Unstoppable in the Near Future? Blake Griffin

[AzStevenCal]

He's maybe the most interesting quantity the Clippers have had that I can remember. Do they build around him? Does he languish there but with a massive contract extension? Does he force his way out? Does he fall to the Clippers curse per Bill Simmons' column? It'll be interesting.

That's a VERY talented Clippers team even without Blake Griffin and I think Blake is already one of the 10 best players in the game. They WILL pass us this season and probably make the playoffs as long as Baron and Blake stay healthy.

Steve

 

[slinslin]

I'm an Amare fan but Blake Griffin is what we WANTED Amare to be, not what Amare was. Amare was an average rebounder, this guy is an incredible rebounder. And Stat could never handle the ball the way Blake does. Watching this kid play in college it was clear he was destined to be one of the best. Health is the only thing that will bring him down. Right now, he'd rival Durant as my favorite player to build around.

He's a perfect example of why we should be thrilled with a high pick even in a year where questions abound. Not too many people on this board thought highly of Griffin when he came out, IIRC.

Steve

No he is not. He is a similiar player but some things he does worse.

Griffin is one of the worst shot-blockers at the 4 and he is imo worse defensively. He is a better rebounder and passer however.

You are implying that Griffin is better than Amare RIGHT now which is just silly.

 

[slinslin]

Griffin by next year will be the best PF in the NBA. Once he works on his shooting a lil more, he'll be unstopable and will require double teams everytime.

IMO he's already got the 3rd most athleticism in the NBA behind LeBron and Howard.

I could name more athletic players (Josh Smith for instance).

Griffin is a great player but he won't be unstoppable and he will never be the best PF in the NBA unless he dramatically improves his defense.

I think it is worth noting that Blake Griffin is rather short with short arms. His standing reach is just 8'9 (Amare for comparison 9 1/2", Al Jefferson 9'2, Bosh 9'1, Kevin Love 8'10 etc)

Don't get me wrong Griffin is very good but extremely overhyped. Kevin Love is putting up as good or better numbers actually but neither means much as long as they don't translate to wins (talent is no excuse the Clippers have tons)

 

[slinslin]

Post-micro Griffin is more of a monster than was pre-micro Stoudemire. That is all.

Griffin did not have micro-fracture surgery.

And I think some people need to get on youtube and watch some Amare highlight reels.

Case of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_heuristic
The availability heuristic is a phenomenon (which can result in a cognitive bias) in which people predict the frequency of an event, or a proportion within a population, based on how easily an example can be brought to mind.

 

[AzStevenCal]

No he is not. He is a similiar player but some things he does worse.

Griffin is one of the worst shot-blockers at the 4 and he is imo worse defensively. He is a better rebounder and passer however.

You are implying that Griffin is better than Amare RIGHT now which is just silly.

Where exactly am I implying that? I think (and have stated many times on this board) that Amare is a top 5 player in the NBA. I think Blake is a better first year player than Amare and if he continues to improve the way young big men typically do, I think he'll pass Amare in 2 or 3 years. And Blake's not just a better rebounder, he's a MUCH better rebounder.

You never know for sure how players will develop but right now, I'd take Blake Griffin for his combination of current value and untapped potential over just about any other player. That statement is a bit of a gamble but even if he fails to improve, you still have a nearly unstoppable force at the four and nobody in their right mind would pass that up (right?).

Steve

 

[slinslin]

Where exactly am I implying that? I think (and have stated many times on this board) that Amare is a top 5 player in the NBA.

I'm an Amare fan but Blake Griffin is what we WANTED Amare to be, not what Amare was.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I could name more athletic players (Josh Smith for instance).

Griffin is a great player but he won't be unstoppable and he will never be the best PF in the NBA unless he dramatically improves his defense.

I think it is worth noting that Blake Griffin is rather short with short arms. His standing reach is just 8'9 (Amare for comparison 9 1/2", Al Jefferson 9'2, Bosh 9'1, Kevin Love 8'10 etc)

Don't get me wrong Griffin is very good but extremely overhyped. Kevin Love is putting up as good or better numbers actually but neither means much as long as they don't translate to wins (talent is no excuse the Clippers have tons)

Who are you watching. The Clippers ARE winning, now that they are mostly healthy. How would the Suns have started the season if they'd spent most of the first couple of months with the injuries the Clips had. I like Love a lot but you're knocking Blake for his defense while ignoring the fact that Love's is even worse.

