Posts Tagged ‘Blake Griffin’

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Griffin Grumbling Is Too Soon, Off Base

May 21, 2012  ·  9:02AM





HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – Before we let the Clippers slip away into the shadows of teams vanquished on the road to the Larry O’Brien trophy, we have to slather a little praise on the “other” team in Los Angeles for a season full of entertaining basketball, complete with enough Chris Paul and Blake Griffin highlights to last a couple of seasons.

We’d also like to back the critics off of Griffin and his game, which is a whopping 159 games old with this playoff run included. That’s right, Griffin is just two seasons of actual on-court time into his career that has been scrutinized incessantly since he burst onto the scene as dunking machine/pitchman last season.

I saw the Inside crew discussing Griffin’s game (Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaq and Ernie Johnson go at it above) and felt the instant analysis of his long-term prospects was a bit premature. Shaq and Ernie have it right that it’s far too soon to assume we’ve seen the very best Griffin will have to offer during his career.

(Andrew Bynum‘s been in the league for seven years and people are still talking about him being a young player … and this is supposed to be it for Griffin?)

This was Griffin’s first playoff rodeo folks. Why would anyone assume he’s reached his zenith, that he won’t continue to improve in the coming seasons?

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Posted in 2012 NBA Playoffs / Comments (59) /

Construction Not Finished In Lob City

May 21, 2012  ·  6:08AM





LOS ANGELES – Don’t come around Chris Paul’s front door trying to sell him a ladder. He’s not one of those who believe that progress has to come one level at a time.

The Clippers finished a season in which they won a playoff series for only the third time in franchise history, but that didn’t leave the All-Star point guard skipping out the door.

“We had a good season,” Paul said. “I think it’s a good sign for our team that there is no moral victory. It’s not like, ‘Oh, we made it to the playoffs, it’s all good and well.’ We feel like we should still have been playing.

“We are going to keep working. We are going to come back next seson ready to go. I have never been one of those people who believes you have to take stepping stones to get to the next level.”

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Posted in 2012 NBA Playoffs / Comments (55) /

No Wise Guy, Pop Shows His Wisdom

May 20, 2012  ·  2:07PM





LOS ANGELES – When somebody asked him to explain his reasoning for deliberately fouling Reggie Evans in the fourth quarter of Game 3 on Saturday, a puzzled look crossed the face of Gregg Popovich,

“Because he’s not a good free throw shooter,” said the Spurs’ coach.

When the chuckling in the room finally stopped, Popovich went on.

“Look, I’m not trying to be a wise guy,” he said. “I just don’t know what else to tell you. We weren’t going to foul Chris Paul. I’m sorry to be a wise guy, but I fouled him for a reason. It’s not pretty. Basically, it’s ugly, but it’s part of the game. My job is to win.”

Nobody can argue with the winning part. With four NBA titles already in his pocket, Popovich will push his Spurs for their 18th consecutive win and their second straight series sweep in the 2012 playoffs tonight when they try to close out the Clippers.

While this has certainly been the spring of Tim Duncan’s resurgence, Tony Parker’s blossoming and the continued frantic stylings of Manu Ginobili, Popovich has left nothing to chance. In addition to repeatedly sending an opponent to the foul line who treats free throws as if they were trying to shoot basketballs through the eye of a needle, Popovich was also thinking about his veteran players who have to return to the court today for a back-to-back. By playing Sledge-a-Reggie, Popovich was slowing down the game and giving the likes of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili a chance to ease up on the wear and tear.

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Clippers Can’t Finish, Are Finished

May 19, 2012  ·  6:40PM




LOS ANGELES – Chris Paul was running and dishing. Blake Griffin was jumping and slamming. Clipper Nation was screaming and believing.

The Spurs were just playing.

When the home team ran out to a brunch-time 40-16 lead and had the boys from San Antonio wearing huevos rancheros on their faces, some even began to wonder if head coach Gregg Popovich would pull his starters at halftime and save them for Part II of the back-to-back on Sunday.

If nothing else, it looked like the Clippers would finally earn a measure of respect in the series.

But that’s the problem. The Spurs make you earn everything. They don’t panic. They don’t roll over. They just keep coming.

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It’s down to respect for Lob City

May 18, 2012  ·  7:30PM





LOS ANGELES – Chris Paul has a sore groin and strained right hip. Blake Griffin has a left hip injury to go with his sprained right knee. Caron Butler has a fractured left hand.

If the Clippers get any more broken down, a tow truck might appear out of a Staples Center tunnel to haul them off the floor. That could happen anyway if they don’t somehow find a way to quickly put the drive back into their game.

The Clippers are being outworked, outplayed, outhustled and simply outclassed by a Spurs team that is sharper than a razor’s edge and has sliced its way to 16 consecutive wins.

It is no longer a question of whether L.A. can win this conference semifinal series, but if the Clippers can earn a measure of respect by winning just one game.

“No excuses,” says Paul.

Give the Clippers credit. At least they’re not whining like the Heat. At this time of the year everybody is bruised, battered and aching and being able to deal with injuries and persevere is as much a part of making a title run as making baskets.

Look at the Spurs, who lost one of their Big Three – Manu Ginobili – a week into the regular season with a broken hand that eventually forced him to miss 32 games. They soldiered on to tie Chicago for the best overall record in the league.

