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sam_I_am wrote:

The Comedian wrote:

Bostondave wrote:Wonder if he'll play middle/inside game. You know that old fashioned notion of doing what a power forward used to do. Is supposed to do. Nah, probably not. He'll want to post up on the 3 and join everyone else in hoisting up 3's. Sigh.

Hilarious.

I don’t think people understand just how important spacing is. We now have three guys that can get to the rim a bunch, the last thing anyone should want is someone consistently clogging the lane for them. There is value in posting up on occasion, but why the hell would anyone want a 60 year old knee’d Blake posting up when we have an mvp candidate, an all star, and a fringe all star in Brogdon. Also, it’s all personal dependent, our best offensive players are guards and wings. Jokic, Embiid, Giannis, Towns etc score plenty inside, they just usually face up a ton.

If there’s a lane, of course you can take it to the rim, but this antiquated idea of posting up just because it’s what players used to do? Nah lol.

Besides from what we've seen in the preseason, he's not just hanging around the line waiting for the kickout or automatically popping after setting the pick. He's diving and rolling to the rim quite a bit. Still hasn't got his legs under him so the finishing has been wonky but that'll be fine. Touch doesn't disappear like that

165bows wrote:

chrisab123 wrote:

165bows wrote:Better ball handler for sure - Blake's always been underrated for his ballhandling skills as a big. Scal on his best day couldn't handle or pass like Blake can now.

Peak White Mamba spread the floor like no ones business.

Yeah it’s crazy. I mentioned it up thread but Scal had a crazy peak from deep even though over the course of his career he wasn’t much of a shooter from deep at all. But man for a year or two he was lit.

40.0% (his best annual figure, reached in Boston in 2006-7) isn't THAT impressive. It's a lot better than his lousy shooting every year but his sophomore one in NJ, however.

Maybe he was just happy to get away from Jason Kidd.

steefP2 wrote:Besides from what we've seen in the preseason, he's not just hanging around the line waiting for the kickout or automatically popping after setting the pick. He's diving and rolling to the rim quite a bit. Still hasn't got his legs under him so the finishing has been wonky but that'll be fine. Touch doesn't disappear like that

I agree there's a lot of value in his offensive vision -- rolling, re-screening, diving, setting up for ORBs. Ironic given how everyone said 'all he could do was dunk' for the first ~8 years of his career.

I'm slightly worried about his finishing because it seems like he's shooting 'line drive' layups, which can skim off the rim. I don't expect his vertical to improve, but hopefully his overall balance/coordination will. Admittedly I don't have his at-the-rim finishing % in the pre-season, I might be making something out of one or two misses (one of which he tapped back in).

The Comedian wrote:

sam_I_am wrote:

The Comedian wrote:

Hilarious.

I don’t think people understand just how important spacing is. We now have three guys that can get to the rim a bunch, the last thing anyone should want is someone consistently clogging the lane for them. There is value in posting up on occasion, but why the hell would anyone want a 60 year old knee’d Blake posting up when we have an mvp candidate, an all star, and a fringe all star in Brogdon. Also, it’s all personal dependent, our best offensive players are guards and wings. Jokic, Embiid, Giannis, Towns etc score plenty inside, they just usually face up a ton.

If there’s a lane, of course you can take it to the rim, but this antiquated idea of posting up just because it’s what players used to do? Nah lol.

Someone posted that great video of RobWill running the offense from the top a little while back - that seems like Blake's biggest role on this team is filling that spot.

Griffin used to post up around 20% of his possessions in his prime. This dipped as he aged on the Pistons and Nets. I wouldn't be surprised if he was averaging 14% of his possessions as post ups. Other notable backup bigs in this range are Love, Ibaka, and Portis

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ballup wrote:Griffin used to post up around 20% of his possessions in his prime. This dipped as he aged on the Pistons and Nets. I wouldn't be surprised if he was averaging 14% of his possessions as post ups. Other notable backup bigs in this range are Love, Ibaka, and Portis

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Well, in his prime with the clippers he was playing the 4. So he was usually bigger than the 4's guarding him so he could post them up.

