Griffin changing Clippers culture

[mkwest]

Griffin's contributions have been made behind closed doors. When Clippers rookies came to Los Angeles after this year's draft and saw Griffin going one-on-one against his own shadow, they realized they should probably stick around as well. Center Chris Kaman returned from his honeymoon in mid-July to work out with Griffin. Backup center DeAndre Jordan cut short his offseason at home in Houston and joined them. By the end of August, no fewer than 13 Clippers were on site. "That kind of thing," said Olshey, "did not happen here before."

The Clippers insist that Griffin is fully recovered from his injury and better off for having overcome it, which sounds like typical training-camp spin, except the surgery did alleviate tendinitis that bothered Griffin at Oklahoma and also gave him a chance to absorb the pace of the NBA game. "I watched him last year and he was like a kamikaze," Olshey said. "He was going 100 miles per hour. You can tell the game has slowed down for him. He would have been a physical force if he played right away, but now he'll be a basketball force as well."

"Blake is going to be a tough matchup for anybody because who else is that big and that strong and that quick?" said Kaman. "The guy is already a monster and then he comes in here and works harder than anybody else." Kaman believes that he and Griffin could immediately form one of the top-five power forward/center combinations in the league, reminiscent of the Kaman/Elton Brand duo that led the Clippers to 47 wins and the second round of the playoffs five years ago.

Griffin feels the culture changing -- "You can see the shift," he said, "in the way we work and the way we talk" -- but he knows such proclamations have been made many times before. They will be greeted with eye-rolls until they are followed by progress. "Nobody wants to play for the team that people always talk about negatively," Griffin said. "I don't want guys to hear all summer that we're never going to make the playoffs. We have to earn respect. The best way to do that is to work for it."

Lee Jenkins, Sports Illustrated

[mkwest]

NBA Action: Blake Griffin

Here's a nice video on Blake from NBA.com. It shows a few highlights from preseason and practice, and interviews with Blake & Kaman.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

Going into the 09 draft I thought that Blake Griffin was the only player that could change the culture for this franchise. When you hear things about the Clippers it's always how we are no good (and that's putting it lightly) and we will forever be a bad team. All the negativity from the media doesn't help the perception of the franchise. We need some young open minded players that are ready to change the perception of this team, which we have. I think Blake can really change things for this team, we just have to wait and see what the end result is.

[mkwest]

Going into the 09 draft I thought that Blake Griffin was the only player that could change the culture for this franchise. When you hear things about the Clippers it's always how we are no good (and that's putting it lightly) and we will forever be a bad team. All the negativity from the media doesn't help the perception of the franchise. We need some young open minded players that are ready to change the perception of this team, which we have. I think Blake can really change things for this team, we just have to wait and see what the end result is.

I agree. That was the main thing that intrigued me about us landing Griffin. He was very fun to watch in College and he impressed me more than some recent prospects, but it was the work ethic and mentality that won me over. He has blue collar mentality, but superstar potential. That's rare.

The perception change will all come down to wins. Games will be sold out if the team wins. Players will move the Clippers up their list of preferred destinations if the organization can show that it has a winning product.

[Jenner]

Thanks for the nba-action clip, didnt see that one! I love Blake, such a great guy and he posseses elite work ethic. I just hope he stays healthy. Sky is really the limit for him, I hope he makes this Clippers team interesting cause they have some nice pieces!