MartinToVaught wrote:nickhx2 wrote:he hit a spectacular go-ahead bucket against the spurs but other than that didn't do much of note.
And even in the game where he made that shot, Blake was the best player on the court. That shot doesn't happen without Blake's dominant triple-double.
The idea that Blake shrunk under pressure isn't backed by reality. The meltdowns came from Doc and CP3.
Skillset breeds confidenceNah, don't swing the pendulum, that's not a balanced view. If we're comparing to Paul, yes, Blake "shrunk" more under pressure, it's just the reality, it's has nothing to do with anything personal to him. It was simply a skillet issue. His skillet was still developing, and skills are what breed confidence. Blake as a smaller PF (SF length) without a consistent or feared perimeter game was limited in his options when you placed a big, strong, mobile and lengthier defender on him and played off him. It's why matchups like Ibaka and Green frustrated him. It's why Memphis with Marc Gasol on him was tough. Earlier in his career, the Blake "solution" was putting C's on him and staying back. He couldn't post them up easily, had to work way too hard for his baskets, doing 3, 4 pump fakes and using his reverse pivot hook just to get a shot off down low. By 13-14 and on that was less effective, but there were still matchups that made him work too hard.
Blake was not a guy that they could just consistently go to and get a bucket down the stretch in 13-14 and 14-15, once in a while, but not consistently. Now he started developing that ability later as his shot improved and his confidence in taking shots improved, but he was injured in the regular season and more importantly the playoffs all those seasons where he could have shown any of that (15-16 and 16-17).
Blake had multiple key moments where he was indecisive when he had the ball because he didn't trust his shot enough, and he would drive into traffic, etc and turn the ball over. Blake in the offense basically got a touch every trip down the floor, and his indecisiveness down the stretch would have him over-passing and doing DHO's with Redick or passing back out when he could shoot. The indecisiveness had nothing to do with "fear", it's simply that he had short arms, couldn't bully guys as big and strong as him who had better length and he wasn't confident enough in his shot yet. (Not to add that DJ's man was hanging around clogging the lane). It's skillset (and team build), but people try and read other things into it.
Remember the offense ran with options. Blake when he got the ball in the middle of the floor could shoot, attack, run DHO with Redick, give the ball back to CP, etc. He had freedom in the offense, but when the Clippers were at their best, his confidence as a shooter was not at its highest.
Injuries took away opportunityHe's not the first player for this to happen to, it's the growth proces, don't know why people think players need to be put down for having to grow and learn. His problem is that by the time he was developing those skills, injuries were ravaging him. Blake was injured early in the playoffs and out for the season at age 26, 27 and 29, that's when things are supposed to be coming together. Age 26-31/32ish is supposed to be when you've put together the skills and IQ while still having solid athletic ability.
Love team winsThe Spurs game 7 win was actually more about team basketball than one individual player. Blake had the triple double, CP led the scoring and hit the tough game winner, but Clippers had 5 guys take 11+ FGA and 5 guys in double digits, and guys made their shots! Both the stars did equally well. I loved that series because they did a good job consistently adjusting to how the Spurs were defending, and the two stars mixed up with attacking and playmaking based on what the defense was giving them.
