Author Topic: Choose: Blake Griffin at 26, DeMarcus Cousins at 24, Anthony Davis at 22?  (Read 10264 times)

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Offline D.o.s.

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Correct.
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Offline manl_lui

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I mean...is this really a contest? Davis is terrifyingly good. The only players I'd definitely take over Davis are LeBron and Durant, and even with those two, only for the next year or two, tops.

Yeah. I like all 3 players, but even with Blake's playoff numbers so far there's no debate. Not to rely too heavily on the old chestnut of "Give X the team that Y has," but can you imagine Davis in Blake's place? I mean, a Paul-Redick-Barnes-Davis-Jordan starting 5 is, in my opinion, scarier than a Evans (or Holiday)-Gordon-Poindexter-Davis-Asik lineup. No one would get a shot off within 10 feet of the hoop!

But I think get_banners puts a really interesting question out there: let's play the same game with Davis at 22, Durant at 28, and LeBron at 30, and let's say we're talking about just next season. Who would you rather have? I'd still say Davis, but it's a heck of a lot closer for me.

(If you're looking for this year's stats to compare, here's Pro Basketball Reference with the 5 players:  http://bkref.com/tiny/y283c )

 Davis on this Clippers team this year instead of Blake ?,  no way they'd be as successful.   Part of Blake Griffins playoffs #'s is being hard to stop him in one given way.  His skill set is too diverse.

From how he can move off the dribble, the mid range, the driving ability, finishing ability, passing/facilitating.  He's a do it all type of guy and has grown since entering the league. 

Davis in due time will improve but he plays exactly the same each game, he'll score 30PPG off clean up baskets on this Clippers team he wouldn't have nearly as much of those to clean up and defense would shut down his mismatch advantage on single coverage with a double team etc.

This is why basketball is not played on paper.

I think you're vastly underrating Davis and overstating Blake's game. 

Griffin shoots about 40% on shots beyond 3 feet, and those shots account for about 67% of his offense. 

Davis shoots about 44% on shots beyond 3 feet, accounting for 65% of his offense.

On the P&R, Davis ranked in the 84.6th percentile, while Griffin was below average (40.7th percentile) in terms of points per possession.  Davis' eFG% on P&Rs was .572, while Griffin's was .467.

I think it's hard to argue Blake's offensive superiority, when Davis is more effective on both jumpers and the P&R.

 My point is that as of right now Griffin being a more diverse in his skill set he's harder to read from the opposing defense.  Griffin can adjust to the game as the defense changes it's game plan.

 I don't think I'm underrating Davis, he's an amazing player but at the age of 22 I don't think swapping him for Blake would translate to better success this year.  Davis won't be going out their to get a triple double if Chris Paul was injured.

The point of my stats was that I don't think Griffin is any more versatile than Davis.  If he is, the numbers don't really show it.  Griffin is a better passer at this stage.  Davis is a better scorer, better shooter, better defender, and better rebounder.

 The playoffs are a whole different beast.  I agree with your sentiments but I don't take stats as automatic better success as far as winning goes.  I still agree that if you are looking to build around one of these 3 guys than Davis is the correct answer hands down.

But this Clippers team is better off with Blake Griffin, he make's up for the limitation of Reddick and Barnes IMO.

Did any of you guys watch Davis play in his first series in the playoffs, while of course being 22, just now? Against THE top team in the NBA?

54% shooting from the floor, 11 rebounds, 31.5 points per game, 3 block shots per game.

I mean, why are people bringing up the playoffs as a definite win for Blake Griffin when Davis already out played anything Griffin has done at any point his whole career during the playoffs?

There's really no argument to be made. Davis is hands down the best player no matter what angle anyone wants to take.

Blatantly false, Blake's trip-dub takedown of Houston the other day was more significant than any performance AD has had in the playoffs.

am I wrong for saying this?

In my honest opinion, Davis is more impressive as of now considering age and what he is doing. Davis is doing all the dirty work, and is the best player on the Pelicans by a large margin. There are no talent if any at all, surround Davis. Blake has JJ, DeAndre, CP3 (when healthy) with him. I guess you can also argue Cousins also have no one on the Kings to really help him.

Base on age and talent, I'd take Davis, Blake and Cousins in that order

Offline D.o.s.

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It's worth pointing out that Blake would've killed to have the kind of teammates Davis did during his rookie and sophomore seasons, and/or an ownership that would want to put together a good basketball team.
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Offline Moranis

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It's worth pointing out that Blake would've killed to have the kind of teammates Davis did during his rookie and sophomore seasons, and/or an ownership that would want to put together a good basketball team.
and Davis would kill to have Chris Paul.

And for the record, Davis' best teammate is probably Eric Gordon who happened to play with Blake his rookie year (he also had Bledsoe and Jordan on that team).  Chris Paul joined the Clippers for Blake's 2nd season.
« Last Edit: May 06, 2015, 01:22:45 PM by Moranis »
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Offline D.o.s.

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It's worth pointing out that Blake would've killed to have the kind of teammates Davis did during his rookie and sophomore seasons, and/or an ownership that would want to put together a good basketball team.
and Davis would kill to have Chris Paul.

