Clippers - Warriors Live Game Diary

I never thought I would be able to sit through an entire Clippers - Warriors game.  Yet here I am writing about one - on Christmas Night.

The game doesn't start for an hour and a half, so I'm killing time with the Bears - Packers football game and an extended pregame notes section (between pieces of pecan pie).

Something Old, Something New

The LA Clippers beat the San Antonio Spurs last night 90-85, answering the question, what would happen if a bunch of really good college kids played against an NBA team.

Well, actually not answering that question at all.

The Clippers are, in fact, still an NBA team.  What I found most interesting about the Clippers (sans Chris Kamen and with Baron Davis coming off the bench after missing 14 games due to injury) is the age of their starting line-up.

Here they are:

PF Blake Griffin - Rookie, 21
SF Al-Farouq Aminu - Rookie, 20
PG Eric Bledsoe - Rookie, 20
SG Eric Gordon - 3rd year, 21
C DeAndre Jordan - 3rd year, 22

This group of Clippers all played significant minutes and beat the best team in the NBA last night.  The five players above all left college early, are making a lot of money, and making significant contributions to their employer, when they could still be in college or having just finished.

Hopefully these players continue to pursue college degrees.  Education is important for everybody, even talented and rich athletes.  But when it comes to the NBA, it's so much for "stay in school".

Blake Griffin is already one of my favorite NBA players

Watch this first.

REMOVED

Now you know part of why Blake Griffin is one of my favorite NBA players after only one game in the league.  Ok, I watched him play a lot in college, so I knew what was coming.  Still, I made sure to stay up late to watch him finally make his debut in the NBA. 

Griffin was the #1 overall draft pick by the Clippers before last season and injured his knee, on a slam dunk, during a preseason game.  He missed all of last season, so this is his rookie year.  In addition to being one of the most athletic big guys you will ever see (he is listed at 6'10", 251 lbs.), Griffin plays good defense, boxes out, runs the floor, passes, and plays the game with energy.  And he makes highlight reel plays like the ones above.

Blake Griffin plays the way you would teach a young big man the game.  He acts like one of those marginal players that has to outwork everybody just to make the team, but he is actually the best player out there.  Opponents will get tired of having to deal with this guy on the court.  Hopefully that trait spreads to his teammates, and maybe the Clippers will become a decent team.

There aren't many basketball players like Blake Griffin.  He reminds me a little of what Len Bias might have been.

These highlights are only the beginning of a promising career.