The knock on Blake in college is that he wouldn't be able to get his shot and his rebounding numbers against NBA players because he was too small for his position. Those experts look to be about as right as you are. As for naming more athletic players, I noticed you named probably the most athletic player in the game and then stopped. Just how long of a list do you think you could come up with - 3? 4?, maybe 5 at the most? Whatever you come up with, it's hardly enough of a list to justify downgrading his worth.

Steve

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'm an Amare fan but Blake Griffin is what we WANTED Amare to be, not what Amare was.

Yes, he's the player we wanted Amare to be. We wanted Amare to be this player in his first couple of years. Amare was a one trick pony and from the opening day people railed about his rebounding numbers. And then, his rebounding numbers declined.

Amare learned to shoot from mid-range and finally developed the ability to at least occasionally go both left and right but he never became the greatest PF of all time. I thought he would and I now think Blake could become the greatest (or at least enter the conversation). I know, it's way too early to crown someone like that but looking at each of them you see the incredible potential they both had to dominate their position.

Steve

 

[Cheesebeef]

I could name more athletic players (Josh Smith for instance).

Griffin is a great player but he won't be unstoppable and he will never be the best PF in the NBA unless he dramatically improves his defense.

I think it is worth noting that Blake Griffin is rather short with short arms. His standing reach is just 8'9 (Amare for comparison 9 1/2", Al Jefferson 9'2, Bosh 9'1, Kevin Love 8'10 etc)

Don't get me wrong Griffin is very good but extremely overhyped. Kevin Love is putting up as good or better numbers actually but neither means much as long as they don't translate to wins (talent is no excuse the Clippers have tons)

extremely overhyped? the guy is coming off a full year off basketball due to injury yet is averaging 22 and 13, has had like 22 straight games of at least 20 and 10 and he's actually making a difference for the Clippers who since a rough start to the season are actually winning games and being talked about. i'd say he's more than meeting the hype and exceeding it. arguing otherwise is pretty foolish.

and you're comparing Griffin... a rookie... to Love, who's in his third year... not to mention the Wolves can't beat a high school team.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I would trade our entire roster for the Clippers entire roster right now.

Think about that.

 

[slinslin]

Guess you haven't visited a general NBA board in a while.

The Clips are 4th in the pacific that is not winning.

 

[slinslin]

I would trade our entire roster for the Clippers entire roster right now.

Think about that.

Most teams would do that.

DeAndre Jordan is good as well, I always wanted this guy in the draft and was furious we took Robin Lopez, although last year it looked like that was a good idea for a while.

DeAndre Jordan is exactly the type of athletic center that our team always needed.

Eric Bledsoe will also be a stud PG and Aminu looks pretty good as well, could be a Shawn Marion type SF.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I would trade our entire roster for the Clippers entire roster right now.

Think about that.

i would trade our entire roster just for Deandre Jordan right now. at least then we'd have at least ONE promising young player, much less a big man.

if Donald Sterling doesn't screw this up (and he almost CERTAINLY will), the Clippers could become a force of nature in a couple years. Gordon is a very good ball player, Griffin is a freak of nature and Jordan's going to develop into a very good C. If i were them, I'd use Kaman as a piece in a trade for something to strenghten the team... or just ride it out with him. You can never have too many big guys.

To be honest, if Melo wasn't so hell bent on getting out of the west, if I were him and I saw Gordon and Griffin, I'd jump on that band-waggon and see where it took me.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Guess you haven't visited a general NBA board in a while.

The Clips are 4th in the pacific that is not winning.

No, I just watch the games instead of relying on others for all my information. The Clippers are playing pretty good ball right now. Earlier, they were minus their point guard and their center and they struggled. Actually, they were horrible. I guess if you just look at their record you can turn your nose up at them but if you actually watched them play I suspect you'd be impressed.

Steve

 

[slinslin]

No, I just watch the games instead of relying on others for all my information. The Clippers are playing pretty good ball right now. Earlier, they were minus their point guard and their center and they struggled. Actually, they were horrible. I guess if you just look at their record you can turn your nose up at them but if you actually watched them play I suspect you'd be impressed.

