How would you compare Blake to Love/Aldridge?

[Leor_77]

Curious what you guys think about this. I think that you would be lucky to have any of these guys on your team, and that they are completely different players. Part of why I'm analyzing these players is because I think it's pretty annoying when people with no knowledge of basketball say that Griffin is overrated and that he's only a great dunker and a very athletic dunker. It's really amazing how prevalent this thought is out there.

To me, Kevin Love slightly benefits from playing on a team not quite as good as the Blazers or the Clippers. He is no doubt a beast on the boards (easily best out of the three in this category), but you could argue that his rebounds and points are slightly increased because of more shot opportunities and less elite rebounders. He also has the worse FG % out of the three, although part of that (not all of it) has to be due to the fact that he takes three's. He's not a great defender and has some issues with creating his own shot and playmaking.

Blake is a freak, and we all know this. He has the best FG % out of the three. He drives to the basket like a bull, and uses his strength to finish at an elite level. IMO, he is the best finisher at the basket out of the three, by far...He is there with Lebron as far as finishing next to the basket. He has some nice post-moves, can face up, has the best ball-handling skills of the three, and can push the ball and play-make for others, although he is not quite as good getting his own shot this year, just for the fact that he's more reliant on CP3 to create opportunities for him. He is not a great defender, although his blocking and weak-side help defense have improved this year.

Aldridge, IMO, is the best out of the three at this current moment (not by too much). He is more of a traditional "back to the basket" PF. He has an excellent jumpshot, as well as a very good FT%. He is the best defender out of the three, and I think his length helps him out a lot in that area. He doesn't have the benefit of a Rubio/CP3 to get him opportunities - He seems to be able to get them on his own by posting up/facing up/shooting his jump shot. He also seems to be leading his team more so than the other two at this current moment. I would rather choose Griffin as the best out of the three just because I'm a fan, but the reasonable, objective basketball analyst in me chooses LMA by a small margin, at this time.

[WinningCuresAll]

Dope topic.

As much as I love Blake I cannot lie. Personally I actually like Love and Aldridge more than Griffin as of right now.

Blake is freakishly athletic no doubt, yet I see more holes in his game out of the 3 players. Dude is improving this year on D and thank god he now knows its important to find a rhythm before shooting his free throws. IMO Blake just needs to feel more comfortable especially with his jump shot. There's a lot to improve. I'm just glad he has guys like CP3 and Kenyon Martin to help him.

I love Kevin Loves game. Straight up. I think he has the best game out of the 3. If only he had Aldridge defensive game. Dude's a beast.

Gotta give it up to Aldridge. Dude's a straight up all star. Old school and fundamentally sound. A young Tim Duncan IMO. If he had Blakes athleticism and Love's knack for the ball, damn this dude would be just nasty. One thing I really like about Aldridge is that he's a leader. He's definitely taken that role and has ran with it as soon as Roy left.

So for me, I'd have to go with Love 1st Aldrige 2nd and Griffin 3rd as of today. All 3 have years to improve their game. The future looks bright if it isn't already. Big ups to all 3.

[jflipclip]

I think it was Hubie Brown or Mike Smith that made the analogy that Blake Griffin is like a defensive end in football. Blake Griffin is very quick for his size, especially in the post and can go unnoticed like the moves defensive ends make against an Oline. He is able to use his quickness to go around defenders-- his go-to-move, the spin move, and is also able to use his quickness to react after his defender jumps on a fake-- recently he's been doing this triple threat move by pump faking a hook, fade, then stepping through (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90RX0R2FPIo). Very explosive, very quick, making him effective in the post. Not to mention he can use his strength and athleticism to get the ball over the defender, if need be (see Perkins, lol. but he also does this w/o dunking). Defensively, he's not there yet. He doesn't have the length to harass players so they aren't as threatened by him and he also doesn't force his opponent into bad positions. He is becoming a better weak-side defender. Also, it's kinda hard to rate his defense since sometimes our defensive rotations just look terrible. He's a pretty good at rebounding as he has the bunnies to leap for almost every rebound, on offense and on defense.