Now it’s the Clippers who have to do whatever it takes with two games on their home court in less than 36 hours to show they are more than just a “Lob City” slogan on the front of a T-shirt. Dinged up or not, Paul has to post a lot more than the 16 total points he scored in Games 1 and 2 and a lot less than the 18 turnovers. Hobbled or not, Griffin can’t have another game where he plays nearly 37 minute as he did in Game 2 and manages to bump into just one rebound. That’s how you lose by 17 points in one game and 16 in another.

“We’re not going into these next two games thinking, ‘Let’s try to keep it close,’ ” Griffin said. “There’s no moral victories and moral losses here.”

There is respect and that’s what’s left for the Clippers.

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Posted in 2012 NBA Playoffs / Comments (28) /

CP3: Bruised, Beaten & Burdened

May 18, 2012  ·  3:54AM





SAN ANTONIO – Another night, another beat-down for Chris Paul.

If the Lob City Clippers are going to get up off the floor to be even mildly competitive against the Spurs, first someone is going to have to sweep up the shattered pieces of their All-Star point guard.

In Game 2, Paul scored just 10 points and handed out only five assists. But more significant was his eight turnovers, the most in a game in his career.

“Just bad decisions,” Paul said. “I have to make better passes. They are shrinking the court and basically just packing it in.”

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Posted in 2012 NBA Playoffs / Comments (51) /

Blogtable: Spotlight On Blake Griffin

May 17, 2012  ·  10:51AM

Each week, we’ll ask our stable of scribes to weigh in on the three most important NBA topics of the day — and then give you a chance to step on the scale, too, in the comments below.

Blake Griffin has been a little banged up, but we’re going there anyway: He can dunk, sure, but is he ready for the postseason spotlight?

Steve Aschburner: I don’t see the full range of skills, moves, wiles and whatever else goes into postseason success. Blake Griffin at this stage is still a regular-season highlight reel and accident — or brouhaha — waiting to happen with his collisions above the hardwood. Both he and the Clippers are building toward something, but they haven’t arrived.

Fran Blinebury: When you jump over cars and become a national spokesman for a product, you are inviting the spotlight. That said, eight games into his playoff career, Griffin is a work in progress who needs to expand his game and his skill for the Clippers to become real contenders.

Scott Howard-Cooper: Of course. It’s all relative, though. Is he is the best power forward in the game? No. Is Griffin as good as he will be next season or the season after? No. But is he good enough to beat an opponent as good as the Spurs? Yes. He can step into the moment just fine. (more…)

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Posted in 2012 NBA Playoffs, Blogtable / Comments (40) /

Blake Griffin: Count Me In

May 14, 2012  ·  6:14PM





SAN ANTONIO – Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said Blake Griffin’s sprained left knee will make him a “game-time” decision before Tuesday night’s series opener against the Spurs.

But Griffin says that decision has already been made in his own mind.

“Yeah, no doubt. I’ll be playing tomorrow,” Griffin said following the Clippers’ practice on Monday afternoon.

“I’m not 100 (percent). It’s tough to say. Hopefully by tomorrow night, 75 to 80. Hopefully, more than that. But realistically, probably not much more than that.

“Playing Friday night and then Sunday at noon was less rest than I normally get and that might have made it a little worse. But my knee (structurally) hasn’t gotten worse. That’s the encouraging thing. It’s one of those things where it needs time and we don’t have much of that.”

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Posted in 2012 NBA Playoffs / Comments (8) /

Spurs: CP3, Shooters Give Clips A Shot

May 14, 2012  ·  12:58PM





SAN ANTONIO – So they meet again. A week after wrapping up their own spot in the conference semifinals, the Spurs finally know who their opponent will be.

Oh yes, they’re quite familiar with Chris Paul in the playoffs.

“He’s a future Hall of Famer,” said San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich.

“He’s one of those guys, you know he’s not going to give up,” said Manu Ginobili.

Back in 2008, Paul was a singular force who virtually willed the Hornets to extend a conference semifinal series against the Spurs to seven games. Now he has lit a fire under the traditionally-moribund Clippers, lifting them to only their second playoff series win since moving to the West Coast more than three decades ago. Paul led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds in the decisive Game 7 win over Memphis that sends L.A. immediately into the next round against the No. 1 seeded team in the West that is on a 14-game winning streak.

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Posted in 2012 NBA Playoffs / Comments (23) /

Spurs Ready For Spring Break To End

May 11, 2012  ·  1:26PM





They’re anxious in Denver, where the Nuggets still have one more bit of work to do to complete their leap into the history books as only the ninth team ever to overcome a 3-1 deficit in a playoff series.

They’re edgy and hopeful in Memphis, where the Grizzlies need a road win just to give themselves the opportunity to match the Nuggets’ feat themselves.

They’re restless and sweating in Los Angeles, where the Lakers have found themselves pushed to the edge and the Clippers are suddenly shuffling backwards with injuries to Chris Paul and Blake Griffin making them both game-time decisions in Game 6 tonight.

And they’re nervous in San Antonio.

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Posted in 2012 NBA Playoffs / Comments (16) /

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