And seriously, who can blame him?
As has been noted multiple times in this (and just about every other) space, Blake Griffin's jaw-dropping athleticism and stellar play over the season's first two months have earned the eager, undivided attention of NBA fans. We salivate every time he gets out on the break or streaks to the rim to corral a missed shot, and we should, because he's been that fantastic.
Away from the white-hot nightly spotlight in which Blake's bathed, though, his fellow Los Angeles Clippers rookie, Al-Farouq Aminu, has also shown promise, albeit during a far more typical freshman campaign. The Wake Forest product has started 14 games for the Clips, contributing 6.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in just under 18 minutes per game and using an improved long-distance stroke to hit 46.4 percent of his 3-point attempts.
But being a nice swing piece doesn't garner the kind of wild-eyed love that Griffin gets. That type of adulation only comes from dunking on defenders' souls. Hence, last night's Aminu liftoff against the Utah Jazz.
Al-Faroof.
The third-quarter play was somewhat reminiscent of Blake's astonishing near-make against the Detroit Pistons last month, just with the volume turned down a bit. Watching the game live, I rose out of my seat when I saw Aminu take off and winced as soon as I saw Paul Millsap slide over to take the charge. I'm betting I'm not alone in agreeing with the announcer that a successful slam would have brought many houses down, including my house.
Thankfully, no Clippers or Jazzmen were injured in the collision, and double thankfully for Aminu's sake, he did not come off looking as crazy as JaVale McGee did when he tried to jump over/Shadowcat-style phase through poor James Jones. So your feat of athletic absurdity definitely got our attention and nobody's life got ruined. Great stuff all around. Way to go, Mr. Aminu.
Video courtesy of @Jose3030.
Dave Cowens Billy Cunningham Dave DeBusschere Clyde Drexler Julius Erving
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