Bloggin' with Blake

Feb. 13, 2008

Note: This is the first in a weekly series of blogs from Oklahoma freshman forward Blake Griffin. Griffin will address a variety of topics each week, some related to basketball and others not.

The 6-10, 243-pounder from Oklahoma City is averaging 15.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per contest while leading the Big 12 Conference with his .589 field goal percentage. In his six full Big 12 games, he is averaging 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists.

THE FRESHMAN CLASS
I'm fortunate to be part of a very deep and talented national freshman class. If you think about the number of true freshmen around the country who have had a significant impact on college basketball this season, it's probably been a while since the game has seen a group like this.

I've gotten to know a bunch of those players pretty well over the years from the summer AAU circuit, summer camps and national all-star games. Derrick Rose of Memphis is so explosive. A lot of times he can go to the basket and dunk on someone, but he'll pass it off for a teammate instead. Big men always want to play with a point guard like that. Eric Gordon of Indiana is tough to guard. He's really physical and can score extremely well. It seems like once he gets up in the air he just hangs there and waits for you to come down. And that's when he'll make his move and score on you.

I also have a lot of respect for Kyle Singler of Duke. He was my roommate at the Nike Skills Academy prior to my senior year in high school. Off the court, he's kind of goofy -- he reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite, just a little bit cooler. On the court, I really like his game.

Michael Beasley is having an incredible year for Kansas State. Some people say he's the best player in the country. It's hard for me to argue that. It's difficult to say who the best is just because there are so many players who are good for their team. Tyler Hansbrough for North Carolina comes to mind. But I definitely put Beasley in my top three players in the country. And I definitely think he's the best freshman.

It was a lot of fun playing against Beasley when K-State came here in January, especially because he's about my size. He's a really good scorer, so it's a lot of fun to defend someone like that. On the other end, it's just as fun to go at someone as good as him. We were always guarding each other last spring at the McDonald's All-America practices and we got along well, so I was really looking forward to playing against him here at our place. It turned out to be a great game. Unfortunately, it just didn't quite go our way in the end.

He's a funny guy and we were going back and forth with each other the whole day. It wasn't anything hostile, just friendly exchanges between plays. Every time I went to the free throw line he would joke that he'd give me money if I missed it. He started at $5 on the first one and he ended up going all the way to $1 million later in the game. I was 7-for-13 from the line that day, so maybe I need to give him a call.

THE KNEE
To the people who are wondering, my knee is doing really well. I'd say I'm at about 85 or 90 percent right now. My hope is that I'll be able to play without a brace and without it taped up in another few weeks.

When I went down against Kansas, I knew something was wrong but I didn't know what. It happened so fast. I was more scared than I was in pain just because I didn't know what happened. I didn't think it was my ACL but I wasn't sure. My kneecap dislocated and quickly went back into place. I had never experienced that before. And I felt something else too. The worst part was two or three hours later when everything tightened up and the swelling got kind of bad. I was worried that night and the next morning before the MRI because I wasn't sure what the diagnosis would be.

Once we found out it was a sprained MCL, I spent a ton of time in the training room rehabbing. The doctors told me it could take up to four weeks to heal, but I was going to do whatever I could to try to make it back in two weeks so I could play against Oklahoma State. That was my target date. Alex Brown, our trainer, did such a good job of rehabbing me and getting me treatment. I was going into the training room just about every four hours. It was tiring at times, but not being able to practice and play was a tremendous motivator.

The only issue with it right now is that it seems like I'm not able to get quite as high as I used to when I jump straight up. Because I hurt it when I went up for a rebound, I think that might be why I don't feel like I'm jumping as high when I go up for a board right now. I think I've been a little tentative and haven't been quite as reckless as I was before. Hopefully I'm back to 100 percent soon.

THE GAME OF POLITICS
I've been paying a fair amount of attention to the presidential primaries. I really think it's going to come down to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, even though I'm not really a fan of either one. My family is more of a Republican one, but I have to say that I'm just not too excited about any of the candidates. It's my first chance to vote, but I probably won't just because no candidate really stands out to me.

If I could have voted in the 2004 presidential election, I would have gone for George Bush. In fact, if he was eligible for a third term, he'd have my vote this year. I think he's a good leader. I mean, no one's going to be perfect or make everyone happy. No matter who our president is, they are always going to be scrutinized. That kind of annoys me sometimes. People need to realize he's doing what he thinks is best. And he's listening to his advisors and members of his cabinet before making decisions. It's not just him.

I'M A "FAMILY GUY"
I don't know about everyone else, but it's safe to say I was very happy to hear the TV writers' strike is finally ending. I don't watch a ton of TV, but "Family Guy" is by far my favorite show and I'm ready for some new episodes. I've seen every one that's already aired. It's my kind of humor - just random stuff happening to a family of animated characters. And the way they make everyone sound cracks me up.

A bunch of guys on the team watch it, like my brother Taylor, Beau Gerber, David Godbold and Tony Neysmith. We've probably all seen every episode. We'll be having a conversation and someone will throw out a line from one of the shows and next thing you know everyone's reciting funny lines. It's hilarious. I'm glad to know we'll be getting some new material sometime pretty soon.

OUR TEAM
Everyone reading this is probably aware our team has lost three games in a row. I think it's a matter of focus for us. Against Texas A&M and Texas, we started pretty well and had leads at halftime before we let things get away. Last Saturday at Colorado, we didn't come out strong at all.

We need to put to put two halves together. We don't necessarily need to play incredible for two halves, we need to play solid. We have to take care of the ball and just want it more, like when we won five in a row over Arkansas, Gonzaga, West Virginia, Rice and Mount St. Mary's.

I know some people wonder why we haven't been playing like that the last few games. Sometimes all it takes is one night, one game or one practice to throw you off. I think that's the nature of the game. Losing Keith Clark and dealing with injuries, you try not to let it affect you. A lot of times it doesn't, but sometimes it does. We're not as deep. But we're not about making excuses. That's one thing we won't do. We have to play through adversity and play harder than our opponents.

Wednesday's game against Iowa State is HUGE. Coach Capel talks about how he doesn't really believe in must-win games, but it's a game that we need and would be a big one for us as we try to get another winning streak started. We've got to start piling up some wins if we want to keep playing in March.

Our team really benefits from having big and energetic home crowds and hopefully we'll have one against Iowa State. If we see a big turnout when we come out before the game, we'll know the fans are still behind us and haven't given up on us. Some people say we're not doing this, not doing that and that we're not very good, but a good crowd will help reassure us that we've got the support we need. It would definitely give us a lift. It's difficult to play on the road, and the reason is the fans. They create a tough environment and help apply pressure on the visiting team. That's why it's important for us to have large crowds that are really into it for the rest of the season as we try to finish strong!

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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