Los Angeles—Blake Griffin and teammates will have to find ways to adapt to life without Chris Paul.
It’s never a good feeling when your best player is sidelined for six weeks due to a shoulder injury, but basketball never stops, and that’s why every professional player on the roster is compensated; they all have a job to do.
“I think we kind of figured this out as we play; a lot of guys scoring double figures, we have to run a transition more, we have to attack a little bit more,” Clippers forward Jared Dudley said. “Paul kind of has the ball in his hands a lot. When he’s not there, you know we kind of do more spread formation where you get the ball to Griffin down low, let him dominate and get out in transition.”
Griffin is proving he can be a big deal in the NBA. He’s been all over the hardwood floor this entire season. On defense and offense- dunks, steals, assists, you name it, and he’s done it.
But with Paul’s absence, he’ll be forced to play a bigger role on the team.
He’ll have to be the leader of this team on both ends of the floor. The Clippers will now have to depend on Griffin for their happiness. He’s capable of putting this team on he’s back and riding out.
Wednesday night against the Celtics Griffin exploded. He put on an electrifying performance in front of fans. He entertained a triple-double scoring 29 points, snatching six rebounds and handing out eight assists in the 111-105 victory. But that wasn’t the highlight of the night. Griffin abruptly disrupted Kris Humphries manhood with a monstrous dunk over his head. It was a sight to see.
Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers didn’t elaborate too much about the dunk. He continued to preach about the importance of defense. He’s been pleased with how the team has responded with Paul being out of the lineup. However, he did say there are a couple of things the team needs to work on.
“I’m very encouraged,” coach Doc Rivers said. “There are some things we have to clean up. We need to focus on defense; the Celtics scored 105 points on us. But it’s a long season and we’ll continue to work on it. “
They are also trying to incorporate a new face into their offense. The Clippers signed former Lakers point guard Darius Morris to a 10-day contract on Monday night. Morris will have to prove his worthy to the team before being hired permanently.
Well, it will be interesting to see how the team plays in the second half of the season without their anchor (Paul), hopefully the co-anchor (Griffin) will hold the fork down. They also have Jamal Crawford who specializes in offense.
Tamara is a graduate of Cal State Los Angeles where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism. Tamara is passionate about covering sports. She has covered the NBA and Major League Baseball routinely for the past several years. A Southern California native, Tamara developed her skills as a sports journalist while working for various Los Angeles-based news publications.
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