Blake Griffin: Playing Fair or Foul with His Biggest Criticisms

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It doesn't seem all that long ago that Blake Griffin was bursting onto the scene and wowing everyone with his freakish athleticism while at the University of Oklahoma.

After missing his first season with the Los Angeles Clippers, he's bounced back with a vengeance the past two seasons.

Despite that, there's still a lot of room for growth in Griffin's game. At 6' 10" and 251 pounds he's one of the best athletes in the world, let alone the NBA.

Are the concerns and criticisms warranted? Let's have a look.

Shaky Defense

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This one is fair. Griffin isn't going to be confused with Ben Wallace or Tyson Chandler any time soon. Scouts know it and Blake even admits it himself.

Being the great athlete he is, once he puts his mind to it and continues to apply himself, he should be able to show improvement in this area.

He knows he needs to focus and develop his defensive mindset. That's a good sign.

Is He Just a Dunker?

We all know what the videos are going to be like. Eye popping facials that bring back memories of Shawn Kemp.

The stats don't lie though.

Griffin only averages about 3.8 shots per game from three to nine feet away from the rim and 1.1 shots from nine to 15 feet out.

Once he develops a consistent mid range game, his forays to the rim will be that much easier.

Flopping

There have been instances where Griffin flopped to get calls. He wasn't the worst in the league, but he was developing a little reputation.

The new rules that go into effect this year will change this. If not, Griffin and a lot of guys will be lighter in their wallets.

Sacramento Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins even sounded off on Griffin, calling him "babied" and an "actor". The game within the game between these two will be one of the best duels in the Pacific Division and the league over the next few years.

Fan Hate

Believe it or not, fans have even hated on Blake Griffin for his Subway endorsement. One person on Twitter went at him pretty hard.

Due to the language, I won't post the tweet here, but they basically insinuated that they knew Griffin never ate at Subway and that they were tired of the lies.

Griffin replied to the tweet and said that he had eaten at Subway that very day and asked if they had any more "brain busters". It was pretty funny.

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