Griffin To Make Delayed Rookie Debut For Clippers
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Blake Griffin has yet to play a minute in a regular-season NBA game and already he has the Los Angeles Clippers thinking playoffs.
Their optimism in last year's No. 1 draft pick appears well-founded. Griffin's double-doubles in preseason play showed everyone what they missed last season when he sat out what was supposed to be his rookie season with a broken left kneecap.
"Sitting out all year really gave me kind of a different perspective and it really put a fire inside of me and made me realize my love for the game," he said. "I'm really excited."
At the time, his injury devastated the Clippers, and renewed talk of a curse on the hard-luck team, while revealing Griffin's work ethic. After surgery and months of rehab, he retooled his shot and spent the summer working out while most NBA players went on vacation.
"He's very physical and very strong, very aggressive. He can stretch the floor, he can shoot, he can face up," All-Star center Chris Kaman said. "He's got a lot of potential, and he's still just learning. Wait 'til that guy figures it all out. You're going to see a solid player in this league for a lot of years."
Griffin and Kaman will anchor a starting lineup that includes shooting guard Eric Gordon, point guard Baron Davis and likely small forward Ryan Gomes.
Overseeing them is new coach Vinny Del Negro, fired by Chicago in May and hired by the Clippers in July to take over a team that went 29-53 last season and missed the playoffs for the 15th time in 17 years.
"It will start on the defense end for us. We have to be kind of a scrappy, physical, dominant mentality type of defensive team," Del Negro said. "That's going to get us in the open court for early post-ups and Baron's ability to create and Eric's ability to attack the basket."
Davis was singled out by Del Negro and new general manager Neal Olshey for coming to camp out of shape.
"He's got to run our team," Del Negro said. "More importantly than score the ball, he needs to get us in the right offense, control our stuff defensively. He knows how to play and now he's got to get in condition to play at that level."
Davis anticipates having a freer hand under Del Negro than he did with former coach Mike Dunleavy, who called the plays.
"Vinny is going to allow me to be more creative out there on the floor, be more aggressive and just lead the team. As the season progresses, I think he'll give me more and more responsibility, which I will enjoy," Davis said. "I think this is going to be a much better season."
Besides Griffin, other newcomers are first-round picks Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe, along with free agents Randy Foye, Gomes and Brian Cook. Rasual Butler and Craig Smith also returned.
"We have more depth," Kaman said. "We're solid if you look down on paper, but I've seen that before and it never pans out, it seems like, so we need to put the work in here to make it go."
Gordon raised his profile in a successful stint with the U.S. national team at the world championships this summer, and he wants to translate his newly won confidence into a vocal leadership role.
"Most definitely we'll be a whole better team than last year. It's just a better vibe and everybody is listening," he said. "I think the expectations will be fulfilled. We just need to keep guys healthy."
Griffin's dedication impressed his teammates enough that many of them joined him in workouts starting in mid-July. If he felt sorry for himself last season, Griffin never showed it and he rejects talk about a Clippers curse.
"You can say whatever you want about the past, you can say whatever you want about curses. I really don't care," he said. "It's about us and moving forward."
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