I'll write about Love and Aldridge later but I think what I posted so far pretty much answers this misconception you had in the OP:

I think it's pretty annoying when people with no knowledge of basketball say that Griffin is overrated and that he's only a great dunker and a very athletic dunker.

[LOJ]

Not even 30% of Blake's FG's come from dunks. He is slowly improving on both ends of the floor, it's funny when I read crap on the GB like Love being better than Blake. A better rebounder? Maybe. But Love doesn't get called out enough on how awful he is defensively, and we're all seeing he plays a bit dirty as well. When Aldridge's mid range shot isn't falling he becomes very inefficient. He is also a very average/bad rebounder. The one thing I will give Aldridge credit is that on the defensive end he's seemed to improve a bit, but so has Blake. Blakes post game is already better than both of these players, and he has only begun to scrape at it. 2nd year player, 2 time allstar, and ROY. Let the haters hate all they want, Blake has higher upside than both of these guys, and is definitely better than Mr. Stomp.

With that said Aldridge has the slight edge here.

[wizardg]

Great thread. This is why I came to Realgm to get more understanding of the game by sharing ideas.


I'm a Spurs fan. I rank them Griffin, Aldridge, Love.
I haven't seen that much of Aldridge this year. I have watch Love a few times and chopped up his numbers.
I've watched a lot of BG. So here's make unbalanced take. I became a BG fan of his not because of the dunks but because of the other stuff.
1. Has a great handle for a PF
2. Avg'd 4 assists as a rookie PF which is borderline sick. who else has done that?
3. hit his first 6 threes last year.
4. made quantum leaps each month.

Here's the crux of why I have BG first and Love last and it reminds me of the old Duncan Dirk comparision.
Scoring points down low makes your teammates better. I'm watching the Clips on DVR and as if to prove my point KMart gets two putback dunks LARGELY because when BG goes to work downlow the other team collapses on him. Kmart flies untouched.

Conversely a PF shooting threes doesn't make your teammates better. Actually it takes away from your guards games unless you have 2 Tyreke's who need to go to the hole all the time. PF's shooting threes actually makes the game harder for the guards.

In my rough unscientific estimate 20 low post points equal 30 perimeter points.

Aldridge posts up but he is sometimes low sometimes high post. Aldridge is the most efficient scorer to me but I'm not crazy about his defense and def not his rebounding.

As already stated love is a horrible defender except that he's a great defensive rebounder. Love has also turned into a reat P/R player and good garbage player.

BG is a good defender getting better. I'd say average but what he gives that the other two don't is a great switch out defender. He's athletic enuf to guard SFs and 2Gs in a swith.
IMO Blake is struggling downlow this year. teeams have figured him out to a degree he gets more douples and sags. He and CP are still learning eah other. But in spite of that he's doing ok. He's got to get his FT numbers up.

[TheNewEra]

great topic

[Icestorm959]

Aldridge has developed into a legit franchise player who you can build an entire team around, so I'd put him significantly ahead of the other two. Love may be statistically better than Griffin right now, but I reckon Griffin has the upside to be better than Love, as he plays a more team-oriented game, with better energy on defense. He needs to knock down that mid range jumper in order to over-take Kevin Love though.

[RiversideClips]

As a Clipper Guy, I want to side w/ Blake, but the reality is Aldtidge is LEGIT. All 3 players are the future of the game. I see Blake winning more rings, but Alridge being a better All Round player.
The NBA is LUCKY to have 3 Amazing, Hard Working, Young Power Forwards, they all make their teams better!

[Chronz]

Isolation Sets:

Code: Select all

        -  FG%  -  Usage  -  PPP
Blake   : 42.1% - 72Plays -  .72
Aldridge:  25.9% - 29Plays -  .55
Love    : 42.5% - 44Plays -  .95


Blake has been immensely turnover prone this year, hes turning the ball over on 12.5% of his Iso attempts, for this reason Love has actually been better. If Blake can keep the ball from rolling off his feet/hands he could shine here.
Aldridge doesnt play Iso, hes been playing more of a traditional bigman role ever since Roy went down.


