Blake out with Torn Quad

[QRich3]

He wasn't "back on the court so soon", he actually didn't miss time because of injury until he played himself out of the rotation later in the season. He was banged up and played through knee tendinitis like many players have done through the years (Gasol and Duncan come to mind). He then claims after the fact it was some misdiagnosed sort of fracture that ended up healing itself in the offseason, but whatever it was, it's not an excuse for shooting awfully, for being so timid and insecure with your shot that you pass most wide open shots to a teammate that is guarded, effectively destroying the team's spacing. He's just media friendly so his damage control after the fact gets good press, but he was horrible. And I'm telling this as one of his biggest supporters when he was here, and probably the most patient dude in this forum with him.

[nickhx2]

He wasn't "back on the court so soon", he actually didn't miss time because of injury until he played himself out of the rotation later in the season. He was banged up and played through knee tendinitis like many players have done through the years (Gasol and Duncan come to mind). He then claims after the fact it was some misdiagnosed sort of fracture that ended up healing itself in the offseason, but whatever it was, it's not an excuse for shooting awfully, for being so timid and insecure with your shot that you pass most wide open shots to a teammate that is guarded, effectively destroying the team's spacing. He's just media friendly so his damage control after the fact gets good press, but he was horrible. And I'm telling this as one of his biggest supporters when he was here, and probably the most patient dude in this forum with him.

Ah, ok. Thanks for that. I can see why it's easy to paint critical responses as revisionist when said responses are inaccurate lol.

Either way, my whole thing stemmed from "guy wasn't healthy, he should get some rest" and doc didn't get him any rest. So it was no small wonder to me he wasn't the same guy. Regardless of whether i fudged up any facts about him sitting out, my issue was about playing a guy who should be resting.

Should dudley have been in better shape to enter training camp? Yeah. Could he have been better? Probably. Should he still have hit open shots? Eh, yes and no. Everyone's affected differently by injury especially when it comes to lift. I completely understand he was horrible and I was very disappointed by his year with the clips. But again, for me the core issue is still the same, and my gripes were predated by any injury reports that came out of the media. Later on, hearing his knee issues were worse than originally believed didn't really change that.

[Ranma]

i wonder if this means blake's progressing to readiness soon.

Dan Woike, Orange County Register (1/5/16)

Wesley Johnson (sore right foot) missed his second straight practice. He’s listed as “probable” on the Clippers’ latest injury report. … Blake Griffin will have his injured quad reexamined in the upcoming days. “He says he’s feeling great,” Rivers said.

Fun-Loving Clippers So Eager Not to Dance They Can Barely Talk After Games

[Ranma]

As efficient as the Clippers' offense has been, I've felt even before Griffin's injury that the team's offense could be more efficient. We'd get away from Redick a lot just as he was heating up only to get back to him once he's cooled down. Both Griffin and Paul are better at sharing ball-handling duties but there are times where we spend too much time on the shot clock only to settle for a BG mid-range jumper, which as improved as it has become, is not as productive as a Chris Paul mid-range shot or a J.J. Redick 3-pointer.

Of course, Blake's presence opens up more in terms of getting alley-oops for DJ at the rim as well as the occasional drive to the hoop by Griffin himself. The point is that, while BG opens up options on the floor, there is a tendency for him to also bog down the flow of the offense at times. The starting lineup is so stacked outside of small forward that there doesn't seem to be a hindrance in the results, however, the team should and could be better, especially with our defense finally elevated up a few significant notches.

I agree with Katz that Blake should probably look more for his 3-point shots while driving to the rim. I don't mind him still taking his improved mid-range jumper as a near last resort, but he'd better be looking for either a lob to DJ at the rim, CP3 elbow jumper, or J.J. 3-pointer beforehand.

