All-Season Player of the Year Discussion thread

[MisterHibachi]

So, has Blake been the clear cut best player in this series?

Also, his passing out the double needs to improve.

[bondom34]

So, has Blake been the clear cut best player in this series?

Also, his passing out the double needs to improve.

Blake or CP, I had Paul but BG has been fantastic and has an arguement.

[Dr Spaceman]

So, has Blake been the clear cut best player in this series?

Also, his passing out the double needs to improve.

Marco Belinelli.

[PaulieWal]

I think CP/Blake have been the two best players in this series.

[GSP]

I think CP/Blake have been the two best players in this series.

Yeah same here. Kawhi just doesnt impact much on offense. He does his role, makes the right plays, is polished for an early 20yo, a shark on mismatches but the Clips putrid depth on the wing had him looking way better than he actually is on that end (had a 30 Per over 3 games Iirc).
hes easily been the 3rd best player and the best overall defender tho his defense has been consistently great

[bondom34]

I think CP/Blake have been the two best players in this series.

I had CP but Blake may have overtaken him, they're clearly 1 and 2 though.

[Jaivl]

Marco Belinelli.

Could be if he played 10 more mpg. He is crazy hot this series.

[lorak]

So, has Blake been the clear cut best player in this series?

Not even close. His mistakes cost Clippers game 2 and 5. Sure, he scores a lot, but is very inefficient (just 51 TS%) and has as many tournovers as Chris Paul, who obviously spends more time with the ball. However Griffin is very good on defense so far (as whole Clippers team - I'm very surprised by LAC effort on D), but CP is even better. So in game 6 - ok, Blake was the best, but overall it's still clear cut Paul as the best player in this series.

[E-Balla]

So, has Blake been the clear cut best player in this series?

Not even close. His mistakes cost Clippers game 2 and 5. Sure, he scores a lot, but is very inefficient (just 51 TS%) and has as many tournovers as Chris Paul, who obviously spends more time with the ball. However Griffin is very good on defense so far (as whole Clippers team - I'm very surprised by LAC effort on D), but CP is even better. So in game 6 - ok, Blake was the best, but overall it's still clear cut Paul as the best player in this series.

He won them game 4 too. 20/19/7? What about his triple double game 2? Blake's on/off is +41.6 and CP3's is +9.1 so it seems like our eyes aren't deceiving us. This is the type of play I thought Blake would have when I gave him my preseason MVP prediction. He's playing good defense, showing of his insane passing ability, getting to the rim often, and showing off his outside game. I wish he played this aggressive in the regular season. I would've loved to see the top 3 MVP finishers coming from the same draft.

[lorak]

So, has Blake been the clear cut best player in this series?

Not even close. His mistakes cost Clippers game 2 and 5. Sure, he scores a lot, but is very inefficient (just 51 TS%) and has as many tournovers as Chris Paul, who obviously spends more time with the ball. However Griffin is very good on defense so far (as whole Clippers team - I'm very surprised by LAC effort on D), but CP is even better. So in game 6 - ok, Blake was the best, but overall it's still clear cut Paul as the best player in this series.

He won them game 4 too. 20/19/7?

And 1/5 FG, 0/2 FT in 4th. At the same time CP had 34 pts with excellent efficiency and also was deadly in the 4th (10 pts, 3/5 FG).

What about his triple double game 2?

What about it? They lost that game because of his two crucial mistakes - one turnover at the end of regulation (and BTW, another bad 4thQ as he made just 1 of 5 FG) and one in OT.

So once again: Griffin's defense (so also rebounding) is very good, his playmaking also is big plus for him, but as a scorer (his main strength!) he is struggling so far, especially in 4th quarters and his bad play down the stretch in G2 and G5 is the main reason why Clippers aren't already in 2nd round.

[NinjaSheppard]

They have both been incredible in their own ways. I think you could go either way.

Blake hasn't been efficient but I can't really blame him given what he has to do and how little rest he gets in the fourth quarters. Clippers are playing exhausting defense and he has been clicking on that end outside of the 4th quarter of game 5. His passing has been beyond phenomenal though.

It is really nice to see both guys playing really hard and not letting things limit them. I don't think you can say that Blake is the main reason the team isn't already in the second round when the reason the Clippers were in the position they were in game 2 and game 5 was because of Blake's all around play.

[GSP]

Marco Belinelli.

Could be if he played 10 more mpg. He is crazy hot this series.

Pop should roll out Mills/Belli/Kawhi/Diaw/Timmy or at least that should be the lineup w/ the most minutes. Clips have trouble w/ that and Splitter cant do much against Blake. Offensively hes stunk and so has Danny

[Dr Spaceman]

So, has Blake been the clear cut best player in this series?

