N/P Blake Griffin has range now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLkVx7lmbIc

That's kinda scary.

Let him fall in love with his inconsistent shot, the farther away form the basket, the better. Still not hitting FTs from what I can tell though.

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Originally Posted by Soundwave

That's kinda scary.

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He's almost a complete package for a big on offense. If that jumpshot proves to be consistent, the only thing he is lacking is high level free throw shooting.

That's disturbing.

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Originally Posted by Rafa Brazil

Let him fall in love with his inconsistent shot, the farther away form the basket, the better. Still not hitting FTs from what I can tell though.

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This.

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Originally Posted by Rafa Brazil

Let him fall in love with his inconsistent shot, the farther away form the basket, the better. Still not hitting FTs from what I can tell though.

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Meh. I mean I agree that he shouldn't turn his game into Larmarcus Aldrige's and I don't think he will. Honestly though, there's just not a whole lot to criticize on the offensive side of the ball with Blake. He's done what people always expect great players to do but what rarely actually happens - he's added something to his game every single year he's been in the league.

Even the free throw shooting you reference. He shot 74% post all-star break last season, which is pretty damn good. Certainly too good to make intentionally fouling him a legitimate strategy, which is really the most important thing for the team.

He started this last year. I'm all for bigs Jason Smithing.

**edit...I'm all for other bigs Smithing, not ours.

AD's ascension to best PF is gonna take a bit more time, by no means guaranteed

Welp there goes AD shine, Blake Griffin is here folks.... a preseason game has told us this. At least Davis got his ESPN segment,

Their window is different than ours, becoming Stockton/Malone 2.0 won't change where the Pelicans are headed.

They were saying the same thing this time last year lol and he still wasn't all that good coooome on over hyped over rated

Take that jumper all day, Griffin. Go ahead

BG and AD are shockingly similar in abilities on the court. The biggest difference being AD is a far better shot blocker and BG is a far better passer. Also AD is doing it at age 21 compared to 25.

It's the personality difference that makes me hate BG and like AD so much. No one likes a 6'10" cry baby who flops.

Everyone's laughing at Blake for working on his jumper, but aren't we the ones that want AD to develop more range?

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Originally Posted by Sovereign

Everyone's laughing at Blake for working on his jumper, but aren't we the ones that want AD to develop more range?

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Not me. I want him to finish around the basket.
If he falls in love with the jumper his efficiency goes down.

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Originally Posted by Sovereign

Everyone's laughing at Blake for working on his jumper, but aren't we the ones that want AD to develop more range?

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Personally I'd rather he stick around the basket more and use his jumper a little less. I'd like about 65-70% of his offense to come within 10ft. But it's the way the NBA is going for bigs so, meh.

It seems to me AD likes to start most games with a couple of long 2's...if he makes them, it creates more opportunity for him to attack the basket for the rest of the game as defenders will be right up on him. Then he uses that quick first step and BAM!!!

I've been a Blake fan for a while (I like Oklahoma sports teams) and I'm glad that he is becoming a more versatile player. People thought he would never ever learn how to shoot because in college he wasn't that great at it and always had dunking opportunities or created them. Hopefully this gives hope to Evans getting a reliable jump shot.

I can't wait to watch AD vs Blake. That will be a good matchup for sure.

How do you think AD will far against him (Be specific please):

Offensively:
- AD uses his speed to get a quick first step against his opponents when he catches it in the post. This might not work against Blake because Blake is very agile and quickness is similar to AD and has good defensive footwork.
- AD might be able to shoot over the top of Blake if given space but it will be contested.
- AD backing Griffin down is something that I will be very surprised at if AD is successful
- AD will still be able to use his length to get tip backs and offensive boards (pending where Jordan is of course)

