Los Angeles Clippers: Blake Griffin 2015-16 Predictions
- Updated: September 20, 2015
Blake Griffin was slightly off the MVP pace in the 2014-15 season that we saw and expected him to continue from the prior season. However, Griffin is not entirely to blame for this slip in MVP caliber play. Let’s review.
Blake Griffin’s largest drop off from the 2013-14 season to last year was his rebounding. Griffin went from averaging 9.5 rebounds per game to just 7.6 last season. What may have led to that drop in RPG is more obvious than it might seem, DeAndre Jordan. Jordan became more involved rebounding, and the league’s leading rebounder for two consecutive seasons now had a steady increase in his RPG from 13.6 to 15.0. While that doesn’t seem like a large enough increase to effect Griffin’s average, it certainly is since they’re sharing the low post where DeAndre has certainly stepped his game up over the last few seasons.
In this upcoming season I would expect Griffin’s rebounding numbers to rise slightly from last season but not quite back up to career high numbers where he was averaging about 12.1 per game. He isn’t that type of player any more and this isn’t that same team. With Jordan gaining a larger and larger fill of the low post play I see Griffin getting to a steady 8.3 RPG this season and that slight rise from last year will be just enough to put the Clippers over the edge against some of the better rebounding team’s in this league.
Blake Griffin did have career highs in a few categories last season that any Clipper fan would hope he can continue and build upon. In assists per game Griffin put up 5.3 which was tops among all Power Forwards in the league. Also his free throw and three point percentages were the best he’s ever had at 72.8% and 40% respectively. While Griffin continues to work on adding three point range to his much improved mid-range game, the improved free throw percentage can certainly not be overlooked as we all know the struggles one of our other bigs suffers with in that category.
I would expect Griffin to add to his assist totals and average around 6.1 per game this season. That increase would take some of the distributing pressure off of Chris Paul and allow him to open up and score some more, which makes the Clippers offense that more deadly. As far as his three point shooting goes, as long as Blake takes more threes from the corners (closest three point shot to the basket) his percentage from that range should rise and I expect a very similar free throw percentage from Griffin.
Blake Griffin had a slight drop in his points per game average from the previous season going from 24.1 in 2013-14 to 21.9 PPG last season. This drop in PPG did not have a massive impact on the Clippers offense as far as team points per game goes as the Clippers once again finished in the top two last season being beaten only by the eventual champion Golden State Warriors. Griffin’s rise in distributing the ball and getting his teammates involved in scoring could have led to this slight drop.
With me predicting Griffin’s assist numbers to rise I would expect his points per game to remain very similar to last season with a slight increase taking him to 22.5 PPG.
Final Statistical Predictions in 2015-16 for Blake Griffin
PPG: 22.5
APG: 6.1
RPG: 8.3
FG%: 52%
3P%: 43%
FT%: 74%
We can’t wait to see what the Clippers have in store for us this season!
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