Wow . . Blake Griffin! I had no idea.
8:20, they’re down 7 – and it is the play of the year. No doubt. My jaw is on the floor. And this is a freshman?? The ball is loose, 3 guys fly onto the floor after it, Griffin goes after it just a little harder than all the others, grabs it, dribbles it, keeps it alive, and then scrambles back up, quick as a cat, has only one goal and that is to go straight to the basket, goes right around his man, completely ignores him, charges up, sees daylight, then suddenly – sees a guy standing right there trying to draw a charge! – changes direction, changes the trajectory of his powerful, 243 lb body, and then acrobatically, magically, somehow propels his way up to the side/back of the goal and lay it in even as he’s falling out of bounds. HOW ‘BOUT THAT! And he doesn’t even acknowledge it, running round the other end and jogging away, but oh, it swells in him, he knows that was a terrific play, and to the birds that are booing him – he runs all the way down to the other end of the court and reaches up high for the rim with one hand before turning back to the timeout that’s been called. You’re booing him?? C’mon! This guy is something special.
If one film reviewer described the 5 minute, single-camera tracking shot across Dunkirk in Atonement as Scene of the Year . . then, I nominate this one, this heady, spectacular play, for Play of the Year. I don’t think anyone else could’ve matched the wits, heart, or body control that Blake Griffin showed on that play right there. And congrats on being named the Big 12 Player of the Week! You totally deserve it.
Several terrific games were on tap this Saturday (Dec 29), and this is the one that I am glued to. To see Griffin – manhandled, pushed around, double-teamed, raked across the face – and his fortitude, how much he wants to win! It is his engine, that powers this Sooners team. And he knows it. 13:03 to go in the second half, PG Austin Johnson misses a runner and Griffin is in the middle of 3 yellow shirts jostling for that rebound, grabs it, fights it up, can’t get it to go, fights up for it again, gets pushed down to the floor on one knee, which is jammed behind another player’s leg, but he doesn’t care, doesn’t dare move – all he wants to do is find an open teammate to pass the ball to, and save this possession. He doesn’t give a damn about himself. From amongst 3 yellow shirts towering over him – he finds his man – and only when he finally passes it out does he succumb to the pain and falls onto the floor. Oh, that leg hurts. It hurts bad. He’s flat on his back, laid out on the hardwood, his eyes closed as he tries to will it away, push it away, wish it away. Not now. C’mon, not now. I know it’s hurt but . . just let me play. Let it not be anything serious.
They help him sit up. He stretches his hamstring, testing it. Then he’s up, walking to the bench. 30 seconds later, he’s on the floor again. 11:34, he grabs a loose ball, and even as he’s running for it, he sees another player flying at him, hands out – and the guy hits him hard in the face even as Griffin tries to shield himself after securing the ball. Damn! He falls to one knee on the floor, still holding the ball – but his pain is so much that he almost offers the ball as a sacrifice – like, here, God, take it, just take it, what the hell do you want me to do? He goes to the bench again, this time for some cotton to stop his bleeding. 1 minute later, he’s back in, giving a hurray to Longar Longar to sink his FTs.
OOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “Bob Huggin’s team doesn’t have an answer for him!” He sure doesn’t, LEN! Not one! Johnson is dribbling the ball, or more like desperately trying not to lose it between 2 sticky defenders Velcro-strapping themselves to him, the ball bounces wildly along, low to the ground, too low – but Griffin is running strongly to his left side, calling for it – and Johnson somehow controls it long enough to flip it up to him, high – and Griffin just grabs it out of midair and slams that home! What a JAM! Oh, he just meets that ball so perfectly and delivers it undeniably into the rim, saying emphatically “There! THAT’S where you belong, and don’t you forget it!” And as his momentum carries him spinning round the rim hard before he comes back down, the WVU team retreats. They’ve got no answer. 5:11.
