CP3 says hopes rest on Blake Griffin

[mkwest]

"Blake is one of those guys, where his age has nothing to do with anything," Paul said in a wide-ranging phone interview with ESPNLosAngeles.com this week. "People may say he's a young guy, but he's been special in this league, he's been an All-Star. His voice carries a lot of weight and I think our team will definitely go as Blake goes.

"He's our guy, and he's good enough to do so."

But after spending a significant amount of time together this summer -- travelling to Asia as part of a tour for Nike's Jordan Brand and filming a national commercial for FootLocker, which will be released Tuesday -- Paul says their bond, and understanding of each other, has deepened.

"It's been a great summer for us. I think we've both had an opportunity to grow," Paul said. "As you get older you realize it's all about winning and I think we both realize we really need each other in order to do that."

"When I feel I'm playing at my best, I'm facilitating," Griffin said then. "I like having the ball in the post -- not because I need to score every time, but because I like to make plays from there.

"Playing with CP has changed the way I play, but for the better. It's still a work in progress, but I think it's making me a better player. I want to play with great players. I want to play with guys who want to win like he does.

Ramona Shelburne, ESPN Los Angeles

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iltWeIa8r1s[/youtube]

[og15]

Blake's improvement will be key, but I think even more so, DJ's defensive improvement and impact as well as Blake's will be the biggest key to this teams success.

[Quake Griffin]

the underlying admission here is that this is as good as CP3 is going to be from here on out.


on the Griffin note. I can't wait til he finally puts it all together.

[TheNewEra]

All about the defense

[mike3]

We need Blake to be a bit more selfish on court I think, I'd love to see him attack at every opportunity, need his rebounding numbers back up as well.

[og15]

the underlying admission here is that this is as good as CP3 is going to be from here on out.


on the Griffin note. I can't wait til he finally puts it all together.

Yup, that's basically it, and if we look at CP3 when he's been healthy in the playoffs, he's been very productive:

07-08:
24.1 pts, 4.9 rebs, 11.3 assists, 2.3 stls, 1.8 tov, .565 TS%, 40.5 MPG

08-09 games 1-3, injured knee in collision with J.R. Smith in game 3:
22.3 pts, 4.7 rebs, 12.0 assists, 1.0 stl, 5.0tov, .578 TS%, 39.6 MPG

10-11:
22.0 pts, 6.7 rebs, 11.5 assists, 1.8 stls, 3.7 tov, .670 TS%, 41.7 MPG

11-12 games 1-5 vs Memphis, hip pointer injury at end of game 5:
22.6 pts, 5.2 rebs, 7.8 assists, 2.8 stls, 3.4 tov, .589 TS%, 40.3 MPG

12-13:
22.8 pts, 4.0 rebs, 6.3 assists, 1.8 stls, 1.5 tov, .633 TS%, 37.3 MPG

That's production over 31 games in the post-season! Find me another point guard that can do that consistently, there are few, find another perimeter player that can do that consistently, again, few. So there's no more that should be asked of him in terms of offensive production.

#1, he needs to not run into anyone in the post-season, he needs health cause gimpy Paul sucks, but when he's healthy, if you're asking for more production than that from your PG, then your team doesn't deserve to be going further in the playoffs. That's just the reality.

The rest of the slack has to be picked up with at the least Top 8 level defense as a team along with Blake producing even more on offense / the whole offense being elite in the post-season, or Blake staying at similar post-season production (19 pts/36 on .533 TS%) with better shooting which should make him healthy, but also being healthy, and the defense being elite, that is top 3-5 level in the post-season.

[mkwest]

I believe the hopes were always that Blake would come into his own (aka enter his prime), while CP3 was still in the midst of his. Blake is now coming into his 4th season and the bar of expectations will continue to rise.