Defensively:
- AD should not have a problem guarding against Blake's shot from the outside. He should be able to play pretty tight on him because he is just as quick and don't have to worry about being blown by.
- AD should be able to use his length to aggravate Blake on just about all of his shots
- AD will have to box out instead of ball watching which this whole team gets in trouble for at times. Blake comes flying through the lanes for slam backs. If AD isn't careful he may be on a poster
- AD will have to know when to get help in the post. Blake has good post moves and has more size and strength against AD.
- In the post AD often tries to back off of defenders just a little bit making sure not to give up too much ground and then spring up for a block. Blake is pretty good about shielding the ball when scoring in the post and drawing fouls. AD would have to be well aware of this in the 1st quarter to not end up in foul trouble the whole game.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

Personally I'd rather he stick around the basket more and use his jumper a little less. I'd like about 65-70% of his offense to come within 10ft. But it's the way the NBA is going for bigs so, meh.

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I agree. The further away from the basket the lower the percentage shot it is but for some reason, everybody wants to cross half court and start shooting. 3 on 1 fast breaks where they choose to shoot a 3 vs shooting a lay-up drives me nuts. As you say though, this is the direction bball is going in and everyone seems to love it. We're stuck with it.

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Originally Posted by Sovereign

Everyone's laughing at Blake for working on his jumper, but aren't we the ones that want AD to develop more range?

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I've been looking for him to display some sort of post moves since Kentucky, so I'd say no. He can shoot 15 ft jumpers, but the ones just inside the arc? Not no but hell no!

Holy crap batman

Taking the most inefficient shot in bball (long 2) and swishing the hell out of em.

bah gods

AD can be good at a jump shot and still finish around the basket. It's not one or the other.
Taking long twos isn't always bad. If Blake keeps people his defender close to him with his agility, ability to finish, and playmake he could be very scary. It's only one game but he looked pretty comfortable and his stroke looked better than in the past. Good for him. It'll make us beating them even sweeter.

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Originally Posted by Jabberwalker

AD can be good at a jump shot and still finish around the basket. It's not one or the other.
Taking long twos isn't always bad. If Blake keeps people his defender close to him with his agility, ability to finish, and playmake he could be very scary. It's only one game but he looked pretty comfortable and his stroke looked better than in the past. Good for him. It'll make us beating them even sweeter.

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It exactly is one or the other. You have a certain number of shots you take per game. The less he takes around the basket the more he takes from further out. I'm glad he can make them at a good % that makes him harder to guard but he's so efficient around the rim he needs to take more shots there not less, and his number decreased from year 1 to 2.

"Oh me. Oh my"

Griffin had a case for winning the MVP last year, although the right player won.

Dude keeps improving, even after all the haters claim he has peaked.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

It exactly is one or the other. You have a certain number of shots you take per game. The less he takes around the basket the more he takes from further out. I'm glad he can make them at a good % that makes him harder to guard but he's so efficient around the rim he needs to take more shots there not less, and his number decreased from year 1 to 2.

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You don't get 25 shots and get to pick where all the good ones come from. If you shoot all 25 from within 10 ft 15 of them could be bad. So then, why wouldn't you take 7-8 good midrange jumpers instead. I know this is an extreme example, but i wanted to get my point across. As I'm sure you know, the game of basketball is best played with space. And that's true as an individual and with teams. When you're hitting a 17 ft jumper it makes defenders come closer to you and makes getting the closer shots easier. Also factoring in how little wear and tear the midrange shot is, i'm happy with Ads rate esp considering he's not fully grown into his body and hasn't been the most durable player in the world. Also add in the fact that he's protecting the rim every play on D and going after rebounds and I'll take a little less wear and tear from the midrange game. I do agree he can't fall in love with it or 3 pointers though (if he extended his range there).

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Originally Posted by BallSoHard

You don't get 25 shots and get to pick where all the good ones come from. If you shoot all 25 from within 10 ft 15 of them could be bad. So then, why wouldn't you take 7-8 good midrange jumpers instead. I know this is an extreme example, but i wanted to get my point across. As I'm sure you know, the game of basketball is best played with space. And that's true as an individual and with teams. When you're hitting a 17 ft jumper it makes defenders come closer to you and makes getting the closer shots easier. Also factoring in how little wear and tear the midrange shot is, i'm happy with Ads rate esp considering he's not fully grown into his body and hasn't been the most durable player in the world. Also add in the fact that he's protecting the rim every play on D and going after rebounds and I'll take a little less wear and tear from the midrange game. I do agree he can't fall in love with it or 3 pointers though (if he extended his range there).