PnR Sets:

Code: Select all

        -  FG%  -  Usage   -  PPP
Blake   : 50.6% - 100Plays -  .96
Aldridge: 50%  - 125Plays - 1.0
Love    : 45.7% - 91Plays -  1.11


Everyone here is a stud in PnR, Love has the lowest FG% but hes actually the most efficient in these sets. Still because of his limited athleticism and Blakes limited range, LMA is the best in the PnR, hes kind of like a cross between the 2 so no matter how teams play him, he has an efficient go to counter.

Post-Up Sets:

Code: Select all

        -  FG%  -  Usage  -  PPP
Blake   : 46.5% -188Plays -  .83
Aldridge:  49.3% -265Plays -  .94
Love    :  41.2% -151Plays -  .88


I think we all know who the clear winner in the post is, LMA is both more prolific and efficient from the post. Its a close race between Love and Blake, Ill give the edge to Blake because these #'s dont show the vast disparity in their passing games. Blake is among the league leaders in creating 3pt baskets for his teammates from the post. For that reason I think LMA and Blake are in a close all their own in the post, but Love as an individual scorer isnt too shabby. Again Blake would be so much more efficient if he could stop turning it over.


Off.Rebs Scores:

Code: Select all

        -  FG%  -  Usage  -  PPP
Blake   : 53.7% - 50Plays -  1.06
Aldridge:  58.3% - 46Plays - 1.17
Love    : 53.2% - 99Plays -  1.09


I had to look it up a few times to believe what I was looking at but Blake is comparable to LMA on the offensive glass, which is pretty sad I think.

Love is twice as productive on the glass so he dominates this category, how he manages to crash the glass while simultaneously providing elite floor spacing for his teammates is unique to him and him alone. Ive seen guys use their positioning to give them a headstart towards the rim, but not with his timing.

Transition Scoring:

Code: Select all

        -  FG%  -  Usage  -  PPP
Blake   : 85.7% - 57Plays -  1.58
Aldridge:  61.9% - 33Plays -  1.21
Love    : 54.3% - 62Plays -  1.31


Blake makes a joke of anyone in transition, I wish I had the #'s on how often he creates an open look for his teammates as a direct result of his presence (be it passing or sucking in defenders) but it would make this comparison look more like a joke.


Spot-Up Shots

Code: Select all

        -  FG%  -  Usage  -  PPP
Blake   : 33.3% - 59Plays -  .66
Aldridge:  50%   - 53Plays -  1.0
Love    : 37.8% -108Plays -  .96


Love dominates the field due to his 40% 3PT shooting in these shots, hes a near automatic assist for whoever is kicking it out to him.


Cutting Off the Ball

Code: Select all

        -  FG%  -  Usage  -  PPP
Blake   : 77.3% - 55Plays -  1.47
Aldridge:  72.1% - 55Plays - 1.44
Love    : 56.5% - 58Plays -  1.21


I was surprised to see Love have so many baskets off of cuts given that he spends alot of time by the 3pt lane, but hes not in Blakes/Aldridge class when it comes to cutting off the ball. Those guys can finish when given the slightest lane, LMA has mastered the art of pinning the fronting defender and catching lobs (Camby is the best lob throwing big in the game) . The sad part is that he doesnt have Andre throwing those anymore so these #'s have come down abit.


Offensively Ill give the edge to guy who can fit into just about any offensive system and thrive, that guy is Love. LMA is the best post player and my type of ideal offensive system player because you can go to him individually but he can still play off the ball some but hes kind of limited in how many shots he can get off.
Blake obviously has the most potential but he also has the most holes to fill. Hes got the skillset to be a better #1 because of his ability to see the floor and create off the bounce, but hes got to get his turnovers under control. He shouldnt be this turnover prone with CP3 around, luckily for us, historically turnovers are the area young players improve the most in. That Blake is comparable in some areas despite being more turnover prone is a good sign to me, it means that he has a higher chance of rounding out those rough edges. Better to be turnover prone than a good shooter this early, but there is no denying our boy is the least capable here.


Defensively, well thats for another day but Ill just say that on gut instinct, LMA is the best on that end (by a good amount too), and Love is still ahead of Blake there as well.

Blake will be the best, but that day hasnt come yet.

[Neddy]

as always, good job chronie.

