Why Blake Griffin Won’t Break Out This Season
- Updated: October 21, 2016
Ever hear the story of the five time NBA All-Star that finally broke out and had the monster season everybody was hoping for? Me neither. It’s because if you’ve made the All-Star team five times, have career averages of 21.5 points, 9.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game along with popping up in just about every commercial that Peyton Manning isn’t in it’s pretty difficult to finally breakout. Because you already have.
And yet every headline that can be found on Blake Griffin this offseason says, “here comes a breakout year”. Did the people spewing that headline watch the 2014-15 playoffs where Griffin was arguably the best player on the planet with 25.5 points,12.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game before the team finally crumpled in a series against Houston? If that didn’t qualify as a “breakout” then I’m not sure what will.
Not saying Griffin won’t have a stellar year, he seems to have been putting in some practice on the three ball and if you’ve been watching the preseason his passing skills definitely have grown sharper. Just saying we might want to taper our expectations a bit. Since in order for him to breakout statistically from where he already is he would have to hit numbers that rival LeBron James. You know, that guy who sealed his fate as a top-ten all time NBA player last season.
Here’s something Blake Griffin can do though if he wants to help the Clippers capture that ever elusive Larry O’Brien trophy, come through in the clutch. I don’t mean knock down buzzer beating jumpers like MJ. What I mean is when your team needs those big 20,10 and 5 games, deliver. Breaking out is overrated. Sometimes all the team needs is for you to keep doing what you’ve been doing, just become more consistent at it and especially do it when it matters.
This is the deepest Los Angeles Clippers team, well ever. Behind Blake Griffin there’s a plethora of big men. Brandon Bass, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Mo Speights, Paul Pierce and Brice Johnson could all potentially play the Power Forward spot this season. Given the team’s injury plagued playoffs last season, giving the stars like Griffin some nights off during the regular season and fewer minutes from time to time is probably justified. One would think Doc Rivers the GM was wanting to use this depth to get his starters some rest. Time will only tell if Doc Rivers the coach agrees.
Expect Blake Griffin to have a fantastic 2016-17 season, just don’t tell me he’s breaking out. Because he already has.
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