National Basketball Association

LA Clippers: Blake Griffin working on pick-and-pop, ball handling

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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After going through surgery this summer, LA Clippers star Blake Griffin has been working to improve his pick-and-pop, post-up and ball handling ability.

Blake Griffin is healthy again. He’s said that he’s at 100 percent again and is ready to play, which is exactly what the LA Clippers and their fans want as the team gets underway with training camp kicking off. It’s time for Griffin to well and truly leave the rehab stages of this summer in the past, and instead keep his complete focus on gelling with new teammates and preparing for a major comeback year.

Ray Samora of Clips Nation provided some updates on the Clippers’ first day of training camp, and reported that Griffin has been working on his pick-and-pop play, post-ups and ball handling over the summer.

Even more so for a player in Blake’s position, coming off surgery for his quadricep, working on these skill based elements of his game are what we’d expect. He shot 38.4 percent from at least 16 feet out last season and 40.4 percent the season before (the two highest marks of his career), so whether he can climb higher into the 40-45 percent range next season will be something to look out for.

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Plenty of work on his pick-and-pop and overall mid-range game while he was limited during recovery can only help this.

As for his ball-handling, let’s hope Griffin can put it on display even more in 2016-17. I’m hoping to see Doc Rivers adopt a slightly different strategy in the new season and utilize Griffin more often as the leader of the offense, operating as a passing and face-up/post-up threat more from the elbow to take some of the load of Chris Paul.

Also, Griffin spending more minutes with the bench players to anchor the second unit offensively would be ideal. Having an elite playmaker on the floor at all times (or at least as much as possible) would be a major benefit for the team, and would allow Griffin to showcase his guard-like handles, too.

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With good health, a strong team around him, and the incentive of a contract year in his corner, Blake Griffin is set for a major comeback season to lead the LA Clippers.

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