Blake Griffin vs Kevin Love

Leor_77 · Post #1 » by **Leor_77** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:29 pm

Ok, so I hate "vs" threads/discussions, but I think that this one is pretty much inevitable. Both players are extremely hard workers, both are strong/athletic, both have range and both are great rebounder's.

Although I don't watch Kevin Love quite as much, my understanding is that he might be a slightly better mid-range shooter, is certainly a much better 3-point shooter and free throw shooter, and seems to get more rebounds (Might get a few more boards due to Darko not being a particularly great rebounder, though).

Griffin has a flashier game, with flashier dunks...BUT, besides that, I think that he is similar to Love, although he is definitely stronger and more athletic that him. He is able to go to the basket and finish stronger than Love, and, given the choice, I would generally prefer to throw the basket to Blake on the post. Because Blake goes to the basket more, he averages about 2-3 more free throws than him. Also because he goes to the basket with so much strength, his Field Goal percentage is higher than Love's, at 51.8%, vs 46.7% for Love.

Both awesome players and all stars no doubt. I would still take Blake, but no homerism can disprove just how great K Love is.

Blake Griffin

21.8 Points
12.7 Rebounds
3.3 Assists

Kevin Love

21.5 Points
15.7 Rebounds
2.4 Assists

clippermitch · Post #2 » by **clippermitch** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 10:02 pm

Love is having an amazing year but this is his 3rd year, I believe. In 3 years, Blake will be an MVP.

Post #3 » by **loflin3hree5ive** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 10:18 pm

Blake's hustle and hard work rubs off on his teammates which IMO is a huge a reason for the Clippers recent success. Love is out of shape and isn't an impact player the way Blake is which is why despite similar numbers I would easily take Blake over Love any time.

Leor_77 · Post #4 » by **Leor_77** » Fri Jan 14, 2011 10:31 pm

loflin3hree5ive wrote:Blake's hustle and hard work rubs off on his teammates which IMO is a huge a reason for the Clippers recent success. Love is out of shape and isn't an impact player the way Blake is which is why despite similar numbers I would easily take Blake over Love any time.

I agree with you on most of what you said, and I'm as big a Blake fan as can be, but you can't say that Kevin Love is out of shape and isn't an impact player. As much of a Clippers/Griffin fan that we all are, you simply cannot deny the fact that Love is having a great year.

Post #5 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 6:08 am

I think they both deserve to be all stars and I hope that they both make the team. It would be hard to keep either of them off of the team. I'm anxious to see what players will actually be named all stars.

supfoo · Post #6 » by **supfoo** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 9:27 am

production-wise, they are somewhat similar on the offensive end. love actually takes less shots per 36 and scores roughly the same number of points because he's a much better all-around shooter. the result is that he takes more 3-pointers and shoots better at the line, making him the superior outside player. his value as a terrific offensive rebounder can't be neglected, though griffin is not a slouch in that regard either.

that's really just on paper. if you watch them both play, there's a sizable gap between their offensive impact. griffin's basketball iq is off the charts for a rookie. his aggressiveness and his smarts force teams to gameplan for this guy. the comparison to lebron's rookie season is completely legitimate. kevin love is a good passer but i'd say griffin is a significantly better playmaker as well.

they're still learning the ropes on defense but they've got a lot of energy. neither are going to be a major shot-blocking presence in the paint. they're both probably going to go down as some of the best rebounders in the history of the nba but kevin love might join the upper echelon of rebounders consisting of rodman, chamberlain, etc. still, the difference is fairly close.

i agree that they both deserve to be all-stars this year. with that said, you'd have to be blind to consider kevin love the better player/prospect. imo, they're playing completely different levels of basketball right now.

connseanery · Post #7 » by **connseanery** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 1:34 am

Kevin Love is the best technical rebounder in the game. You've got to give him the edge over any other player in this category.

Love's offense game overall is more face up oriented and obviously his range extends comfortably to 3pt range. He isn't a dominate low post player like your Griffin, Howard, or Boozer that commands the constant double and triple teams though. He has a different effect on a teams offense.

Defensively Griffin has more potential because he has extremely quick feet. You can see that he often can go out on the perimeter and challenge guards and swingmen. His troubles don't usually involve people blowing by him but more often allowing opponents too good of position and not challenging shots. I