Obviously -- he's the best point guard in the league. I just think that measuring Davis's supporting cast against Blake's present day teammates is a little misguided.
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Offline Moranis

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It's worth pointing out that Blake would've killed to have the kind of teammates Davis did during his rookie and sophomore seasons, and/or an ownership that would want to put together a good basketball team.
and Davis would kill to have Chris Paul.

Obviously -- he's the best point guard in the league. I just think that measuring Davis's supporting cast against Blake's present day teammates is a little misguided.
Blake's rookie season the starting backcourt was Eric Gordon and Eric Bledsoe with Ryan Gomes at SF and Deandre Jordan at center.  The team also had former all star Mo Williams (for 22 games after the Davis trade), Baron Davis (for 42 games until the Williams trade), Chris Kaman (till he got hurt), Randy Foye, Al-Farouq Aminu, Craig Smith, and Rasual Butler.  That isn't a bad team at all.

Blake's 2nd year Chris Paul joined the team and they went 40-26 in the lock-out shortened season.  Not only did they add Paul for Gordon, but they added Caron Butler at SF, Kenyon Martin, Chauncey Billups (till he got hurt), Reggie Evans, and Nick Young.  They returned from the prior team Jordan, Bledsoe, Mo Williams, Gomes, and Foye.

There is no comparison between Griffin's teammates and Davis' teammates at any point in their careers.  Hands down Griffin has had better teammates, pretty much across the board and pretty much without question. 
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Offline D.o.s.

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Briefly:
Former all star Mo Williams. ::)

Eric Bledsoe wasn't a starter, and he only played 22MPG
similarly:  DeAndre Jordan, he of the 25MPG

Please, regale me with stories of the great Al-Farouq Aminu. Stories that you have and no one else does, apparently, because Aminu kind of sucks at basketball. The '10-'11 Clippers were awful.
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Offline DarkAzcura

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It's worth pointing out that Blake would've killed to have the kind of teammates Davis did during his rookie and sophomore seasons, and/or an ownership that would want to put together a good basketball team.

Davis probably has the most mediocre supporting cast I have ever seen in my life. Everything about it is just so "blah." It lacks balance. I'd take Griffin's first year supporting cast (for potential alone) over whatever Davis has right now honestly. I mean heck, the Clippers' supporting cast was able to net CP3. Do you think anyone (other than Davis) on NOP's roster could net a player of CP3's caliber? LAC was brimming with potential and young talent. They didn't even have to let go of Eric Bledsoe and Jordan in a CP3 trade. That's how good Gordon was considered before injuries consumed him.

Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday are two of the three best players on NOP. Both are pretty below average defensively and slightly above average offensively. They're nice players, but I wouldn't want them taking up 20-22 million dollars of my cap (combined)...
« Last Edit: May 06, 2015, 03:24:45 PM by DarkAzcura »

Offline ddb

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It's gonna suck when Anthony Davis picks the Bulls over the Celtics in free agency in a couple years.  booo

Offline droopdog7

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Let's see, some chili fries or a broken glass to the eye?  Man, this is the tough decision.

NOT!

Offline Endless Paradise

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Jrue Holiday's one of the better defending point guards in the league.

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Jrue Holiday's one of the better defending point guards in the league.

Yeah, I've never heard him described as "below average" before.  He's a top-tier defender.


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Offline Moranis

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Briefly:
Former all star Mo Williams. ::)

Eric Bledsoe wasn't a starter, and he only played 22MPG
similarly:  DeAndre Jordan, he of the 25MPG

Please, regale me with stories of the great Al-Farouq Aminu. Stories that you have and no one else does, apparently, because Aminu kind of sucks at basketball. The '10-'11 Clippers were awful.
You mean the same Aminu that was the starting SF for New Orleans Davis' rookie year.  Look he can't suck on the Clippers but be awesome on the Hornets.  Perhaps you need a refresher on the 2012-13 Hornets.  Sure they had Davis, but they also were starting Greivis Vasquez and Aminu and Robin Lopez (before he became somewhat acceptable).  They had Austin Rivers start 26 games after Eric Gordon had his annual injury.  Now Ryan Anderson was certainly a quality sub, but top to bottom I think I'm taking the Clippers of 10-11 over the Hornets of 12-13 from a quality teammate standpoint.  The next season the Pelicans added Holiday and Evans, but Holiday only played in 34 games and Ryan Anderson only played in 22.  And that was a team that started Stiemsma and Ajinca a combined 50 games who had Brian Roberts start 42 and was still starting that terrible player named Aminu.  As noted above by year 2 Griffin was playing that horrible scrub named Chris Paul. 

I maintain my comment.  Blake Griffin had better teammates than Anthony Davis from day 1 and Davis has never had a teammate anywhere close to as good as Chris Paul who joined Griffin in his 2nd season. 
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Offline marlon.oddo

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Provocative topic.

Depends on what your team needs.  If you need a center, you take Cousins.  If you need a PF, that's a very tough choice, but I'd take Davis.  His youth and lack of injury history compared to Griffin make the difference.

Offline Timdawgg

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Its Davis by a landslide.. i think the only way it wouldn't is if Davis was 30 years old in this scenario. I would probably still pick Davis at his current skill level even if he was 30.
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