Blake Griffin: 3-point shooter
Through four NBA seasons, Blake Griffin has developed an impressive and intimidating arsenal of hardwood weaponry. He's on the shortlist of best power forwards in the league, if he's not No. 1.
Well, Griffin may be even more terrifying this coming season, if Tuesday's preseason game is any indication. With his Los Angeles Clippers taking on the rival Golden State Warriors, Griffin spotted up in the short corner, catching a pass from Chris Paul and firing a three in Andrew Bogut's eye.
Now, it's just one triple, and it was the only one Griffin shot on the night. He's 1-for-1 through one game. It's also not as if he's never done that before – he's hit 26 threes in his career at a 23.2 percent clip, and he went 12-of-44 (27.3 percent) last season. He's not exactly a marksman, though.
Still, Griffin didn't try a three at all last preseason, and most of last season's attempts came from above the break. He went 8-of-18 in the corners, spending very little time there.
If Griffin can reliably knock down a corner three, the league's best offense from a year ago stands to be even more lethal. He won't be a spot-up shooter on the regular, because putting talented all-around offensive players in a spot on the floor where there's little to do but wait and shoot isn't an efficient allocation of resources.
Having it as a threat, though, opens things up for others on the floor by forcing his defender to stay tight to him. That can also open up opportunities for Griffin on the bounce, with a defender unable to sag off of him that far out, and create additional possibilities on side pick-and-rolls.
Griffin is on record as wanting to add the corner three to his repertoire, something he was working on during the offseason. It should give opposing defenses nightmares just thinking about it, even if it is just a lone triple in a preseason game. Griffin doesn't need any more tools, he's already punched the code for All Weapons.
Oh, and Tyler Hansbrough can hit the corner triple now, too, and will be henceforth known as Psycho 3. He's 2-of-3 on the preseason.
(Dap EOB)