Top Power Forwards entering 2014-2015: #3 Blake Griffin

   

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We continue our rankings with Blake Griffin as our #3 Power Forward entering the upcoming NBA season.  Griffin is one of the most polarizing players in the league, he is constantly criticized for not coming up big in playoff games, being reliable in the fourth quarter, and a lack of a post game. That being said, it cannot be argued that Griffin had another tremendous year. Griffin finished the year with averages of 24.1 PPG, 9.5 RPG, and an impressive 3.9 APG. Griffin finished in the top 10 in scoring and finished third in MVP voting. 

    Blake averaged a career high in scoring this year, and contrary to believe it was not all due to his athletic ability. Griffin developed a nice handle to go along with his physical prowess. He loves to face his opponent up more often than he loves to back them down in the low post. He catches the ball around the high post area and likes to to use his handles against other bigs to attack the rim towards the middle of the floor. He is a nightmare in the pick and roll coverage, often times posterizing defenders that are late to recover.  In addition, he developed a mid ranger to keep his defenders honest and opened up more pick and pop plays.

     His low post game increased dramatically this year, after Paul's early season injury he increased his low post shot attempts to nearly 6 a game. Griffin is comfortable on both sides of the low post area(although he prefers the left side). Griffin has a smooth over-the-shoulder left handed hook, that he uses constantly to go along with his right handed hook, look at the following three plays. He has a series of countermoves highlighted by his up and under shot fakes. Griffin loves to bully defenders with his shoulder often times knocking them out of position and giving him easy layups. 

     Griffin also got to the free throw line last year 8.5 per game and shot a career high 71% from the stripe, we see no reason as to why this cannot continue to get better. The flip side to that is that 71% is still not a good percentage for somebody who is needed on the floor at the end of games, something that hampers his performances. Griffin continues to be a nightmare in fastbreak situations, he is still one of the league leaders in dunks and racks up quite a few points on fast break alley-oops.

      In addition to this, Griffin has dropped his rebounding totals, after averaging a double double his first two seasons, he has failed to do so his previous two. Griffin averaged 9.5 RPG, that is good but not overly impressive. While it is true that Jordan consumes most of the available rebounds, we don't see why Griffin cannot average a double double(the perfect example of this, is Kevin Love and Nikola Pekovic). Griffin, is also not a good defender, he averages less than 1 BPG, and cannot be entrusted with the job of guarding the other teams premier big man(that job is entrusted to Jordan). 

     Griffin has all the tools to be the #1 Power Forward in the world, but his constant struggle in the playoffs, as well as his unreliability in the fourth quarter of games continues to hinder him. Griffin's stats dropped during the playoffs to 23.5 PPG and 7.4 RPG, and averaged a ridiculous 4.1 personal fouls. Griffin must find a way to rebound at an elite rate again while staying on the floor during crunch time. While his assists numbers are great, he needs to be able to average at least one block and improve his one on one defense. If griffin does this, we expect him to be higher in our rankings the following year.

Here are his top 10 plays of the year.

Top Power Forwards entering 2014-2015: #4 Anthony Davis

   

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      At #4 in our rankings is Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans. Davis coming in at #4 was up to heavy debate over his position. Is Davis a Power Forward or a Center? He spent a lot of last season at both positions, and his versatility at a time where there aren't many true centers in the league makes it even more tricky. Ultimately though, he is listed as a Power Forward and the Pelicans acquisition of center Omer Asik is a good indication that on opening night Davis will be starting as a Power Forward.
      Davis made huge leaps in his second year, after averaging 13.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 1.8 BPG as a rookie, Davis increased his production to an impressive 20.8 PPG, 10 RPG, and 2.8 RPG and his first All Star game. Davis is a nightmare matchup on both sides of the ball, he's already one of the league's premier defenders leading the league in blocks this year, an amazing accomplishment for only his second year. Davis utilizes his length to make offensive players take contested shots. Davis is also a great weak side helper, often cleaning up for teammates' mistakes with timely blocks.
     Offensively, Davis is a coach's dreams, he runs the floor like no other big man in the league and gets easy fast break points by not assuming that a fast break layup is an automatic two points. Here is a perfect example of a full end to end display of Davis's skill set, he rotates on the pick and roll to stop the guard, then returns to contest a shot by Bass, and finally runs the floor. How many big men in the league can you think off the top of your head who could complete that sequence so beautifully? Davis does a lot of his damage in these fast break situation. Often times Davis is not the recipient of a pass but instead just grabbing offensive rebounds and running ahead of everybody else to get easy points, look at the following two plays.
Davis has a soft touch around the rim, he likes to post up and use a quick right handed floater that is impossible to block. In addition, in most pick and roll situations (as well as when he attacks the rim off a face-up situation) he likes to finish over the top of his defender with two handed layups, not something you see quite often around the association.
      Davis also developed a nice mid range jumpshot, he's good off the pick and pop and can hit it off the dribble, he also shoots free throws at a 79% clip which is pretty solid. Davis has a bright future, and we expect him to keep rising to eventually become the top Power Forward on this list. He still needs to develop a more solid back to the basket game, and he needs to pick up his weight. In addition to that, he needs to foul a little bit less(He averaged 3 fouls a game last season) and stay off the injury list, he only played 67 games last season after only playing 64 his rookie year. However, it is unquestionable that Davis is a stat stuffer and has a very bright future, that is why he's at #4 and we expect him higher than this next season.
Here is Anthony Davis' top 10 plays this season.