Fred Katz, FoxSports.com (12/31/15)

Griffin has become progressively more midrange-heavy over the years. Actually, the percentage of his shot attempts that have come from the midrange area has risen each individual year he's been in the NBA. This year has been no exception. According to Basketball-Reference, almost 46 percent of Griffin's attempts are coming from the area between 16 feet and the three-point line. But that's the worst shot in the league, and whether Griffin is becoming more jumper-reliant and less rim-oriented because of an overconfidence in his obviously improved skill set or merely because he believes less physical play will prolong his career, he's not helping the Clippers offense as much as he could on a nightly basis because of his exaggerated style. Add in Chris Paul's pull-ups from the elbow (which aren't actually inefficient shots because Paul is exceptionally and almost unrealistically dominant from that spot), and Clippers fans end up seeing far more long 2s than your average group.

Before the Griffin injury, almost 33 percent of the Clippers' shot attempts were coming from midrange, a ratio that put them near the top of the league. In the three games since his injury, the team has regressed more toward the middle of the pack. The offense has vastly improved over that stretch, averaging 116.3 points per 100 possessions compared to the 103.6 it was averaging on the season before Griffin went down.
...

This all comes back to Griffin, though. The Clippers offense is clearly better with him there. That's not the debate here. Even last year, when he missed those 15 games with the elbow injury, the offense took an unsurprising dip despite a similar trend to what's continued this year: Fewer shots from midrange, more shots around the rim and from three with him out. From a schematic point, the shot selection does become more efficient when he leaves, and that shouldn't be the case when it comes to a top-10 NBA player.

So, how do the Clipper solve this? How does Griffin remain comfortable, sustain his body for the season and avoid becoming beat up by playoff time or his 30th birthday? Just take a step back instead of attempting those 22 footers.

Blake Griffin's Absense [sic] Shows Change That Has to Come in his Game


[tweet]https://twitter.com/FredKatz/status/682639006165676032[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/FredKatz/status/682639174499831808[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/FredKatz/status/682639350450933760[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/FredKatz/status/682639501538140160[/tweet]

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/latimessports/status/685613763391700992[/tweet]

[Quake Griffin]

update?

[Ranma]

update?

[tweet]https://twitter.com/JessMedina3/status/687756563377819649[/tweet]

[exculpatory]

What does weeks away mean?

After the AS break?

[nickhx2]

could be. muscle tears are a wait and see thing, and a more serious tear often takes several weeks to heal. i don't expect him to be out till all star break but it's not implausible.

blake was never two weeks away from returning after initial injury. it was two weeks then evaluation. i expect he'll be checked in once a week for the time being, as he is now.

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DanWoikeSports/status/688072301376479233[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/latbbolch/status/688072276114161664[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/DanWoikeSports/status/688072880400171008[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/latbbolch/status/688073535688855552[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/latbbolch/status/688073223787827204[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/DanWoikeSports/status/688074257549557760[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/DanWoikeSports/status/688075111715319808[/tweet]

[Ranma]

Ben Golliver, Sports Illustrated (1/14/16)

Theory 1: They’re beating teams they should beat
...

The Clippers’ nine opponents during their current winning streak enter Wednesday’s action with an average record of 119-222 (.349). None of those nine are currently above .500, only one is currently in the playoff picture (Utah, the West’s No. 8 seed), only one has an above-average defensive efficiency (Charlotte, at No. 14), only two have above-average offensive efficiencies (No. 10 Portland and No. 13 Charlotte) and six of those games came against division basement-dwellers (the Pelicans twice, the Hornets twice, the Lakers and the Sixers).

...Clearly, one really good method for offsetting bad injury luck is playing teams who are dealing with bad injury luck of their own.

Theory 2: Chris Paul is saving the day
...

Paul’s basic numbers before and after Griffin’s injury show an expected jump in production.

• Before: 17.7 PPG on 13.8 FGA/G, 8.9 APG
• After: 19.5 PPG on 16.6 FGA/G, 11.5 APG

Perhaps the best indication of Paul’s enhanced role, though, is his domination of the ball. Before Griffin’s injury, Paul possessed the ball for 7.3 MPG, per SportVU. Since Griffin’s injury, that number has spiked to 8.9 MPG, which leads the league over that stretch and is higher than any player’s mark for the 2015-16 season, including super ball-dominant guys like Damian Lillard (8.3), Russell Westbrook (8.1) and Reggie Jackson (8.0).
...

Theory 3: Josh Smith and Lance Stephenson are pitching in

Buzzer!