The score is tied 60-60, 3:05 left . . and Longar Longar, who is purportedly a bad free throw shooter . . now steps up to the line and shoots both FT with just about the loveliest pure arc you’ve ever seen. 64-64, 0:39 to go. The senior, David GodBold, who’s played every minute so far, gets the ball with 7, 6, 5 seconds left to shoot, and he bulls his way to the goal, he must, there is no other way, and as he falls down/is fouled/loses it, he somehow tosses it up in the vicinity of the goal, and it hits the rim. Foul! 2 shots? 1 and 1? They rule it 1 and 1. He steps up to the line, and calmly, steadily, eyes the basket . . dribbles . . and shoots. First one, good! Second one, good! 66-64! And then WVU, showing equal grit and determination, grabs a key, key rebound with about 3 seconds left and tosses in a put-back – its GOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 66-66! OVERTIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2:36 left in OT, down 5, 66-71, and Griffin travels. Ohhhhh . . the crowd is just seething with happiness. They are going to tear his heart out. When that whistle blew – Blake just gave up that ball and turned to walk the other way – but when they pull in a close-up of him, you can see he’s just biting his lip, trying not to scream. You are kidding me. We’re down 5 points. Half of the precious 5 minutes of OT is gone. And you’re gonna call a travel on me now? We didn’t come this far, to lose! I can’t bloody give it up!
And Oklahoma is done. I am sure of it. In overtime, the home team gets an undeniable advantage. Everyone is tired. But because WVU can feed off that energy from their crowd, they must be feeling like Supermen out there. They can do this. And for the first 3 minutes, it is simply too much for OU. Suddenly, WVU is beating them to the rebounds, to the passes. They are making every goal, while OU can’t get it near the basket. Ah, but thank God for GodBold! Thank God for the senior! He cuts to the basket and lays it in so quick, then happily catches the ball as it comes through the net and hands it back to the defender who has fallen on his butt, saying “here ya go”.
70-73. 32 seconds left. What do they do? Len and Patrick are arguing over whether to play hard-nosed D or foul. They agree on playing hard-nosed D. They don’t get the memo to Jeff Capel in time, though, who decides to foul. So they foul a 90% FT shooter from WVU. Nice. But OH – HE MISSES! Griffin rebound! Johnson tearing upcourt with the ball! They’re going for the 2! STOLEN!!! Ball in the air – STOLEN BACK!!!!!! Sooners have it again! Ball loose again – out of bounds. Phew! Back to OU! 16 ticks left. We need a 3. Backcourt scare . . ball moved to Crocker – their best 3 point shooter – OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s pure! It’s good! It’s a TIE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!! 73-73. 6.6 seconds left. They inbound . . races it up . . falls down! Griffin grabs it, sends it the hell outta there – and the buzzer! Rifle shot! DOUBLE OT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As I gather my breath . . I now think OU can win it. I want them to win it. All game long, they’ve fought back, always seemingly a play away from being 10 down but somehow coming back and coming back, until their rebounds and their toughness and their sheer will to compete has negated the horrific 20 turnovers and 13 missed free throws. And I am almost in tears as Griffin fouls out. He just looks sooooo disappointed. As he walks back towards the bench – he sees his coach kneeling by the sidelines and he just puts his hands out, like, “I’m sorry, coach. I really am.” 5 fouls. Gone. The fans are waving him deviously goodbye. He just wants to either scream and shout or cry – or both – reaching up inexplicably with his hands-turned-fists to squeeze something, anything– but he only grasps air.
8:20, they’re down 7 – and it is the play of the year. No doubt. My jaw is on the floor. And this is a freshman?? The ball is loose, 3 guys fly onto the floor after it, Griffin goes after it just a little harder than all the others, grabs it, dribbles it, keeps it alive, and then scrambles back up, quick as a cat, has only one goal and that is to go straight to the basket, goes right around his man, completely ignores him, charges up, sees daylight, then suddenly – sees a guy standing right there trying to draw a charge! – changes direction, changes the trajectory of his powerful, 243 lb body, and then acrobatically, magically, somehow propels his way up to the side/back of the goal and lay it in even as he’s falling out of bounds. HOW ‘BOUT THAT! And he doesn’t even acknowledge it, running round the other end and jogging away, but oh, it swells in him, he knows that was a terrific play, and to the birds that are booing him – he runs all the way down to the other end of the court and reaches up high for the rim with one hand before turning back to the timeout that’s been called. You’re booing him?? C’mon! This guy is something special.
