Blake Griffin and the Effectiveness of Vertical Leap

KyletheDingbat · Post #1 » by **KyletheDingbat** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 6:19 am

So Blake's lost about 8 inches to a foot off his vertical. Here's him last year:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n1Vv1u7ZJk[/youtube]

And this year:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dTnOta2hd4[/youtube]

You can look for any of his highlights this year and see he plainly just doesn't get up that high anymore. Unless he gets a running start he barely gets both wrists above the rim. For example:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=094LvofhUVc[/youtube]

He may be injured, I don't know. Maybe he'll regain his explosion. But that doesn't matter for this thread, what matters is that he's actually not that much worse than he was last year. Some of his numbers are down, but he's still able to score around the paint, get rebounds in traffic, get blocks - all things you'd think an extra foot of vert would help with. This has me thinking that maybe vertical leap is the most overrated ability a player can have. What good does it really do? If you box out properly, you don't need to out jump someone. If you time a block right you don't need to sky for it. And with good footwork, instincts, and use of the body, you can still score around the paint. The added vertical basically just works as a save-all just in case.

Am I wrong here? If I am, what do you think is the most overrated ability a player can have?

laploutocratie · Post #2 » by **laploutocratie** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 6:30 am

It's not so much that he lost vertical, but that he's not exerting as much effort on making every single play a highlight-worthy one. It's part of his progression as a much better, complete player rather than just a high-flying entertainer.

He still gets up when he wants to: (Game from 12/8/14)

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeDHa-XL9eA[/youtube]

LeChosen One · Post #3 » by **LeChosen One** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 6:30 am

He's more mature now.. Just pacing himself and picking his spots

All of the injuries happening these days probably scared him a bit too lol

Ballerhogger · Post #4 » by **Ballerhogger** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 6:33 am

he needs to just focus on posting up and rebounding and simply basketball moves.. Im glad he gave up the dunk contest.

Risk101 · Post #5 » by **Risk101** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 6:34 am

Yeah i've been watching his games and he doesn't have that same explosion. It might be for cautionary reasons though because there are times in where you see glimpses of it.

I forget what games it was but he got fouled and then went up to dunk the ball and he hit all rim. I was thinking to myself like "Damn he lost it". I'm also curious if Clipper fans have noticed a change in his leaping abilities.

Illmatic12 · Post #6 » by **Illmatic12** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 7:07 am

My only thing with Blake this year, why is he not rebounding anymore? Under 8 rebounds per game is quite poor for someone of his size/athleticism playing 35mpg.

And the team is pretty much the same as last year, more or less.. I highly doubt the addition of rebounding beast Spencer Hawes is the culprit here

Smirkin Dirk · Post #7 » by **Smirkin Dirk** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 7:14 am

Let's add 'declining athleticism' to chunkiest calves, LeBron's hairline and hottest NBA bodies to the list of things this forum is bizarrely obsessed with.

goodboy · Post #8 » by **goodboy** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 7:15 am

Better for his career for the long haul.

KyletheDingbat · Post #9 » by **KyletheDingbat** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 7:29 am

laploutocratie wrote:It's not so much that he lost vertical, but that he's not exerting as much effort on making every single play a highlight-worthy one. It's part of his progression as a much better, complete player rather than just a high-flying entertainer.

He still gets up when he wants to: (Game from 12/8/14)

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeDHa-XL9eA[/youtube]

Love the dunk, but his head is still at the middle of the net. He had a play a couple games ago where he tried to dunk from the side of the key but didn't have the lift so he had to lay it up. Another one where there was just a guard between him and the rim and he put up a soft 8 foot floater and kissed it off the glass.

This is from two days ago, check out play #8:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FopY3da00aA[/youtube]

That's with a pretty good head of steam. He can't jump as high. I've watched almost every game of his as a professional. I'm hoping he gets it all back, but regardless, he can still improve without it.

CablexDeadpool · Post #10 » by **CablexDeadpool** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 10:46 am

It's the same as David Lee. His hopes went away really fast.

Wolf_Cry · Post #11 » by **Wolf_Cry** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 4:15 pm

CablexDeadpool wrote:It's the same as David Lee. His hopes went away really fast.

Hops or hope?

RSCD3_ · Post #12 » by **RSCD3_** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 4:25 pm

CablexDeadpool wrote:It's the same as David Lee. His hopes went away really fast.

Here lies David lee's hopes and dreams

amcfad27 · Post #13 » by **amcfad27** » Sat Dec 27, 2014 8:19 am

Grind of long nba seasons...

DMVleGeND · Post #14 » by **DMVleGeND** » Sat Dec 27, 2014 3:44 pm

Maybe he has tendinitis? He's had a history of knee tendinitis throughout his career. I'm sure he'll be back to his old self soon.