Griffin feels pressure of Rockets' belief i …
今年1月的一篇舊文,不過還是貼上來跟各位版友分享~
那一陣子他表現不太好...
自己又想太多,給自己太大壓力,反而造成惡性循環
這篇文章有點長,不過喜歡Griffin的一定不可錯過呢~
我發現自己上一篇很多想法原來是出自於當初看了這篇文章之後XD
自己都沒發現到~
若有雷同 請勿見怪~
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/rox/1725430
Jan. 5, 2003, 10:35PM
BURDEN OF PROOF
Griffin feels pressure of Rockets' belief in his potential
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
So many thoughts filled Eddie Griffin it was a wonder, carrying that excess
weight, he could jump at all. In many ways, he has felt at times as if he
couldn't.
He considered the post moves -- all those drop steps and jump hooks -- he has
been studying in a practice crash course. There are simple two- and three-
dribble moves away from the 3-pointers he had been too willing to heave.
Most of all, there was his new status as the starting power forward for a team
in no mood to be patient, but in some ways, at least with him, now with no
choice.
"I've been thinking about it all too much," Griffin said. "I need to stop
thinking about it and just play my game. I think that's when I play my best
-- when I just play my game. I have to stop thinking."
Griffin began the season as the Rockets' starter at power forward, took a
stint on the bench, including a game in which he never saw the court at all,
and became a starter again after Kenny Thomas was traded Dec. 18.
The Rockets' decision to reduce the overcrowded power forward rotation to
Griffin and Maurice Taylor might have been, at least in the short term, a
gamble. But it also could be considered a calculated decision to give Griffin
an opportunity to grow, a statement about their faith in his potential and a
reason for Griffin to feel the pressure of new responsibility and expectations.
"I think it gave us both confidence," Griffin said. "They traded the starter,
so it's up to me and Mo to fill that spot."
The Rockets' long-term plan likely was not to have Griffin as the starter in
his second season. Taylor, however, is still working his way back from his
ruptured Achilles' of last season, and playing three power forwards had made
all three inconsistent.
So far, however, Griffin has struggled with his new duties. In his seven
starts since the trade, he is averaging 7.9 points and 5.6 rebounds, making
34.5 percent of his shots. Opposing starting power forwards, including
Minnesota's Kevin Garnett, whom Griffin will face again on Tuesday, have
averaged 17.9 points and 7.9 rebounds.
As much as facing Garnett can be an unusual burden, Griffin might as well get
used to such headaches. The Western Conference alone includes All-Stars Tim
Duncan, Chris Webber, Elton Brand, Rasheed Wallace, Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki
and Garnett. Pau Gasol was last season's Rookie of the Year, and Amare
Stoudemire is one of the top candidates to be Rookie of the Year this season.
"The West is so packed with good fours (power forwards), every night you know
it's going to be tough," Griffin said. "You know it's going to be a good fight.
I like that."
The Rockets do not expect Griffin to immediately take an All-Star spot at the
West's most loaded position. But if the trade itself did not make enough of a
statement of the confidence they have in Griffin's future, they will say it
again.
"The No. 1 thing was it was very hard for all three to play -- impossible,
I thought," coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "When I tried to play all three, I
think it hurt all three. The other thing is the other two guys, I think, are
very good players, too, but Eddie, he's our future.
"I think he's a long ways from a finished product. He's only 20. But I think
he can compete right now and help us right now. As the years go by, Eddie's
going to add so much to his game, and we're going to help him along with that."
There is much, Tomjanovich said, to add. As valuable as Griffin's 3-point range
is -- particularly if it draws a power forward-sized defender too far away to
double-team Yao Ming and offers a catch-and-shoot option for Yao and Steve
Francis -- Griffin tends to settle for long-range shots at the expense of
everything else.
The planned remedy is to give Griffin a greater variety of offensive options.
After catching the ball behind the 3-point arc, he has on occasion made quick
moves to better shots. He has taken a few turnaround jump shots, a staple of
his low-post offense in his one season at Seton Hall. But the idea is to add
much more to Griffin's inside game, forcing defenders to stay down on his
turnaround jump shot and making him less dependent on his touch from 24 feet
out.
"We're doing a lot of post-up stuff with him," Rockets assistant coach Larry
Smith said. "He's very skilled at it. He's very skilled in the box. We got
the drop-step stuff, the jump hooks. But we're trying to make him more
comfortable down there.
"The problem is getting the position, because he is not as physically strong
as most guys right now; he's a straight up-and-down player. He gets pushed
off the blocks easier. We've been working on that with him, and he's getting
better at it.
"We're also working on him facing up on guys. He has good moves on the low box.
Getting him more comfortable down there is the key. He's the kind of guy, as
he works more on it and uses it more in games, he'll be more willing to use it
more and more."
Said Griffin: "It's going good. He (Smith) is working on a lot of stuff,
big-man stuff, with me."
For now, Griffin's rebounding and especially his shot blocking (he has averaged
2.3 blocks since the trade as the Rockets have moved to second in the NBA in
that category) have allowed Tomjanovich to keep him on the floor enough to
contribute while learning.
Determined on Saturday to play with a relaxed confidence and energy, to use
those lessons to have a more well-rounded offensive game, Griffin got off to
a good start and got seven rebounds with four blocked shots. But he made just
three of 10 shots for six points and played just 19 minutes.
"When I start missing shots, it's taken me out of my game a little bit,"
Griffin said. "I start thinking a little bit."
There is too much to think about to avoid that trap completely. But that could
be what it means to be a 20-year-old mix of prodigy and prospect.
Still, the Rockets are no less convinced of the qualities that inspired them
to trade three first-round picks to the Nets to get Griffin after he was taken
seventh in the 2001 draft. He still has a rare knack for blocking shots, has
unusual shooting touch at 6-10 and, by all accounts, is eager to work and
learn.
He also seems to know how far he has to go. But when he allows himself to think
about it, Griffin shows no loss of confidence.
"I know I'm not up there yet," he said. "I'm just going to keep working, and
I know that eventually I will get there."
--
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