Now, most of his mins are at the 5 so he is a little bit undersized at the 5 - plus in today's game it's more about spacing and you don't see as much posting up.

But, we might see it here and there if Blake has the right matchup - throw the ball in to him and let him get some buckets in the post. It's a weapon to have in the arsenal. The more diverse we can be on offense, the better.

We now have two of 16 active players with at least 13,000 career points and 3,000 career assists.

My favorite part of his game last night wasn't the highlight dunk. It was him going after two offensive boards early, diving on the floor for loose balls, and taking two charges.



...but the throwback alleyoop dunk was pretty sweet ngl.

zoyathedestroya wrote:

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My favorite part of his game last night wasn't the highlight dunk. It was him going after two offensive boards early, diving on the floor for loose balls, and taking two charges.

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...but the throwback alleyoop dunk was pretty sweet ngl.

The smile on his face when he opened the game with a three was awesome

He's a great guy to have for the third unit. I always liked him for us going back to early offseason talk. A vet like that helps bring perspective to the young guys. He serves as a reminder that championships aren't guaranteed so keep the pedal to the metal. He has a good attitude and isn't trying to prop himself up with his slivers of playing time the way someone trying to make a name for themselves might. He has a voice that can be respected based on pedigree even he isn't playing.

It's a fine line because you hate to let that young guy go for the 15th spot that goes on to have a long career as a solid player (Max Strus for example), but especially as a contending team there's also great value in investing a roster spot for a guy like this.

hugepatsfan wrote:He's a great guy to have for the third unit. I always liked him for us going back to early offseason talk. A vet like that helps bring perspective to the young guys. He serves as a reminder that championships aren't guaranteed so keep the pedal to the metal. He has a good attitude and isn't trying to prop himself up with his slivers of playing time the way someone trying to make a name for themselves might. He has a voice that can be respected based on pedigree even he isn't playing.

It's a fine line because you hate to let that young guy go for the 15th spot that goes on to have a long career as a solid player (Max Strus for example), but especially as a contending team there's also great value in investing a roster spot for a guy like this.

well said. He's apparently an extremely likable guy who became one of the boys instantly, so I think that as we get into the spring, simply "winning one for Blake" has a catalyzing effect that replaces the value of a Matt Ryan, for example (given that the team already has Hauser). Given the team's awkward coaching situation this year, having that sort of 'cause' might help the team maintain its focus if needed.

The other guy they're trying to "win one for" of course is Al, but that beautiful man looks like he has too many miles left on his tires to be as compelling:)

Our 13th man can start in a pinch and impact winning. When did the Cs last have this type of depth? Brad for EotY. Cs now 4-0 when Blake starts.

I'm now looking forward to back to backs so we get a Blake game

GWVan wrote:I'm now looking forward to back to backs so we get a Blake game

Next one's tricky. Clips then Lakers the following night. I feel like we need Horford against AD more then Griff can hang with Zubac and (no real bigs behind Zubac).

zoyathedestroya wrote:

GWVan wrote:I'm now looking forward to back to backs so we get a Blake game

Next one's tricky. Clips then Lakers the following night. I feel like we need Horford against AD more then Griff can hang with Zubac and (no real bigs behind Zubac).

No prob Kornet was made in a lab to handle AD.

zoyathedestroya wrote:Our 13th man can start in a pinch and impact winning. When did the Cs last have this type of depth? Brad for EotY. Cs now 4-0 when Blake starts.

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Gotta admit I thought Griffin was washed after seeing him struggle thru last season's Nets series, but he's definitely still got game. Also I had no idea how articulate and grounded he is. What a sneaky great signing.

Blake is the perfect "break glass in case of emergency" Big .. has enough Savy to fill in for sure.

Horford should take the clips game off and play against the lakers. That would let Blake start against the clips. That would be cool.