I’m not one to jump the gun, or over-hype somebody, but Blake Griffin is going to be a special player. I (and many others) knew he was cut from a different cloth while tracking him when he played at Oklahoma. And last night’s performance shows how good he can be. Griffin put up twenty points, fourteen rebounds (a double-double), and shot 57% from the field in a loss to the Portland Trailblazers. Also, nine of his rebounds were on the offensive glass in a game where an offensive rebounder is a hot, yet rare, commodity.
Another rookie, coming off the bench, turned some heads. His name? Evan Turner, the #2 pick in the past NBA Draft. Turner, playing 31 minutes off the bench, put up sixteen points and seven rebounds, an impressive performance in his NBA debut.
Meanwhile, in Cleveland, the Boston Celtics were unable to hold on to a nine-point lead that they built in the third quarter, losing to Cleveland 95-87. Rondo lead the Celtics with eighteen points and nine assists, but it wasn’t enough. J.J. Hickson put on a show for the Cleveland fans, with twenty-one points and six rebounds.
Wednesday’s NBA MVP: Blake Griffin (20 pts, 14 rebs)
Celtics’ MVP of the Night: Rajon Rondo (18 pts, 9 assists)
Celtics’ LVP of the Night: Jermaine O’Neal (2 pts, 6 fouls, 2 rebs in 12 minutes.)
You shouldn't be the MVP of the night if your team loses.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I fucking love watching Blake Griffin play. He is the most athletic person i've ever seen on a bastball court. His combination of size and speed is only matched by LeBron James, and even then I think Griffin is more athletic. There is something about the way he moves around the court that I can't quite explain. I can tell he's a great basketball player without seeing him grab a rebound or take a shot. He has a certain fluidity and swagger about him. Like he walks out on the court and knows he's better than everyone else there, but not in a LeBron James, douchebag, egomanic, i'm gonna rub it in your face way. Its a good, a great thing.
One thing that amazes me about him is his ability to jump just as high on his second and third jumps as his first (which is pretty damn high to begin with.) So when he jumps for a rebound, it gets tipped into the air, he jumps again, and just soars above everyone else.
P.S. This post was slightly gay.
P.P.S. If anyone here has NBA2K11, go play with Blake Griffin. They make him like the most awkward unathletic player in that game. He has like a 50 speed, 50 quickness, 80 vertical and Dwight Howard's jump shot. Are you fucking kidding me 2K? He is the most athletic person i've ever seen, and everything he does on the court is so fluid and unawkward yet you give him Dwight-fucking-Howard's jumper, the most awkward thing in the world.
P.P.P.S. How the fuck does everyone figure out that Enahs is my name spelled backwards so quickly? Thats something i'd look at like 10 times wondering what the fuck it meant before I realized. But everyone on this site is like "I agree with what Shane said..." New alias needed.
Totally agree with everything you said Enahs. I knew Griffin's team lost, so I was considering JJ Hickson as the night's MVP, but this is the first of many great games for Griffin. There is something I see in him (like you elaborated on.)He has what Jay Bilas calls "second-jumpability." Barring injury he'll be great.
ReplyDeleteHaha I didn't know that some one had coined a phase for "his ability to jump just as high on his second and third jumps as his first."
ReplyDeleteSecond-Jumpability, a far more efficient term. Thank you Jay Bilas.