irresponsible. I understand he was depressed and had problems. But it's not the organization's fault that he had them or their responsibiltity to fix his life for him.
I couldn't agree more. Unless he pulls a Kelvin Cato the Nets are gonna be screwed out of 450k. He's a waste.
It's heartwrenching to see the organization lose out so much over the Griffin trade, but I still wish him the best of luck.
Really? I'd like to see the numbers he could put up if he was behind bars. I see you're all for having felons on the team...good for you.
After what our organization has had to endure with EG's tactics on and off the floor, I hope the worst for him and the NETs. They are officially the most hated team behind Lakers and Spurs IMO.
If I pulled Eddie's stunts at my job, I'd have been fired even quicker, and I don't even make millions. It's fine that Eddie gets another chance; I'm sure I'd find another job if I was fired, too. But all the therapy clinics in the world aren't gonna fix his flat-ass outside shot. I'll believe the Nets got a steal when I see it, i.e. never.
Some people are willing to separate morality from performance others are not. I don't know what you do for a living, but how would you feel working with an obviously bad person, even if that does not effect his job performance. For example... "Well he may molest little children, but man he sure wraps those hamburgers with style.", is something you are not going to hear in real life. Sports is one of the few places where people can get away with that crap.