[Jazza2319]

Aldridge
Griffin
Love

All three have a ways to go defensively, but i'd say Aldridge and Griffin have the most upside due to their expanding post-games and elite athleticism. Love has a more durable game that should keep him out of injury and at a high level until at least 33-34 years old.

I would say going forward, i'd take Aldridge because of his mid-range jumper, his 7'4" wingspan that could allow him to be a monster defensively and his quick turnaround jumper. Blake is set up more for success with his team, and his handle is one of the best in the league for a 4. He needs to improve his jumper, expand his post game and get better position defensively. He wont ever be great/elite shot blocker but he has the strength to be able to keep his man out of the paint. Basically, here is the best case scenario for each player

Kevin love

23 ppg, 14 rpg, 4 ast

He's already averaging that in points and rebounds and i honestly dont see those numbers getting better. As his teammates get better though i expect his assists to pick up, he's already a pretty good passer

Lamarcus Aldridge

24 ppg, 10 rpg, 4 ast, 2 blk

A lot of this depends on who plays next to him at C after Camby leaves. If they aren't an offensive threat, i'd expect his shooting percentage to dip because of the collapsing defense

Blake Griffin

25 ppg, 12 rpg, 4 ast, 1 blk

This is probably on the high end for his rebounding numbers as thats where DJ should dominate

[og15]

I had to look it up a few times to believe what I was looking at but Blake is comparable to LMA on the offensive glass, which is pretty sad I think.

While LaMarcus Aldridge overall is a mediocre rebounders, he has actually always been a very good offensive rebounder. He's 6'11 with very long arms, and he crashes the boards a good amount. While Blake has the athletic advantage, if a guy with Aldridge's physical attributes crashes the boards, he will get a good amount of ORebs.

Blakes issue is turnovers, but of you look at the month of February, he has really improved in that area.

February:
21.9 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 2.9 APG, 56.8 FG%, 1.8 TPG

Also regarding PPP, LaMarcus' biggest advantage is that HE DOES NOT TURN THE BALL OVER. The guy is so good at dong that. Also, I think LaMarcus is just as good as Love on the catch and shoot. He's hitting a crazy percentage on that right now, but he has a slightly higher PPP, and he's automatic from mid range.

Interestingly enough, a consistent mid-range game and cotinuing to reduce his turnover rate makes Blake a very interesting offensive prospect.

[Chronz]

Loving the turnover numbers right now, thats crazy efficient and what I would expect from the pairing with CP3.

[Swimmer]

Great breakdown, Chronz!

[Maf]

At first I need to say I LOVE Blake Griffin. He got me with his game against Knicks last season.

But I must say, he's third on my list. Why is that? It's Blake's defense.

No offense, Clippers fans. You can write how he's getting better and so on. But he IS very, very bad defender. Couple of blocks doesnť change that. He is rarely in good position. Trying to save it with his athleticism. But it's not fundamentally defense. There is a hell of a work for him to become the best PF. And YES! Kevin Love plays BETTER defense! He's not giving a inch of free space to anyone.

Second- free throws. I feel with him. When I start with body-building and add a lot of muscles on my arms and shoulder I couldn't hit s*it from long distance (and I loved my 3pt shooting). It mess with your shooting, no doubt. But Blake has good hands so he should shot around 75% at ease.


I wish Clippers to have a great team. I'd like to see Blake playing great.

[Maf]

At first I need to say I LOVE Blake Griffin. He got me with his game against Knicks last season.

But I must say, he's third on my list. Why is that? It's Blake's defense.

No offense, Clippers fans. You can write how he's getting better and so on. But he IS very, very bad defender. Couple of blocks doesnť change that. He is rarely in good position. Trying to save it with his athleticism. But it's not fundamentally defense. There is a hell of a work for him to become the best PF. And YES! Kevin Love plays BETTER defense! He's not giving a inch of free space to anyone.

Second- free throws. I feel with him. When I start with body-building and add a lot of muscles on my arms and shoulder I couldn't hit s*it from long distance (and I loved my 3pt shooting). It mess with your shooting, no doubt. But Blake has good hands so he should shot around 75% at ease.


I wish Clippers to have a great team. I'd like to see Blake playing great.