I personally think that having some of the veterans that we have had over the past couple of seasons has added to his game, but has also taken away from it. He's gained insight and has had the luxury of picking their brains, but he has also deferred more than he should have imo. We've added veteran role players that know their roles as complements. Caron and Chauncey were former all-stars who were former leaders of their teams or members of their own "Big 3" in their heydays. Even though they were older and far past their best days, I still think that they were out to get theirs. Butler shot 1 less shot per 36 minutes than Blake did last season (13.8 vs 14.9). In the previous season, Blake took approximately 2 more shots per 36 than either Billups or Butler, with Williams within a half an attempt.

Now, there are only 2 players that have ever been all-stars/cornerstones. There's less egos. Every roster addition has been more of a reserve player throughout their careers than a starter. Caron was a player that often wondered what his role was. It's clear that Billups viewed himself as a starter/leader (which he still does) and he was handled in a delicate manner as to not offend him (started all 48 games that he played for us). Paul is really pushing Blake. Doc will be putting a lot of pressure on him as well. Hopefully, Blake accepts the challenge and takes the mentality that the fate of this team rests on his shoulders. In his rookie season, he knew that if anything was going to happen, it was going to involve him or EJ. He just has to own it, play to his strengths and look to impose his will on the game.

[Quake Griffin]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVMVgbl9wKs[/youtube]

[og15]

Jalen is right and wrong, Blake actually hits FT's in the playoffs, but he's right about defense, they have both struggled in the playoffs. In terms of best 4/5 combo, that's hard:

Randolph/Gasol
KG/Lopez
Love/Pekovic (if finally re-signed)

Considering people wanted to trade DJ for Lopez and many consider Aldridge as good or better than Blake:
Aldridge/Lopez
West/Hibbert (+ Scola) also nice

...but the point is that they are up there

[azncorruptedo17]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVMVgbl9wKs[/youtube]

jalen has wise words and exactly what i think cp3 means by what he said

[marcusaurelius]

To people who don't watch him a lot, I think a lot of people get the wrong impression of BG. They seem to think he is a one dimensional ball hog who just likes to dunk. I think he is a much better all around player than he is generally given credit for.

I see a guy who is a good passer and that wants to get his team involved, maybe a little too much sometimes. I think he does need to just be more aggressive at times. Remember, this guy went to a private christian high school, I am pretty sure it is just not in his nature to be a ball hog. And his outside shot, free throws, and inside skills are slowly but surely improving to my eye. And they were never as bad as some people acted like they were anyway.

I think we will see some slight continued skill improvement, and moderately more aggression. And I think he will have a great year.

But I believe that DJ is the real key to this team. With the new outside shooters added to the team, this is a great roster, except for the center position. To me, DJ sticks out as the obvious team weakness. Just being a shot blocker isn't nearly enough. He really needs to pick up his all-around game. I believe that Doc can get it done and bring out the best in DJ. If he can, I see the clips as the second best in the west, just behind SA. With a legitimate shot at beating them.

[mike3]

To people who don't watch him a lot, I think a lot of people get the wrong impression of BG. They seem to think he is a one dimensional ball hog who just likes to dunk. I think he is a much better all around player than he is generally given credit for.

I see a guy who is a good passer and that wants to get his team involved, maybe a little too much sometimes. I think he does need to just be more aggressive at times. Remember, this guy went to a private christian high school, I am pretty sure it is just not in his nature to be a ball hog. And his outside shot, free throws, and inside skills are slowly but surely improving to my eye. And they were never as bad as some people acted like they were anyway.

I think we will see some slight continued skill improvement, and moderately more aggression. And I think he will have a great year.

But I believe that DJ is the real key to this team. With the new outside shooters added to the team, this is a great roster, except for the center position. To me, DJ sticks out as the obvious team weakness. Just being a shot blocker isn't nearly enough. He really needs to pick up his all-around game. I believe that Doc can get it done and bring out the best in DJ. If he can, I see the clips as the second best in the west, just behind SA. With a legitimate shot at beating them.

This first point I can't agree with enough. If anything, he's too unselfish. Which is very rare for a star.