Ford on Griffin

by Chris Alvino on May 14th, 2009 at 1:12 pm

Chad Ford of ESPN.com had a chance to catch up with Blake Griffin in San Francisco.  If you are as big of a believer in Griffin as I am, then you should check out Ford’s piece.   The part that I liked the most was this:

“Many top picks at this time of year are getting fitted for their suit on draft night and flying around the country trying to ink endorsement deals. Griffin is an exception. He’s more concerned with dominating right out of the gate.”

Also interesting was Griffin talking about his lack of defensive prowess at Oklahoma.  Griffin said:

“I was on a team where I couldn’t get in foul trouble.  Coach [Jeff] Capel was pretty clear that I needed to be on the floor. So I was always conscious, maybe too conscious, about picking up fouls.

“I definitely [think] that it’s an area of my game that needs improvement. But I feel like I’m going to be a good defender in the NBA. I like to play defense.”

Griffin is a good enough athlete to protect the rim.  But as I have noted before, defense comes from the heart.  And as I have also said before, Griffin has the heart of a lion.  I think Griffin can be a guy that becomes one of the benchmarks at the PF position in the NBA.  His drive and his skills give him that.  He is a better NBA prospect than Michael Beasley in large part because of his incredible motor and focus on the court.

Check out this Youtube clip of Griffin dunking the ball.  Check out his elevation at around 42 seconds into the clip. Ford called him the closest thing to Superman to come out of the draft since Dwight Howard. He might be right on that.

About Chris Alvino

Chris Alvino grew up in Crestwood, NY. He graduated from Regis High School in 2005. There he played both basketball and baseball. Chris is currently a student at Boston College, where he practices with the varsity Women's Basketball Team (... seriously). Chris has been a Knicks' fan for years and can literally talk about them all day long, every day of the week. Chris enjoys writing on this blog and seeing what everyone out there has to say about it. View all posts by Chris Alvino →
  • CircleLimit4

    Griffin looks like he’ll be good, really good. What would make him great would be the development of a midrange jump shot, or at least enough of one to make defenders respect him at 15 feet. We know he can take the ball to the hole and finish at the rim, but if he can draw defenders out and space the floor then he’ll be something special out of the triple threat.

  • Chris Alvino

    I think that will come. I also think that his jumper is underrated. It is not his fault that he could slam it on people in college. If I was him, I would do the exact same thing.

  • KBT1615

    BLAKE, awww man I pray we get the 1st pick.

  • Jeff Cykiert

    This has nothing to do with this post:

    I read on article yesterday that listed the highest paid people in the world in 2008. Kobe and LeBron were on it. Kobe made 39, Lebron made 38. The market for players of that caliber extends way beyond the walls of their cities.

    Players should have to be measured and weighed at the combine, and the information should be made public. Why not add a 40 yard dash while you’re at it.

  • bob knick slave

    IS there something wrong with griffins arm,or he just cant dribble with his left …AT ALL!?

  • SpaceMan

    if we get lucky, what happens to gallo or chandler?

  • JRSlim

    Lee hasn’t been given that vote of confidence and re-signing him until the Knicks find out they’re not winning the lottery. If they do, Griffin becomes the starting PF and Lee goes bye bye, maybe even in a sign-and-trade.

  • KBT1615

    how about a deal for Ray Felton.

  • Mucha

    Raymond Felton? He’s a pretty good player but getting him is not necessary. We need to have enough capspace to sign two max free agents, aquiring Felton (just an above-average point guard) would throw that out the window.

    So no.

  • Mucha

    The Knicks need Blake Griffin.

    Dwight Howard is a dumbass anyways, I really don’t like him.