If one film reviewer described the 5 minute, single-camera tracking shot across Dunkirk in Atonement as Scene of the Year . . then, I nominate this one, this heady, spectacular play, for Play of the Year. I don’t think anyone else could’ve matched the wits, heart, or body control that Blake Griffin showed on that play right there. And congrats on being named the Big 12 Player of the Week! You totally deserve it.
Several terrific games were on tap this Saturday (Dec 29), and this is the one that I am glued to. To see Griffin – manhandled, pushed around, double-teamed, raked across the face – and his fortitude, how much he wants to win! It is his engine, that powers this Sooners team. And he knows it. 13:03 to go in the second half, PG Austin Johnson misses a runner and Griffin is in the middle of 3 yellow shirts jostling for that rebound, grabs it, fights it up, can’t get it to go, fights up for it again, gets pushed down to the floor on one knee, which is jammed behind another player’s leg, but he doesn’t care, doesn’t dare move – all he wants to do is find an open teammate to pass the ball to, and save this possession. He doesn’t give a damn about himself. From amongst 3 yellow shirts towering over him – he finds his man – and only when he finally passes it out does he succumb to the pain and falls onto the floor. Oh, that leg hurts. It hurts bad. He’s flat on his back, laid out on the hardwood, his eyes closed as he tries to will it away, push it away, wish it away. Not now. C’mon, not now. I know it’s hurt but . . just let me play. Let it not be anything serious.
They help him sit up. He stretches his hamstring, testing it. Then he’s up, walking to the bench. 30 seconds later, he’s on the floor again. 11:34, he grabs a loose ball, and even as he’s running for it, he sees another player flying at him, hands out – and the guy hits him hard in the face even as Griffin tries to shield himself after securing the ball. Damn! He falls to one knee on the floor, still holding the ball – but his pain is so much that he almost offers the ball as a sacrifice – like, here, God, take it, just take it, what the hell do you want me to do? He goes to the bench again, this time for some cotton to stop his bleeding. 1 minute later, he’s back in, giving a hurray to Longar Longar to sink his FTs.
OOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “Bob Huggin’s team doesn’t have an answer for him!” He sure doesn’t, LEN! Not one! Johnson is dribbling the ball, or more like desperately trying not to lose it between 2 sticky defenders Velcro-strapping themselves to him, the ball bounces wildly along, low to the ground, too low – but Griffin is running strongly to his left side, calling for it – and Johnson somehow controls it long enough to flip it up to him, high – and Griffin just grabs it out of midair and slams that home! What a JAM! Oh, he just meets that ball so perfectly and delivers it undeniably into the rim, saying emphatically “There! THAT’S where you belong, and don’t you forget it!” And as his momentum carries him spinning round the rim hard before he comes back down, the WVU team retreats. They’ve got no answer. 5:11.
The score is tied 60-60, 3:05 left . . and Longar Longar, who is purportedly a bad free throw shooter . . now steps up to the line and shoots both FT with just about the loveliest pure arc you’ve ever seen. 64-64, 0:39 to go. The senior, David GodBold, who’s played every minute so far, gets the ball with 7, 6, 5 seconds left to shoot, and he bulls his way to the goal, he must, there is no other way, and as he falls down/is fouled/loses it, he somehow tosses it up in the vicinity of the goal, and it hits the rim. Foul! 2 shots? 1 and 1? They rule it 1 and 1. He steps up to the line, and calmly, steadily, eyes the basket . . dribbles . . and shoots. First one, good! Second one, good! 66-64! And then WVU, showing equal grit and determination, grabs a key, key rebound with about 3 seconds left and tosses in a put-back – its GOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 66-66! OVERTIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2:36 left in OT, down 5, 66-71, and Griffin travels. Ohhhhh . . the crowd is just seething with happiness. They are going to tear his heart out. When that whistle blew – Blake just gave up that ball and turned to walk the other way – but when they pull in a close-up of him, you can see he’s just biting his lip, trying not to scream. You are kidding me. We’re down 5 points. Half of the precious 5 minutes of OT is gone. And you’re gonna call a travel on me now? We didn’t come this far, to lose! I can’t bloody give it up!
