Why wasn't Blake Griffen in the MVP discussion?

[gigantes]

after reading this interesting article (http://www.cbssports.com/nba/writer/ken-berger/25174959/how-clippers-uber-talent-blake-griffin-went-from-sideshow-to-superstar) about how griffen had transformed himself this season, it got me to wondering why i didn't see his name mentioned as part of the MVP race.

curry
davis
harden
james
paul, etc.

...these names popped up again and again, but griffen just had a pretty heady statistical season in which he averaged:

21.9 pts, 7.6 rebs, 5.3 asts, .9 steals, .5 blks, 50.2 FG%, 22.86 PER (10th), in only 35.2 mpg.

so he was at least worth a mention in the national media, right? okay then, why not? because of paul being the team leader? the clips only finishing 3rd in the west? his blocks were low? his defense was shoddy? because those other guys put up so much better stats...?

it's not exactly a burning issue in my life, but i'm just kind of curious. (not a clips / griffen fan either)

[Legends66NBA7]

Injuries.

He was top 3 in the voting last year.

[CJ Mustard]

Missed games, second best player on his team, team underachieving most of the year. On top of all of that, Those numbers aren't anything to write home about.

[jimmybball]

He started the season in the discussion, but he missed 15 games, his stats went down from last year (his 2nd worst statical season in his 5 years), and no improvements as a team.

[gigantes]

c'mon, those numbers are good. they're at least worthy of being discussed.


but okay, thanks... i didn't know he'd been out. seems like that stuff's kind of a killer for MVP chances.

[BuffaloBill]

Missed too much time

[RoseCity07]

He might be the MVP of the playoffs. He wasn't even close to Curry level in the regular season. No one was even talking about him as best pf.

[AirFederer]

Who's Griffen?

[Marchesk]

21.9 pts, 7.6 rebs, 5.3 asts, .9 steals, .5 blks, 50.2 FG%, 22.86 PER (10th), in only 35.2 mpg.

Good but not really MVP caliber numbers.

[Young X]

He might be the MVP of the playoffs. He wasn't even close to Curry level in the regular season. No one was even talking about him as best pf.Blake >> LMA

[Marchesk]

Also, why does Blake have such low shot blocking numbers for a big?

[Giaodollo]

Also, why does Blake have such low shot blocking numbers for a big?

Not really a big, short arms and he is maybe 6'8-6'9. He is just very strong and athletic. Most guys with his size are SF.

[RoseCity07]

Blake >> LMA

Except LMA destroyed him earlier in the year. Then Aldridge had to play with one hand. Still better than Blake. Little midgets like Blake with short arms won't lead a team to a title.

[BuffaloBill]

Good but not really MVP caliber numbers.


Considering Curry had the lowest ppg for MVP since 05-06 and Blake averaged 3 less points, and Curry is a PG

[ralph_i_el]

Also, why does Blake have such low shot blocking numbers for a big?
Because he's like Carlos Boozer size.

[Gr]

Coasting.

[L8krH8tr]

at least spell his name right if you're gonna give him his props

[Young X]

Except LMA destroyed him earlier in the year. Then Aldridge had to play with one hand. Still better than Blake. Little midgets like Blake with short arms won't lead a team to a title.Blake is much more efficient and a better all around player. When has LMA ever played at the level that Blake is currently playing at in the playoffs?

[Real Men Wear Green]

Even people that think Griffin is the best Clipper view Chris Paul as the leader of the team. Throw in that they didn't have the best record and it's tough to see him winning MVP.

If he ever wants to win the award one of the things he needs to do is rebound the way he did as a rookie. He came in getting 12 rpg. The current 7.6 isn't what you expect from a PF that is MVP caliber.

[Giaodollo]

Even people that think Griffin is the best Clipper view Chris Paul as the leader of the team. Throw in that they didn't have the best record and it's tough to see him winning MVP.

If he ever wants to win the award one of the things he needs to do is rebound the way he did as a rookie. He came in getting 12 rpg. The current 7.6 isn't what you expect from a PF that is MVP caliber.

Why should he waste energy on rebounding when he has DJ? That is his job, cleaning up the glass and defending. How many teams in the past decade has had two players in double digit rebounding?

It is unnecessary when he can put that effort into defending and also playing his great offense.

[Dro]

Who's Griffen?
This....

[alenleomessi]

those numbers look extremely mediocre compared to the numbers he is putting in the playoffs so far.. definitely the best player of the playoffs alongside curry right now

[Real Men Wear Green]

Why should he waste energy on rebounding when he has DJ? That is his job, cleaning up the glass and defending. How many teams in the past decade has had two players in double digit rebounding?

It is unnecessary when he can put that effort into defending and also playing his great offense.
The Clippers averaged 44.5 boards per game. Their opponents averaged 45. That's a -0.5 differential. The stats here probably don't tell the whole story (I just looked it up for this post) but that doesn't at all sound to me like a team that couldn't use some more rebounding.

