Doubt it, all he does is is jump :grin: I'm surprised that he blocks very few shots for his height and vertical athleticism though...he needs to work on that part of his game.
Love to watch Griffin do his thing, but the dude better take care of his knees if he wants a long career comparable to Duncan's.
I doubt it. Duncan came in and the Spurs won 56 games right away, I can’t say he did it alone but he outplayed David Robinson, right from the get-go he was their best player. His numbers would have been be better than Griffin’s without having to play alongside a dominant center and/or if he was on a lottery team. Duncan's rookie season was like watching an 8 year veteran hit his prime.
Everyone keeps saying this guy is injury prone. Has he sat out a game since the surgery was done on his kneecap? I mean, sure the guy sat out all of last year, but I don't think he is prone to injury. He's done about 244836 alley-oops and dunks for the Clippers, gives 110% on every possession, and nothing has happened. Not even an expression of wincing in pain, or anything like that.
And let the curse continue... Griffin will be out of the league soon, and people will refer to him as Stromile Swift Part II...
Apparently, Robinson barely got the ball also. Duncan took 1 more shot, and Robinson took 3 more free throws. Duncan took 15.7 shots a game and 5.9 free throws. Robinson took 14.6 shots a game and 9.0 free throws.
He has very short arms, which makes it hard to get clean swipe without fouling. For example, Griffin is 4" taller than Chuck, but has only a 0.5" longer standing reach. Most 6'10" NBA players have a standing reach of 8'11" to 9'1". Blake Griffin 8'9" standing reach. Chuck Hayes 8.8.5" standing reach.
Interesting point about Griffin's standing reach, but I think it doesn't explain all. I think, athletically, that Griffin is similar to Josh Smith who is an excellent shot blocker. It turns out that Josh Smith is 6'9" and 240lb with an 8'10.5" standing reach. Griffin is listed 6'10", 251lb and - as mentioned - has an 8'9" standing reach. However, another big athletic PF is Taj Gibson, 6'9" and 225lb. He doesn't play a ton of minutes but blocks a lot of shots. He has a 9'1" standing reach! Maybe there is another explanation, but it seems like Griffin should still be getting more blocks than he is.
Shotblocking isn't indicative of good defense. For instance, Rodman was a terrible shotblocker. That said, at this point in time Griffin is a bad defender. He seems like a very intelligent player though and I'd expect him to improve in that area in the next few years.
Duncan was a far superior player as a rookie, don't let the stats fool you. He was a defensive anchor on a great team, Griffin is nowhere close to that. I also kind of agree with Phil Jackson that Griffin isn't really a rookie. It's kind of like how redshirt freshmen have advantages over true freshmen even though they didn't play a game their first season. Griffin's a redshirt rookie, let's call it.
I don't care what anyone says, Griffin is a 2nd yr player. His real rookie year: he watched tape, learned from his peers and coaches, upper body weight training from a NBA staff, learned the LAC offense which usually takes rookies a long time to perfect, etc...
tim duncan is mr fundamental, griffin is mr athleticism and as much as he is fun to watch as he gets older he is gona lose that(Kobe), making him another average player he needs to work on his all around game
