Blake Griffin: In Getting Back

It was last year when the promising rookie, Blake Griffin watched the L.A. Clippers' first game on the bench against the L.A. Lakers.

He could have helped his team from a 99-92 loss, but his broken knee cap prevented everything, in fact his first NBA game debut would have to wait at exactly one year after.

Blake knows he still has a lot of work to be done. There are still mountains to conquer and he knows it always start with step one.

After recovering from the injuries everything will have to be on a slow and grueling fashion in making it back to top form.

Blake’s work ethic is indisputable. He had been on that road before, having been through series of leg injuries in college.

He also had a concussion when he collided with the 300-pound forward Dexter Pittman, that left him stunned and bloodied. But every time bad things happened, he always finds his way in back.

Being the first overall pick in the draft could be a blessing and a curse. Teams picking first will automatically want them to deliver, to perform on the level of their expectations.

Luckily, Blake doesn’t feel that pressure anymore since it belongs to John Wall now, the Washington Wizards first overall pick this season.

There was no comparison between the two, but Wall seems to be the most explosive and the bigger impact against Griffin. That’s why Blake only got 28 percent against Wall’s 67.9 percent of the projected Rookie of the Year race.

But Blake never thought about that. The season is young and his aim is to be healthy all season long...long enough to help his team win games and maybe get to the playoffs.

When many doubted if Griffin would be back to his old form, he welcomed every criticism with a one handed alley-oop slam in his NBA debut against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Griffin scored a total of 67 points in all four games adding up 41 rebounds, for an average of 16.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.

It looks like Griffin is slowly coming back to his old self. He works hard for every loose ball and for every rebound. He knows he still has a lot to prove.

This would be a big year for Griffin, a brighter and promising year. It wasn’t a leap forward; it was tiny little steps in getting back.

Now, the Clippers will have to concentrate on one thing, and that is winning.