A number one draft pick sidelined his entire rookie year by injury finally makes a smashing debut in the NBA!
No, not Greg Oden (and probably will never be, sigh). But one Blake Griffin.
There were a lot of hoopla for the Los Angeles Clippers pick last season—a power forward who has the freakish athleticism (absent in most Caucasian players) to compliment a polished post game (absent in today’s “Best Center on the Planet Dwight Howard”) but all those were sidelined following a leg injury that may or may not have been stretched for the entire year to add even more draft picks (conspiracy theory).
Despite carrying an abysmal 2-13 win-loss record, Griffin has shown a lot of spunk and fire that most Clipper fans haven’t seen since they had Elton Brand and “rented” savvy Sam Cassel earlier this decade. Monstrous, rim-rattling, BOOM SHAKALAKA dunks aside, Griffin has shown that he has more in his arsenal this early and is more than capable of handling business in the paint, averaging around 18 points and 9 rebounds (not bad for a rookie big).
For years, we’ve pined about Dwight Howard’s lack of post moves—even the simplest pivot in the paint warrants a travelling call to this day. How and why Howard, for all his physical gifts, has been recognized as the league’s best center are just some of the things that would leave a bad taste in the mouths of old school bigs such as Hakeem Olajuwon (who worked with Howard this season), Tim Duncan, George Mikan, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain among others (hell, even Shaq-prime had more post moves).
Now, we finally have a highlight-reel worthy big with substance on our hands. If only the Clippers could ship Davis out, get a solid point guard (heard Denver’s Chauncey Billups is on the trading block as well) and maybe add a defensive-minded wing, then they can build on an Eric Gordon-Griffin combo for years to come.