And Oklahoma is done. I am sure of it. In overtime, the home team gets an undeniable advantage. Everyone is tired. But because WVU can feed off that energy from their crowd, they must be feeling like Supermen out there. They can do this. And for the first 3 minutes, it is simply too much for OU. Suddenly, WVU is beating them to the rebounds, to the passes. They are making every goal, while OU can’t get it near the basket. Ah, but thank God for GodBold! Thank God for the senior! He cuts to the basket and lays it in so quick, then happily catches the ball as it comes through the net and hands it back to the defender who has fallen on his butt, saying “here ya go”.
70-73. 32 seconds left. What do they do? Len and Patrick are arguing over whether to play hard-nosed D or foul. They agree on playing hard-nosed D. They don’t get the memo to Jeff Capel in time, though, who decides to foul. So they foul a 90% FT shooter from WVU. Nice. But OH – HE MISSES! Griffin rebound! Johnson tearing upcourt with the ball! They’re going for the 2! STOLEN!!! Ball in the air – STOLEN BACK!!!!!! Sooners have it again! Ball loose again – out of bounds. Phew! Back to OU! 16 ticks left. We need a 3. Backcourt scare . . ball moved to Crocker – their best 3 point shooter – OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s pure! It’s good! It’s a TIE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!! 73-73. 6.6 seconds left. They inbound . . races it up . . falls down! Griffin grabs it, sends it the hell outta there – and the buzzer! Rifle shot! DOUBLE OT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As I gather my breath . . I now think OU can win it. I want them to win it. All game long, they’ve fought back, always seemingly a play away from being 10 down but somehow coming back and coming back, until their rebounds and their toughness and their sheer will to compete has negated the horrific 20 turnovers and 13 missed free throws. And I am almost in tears as Griffin fouls out. He just looks sooooo disappointed. As he walks back towards the bench – he sees his coach kneeling by the sidelines and he just puts his hands out, like, “I’m sorry, coach. I really am.” 5 fouls. Gone. The fans are waving him deviously goodbye. He just wants to either scream and shout or cry – or both – reaching up inexplicably with his hands-turned-fists to squeeze something, anything– but he only grasps air.
Was that even a foul? “Freshman mistake,” the announcers shake their head, but I have flashbacks of when Singler fouled out of the Illinois game. He was just trying to set a screen for his PG and got pushed into another defender by Randle. Foul? Same here . . it looked like Griffin was just trying to keep his defendee in front of him, and got pushed into another guy. Really? Foul?
But the Sooners refuse to fold. And I really starting to like that little guy, Johnson. He looks so slight, and slightly suspect, with those missing/buck teeth and goatee – and he must weigh what, 160 lbs? But he finds people. And man, can he hit a 3 to lift up his team. From being 4 down in double OT to suddenly just 1 – like it ain’t nothing! Longar hits both FT again! 78-77! We have the LEAD!! Oh, and a 3 point play! This is where a strong frontline helps you in OT. You can just pound it inside, again and again, until the other team has no answer except to foul or allow it. I’m not a huge fan of their uniforms, though. Gray? Not a flattering color.
Wow . . what a game. 88-82 is the final score, Oklahoma. You can fire all the rifle shoots you want, man, but Oklahoma walks out with a win over a ranked opponent for the second game in a row. How cool is this team? Blake Griffin is definitely a prize freshman in a year of super froshs that needs more ink! Longar Longar is the best name ever. And Jeff Capel – nice to see that he’s doing well, and beating a very respectable Big East opponent, 5 feet away from their home campus! Both teams, really, went all out to make it a whale of a game, but OU showed its resilience at the end. Down 7 in the first OT? And being walled in by that deafening noise? No problem. Down 4 in the 2nd OT? And 3 players hitting the 48 minute mark, while losing their star power forward? No problem. That, is the heart of a Sooner. Great, great win, and a fantastic way to close out 2007 heading into Big 12 conference play.
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