stuck with the bad rap of having never taken the Clippers beyond the second round of the playoffs. That often left the burden to Paul, who leaves L.A. His sense of timing in when he should speak up to teammates hasn't been sharpened nearly as much as his comic timing in pursuit of Hollywood fame. Through much of his career, Griffin has shown a tendency to be easily distracted by opposing players or referees instead of dictating the game to others. Griffin's inability to be more of defensive presence and fourth-quarter go-getter, despite his athleticism, figures to be an even bigger problem with more energy allocated to a greater load on offense. That's if he is on the court to handle all those chances, which is no sure thing considering his history of injuries. However, as he has dunked less, he has shot better and passed pretty well-so don't be surprised if he emerges among the best facilitating big men in the league with more chances in charge of the ball. He lacked his former lift last season even before suffering a plantar plate injury to his right big toe in April. Griffin now is far better remembered for dunking over a car-while also being maligned for not dunking as forcefully as he did back then. This is a guy who was, it's easy to forget, third in the MVP voting behind Kevin Durant and LeBron James just three years ago.
CHRIS PAUL AND BLAKE GRIFFIN STATS TWITTER FREE
Maybe more of an open-floor game on offense without Paul pounding the rock will free Griffin to play with more joy than ever-and encounter less defensive resistance and injury risk in slow half-court sets. "He's sort of an enigma," said one team source who has spent considerable time with Griffin. It will come down to the Clippers, especially Griffin, delivering more substance than they've been known for. Quality scheming by coaches (and Jordan's rim protection in this case) usually can cover for subpar point guard defense, and Rivers will no doubt be trying to make Teodosic look as glorious as possible.
Teodosic, 30, feels entitled to start in the NBA based on his accomplishments overseas, per league sources, but is "a downright bad defender," according to one NBA scout. The division of playing time between Beverley, the tenacious agitator with overflowing intangible value, and the stylish but unproven Teodosic will be an interesting. He is a commodity that is exciting to consider because of his flash, and he brings a certain sense of superiority in his demeanor-the same thing that people have noticed in Griffin and coach's son Austin Rivers and found pretty grating. In many ways, Teodosic reinforces the underlying point about the direction of the franchise. Gallinari is sweet on offense but is a consistent threat to be embarrassed on defense by opposing small forwards, and it's uncertain if Rivers is enough of a basketball visionary to make anything close to the most of a giant frontcourt of Gallinari, Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Their supporters, however, would argue that both are largely misunderstood-and point out that they are frankly more enjoyable to talk to and hang out with than Paul, whose hard-driving edge can often pierce instead of prod.īut at this point, one has to question what will become of the Clippers' basketball side without Paul, who for all his commercials and All-Star appearances was, at his core, more substance than style. Rivers' mismanagement of the Clippers' assets-and clear failure to guide them even to a conference finals with Ballmer's support-has only reinforced skeptics who believe he is better at making the most of something easy than anything difficult.
Very few people at this point believe Griffin is strong enough, physically or mentally, to be a franchise's rock for every game and every minute. In hardcore basketball circles, they are both objects of substantial derision-the sort of guys who would trigger that droning "over-rated!" chant if folks inside the NBA treated their offices like NBA arenas. But here's the scary truth: Griffin and Rivers are both pretty well known.
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