A great big man, which Griffin can be, does work on the glass. I can't think of another great big that only got 7.6 rpg in his prime. There may be one or two other examples of that but that would definitely be a minority. Guys like Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Tim Duncan, Bob Pettit, KG and anyone else we would put in the argument for greatest PF ever were great rebounders. Only exception I can think of is Dirk and even he was doing 8 or 9 for most of his peak. And he did that with a slight build and no explosive leaping. Griffin is strong and one of the elite athletes in the game. He should be getting more rebounds.

[Giaodollo]

The Clippers averaged 44.5 boards per game. Their opponents averaged 45. That's a -0.5 differential. The stats here probably don't tell the whole story (I just looked it up for this post) but that doesn't at all sound to me like a team that couldn't use some more rebounding.

A great big man, which Griffin can be, does work on the glass. I can't think of another great big that only got 7.6 rpg in his prime. There may be one or two other examples of that but that would definitely be a minority. Guys like Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Tim Duncan, Bob Pettit, KG and anyone else we would put in the argument for greatest PF ever were great rebounders. Only exception I can think of is Dirk and even he was doing 8 or 9 for most of his peak. And he did that with a slight build and no explosive leaping. Griffin is strong and one of the elite athletes in the game. He should be getting more rebounds.

They grab 76% of the defensive rebounds 9th best in the league, they are only bad on the offensive end. But he isn't in the post very much so can't really say it is his responsibility. And besides he has JJ Reddick, Paul and Barnes and Crawford playing major minutes and all of these together grab 8 rebounds per game.

EDit: Those three minus Chris Paul.

[Theoo]

hes jumpballtip just arent good enough..

[Real Men Wear Green]

They grab 76% of the defensive rebounds 9th best in the league, they are only bad on the offensive end. But he isn't in the post very much so can't really say it is his responsibility. And besides he has JJ Reddick, Paul and Barnes and Crawford playing major minutes and all of these together grab 8 rebounds per game.
If they're 9th and grabbing 76% of their d boards that means they can improve. And they would also no doubt be helped by more offensive boards. Rebounding is historically one of the power forward's main responsibilities. It would make him more valuable to his team and improve his standing in things like the MVP discussion if he got more boards. There are plenty of reasons to rebound harder and no reasons not to.

[jimmybball]

Except LMA destroyed him earlier in the year. Then Aldridge had to play with one hand. Still better than Blake. Little midgets like Blake with short arms won't lead a team to a title.

Blake this year's playoffs > Aldridge though.

[qrich]

Except LMA destroyed him earlier in the year. Then Aldridge had to play with one hand. Still better than Blake. Little midgets like Blake with short arms won't lead a team to a title.

One game? Let's compare them head to head:

Blake: 22.2 | 9.9 | 4.3 | 1.6 Steals/0.2 Blocks on 49.1/68.8 shooting taking 17.4 shots
LMA: 21.5 | 7.8 | 2.5 | .5 Steals/.4 Blocks on 45.5/86.3 shooting taking 19.6 shots per game.

So Blake grabs over two more boards, more active on D, scores .7 more points on 2.2 less shots.


But yes. Aldridge is much better.

[Fiasco]

Except LMA destroyed him earlier in the year. Then Aldridge had to play with one hand. Still better than Blake. Little midgets like Blake with short arms won't lead a team to a title.

I think your definition of 'destroyed' needs to be tweaked.

http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/los-angeles-clippers/players/blake-griffin/comparison/14/12/182/351

[navy]

Also, why does Blake have such low shot blocking numbers for a big?
Terrible wingspan.

[senelcoolidge]

Blake pretty much took the regular season off this year. Worked on his jumper a ton. He let DJ grab all the rebounds (DJ should get a nice payday). He's unleashed his game in the playoffs that's for sure. He also had injury issues during the season.
Not every big is a shot blocker..I wonder why that's difficult for some people to imagine. People have different body builds. Blake is not long and lanky. He's not a shot blocker..other great PF's in history were not great shot blockers.

[Magic731]

Blake is much more efficient and a better all around player. When has LMA ever played at the level that Blake is currently playing at in the playoffs?
:biggums:
This time last year LMA was dropping 40-20 games like they were nothing...

[sp6r=underrated]

He's been a monster this PS but he flat out didn't deserve consideration based on his RS play. The Clippers had an MVP caliber player that was mostly ignored this year due to people not appreciating the Clippers. His name was Paul.

[Young X]

:biggums:
This time last year LMA was dropping 40-20 games like they were nothing...A couple of games?

[Genaro]

Griffin coasted a lot during the regular season, specially on defense. Didn't go for rebounds (a lot of leak outs for fastbreak), didn't go to the post often and didn't play defense hard. You add to this the fact the Clippers got a slow start and just got to the top 4 of the West in the end of the RS and the fact he had a player besides him with a better year and you'll know why he wasn't considered to MVP.

[dubeta]

CP3 turned him into a spot-up shooter this year. Its a shame because he was so good last year.