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You got no argument from me. I want him to be efficient and take some shots from mid range because it makes him that much more hard to guard. What I don't want is him to start opting to shoot jumpers every trip down instead of use his size to get to the Rim. He is ELITE at finishing within 3ft. I hate for that to be wasted by relying on the jumper too much.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

You got no argument from me. I want him to be efficient and take some shots from mid range because it makes him that much more hard to guard. What I don't want is him to start opting to shoot jumpers every trip down instead of use his size to get to the Rim. He is ELITE at finishing within 3ft. I hate for that to be wasted by relying on the jumper too much.

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I agree with this completely.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

It exactly is one or the other. You have a certain number of shots you take per game. The less he takes around the basket the more he takes from further out. I'm glad he can make them at a good % that makes him harder to guard but he's so efficient around the rim he needs to take more shots there not less, and his number decreased from year 1 to 2.

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Tyson Chandler finished the 2012(?) season with the highest FG% in the league. Should he have taken more shots? Probably not. Because he was taking smart shots his percentage was higher. He wasn't shooting. He was making putbacks and alleyoops. He was shooting high percentage shots. If he had shot more his FG% would have gone down. Davis can't just finish down low every time. In fact, if he proves he needs to be defended closer as a jump shooter, it opens up the floor for other players and with his physical talent he could then get by most defenders making him more difficult to defend. That's great for us. What would be bad is if he is taking jumpers when he could instead get to the rim. He's already has had a tendancy to do that from the elbow but we'll see if it increases now. Hopefully he takes smart shots and continues finishing at the rim. He doesn't have to choose to be a jump shooter OR to finish at the rim. He can be elite at both and make the right choice of when to go to which.

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Originally Posted by Jabberwalker

Tyson Chandler finished the 2012(?) season with the highest FG% in the league. Should he have taken more shots? Probably not. Because he was taking smart shots his percentage was higher. He wasn't shooting. He was making putbacks and alleyoops. He was shooting high percentage shots. If he had shot more his FG% would have gone down. Davis can't just finish down low every time. In fact, if he proves he needs to be defended closer as a jump shooter, it opens up the floor for other players and with his physical talent he could then get by most defenders making him more difficult to defend. That's great for us. What would be bad is if he is taking jumpers when he could instead get to the rim. He's already has had a tendancy to do that from the elbow but we'll see if it increases now. Hopefully he takes smart shots and continues finishing at the rim. He doesn't have to choose to be a jump shooter OR to finish at the rim. He can be elite at both and make the right choice of when to go to which.

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We are in agreement. But every time he has the ball has a choice. It quite literally is an either or scenario. We both hope he chooses right the large majority of the time.

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Originally Posted by BallSoHard

I agree with this completely.

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For me, it all comes back to the player's ability to judge a good shot. You don't want Griffin falling in love with his mid-range shot. He's most effective attacking and being that in the paint monster.

That said ... when it comes to the postseason, certain teams absolutely will expose a weakness like that. Look at Wade in Miami ... Popovich just drops guys off of him into the paint because he knows Wade doesn't want to take 3's/can't make them enough to hurt SAS. When it's the regular season and teams aren't building a scheme around your offense, being completely unable to shoot is less of an issue.

It's even less of an issue for a guy like Tyson Chandler because he's a center, and most teams aren't going to have a jumpshooter there. Griffin plays with Jordan ... that's two bigs never leaving the paint, two bigs who can keep Chris Paul from getting to the bucket. If Griffin can make his jumpers consistently, that's a big plus down the road, even if his shooting % dips a tad.