Top Power Forwards entering 2014-2015: #5 Dirk Nowitzki

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We start off our top 5 Power Forwards entering this upcoming NBA season with Dirk Nowitzki at number 5. Nowitzki had a subpar 2012-2013 NBA season due to injuries, he only played in 53 games and averaged 17.3 PPG(The lowest since his second season in the NBA). He bounced back this last season however, playing 80 games and getting his production back up to what we've come to expect. While it was hard to place him at #5 over the immortal Tim Duncan, it is unquestionable that at this point in their respective careers, Nowitzki produces more, and is required to do more than Tim Duncan. That of course, has a lot to do with Popovich's management of Duncan's playing time.
      Nowitzki averaged 21.7 points on 49% FG and 39% from the behind the arc. He remains one of the most unstoppable offensive forces in the game. His one leg step back off the high post remains one of the most unstoppable moves in the game today. Nowitzki likes to set up shop in the mid to high post area, from there he does a great job of using his length and size to get off his jumpshot, he shot a blistering 74% on two pointers this season. Nowitzki also runs the floor better than most bigs in the league, he does a great job of running at the rim in fast break situations to get easy dunks, but also is the team's most lethal trailer option to shoot the three. In addition, Dirk is lethal in the Pick and Pop option, something Ellis and Calderon quickly learned. He fades out quickly to the three point line, making his defenders uncomfortable with having to defend out so far and opens up driving lanes for his guards.
     Nowitzki's use of the pump fake is also very effective, look at the next 3 plays here. Nowitzki loves to use the pump fake to get his defender in the air, and get off a clean looking shot, he is lethal at this for a couple of reasons, the first is how often he gets people to bite on it, the second, is he uses the pump fake to bump his defender and get his shot off (should they not bite on it), and if the defender still manages to contest, more often than not he hits the shot anyway.
     His ability to hit tough shots is unmatched and Nowitzki is still one of the clutch shotmakers of today's game. One of the things that keeps him still on this list is how reliable he is down the stretch, he shot 89% from the free throw line this year and isn't prone to miss big free throw shots down the stretch, as lets say, Blake Griffin or Kevin Love(Here's Love infamously missing three crucial free throws to win a game this year).
     While Nowitzki has never been known for his defense, he is not a complete liability on the defensive side of the ball, and his rebounding has always left something to be desired (even though he averages 10 RPG for his career in the playoffs). However, his offensive prowess more than makes up for it, and which is why Dirk is still in our top 5 for his position for another year.
Here is Nowitzki's top 10 plays from before the All Star break.

top PF going into 2012-2013, #1 Kevin Love

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Here it is, our number 1 ranked power forward heading into the 2012-2013 NBA season, Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kevin Love had a breakout year, he averaged a ridiculous 26 PPG and 13.3 RPG while shooting 37% from behind the arc. Love was well beyond ahead of the rest of the power forwards in both scoring and rebound and was 4th overall in point per game in the league. Love began his incredible rise by shedding 20 pounds last summer, this allowed him to come in much better shape and much more mobile than previous years.
Kevin Love is a rebounding machine, and that was obvious since he stepped foot in this league that he would dominate rebounding for the next decade. Dwight Howard may lead the league in rebounding, but in our minds Kevin Love is a more impressive rebounder. Love is not overly athletic, but nobody in the league knows how to position himself better to rebound on both ends of the floor. His offensive rebounds are timely scoring opportunities. Look at this play, Love sets the pick that gives Ridnour the wide open lane, now rather than assume that Ridnour will score the easy floater, he rolls to the rim to continue the pick and roll and crashes the offensive glass for the easy tip in. Kevin Love attacks the offensive glass every time, and that is key. He understands he's not going to get an offensive rebound every time down the floor, but he increases his chances by trying. Here, we see Love slip the pick and roll (something he does often and very well), despite missing the shot, it took him less than 3 seconds to catch and tip that in.
Now, Love is an offensive nightmare, at 6-10 he has "in the gym" range. His jumpshot is his favorite and most deadly weapon. The reigning three point shootout champion, Love has a great form and release on his jumpshot. He can shoot coming off a curl, or set shots, or pick and pops it does not matter. Just look at the first 3 plays of this video if you think he cant shoot. He sets his feet great for every jumpshot he takes, giving himself a balance on every shot. Love also has a rare skill, he does not need to bring the ball down to comfortably shoot his jumpshot, something few players in the league can do (young players are taught to try to bring the ball straight up from the point at which they caught the ball particularly bigs in the post)
Being big though, means that Love has to play in the low post. Love gets a variety of points in the paint. He is not going to wow you with a a polished offensive repertoire, but he has an established go to move down there, and thats what critics look for now a days in their bigs. He has a right handed hook that he uses effectively. Here we see his patience in the post, after finally getting space to operate he backs his way down on a great defensive player in Martin and shoots his running hook over his left shoulder. Love has a soft touch, and knows how to use his body to get where he wants to go even when he's not as athletic as the others.
Kevin Love is the best power forward in the game, his array of skills is unmatched, he is a matchup nightmare and his rebounding prowess is special. Does he have room for improvement? Of course, Love is a career 0.5 BPG player, that definitely could improve, nobody expects Love to be handing out 3 to 4 blocks a game like Dwight Howard, but one block a game should not be so hard for a player of his skills. He's a modest defender, definitely not a liability, but he has room for improvement in his one on one defense as well. Despite this, his rebounding obviously shows he is a plus on the defensive end of the floor. Love was the best power forward this year, and he's only 23!!! We expect to see Love right back here next year, and if the Timberwolves continue to improve in the win column, the best power forward in the game will be in the middle of it all.
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