The LA Clippers thought they struck gold when they landed the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, but all they did was cast a shadow of bad luck on one of the brightest talents to enter the league in years. Blake Griffin was taken by the Clippers and made them contenders on paper, filling a void that Elton Brand left inexplicably two seasons ago. Yet right from the onset, people were joking that the Clippers’ bad luck would rub off on the Oklahoma star. Griffin has been sidelined the entire season with a stress fracture in his knee.

The Clippers would certainly love to see Griffin on the hardwood, but that just isn’t in the cards right now. January 20th emerged as the date of his expected return, but everyone in Clipperland was quick to shoot down that rumor. The embarrassing Clippers are 16-18 SU with a betting track record of 15-19 ATS, including a recent wining streak of 5-0 ATS.

Power-forward is Griffin’s natural position, and he was revered for his explosiveness, can’t miss aggressiveness and overall grit. These were all qualities that the Clippers were lacking, and Griffin’s youthful exuberance was meant to revitalize the careers of Chris Kaman and Baron Davis, while evolving with the talents of Eric Gordon and Al Thornton. Without him, the Clippers have lacked any semblance of consistency.

Kaman has led the way as a 20-10 anchor under the rim and the tandem of Eric Gordon and Baron Davis have each averaged around 15-5 between the two of them. The Clippers other project is the previously mentioned Al Thornton who has logged 11.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists in starter minutes but remains a complimentary, fourth banana at best. This team is still built around Baron Davis and Kaman, who obviously can’t carry the Clips by themselves.

That’s where Griffin was supposed to enter as an absolute heal all. His all-world athletic ability and insane thirst to win were supposed to propel the Clippers out of the laughing stock and in to the playoffs. So what exactly is he up to?

Right now Mike Dunleavy and the brass in LA have restricted Griffin to treadmill running, agility drills and field-goal shooting. No scrimmages, no dunking and no full-court drills. Basically, he’s learning to walk again. And right now, the injury to Griffin could very well have the “David Robinson Effect” (Robinson missed an entire season with injury, allowing the Spurs to do so piss poorly that they grabbed Duncan with the top overall pick making them champions). Of course this is the same tactic the Clippers used to draft Griffin in the first place as Kaman and Davis were injured or inactive for much of last season.


The Clippers are currently 11.5 games back of the top spot in the NBA and its laughable to think they could breach the NBA playoff picture even with Griffin coming in this late in the season. They sit 13.5 games ahead of the last place New Jersey Nets, so they’re caught dead center in purgatory., which is exactly where they expect to be. This is a team that has had just one winning season in 15 NBA basketball betting seasons, when they went 47-35 SU in 2005-06 and lost in the conference semi-finals to the Phoenix Suns in 7 games.

This team’s fan base is desperate for respectability, but nobody in L.A. is so desperate as to rush back Griffin ahead of schedule. For now, the rookie race is being spearheaded by Milwaukee’s Brendan Jennings and nobody really cares about this class otherwise. For now, we’re all in a holding pattern to see if Griffin will be the next Tim Duncan.
Rushing him back could make him the next Greg Oden, especially with delicate knees being jeopardized by the grueling NBA schedule. For now, having him on the shelf is a lot better for Clippers fans than the realization that they have the next Kwame Brown in waiting. He’s a prize that will be worth waiting for, whenever his debut happens.

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