Some of you may have seen the announcement over here or on Twitter over the weekend, that we’ve recruited some new talent over here at QuakeGriffin.com to make it an even better place to come satisfy your Blake Griffin highlight needs. Mike Robinson, who you can find on Twitter @MrKnowledgeBomb, will be joining the team with me and along with Conrad our design expert will make a nice little three-man weave of Blake Griffin highlight awesomeness. Mike will be running the Quake Griffin Facebook page (which you should go fan now!) and splitting game highlight and news update duties with me.
Posts in category Highlights
The Quake: Shaking Up Charlotte (1/29/11)
Well with that last couple of games coming without a Blake “Super-Highlight” you may have thought he was done out doing himself. You were wrong.
You know Blake had a good one when you have 3 highlights to choose from and don’t know which is the best or where to start.
First up is what Ralph Lawler says on the play-by-play is a 50-ft. alley-oop from Rnady Foye. It’s really more like 60-ft.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzteG9-a_AA&hd=1]
H/T @Wegobomber31
Next up we have what I think is an even better alley-oop off of a move that needs its own nickname, the Blake spin out of the post alley-oop. Since we here at Quake Griffin like our forces of nature nicknames, I propose the “Category 32″ or the “Blornado” (which someone said on Twitter last night but I can’t remember who for the H/T). Anyway on to the highlight:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAzVixXQwic]
H/T GetBangedOn
And last but certainly not least is the Lawler called “Whirling Dervish” 360-lay up. This guys is just crazy:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFNPQSrG09A]
H/T JayWest909
Bonus: Oh what could have been…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJgUCmrTqMQ]
H/T JayWest909
The Quake: Shaking up Houston (1/26/11)
Blake didn’t do a lot of shaking last night, thanks to an excellent defensive performance from Chuck Hayes.
He did still finish with 14/11 on an off night and did have one throw down:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MHOYXgn77E]
He also had a nifty and-1 in the 3rd quarter too:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IHhpFfcQkA]
A few nights off before the next Quake against the Bobcats on Saturday night.
"I saw it with my own two eyes…" #1: @Sportsguy33
I’d like to start a new feature hear at Quake Griffin where we highlight reactions from fans who attended the game and saw Blake’s highlights in action. I’m going to call it the “I saw it with my own two eyes…” series. If you’ve been to a game recently featuring the one and only Blake “Quake” Griffin and would like to be part of this series, send me an e-mail or a dm on twitter with a paragraph or two on what it was like to see him with your own two eyes.
Since there is maybe no more famous Clipper fan than ESPN’s the Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, (other than maybe Clipper Darrell, but only die-hard NBA fans know him) and he just so happens to have a new article up today about the Clippers that includes a section about what it’s like to watch Blake in person, I thought it was a good place to start.
@Sportsguy33 from this article:
Against Denver last week, Blake stole the ball and dribbled down the right wing, with Baron Davis trailing to his left and one defender back. As Blake crossed the foul line extended, headed for a seemingly easy layup, he threw the ball back for Baron. To the uninitiated, the pass seemed idiotic. You’re giving up a possible layup? Really? But Clippers fans had been properly trained by this point. They knew. They got it. Blake wanted the Return Oop. Even as Blake was throwing the pass, the buzz started, like a low rumble of a “Whoooaaaaa.” Baron deftly took the pass and lobbed it back (“WHOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAA!”), but Blake was already jumping (“WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAA!”) and climbing and climbing and climbing (here’s where the “Oh God, don’t let him get hurt” sound comes in, which I can’t even spell properly), then the slam (“HARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”) We lost our minds, basically. At halftime, I was still so wired that J.A. Adande teased me, “Look at you, you can’t stop hopping up and down, you’re like a little kid.”
The Quake: Shaking up Golden State (1/9/10)
So they weren’t the most spectacular dunks we’ve seen from Blake Griffin this season, but they were highlights from his 23rd straight double-double performance that led to the Clippers to a 105-91 win over the Golden State Warriors
Here’s Blake’s alley-oop from Baron Davis that was simply that, an alley-oop with a simple two handed finish:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoJcmizySmE]
H/T @outsidethenba
The biggest highlight from last night had to be Blake skying for his 10th rebound of the night:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRIqnhhQ7nY]
H/T @outsidethenba
Wow. Just wow.
Last but not least, his put-back dunk in transition can be seen in this video of last night’s game highlights at the 2:20 mark.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzmu6EGhaxg]
More important to note though is Baron Davis’ INSANE decision to throw the oop to Eric Gordon at the 0:33 mark!!! Blake was right there and calling for it! Instead we got a boring Gordon lay-up in place of what was sure to be a thunderous throwdown from Blake.
Game Recaps:
ESPN:
“The best part about all of it is we’ve played consistently and played well during this stretch,” Griffin said. “It’s changed from the beginning of the season, where it seemed like we were losing every night for a different reason. Now we’re winning a different way every time. It’s a great feeling.”
Griffin talking about their recent stretch of good play in which the Clippers are 7-3 in their last 10 games since December 17th, good for second in the West in that time.
ClipperBlog – Charlie Widdoes:
In achieving his 12th consecutive 20-10 game, we saw again just how overpowering Grffin can be on a basketball court. It’s not simply that he produced another nice scoring and rebounding total, because, let’s be honest, he is a terrible mismatch for David Lee and the Warriors and we would expect him to dominate. But the way he makes the game so much easier for his teammates is what should truly inspire hope for sustained team success. His presence allows shooters to have space along the perimeter and opens up lanes to penetrate because defenders can’t afford to help off of him.