Also, his passing out the double needs to improve.

Re: Blake,

I've really come around to see him in a new light during this series. His RS really wasn't impressive, and he was kind of in chill mode (he's young, but I guess it's understandable).

But he's really a dynamite offensive player and the Clippers' offense has so many dimensions with him as the secondary ball-handler. The 1-4 PNR-> lob play has been working the Spurs all series, and his playmaking is at a way higher level than even last year. He's uncontainable with his face-up game, especially against the Spurs' frontline with a hobbled Splitter. Multiple times this series I've been thoroughly impressed when he brings the ball up court and actually makes a solid play with the ball, which is remarkable for a player like him. Seriously impressive stuff.

Midrange J is legit now, although he's still hesitant to pull th trigger, which stalls LAC's attack, and this happens more often in 4th quarters. He's either winded or just doesn't have that much confidence despite it being a legitimate weapon. He's exhausted att he end of games, literally sucking air at times and will sit on the bench with his head buried in his hands. That's just a terrible sign, and it really, really, really makes me loathe Doc the GM. Even if they get back this series, LAC cannot win a title with Griffin and Paul playing 44 MPG+.

I'll disagree with loran, his defense hasn't been impactful. He's had some good possessions, but his lapses typically cause breakdowns in the schemes. There was a play in game 5 where Grif was slow getting up court and the Spurs punished it in their Spurs way. That's the thing, LAC actually has a good defense schematically, but the Spurs don't beat mistakes by attacking them, they beat it by synchronized motion and setting up 2 on 1s. The result is that sometimes a Griffin mistake with 16 on the shot clock doesn't get exploited until 4 on the shot clock, but it's merely that Griffin's mistake sets up a chain reaction that leads to the Spurs getting a 2v1 or something of the sort several passes later. I've noticed that throughout this series, stuck out like a sore thumb actually. His defense has not been good. In G6 there were multiple examples of him getting screened and completely taken out of the play.

EDIT: Here's an example of one such chain-reaction thing [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0WMZvXfz9o&spfreload=10[/youtube]

[lorak]

I'll disagree with loran, his defense hasn't been impactful. He's had some good possessions, but his lapses typically cause breakdowns in the schemes.

Or maybe he has had some bad possessions and you are focusing on them? Defensive data for playoffs is limited, but for example sportVU says that Blake holds his opponents to just 40.7 FG% (with 15.2 FGA!), while the same players shot 48% in regular season. So that looks like pretty good defense. His work on defensive glass is also at least good. And even defensive on/off (yes, I'm well aware of all limitations on such small sample) suggests that his impact on defense is good - no other Clippers player is even close to him in defensive on/off. All that together is very telling and shows that so far through 6 games he is impactful on defense.

[PaulieWal]

With this series showing CP has solidified himself as part of my top 5 even if he's hurt for the next round. He was the best player in that series and came to play in every game outside of game 3.

Kawhi had a great 3 games to start but disappeared (offensively) over the last 3 games and I believe shot 8-31 in games 5 and 6. The Spurs were also better with him off the floor (most likely due to the Clips starters being better than Spurs starting 5 with the Clips bench being absolute garbage) though this is obviously a very small sample size and doesn't take away from the beast he was during the second half of the RS.

[bondom34]

Leonard's defensive numbers not good either:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/594723388083478528[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/594727941310812160[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/594728204574666753[/tweet]

[lorak]

^
player tracking data says that Leonard's opponets shot 56.1 FG%. That's very bad for not only DPOTY but any player.

Anyway, G7 made me even more sure that CP deserves to be no 1 player this year.

[Doctor MJ]

Well after the first round, it seems pretty unlikely that the names in my Top 5 will change (Curry, Harden, Paul, LeBron, Davis). Order might, but it would take something quite unexpected for someone else to slip in.

[MisterHibachi]

Paul is definitely my number 2 at this point.

[Dr Spaceman]

Chris Paul had a 172 ORTG on 20.6% USG last night.

I've said before the playoffs that I would take seriously the notion that this is Paul's peak season. His shooting is far better than it's ever been, and strange as it sounds his playmaking actually seems well improved to me, even compared to last year. The game just seems so easy for him now that he can get his midrange looks at will. He also has that classic push off standing 3 pointer that killed the Spurs last night. Defense is excellent as well.

I mean, I don't think they take down the Warriors. Very small chance of that. But this has a little bit of a 2011 feel where several of the top teams are vulnerable and a previously elite player suddenly becomes totally unstoppable. It's more possible than I thought it would be. Paul has a legitimate shot at being my #1.