January 18, 2011

Blake Griffin Hangs 47 on Pacers: Los Angeles Clippers rookie Blake Griffin scored 47 points against the Indiana Pacers Monday night, the highest scoring game in the NBA this season. He added 14 rebounds for his 33rd double-double. "We couldn't guard him," said Pacers coach Jim O'Brien. "He was just too much for us to handle."

posted by rcade to basketball at 10:54 AM - 12 comments

Blake keeps getting better and better. I guess he was worth the wait for the Clippers.

posted by BornIcon at 11:04 AM on January 18, 2011

So fun to watch. He's been the best story of this NBA season so far. It's not often you see a player go from zero to All Star in half a season.

posted by tron7 at 11:30 AM on January 18, 2011

"We couldn't guard him"

Really?

posted by dyams at 11:39 AM on January 18, 2011

He can shoot and pass like Larry Bird, can take the ball to the hoop like Carl Malone, rebounds like Charles Oakley and handles the ball like Mark Jackson.

He's a Basketball Bot.

posted by cixelsyd at 11:49 AM on January 18, 2011

He can shoot and pass like Larry Bird

Don't ever do that again. Even if it were true.

posted by yerfatma at 12:01 PM on January 18, 2011

rebounds like Charles Oakley

Griffin rebounds like a very large puppy. It's all boundless energy and athletecism at this point. He's not always in great position but wills his way to a lot of rebounds.

posted by tron7 at 12:15 PM on January 18, 2011

Can he shoot like Bird? I haven't seen much of him, but I thought his range was limited.

I'm not surprised he ripped the Pacers, they don't have a F that can even come close to matching Griffin's athleticism. I think they started Hansbrough on him, which is a disaster waiting to happen.

posted by curlyelk at 12:58 PM on January 18, 2011

He's starting to add some range, but it's still around the paint. The Pacers apparently did not double team him. Looks like that is not the blueprint for how to stop him.

posted by yerfatma at 01:24 PM on January 18, 2011

Griffin rebounds like a very large puppy.

I more or less agree with this; I hear Griffin is a really hard worker and I hope his skills improve in the NBA. I saw him play the Heat at the Staples Center last week and he was absolutely mental; his level of enthusiasm was so high he had to be restrained by the rest of the team.

posted by phaedon at 01:27 PM on January 18, 2011

..can take the ball to the hoop like Carl Malone

I remember watching John Stockton run the pick & roll and feed Karl Malone the ball for a dunk or a spot up jumper but is Carl Malone a neighbor of yours that can ball?

posted by BornIcon at 02:33 PM on January 18, 2011

his level of enthusiasm was so high he had to be restrained by the rest of the team.

He also has an awesome post-dunk face, where he just stares at you while slowly chewing on his mouth guard.

One of the Canadian sports networks is considering splitting their "Court Cuts" video highlights packages into two parts: "Blake Griffin" and "Everyone Else". He's simply dominating the highlight reels recently.

posted by grum@work at 03:56 PM on January 18, 2011

Points well taken, all. My inner Dickie Duke must have taken over for a bit ...

Let me rephrase ... Griffin has a combination of skills that I have not seen in a player: a great blend of power, smarts and court awareness, ball handling, and a decent shooting touch.

posted by cixelsyd at 06:00 PM on January 18, 2011

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