One of the things said to me was, 'I don't want you to be afraid to go 0-for-15.' In other words, just have the mindset of a shooter. "I'm doing a lot of stuff at the elbow, a lot of shooting. "My workouts with Bob Thate and our coaches have been geared around figuring out how I'm going to be used this season. "To be honest, I'm more excited about this upcoming season than I've ever been," Griffin said. He's been traveling for a large chunk of the summer, both for business and vacation, but said he's been able to heal completely from an ankle injury that limited him in the Clippers' first-round playoff loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, and has worked on his face-up game. Griffin was in Los Angeles on Thursday and back at the Clippers' training facility attending a promotional event for Red Bull's midnight basketball tournament. "He's our guy, and he's good enough to do so." His voice carries a lot of weight, and I think our team will definitely go as Blake goes. "People may say he's a young guy, but he's been special in this league, he's been an All-Star. "Blake is one of those guys where his age has nothing to do with anything," Paul said in a phone interview with on Aug. Griffin's assists rose to 3.7 per game in 2012-13 from 3.2 in 2011-12, while his steals rose from 0.8 to 1.2 per game over the same period. Griffin made his third straight All-Star team last season, but his season averages in scoring (18.0) and rebounding (8.3) fell off slightly from his career averages (20.4 points, 10.4 rebounds), as he played nearly three fewer minutes per game during the regular season, at 32.5, in an attempt to stay healthier for the playoffs. Griffin, 24, has developed into one of the best power forwards in NBA during his first three seasons, but he has yet to advance past the second round of the playoffs. I'll be right there with him at the end of games, being the guy that he can always count on." "But in my mind, this is the year I need to step into that role and really help him shoulder that load. "He's been the guy who has closed out a lot of games late for us. " has a huge role on this team," Griffin said Thursday in an interview with. Not only did Griffin hear his teammate's words, he also agreed with them. If Chris Paul meant to challenge his teammate Blake Griffin when he said recently that the Los Angeles Clippers will "definitely go as Blake goes," it worked. Chris Paul’s questionable in his first meeting with Ricky Rubio.You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser Love and the Wolves host Griffin and the Clippers tonight on ESPN. How many of those guys, right now, are you taking over Blake Griffin to fit on the Clippers’ roster? Here are the NBA’s best power forwards: Love, Griffin, Aldridge, Dirk, Bosh, David Lee, Amare, Al Jefferson, Pau Gasol, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan. (Love is also playing for an extension, which he should get any day now.) Love is putting up monster numbers (25.2 ppg, 14.2 rpg) on a dreadful team, and with Michael Beasley hurt, it just means more shots for Love. He’s on pace to attempt 150 more three-pointers than he did last year (only making 36 percent of them, vs. And a minute later, after Shaq asks, “are you sure that’s the word you want to use?” Barkley recants his position (2:50): “Ok, I used the wrong word.” Then Kenny Smith went to work on Barkley the way Griffin goes to work on opponents in the low post. Then Shaq and Kenny Smith pressed Barkley to say what he said backstage, which was this: “Right now, is a little overrated.” Barkley said Griffin has to get better offensively ( only shooting 51 percent from the field). He turns 23 in March, so there’s still hope for his free throw shooting.īarkley, in the above video, said Kevin Love was the best power forward in the league. He’s 9th in scoring and fourth in rebounding (top 10 in offensive rebounds per game). So in his first year in the league – 12th in scoring, top five in rebounds per game, top 10 in offensive rebounds per game. Before we get into this Barkley/Smith/Shaq summit on Blake Griffin, a few basic stats out of the way:Īs a rookie: 22.5 ppg, 12.1 rpg.
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