Steve

What does that have to do with anything? Go to a general NBA board and you will see that Griffin is quickly becoming overrated that is all I am saying.

He is a good player but he is already overrated right now.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'm an Amare fan but Blake Griffin is what we WANTED Amare to be, not what Amare was.

Actually, I responded to this once but upon reflection, I see why you drew that conclusion. I unintentionally led you down that path. To be clear, I think Amare is still a better player than Blake but Griffin is better at this stage of their respective careers. Blake had the benefit of college so perhaps he was already further along in his development, time will tell.

Steve

 

[Cheesebeef]

Guess you haven't visited a general NBA board in a while.

The Clips are 4th in the pacific that is not winning.

looks ike you conveniently ignored where I said SINCE A ROUGH START TO THE SEASON (where the clips started 1-10) they've been winning ball game, which they have going 12-14 since then and for a team that was one of the worst in the league last year, that is winning, as is winning 8 of their last 11.

 

[Cheesebeef]

What does that have to do with anything? Go to a general NBA board and you will see that Griffin is quickly becoming overrated that is all I am saying.

He is a good player but he is already overrated right now.

how can you over-rate a rookie who's averaging 22 and 13?

 

[AzStevenCal]

I would trade our entire roster for the Clippers entire roster right now.

Think about that.

Actually, I think it's even worse than this. I've said this before but I'll say it again. I would trade our entire roster for the Clippers roster even if they didn't include Blake Griffin. And, I would trade our entire roster for JUST Blake Griffin.

Not that that says a whole lot. I think, just looking at rosters and draft situations, we may well have the worst or 2nd worst looking future. I think only Cleveland rivals us in this regard.

Steve

 

[Cheesebeef]

No, I just watch the games instead of relying on others for all my information. The Clippers are playing pretty good ball right now. Earlier, they were minus their point guard and their center and they struggled. Actually, they were horrible. I guess if you just look at their record you can turn your nose up at them but if you actually watched them play I suspect you'd be impressed.

Steve

but it's so much easier to ignore the facts (horrible start, tons of injuries, team turning itself around) and just say whatever you want!

 

[Chaplin]

looks ike you conveniently ignored where I said SINCE A ROUGH START TO THE SEASON (where the clips started 1-10) they've been winning ball game, which they have going 12-14 since then and for a team that was one of the worst in the league last year, that is winning, as is winning 8 of their last 11.

I was just going to say, he doesn't thinking winning 8 of their last 11 is winning?

I frequently try to figure out what his point is. He doesn't want us to think Griffin is good? Strange.

 

[AzStevenCal]

but it's so much easier to ignore the facts (horrible start, tons of injuries, team turning itself around) and just say whatever you want!

Yep. Why let a little thing like the facts get in the way of an uninformed opinion.

Steve

 

[slinslin]

how can you over-rate a rookie who's averaging 22 and 13?

-Best PF in the league
-MVP candidate
-myths of 40"+ vertical (measured 35,5 same as Amare)
-myth of being 6'10 260 (puhlease)
-best athlete in the NBA (no.. Lebron, Josh Smith, Tyrus Thomas and some more are more athletic)

Just a few things I have read since yesterday.

 

[JCSunsfan]

What does that have to do with anything? Go to a general NBA board and you will see that Griffin is quickly becoming overrated that is all I am saying.

He is a good player but he is already overrated right now.

Whenever I watch him, I am constantly saying "Wow, I wish we had that guy." I cannot imagine how he is overrated. If he was playing for any other team he would be the focus of the league right now.

 

[Chaplin]

-Best PF in the league
-MVP candidate
-myths of 40"+ vertical (measured 35,5 same as Amare)
-myth of being 6'10 260 (puhlease)
-best athlete in the NBA (no.. Lebron, Josh Smith, Tyrus Thomas and some more are more athletic)

Just a few things I have read since yesterday.

Where did you hear he's an MVP candidate? Right now, he isn't, but if the Clippers keep winning with the rate they are winning right now, he will be in the conversation, whether you like it or not.

He WILL win Rookie-of-the-Year though. You can book that right now.