Wrong answer...

This year, both Smith (-0.6) and Stephenson (-2.9) grade out poorly by Real Plus-Minus, and Rivers recently told the Los Angeles Times that he had no real plans to expand their roles.

“Right now, why would you want to touch what’s going on?” he explained.

Theory 4: Paul Pierce is working his way back from the dead
...

But Griffin’s absence created a huge minutes void that needed filling, not to mention an open spot in the starting lineup. Pierce has moved into Rivers’ opening five and ramped up to 20.4 MPG since Griffin’s injury. His pre/post Griffin injury splits show him returning to a form that resembles a useful player.

• Before: 4 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 30.6 FG%, 24.7 3P%
• After: 10.1 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 39.7 FG%, 42.1 3P%
...

Here’s how the Clippers’ outside shooting numbers compare before and after Griffin’s injury.

• Before: 23.7 3PA/G | 34.3 3P%
• After: 28.3 3PA/G | 38.9 3P%

That jump in proficiency takes the Clippers from what would be a No. 21 league-wide ranking in three-point percentage for the season all the way up to No. 2. You’ll win a lot of games if you can hit three-pointers at a better rate than anybody except the Warriors, especially when you’re jacking them up at a very healthy clip.

Theory 5: Other guys are stepping up

...Redick’s surge in scoring has been the most critical and the least surprising. The veteran shooting guard has been scoring hot all season from beyond the arc, and he has a well-established chemistry with Paul that dates back several seasons.
...

Aldrich, like Prigioni, arrived in L.A. over the summer on a minimum deal. Even if Rivers’s higher-profile summer moves have been iffy to date, he’s at least found a way to get something from his end-of-the-bench bargain buys.

The Clippers have upped their team assist ratio from 17.4 before Griffin’s injury to 18.7 after, a nice development given Griffin’s status as one of the league’s top frontcourt distributors. For a team with so many “shoot-first” guys on paper, it’s good to see that adversity hasn’t led to slippage in the unselfishness department.

Five theories: Why the Clippers Look Better Than Ever Without Blake Griffin


Ben Golliver, Sports Illustrated (1/14/16)

By beating the Heat, the Clippers completed just the fourth 10-game winning streak since the franchise relocated to California in 1978. Remarkably, all four have come during the Paul/Griffin/Jordan era.

Clippers Outmuscle Heat Without Jordan, Griffin to Extend Win Streak

[LoneyROY]

Now we know why Blake was settling so much in December. It's gonna be fun having a healthy, beast Blake back.

[nickhx2]

yeah could also explain why his jumper fell off so hard.

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DanWoikeSports/status/689972380362481665[/tweet]

[Jeepescu]

Did you guys ever examined the possibility that Blake might never come back, or at least never in the physical form the he is known for ?
This is already his second injury on the same knee and in the same area (Quad tendon - patella - patellar tendon). AFAIK, this is not insignificant, can anyone find an example of someone who came back 100% from such an injury ?

[Wammy Giveaway]

Pretty bad scenario. From Marc Stein:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/691867145790214144[/tweet]

[mttwlsn16]

ESPN sources tell @ramonashelburne and I that Blake Griffin has suffered suspected broken hand in undisclosed team-related incident

Marc stein twitter

[Dynamix]

Well that sucks.

[QRich3]

Oh come on man

edit- wasn't there a report yesterday that he was heading back to LA while the team was in the East for the rest of the road trip? how on earth do you break your hand in a team related incident when you're not even with the motherf*cking team?

[Ranma]

Marc Stein, & Ramona Shelburne, ESPN (1/26/16)

Sources told ESPN.com that the hand injury -- unrelated to the torn quadriceps muscle that has sidelined Griffin since Dec. 26 -- is expected to keep him out "a matter of weeks, as opposed to days."

Sources close to the situation said late Monday that the Clippers are still evaluating the severity of the new injury but are expected to provide an update Tuesday.

Sources: Blake Griffin Likely Out 'Weeks' with Suspected Fracture in Hand


[tweet]https://twitter.com/LucasJHann/status/691900006442340354[/tweet]