Griffin out for the Rest of the Season

[Andrew]

Story

The Los Angeles Clippers have targeted Jan. 20 as the night they hope rookie forward Blake Griffin finally makes his NBA debut, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.

The Clippers play the Chicago Bulls at Staples Center on Jan. 20 before departing for an eight-game road trip. Griffin, the top pick in the 2009 draft, has yet to play because of a stress fracture in his left kneecap. If Griffin is healthy enough to face the Bulls, he’ll play limited minutes.

Obviously they're going to be extremely cautious with him and limit his minutes so he's probably not going to post astounding numbers right away, but hopefully he'll stay healthy and end up having a respectable, albeit shorter than expected rookie season.

[JaoSming]

ROY!

yea no, but hopefully we will get to see him play and last longer than Greg Oden.

[Oskar]

Hopefully he gets fully healthy soon, I really, really can't wait to see him play when he's healthy. Exciting.

[Modifly]

I cant wait to see him do those thunderous dunk that got him injured in the first place.

[NovU]

That's awesome. It's just 2 weeks. I guess his playing time will be limited for awhile coming off from the bench, then eventually to a starting position replacing Camby or at SF.

[Oskar]

By the way, I'm willing to bet that as he comes back and isn't in full shape (obviously), some random, stupid fans will call him a bust because they don't see the explosion and everything that a healthy Griffin possesses. Once he's back 100%, the same fans will act as if they've been on the boat the entire time, saying they always knew Griffin would be a beast down the stretch and never actually doubted in him. Rose had this thing happen to him in the beginning of the season, quite 'tarded.

[Andrew]

By the way, I'm willing to bet that as he comes back and isn't in full shape (obviously), some random, stupid fans will call him a bust because they don't see the explosion and everything that a healthy Griffin possesses. Once he's back 100%, the same fans will act as if they've been on the boat the entire time, saying they always knew Griffin would be a beast down the stretch and never actually doubted in him. Rose had this thing happen to him in the beginning of the season, quite 'tarded.

Good call. I'm sure there's already a contingent of fans calling him a bust and with other rookies playing so well it's only natural to wonder what might have been and whether the Clippers should've taken someone else with the top pick. You're absolutely right about people making an about face if and when Griffin lives up to the hype.

[Stephenie]

hope he comes out strong and doesn't become injury prone

[dopeboy]

I'm sure there's already a contingent of fans calling him a bust and with other rookies playing so well it's only natural to wonder what might have been and whether the Clippers should've taken someone else with the top pick. You're absolutely right about people making an about face if and when Griffin lives up to the hype.

I can't fully agree on that one. Those who call him a bust are plain stupid. Before the draft it was 100 percent sure that Griffin will be the 1st overall pick. Any GM would have picked him instead of Evans, Harden, Jennings etc. In a short term it might not pay off, but he's only in his 1st season. And it's not Blake's fault that Clippers drafted him. They know how to fuck up anyone's career.

[dare]

I'm sure Griffin will prove his doubters wrong, see him doing a 20-20 on his debut

[Andrew]

I'm sure there's already a contingent of fans calling him a bust and with other rookies playing so well it's only natural to wonder what might have been and whether the Clippers should've taken someone else with the top pick. You're absolutely right about people making an about face if and when Griffin lives up to the hype.

I can't fully agree on that one. Those who call him a bust are plain stupid. Before the draft it was 100 percent sure that Griffin will be the 1st overall pick. Any GM would have picked him instead of Evans, Harden, Jennings etc. In a short term it might not pay off, but he's only in his 1st season. And it's not Blake's fault that Clippers drafted him. They know how to fuck up anyone's career.

I'm not saying I agree with the sentiment as I think it's way too early to call Griffin a bust, but given the circumstances it's not surprising that some fans, disappointed with the way Griffin has started his career and seeing other rookies playing well, would wonder what might have been. It's a knee-jerk reaction and banks heavily on the notion that Griffin is injury-prone simply because of some misfortune before his NBA career got started, but busts from years past have probably made those fans overly cynical and wary. Same goes for Greg Oden.

[Rip32]

If you think Blake Griffin is injury prone then you probably have never seen him play. He played in 68 of 69 games in his 2 years at Oklahoma, that's quite durable considering the Big 12 is no slouch when it comes to basketball. He hasn't changed his game since reaching the NBA, so his knee injury wasn't because of how he plays. He's always been an above the rim power player though. I can't wait to see him, he was so dominant in college and fun to watch, he will help the Clippers out a lot.

He still needs to learn a post-game, he lived off his athleticism last season so that will probably be his biggest hurdle during his rookie year. That said, a guy who rebounds at a high rate (14.9 per game at Oklahoma) usually can translate that ability to the NBA game. Now the Clippers have to figure out what to do with their front court, keep all three guys or move one of their centers (Camby or Kaman) for Griffin.

[Andrew]

Absolutely, but there are a lot of fans who judge players simply on what happened yesterday (figurately speaking) and not the whole story.

[NBABaLLa23]

Im still looking for Blake to have a solid season for the Clipps, he was my pick for ROY before he went down with the knee injury.

[Andrew]

I think he was most people's pick before the season began. Even if he hadn't been injured though, it seems it wouldn't have been a one man race.

[JaoSming]

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/n ... id=4823032

Out for the rest of the season

Griffin will have surgery on his broken left kneecap, keeping the No. 1 draft pick out for at least four more months, the eternally star-crossed Clippers announced in a statement Wednesday.

(I edited the topic title andrew)

[Dee.]

Oh damn...
He was seriously my second favorite rookie this year after Jonny.
I Just he doesn't end up like Oden,I Want a huge comeback next year!

[anthony22]

that really s*cks...thats why every rookie is hoping not to be picked up by the clipps..

[Dee.]

I Really wouldn't blame the Clippers,it's not like they Intentionally Injure a Player.
It's just something that happens a lot to them,all the big men get injured,and lose they're future career's.
I Don't believe in curses or stuff,but it's something like that,that's really not they're fault.
It's not like the coach calls Blake and says: If You Dunk,dunk with all your power,then some cheerleaders can dry your dick.

[Andrew]

Cue more (most likely premature) panic and talk of him being a bust. Griffin and Oden really have had some terrible luck to start their NBA careers.

[john26]

Maybe they were rushing to get him back and aggravated it.

[Rip32]

Good lord poor guy. He just dunked it an BOOM, season over. I thought the Clippers could maybe have been in the, "we might scare you in the first round" path with him added, but I guess we'll need to wait another year to see him. I hope this doesn't sap his athleticism at all, his offensive game is totally based on that.

[Chino]

Im really excited to see him play for the Clippers this season but unfortunately it will not happen. Hopefully next season he can recover and not end up like Oden.

[Andrew]

Quite possible.

After resting the stress fracture for several weeks, the former Oklahoma star recently increased his workload in rehabilitation by running on an anti-gravity treadmill.

The power forward developed pain in his knee, and an examination Tuesday revealed his recovery wasn't progressing properly. The Clippers said more details would be announced soon.

Though from the sounds of it, he wasn't healed to the point where a return on January 20th would be feasible anyway. They've obviously been delaying surgery in the hopes it won't be necessary but unfortunately it seems it will be.

[Fresh8]

I wonder if Blake will now win ROY next season.

Pity for the Clippers but they will just have to fight for the playoffs without him.