Blake Superior

I recently witnessed Blake Griffin for my first time, and afterward I was feeling mildly heretical.

You see, I watched the Clippers play the Timberwolves, and I went in expecting to witness inhuman acts I had never seen before. I expected to see things that would make Clark Kent whip off his glasses, polish them on his hidden cape, and mash them back onto his face in disbelief. Having watched the majority of his games on League Pass, I had heard all the comparisons, a combination of Malone, Kemp and Barkley, and I expected to see Griffin coming off a screen and roll like Malone, leaping 40 feet in the air for the slam like Kemp, then eating a dozen hot wings on the way down like Sir Charles.

I was sincerely let down afterward. Blake was clearly a young player. He seemed much too interested in dunks. On too many possessions, he pointed to the rim, asking for an alley oop. On offense, he seemed disinterested in running around setting screens, doing the things that post players do. His defense seemed suspect. He complained to the refs. A lot. When players do this, I get ulcers.

But the more I thought about the actual game, the more I was impressed. Griffin demanded the team's best defender at all times while he was on the court. Not just any defender, but a post defender, usually 7'2 Darko Milicic, a big guy who is supposed to be tying up the lane from wing slashers. Griffin made him stretch his defense out to the perimeter, something Darko is not quick enough to do. Griffin punished him by downing jumper after jumper, shooting a very solid 12-20 from the field. Admittedly, 4 of those shots were thunderous dunks, a very high percentage shot for Griffin. But he proved clearly that defenders should respect his jumpers as much as his post game. Griffin also demonstrated excellent court awareness for a big man, not trying to do too much when he had the ball, consistently making the right pass. He wound up with 5 assists and 8 rebounds to match his 29 points.

And yet, statistics weren't what sold me on him. What sold me was the fact that he packed a stadium in Minnesota that is often pathetically underattended. And the fact that Griffin, even though he was clearly uninspired in this game, STILL managed to drop 29 points. The Clippers had been on a two week road trip. Griffin hadn't seen his home in 14 days. He was performing in three different events in the upcoming all star weekend, and the Clippers last game before his busy weekend was against the Timberwolves, currently sporting a record of 13-43. Can we blame him for being uninspired? In an 82 game season, one in which the Clippers are clearly not a playoff contending team battling for a position, is Griffin expected to go as hard as he can every single night?

Well, yes. He is. But at least against Minnesota, it was somewhat understandable if he didn't.

The Clippers are a good young team, whose record is not indicative of their talent level. They clearly enjoy playing together. They will be getting lots of national TV coverage next year, thanks almost entirely to the Blake Show. Griffin's acrobatics and showmanship are at incredibly high levels, as is his poise and fitness at such a young age, few rookies are anything close to as built as he is. But far more importantly, his talent level is professional ready. Somehow, coming into his rookie season, he has a complete NBA game.

This raises the logical question: where the hell does he go from here? A consistent 3 point shot? Jumping through a fiery circle for dunks like the Phoenix gorilla mascot? His work ethic won't allow him to stay put, which means (gulp) he's going to be BETTER year after year. As insane as it is to think about, this is just the beginning.

Clark Kent, you've been warned.