Starter: Blake Griffin

Who is he? After playing two seasons at University of Oklahoma, Blake Austin Griffin was the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Why do we like him? Most notably, we’re making Griffin a TNIB starter for his basketball fury. A knee injury forced him to miss all of last season, and last night he made his NBA debut in spectacular fashion. Dude scored 20 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and had four assists in his first game, which is a great stat line but doesn’t show how good he really was. Not only did he dunk over pretty much the whole Blazers team and seemed like he wanted to break the Staples Center, but he ran fast breaks like a (very large) guard. Griffin’s feel for the game is impressive, as is his willingness to sacrifice his body despite a history of injuries (he also had two minor knee injuries and a concussion in college). Unfortunately, his team lost because he disappeared in the second half. That wasn’t really Griffin’s fault, though. He disappeared because the Blazers defense played well toward the end of the game, his teammates forgot he existed and refused to pass to him, and he was clearly exhausted from carrying his team through the first half.


*Youtube videos via @Jose3030, who you need to follow if you’re on the Twitters.