[chron]Rockets to see firsthand whether Griffin is real deal

my favorite nba player against my favorite team in the NBA...Rox, lets do it!

 

That won't happen to Chuck. Griffin's arms aren't long enough to reach to his ankles where Chuck will be.


On a more serious note, if Dwight wants to come to LA in a couple years.........he should be coming to the Clippers. Provided Griffin's knees haven't exploded three or four times by then.

 

I'm not sure if Griffin has the length to be an elite defender. His standing reach is only 8'9" which is 3 inches less than Amare and 6 inches less than Howard. This is why I have my concerns about him long term. Since he is relatively short length wise, he really needs all his athleticism to get his shot off and do all the amazing things he does. Here is list of standing reaches I stole from another forum.

Jarron Collins 8' 8"

Blake Griffin 8' 9"
Paul Millsap 8' 9.5"

Tyler Hansborogh 8' 10"
Lebron James 8' 10.25"
Josh Smith 8' 10.5"
Drew Gooden 8' 10.5"
Brandon Bass 8' 10.5"
Ronnie Turiaf 8' 10.5"
Chris Humphries 8' 10.5"
David Lee 8' 10.5"
Joakim Noah 8' 10.5"

Udonis Haslem 8' 11"
Jason Maxiell 8' 11"
Michael Beasley 8' 11"
Al Horford 8' 11"
Rudy Gay 8' 11.2" (crazy)
Chris Wilcox 8' 11.5"
Trevor Ariza 8' 11.5" (crazy)

Hakim Warrick 9' 0"
Tyrus Thomas 9' 0"
Amare Stoudemire 9' 0.5"
Carlos Boozer 9' 0.5"
David West 9' 0.5"
Aaron Gray 9' 0.5" (7 footer)

Nene Hilario 9' 1"
Chris Bosh 9' 1"
Charlie Villanueva 9' 1"
Ike Diogu 9' 1"
Kevin Lyde 9' 1.5" (from the RMR!)

Jason Collins 9' 2"
Tyson Chandler 9' 2"
Al Jefferson 9' 2"
Marcin Gortat 9' 2"
Elton Brand 9' 2"
Andrea Bargnani 9' 2"
LaMarcus Aldridge 9' 2"
Kevin Durrant 9' 2" (insane)
Chris Kaman 9' 2.5"
Emeka Okafor 9' 2.5"
Channing frye 9' 2.5"
Andrew Bogut 9' 2.5"

Eddy Curry 9' 3"
Darko Milicic 9' 3.5"
Dwight Howard 9' 3.5"

Curtis Borchardt 9' 4"
Greg Oden 9' 4"
Krylyo Fesonko 9' 4"

Hasheem Thabeet 9' 5"
DeSagana Diop 9' 5"
Brook Lopez 9' 5"
Shaquille O'neal 9' 5"
Brendan Haywood 9' 5.5"

 

May the Force be with you, Chuckwagon. But bring some band-aids.

 

Do you realize that Anthony Randolph is actually a few months younger than Griffin?

 

rockbox:

Good technique and footwork really can negate the lack of a superior standing reach. I don't know how many guys I played against that couldn't jump out of the gym, yet had superior court awareness and technique. Those guys could get theirs still.

An NBA example is Aguirre, Dantley, Mullin, Bird, Malone, etc. None of those guys had extraordinarily long standing reaches and it didn't matter because they understood something far more important: how to create space. Be it with a jab step, shoulder brush, or yo-yo dribble, they knew how to keep a defender off balance. Heck, Duncan didn't need his length to bait defenders to reach when he faced up from the FT line extended. Rather, he knew how to keep those guys off balanced and reaching.

Cassell is another example of someone with average reach but above average understanding of space and its importance. He would run right at defenders, or back them down, to the 15ft mark and implement the greatest ball fake known to mankind.

Point being, Griffin can easily overcome this percieved negative. If he understands how to dominate in space by keeping his defender off balance, he won't need the athleticism to dominate. Right now hes using it because he CAN. In time, he will use more and more technique. I say WILL because i saw him adjust his game in college. Teams started using zone d vs OU to keep him from the bucket. It took about one game for him to realize all he had to do was seal deep, jab step, then pull a J off glass. Once the d started biting, he faked, brushed by baseline, and crushed the rim...REPEATEDLY.

Don't bet against Blake.

 

What I do struggle with is finding a contemporary for Blake. I have not, in 36 years, seen his combination of physical skills at his position. Couple that with his work ethic, and you see why I have been SO high on his game.

 

Verse

I'm not saying he won't get those skills. Its just that he doesn't have them yet. He is dominating with pure athleticism at the moment. Who knows what the future will bring.

Don't get me wrong, I would trade our whole team for him. I'm just not appointing him the next Tim Duncan yet. Tim Duncan's game has never been based on pure athleticism. That why many found him boring. That's why even after the knee problems and aging, he is dominating the league again.

I'm just not sure how effective he will be when he can't jump through the roof.

 

Not really,but you shouldn't leave him open either. I could see him developing a respectable mid-range shot in the future.