Clips Nation – Steve Perrin:
[Blake] was 9 for 11 from the line, which was nice to see. He looks more comfortable at the stripe to me right now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he shoots around 70% the rest of the season. He also almost single handedly got the Warriors bigs into foul trouble. In addition to Lee fouling out, Andres Biedrins was also disqualified with six fouls, and Dorell Wright and Vladimir Radmanovic each picked up 5.
ESPN Los Angeles – Pedro Moura:
Griffin broke the franchise record with his 23rd consecutive double-double Sunday after posting a 23-point, 12-rebound line. It was announced to cheers from the crowd after the final buzzer.
The Quake: Shaking up Denver (1/5/11)
Ok guys so we got not one but two great alley-oops from Blake The Quake last night.
Here’s the first which just about everyone is going crazy about (be sure to check out the footage from the stands too if you haven’t already):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0UyFvL7qiw]
H/T to Ben at Blazersedge for the video.
Of course the surprise was that the second one featured Blake as the passer (a very underrated skill of his) when he threw one up to the second floor to Deandre Jordan and Jordan climbed the ladder right over Nene to get it and throw it down.
These two guys have some serious hops. And no Ralph Lawler, no team has had two guys that can jump like this, pure ridiculousness
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSCDUOdXnGg&hd=1]
H/T to thehoopscene.com for the video.
For the comments: What’s your favorite adjective to describe Blake’s dunking ability?
Wednesday Tremors
With the news of Blake being in the dunk contest there’s plenty of chatter to share:
The mammoth of the bunch, and the hands-down favorite in anything involving dunking a basketball, Griffin has turned “dunking big man” from a novelty act or a liability into a truly bewildering, physics-shattering feat.
- Kelly Dwyer over at Ball Don’t Lie breaks it down as well:
We bandied, we’ve wondered, we’ve hoped, and now we’ve learned that the dream is a reality.Blake Griffin(notes) will be in the 2011 NBA Dunk Contest.
- Tom Ziller gives his take over at SB Nation and has a great analogy of what it’s like to pick out the best Blake Griffin highlight:
You know Blake!’s dunks all too well; choosing one is like standing at the butcher counter looking a cuts of sirloin. TOO MUCH GOOD STUFF.
- Why isn’t LeBron in the field? He’s gone back and forth with himself on it apparently before, and apparently is scared of Blake’s homecourt advantage.
- Mike Prada takes an in-depth look at what to expect from Javelle McGee in the contest. I would guess he’ll be Blake’s main competition. Air Congo could prove me wrong though.
- If Blake has a weakness, it’s clearly been at the free-throw line where he is currently shooting only 59%. The good news is he knows it and is working on it.
- This is pretty easy: rate the best in-game dunkers.
- In case you missed it, Blake’s overall game was awarded with NBA Western Conference Rookie of the month for December.
- The greatest rookie of all time? Over at SI they look at the 15 contenders.
To whet your appetite here’s a good remix from hoopmixtape.com of Blake’s 2007 McDonald’s HS All-American Dunk Contest win:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pINw9cB8MNw]
Find anything else good about Blake lately? Send it to us on Twitter @quakegriffin. For instance, can anyone find the video of Jimmy Fallon challenging Blake to a dunk contest from 2009? If so send it our way.
Tremor: Blake Griffin to Compete in 2011 Dunk Contest
The big “Tremor” today on the internets is thankfully the news we’ve all been waiting for:
Blake Griffin is going to compete in the dunk contest this year in L.A.
Here is a leaked video from NBA.com, snatched up and reloaded to Youtube by the always awesome dunk highlights blog GetBangedOn, that interviews Blake, some of his teammates, as well as other NBA players and Clippers broadcasters about Blake being in this years Dunk contest.
Enjoy:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU8WkUZTU8E]
The report was confirmed by LA Times writer Broderick Turner:
Clippers forward Blake Griffin, who has become must-see TV because of his slam dunks, will be in the NBA’s slam dunk contest, sources said Tuesday night.
I can’t wait. This will be the most powerful dunk performance since Kemp in ’93, no doubt about it.
What do you think Blake will pull off in the contest? Leave your guess in the comments below.
Welcome to QuakeGriffin.com
Ok everybody. I’ve thought about creating a site like this for some time now. I can’t remember exactly when I started thinking about it but I think it was soon after I saw this:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mswjjN68S30&hd=1]
It just makes sense that a one-hand alley-oop dunk with a guy hanging off him would be his first NBA basket, doesn’t it?
After yesterday’s call to action by the Godfather of Basketball Blogs, Henry Abbott over at ESPN’s TrueHoop, I knew it was officially time.
So here we are with a new blog devoted to a one man highlight reel, dubbed Quake (h/t @Winston_Wolfe), for the earth shattering dunks that happen primarily in L.A.
Can there really be a blog devoted to one player’s highlights? When that player is Blake Griffin, and the highlights are coming in every game, the answer is apparently, yes. The goal is for this site to be your one stop shop of Blake Griffin highlights, and to be a place where you can come discuss and argue for what highlights are better or your favorites and why.
I’d also like to involve you, the readers (should we get more than a few), to generate some of your own content. Have you made a great “remix” video of Blake’s highlights set to music? Send it to us. One of the features I hope to have is a somewhat frequent “I saw it with my own two eyes…” in which Clipper fans and fans who see highlights of Blake in person can e-mail/tweet/send a messenger bird of what it was like to see Blake in person. I’d also like to have a page of quotes of reactions to the highlights. I’ll also be linking to all things Blake on the “internets” to keep you up to date, so if you see something interesting about him shoot me an e-mail or a tweet.
Lastly if anyone would like to get involved and be a regular contributor to the blog please contact me at quakegriffin[at]gmail[dot]com. On that same note, comments, questions, sage advice, and constructive criticism all have a place in my inbox, so don’t be shy.