Blake Griffin; You're Gonna Have to Toughen Up




You can't wait for the refs to save you Blake. you're going to have to deal with this yourself

Recently, it has become topic of discussion whether or not Blake Griffin is soft. Soft? How can a guy who plays with so much energy and physicality be perceived as soft? I think that's a fair question.

In today’s NBA, you have lot of ball players from a wide range of backgrounds. Guys of all different shapes, sizes and colors. You have guys that were raised by ex NBA players. Guys that were raised in single family homes and guys that were raised by both parents. Some of these guys grew up in rough areas and others that were a bit sheltered. You get the idea. When you have that many different backgrounds, you are going to get different types of attitudes.

Some of the guys in today's NBA grew up with a chip on their shoulder and live with that chip every day. A lot of today’s NBA players grew up playing street ball. If you've ever played street ball, you know how tough that’ll make you. There is nothing soft about those guys. Respect is everything and sometimes that sentiment carries over to the NBA. You have a lot of guys that bring that rough and tough style of play over as it gives them an edge. Guys like Kevin Garnett, who spends an entire game cussing and swearing… at nobody in particular at times.

Blake Griffin is a "Big Man" in the NBA as he plays the Power Forward position. In the NBA, the Power Forward and Center positions are considered your "Big Men".

In the NBA, you have two different types of "Big Men"; you have your finesse players and your physical players. Then you have players with the right amount of both.

Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol, David Lee are a few of your finesse Bigs.

Kendrick Perkins, DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard are a few of your power Bigs.

Al Jefferson, Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph (Z-BO) are a few Bigs that fall under both.

Blake Griffin falls into the category of power. He plays with pure physicality. Now there’s a difference between playing physical and playing "tough guy" ball. Blake goes down in the block and bangs with the best of them. Where he’s getting his knock isn't on how physical he is, he’s getting his knock on how he takes (and doesn't give in return) the "tough guy" stuff.

The tough guy stuff has nothing really to do with basketball and how it’s played. The tough guy stuff is an intangible, kinda like heart and the will to win. The tough guy stuff mostly consists of a bunch of trash talk and posturing. When the tough guys come out, like Kenyon Martin and KG just to name a few, Blake doesn't return trash talk and posturing. That can be seen as soft, which makes sense when you consider the stage some of these players have played on.

In street ball, you don’t let someone continue yapping at you and you not stand up for yourself. Eventually, those yaps become barks. Once that happens, it’s put up or pack up time. If you choose to pack up, you more than likely will have a tough time returning. Respect is a must in street ball.

In Blake’s case, there are a few reasons players choose to bark at him; Guys trying to get in his head. Guys getting annoyed at all the banging and extra physical play. Guys that do it just because they can. And then you have the guys that are a little jealous.

Now the guys that are trying to get into his head are trying to gain an advantage. There aren't many big men in the league as athletic as Blake Griffin. He’s an unusual mix of brute strength, size, speed, agility and athleticism rolled into one person. When you have that to deal with and you don’t possess all those traits, you find and edge somewhere else. Trash talking and posturing to a guy would hopefully take him out of his game. If he's unwilling to retaliate, it makes it that much easier.

The guys that are getting annoyed are more than likely tired of being physical the entire game. I know that your bigs don't mind playing physical but Blake is a load and he plays that way all game long. It’s not like no one else in the league plays as physical as Blake, but since they know that Blake won’t retaliate, there's no hesitation to bark at him. Maybe belittling him verbally will amp guys up enough to impose their will on him. Maybe he'll shrink from all the barking enough for it to affect his game.

The guys that do it just because they can, bring that Venice Beach/ Rucker Park mentality. “I’m talking to you any way I want to and there ain't a thing you can do about it”. These are your tough guys. When your tough guys start, you may as well establish early on that you are not having it. Otherwise, you’re a bleeding seal in shark infested waters.

In Blake’s case, you have some jealous guys. Not jealous because they want a physique like Blake’s or they wish they had his hair, but more jealous of his accomplishments and accolades. Blake has been in the league 3 years and has made the All-Stars 3 times. To put that in perspective, Zach Randolph has only made the All-Stars twice in 12 years. LaMarcus Aldridge has only made it twice in 6 years.

Then you have the endorsements; Kia, Subway, Vizio, Gamefly and a few other companies. Add to the fact that you can’t see an NBA commercial without one of Blake’s highlights in it and now you have an over-abundance of Blake. All of this by a guy who most consider only able to dunk and hasn't won anything other than a slam dunk contest in the NBA. You have guys in the league that have accomplished more as far as a player in the NBA that don’t have half the accolades as Blake Griffin. That can make fellow players just a little envious. 

What could Blake have done to make Z-Bo this angry?

Whatever the case, Blake Griffin is going to have to stand up for himself. This is the big boy league and waiting for the refs to call techs and fouls won't cut it. He's going to have to protect himself.

One of the drawbacks to being pushed around is the danger of getting injured. Blake plays a high-flying, above the rim type of game. He's always looking for the alley-oop or the dunk. When you have guys that don't jump as high as Blake, they run the risk of getting posterized. So instead of trying to meet him at the rim for the block shot, they'd rather commit the foul. Sometimes they'll foul him before he elevates, but sometimes they end up fouling him while he's in the air. That can be very dangerous as he is unable to control how he'll come down.

Blake can't control when he's going to get fouled ,but he can control how guys foul him. In order to stand up for himself and let everyone know that he will not be pushed around and bullied, that's going to take some extra-curricular activity at this point. But once he's made the league understand that he's not soft, then a lot of those dangerous fouls won't occur as guys will not so much fear what he'll do to them, but have enough respect for him not to risk injuring him. Respect goes a long way. Show them that you're a man and they'll respect you as a man. A little reminder here and there wouldn't hurt.

I understand Blake's position and I agree with it. This is basketball. It's not kickboxing, boxing, or MMA. It's basketball. Blake is trying to be the consummate professional by playing the game the way it's supposed to be played and giving the fans of the game a great show.

I get that. But he needs to understand that in order to be able to play his style of game and not have guys choking him or snatching him around or taking cheap shots to his groin area, he has to let them know that he won't stand for it. You're not going to allow anyone to hurt you, you're not going to let anyone disrespect you.

It has to be a man thing at some point.

I understand the whole, challenge me outside the arena thing Blake did. He understands what's being said and the importance of it. But it's not about fighting outside of the game, it's about demanding respect inside the game.

Nobody cares enough about it to run up to his face after the game is over and say, "Hey Blake, I think you're soft". Who's really going to do that? Once the game is over, it's over. Half the guys might even treat him to a Juice It Up. Once the adrenaline has stopped flowing, nobody cares to come and pick a fight with him. So, he's going to have to hit 'em where it hurts while the adrenaline is still flowing.

Maybe he can spend a summer working with Larry Johnson and Charles Barkley... If they can't toughen him up, I doubt anybody can.