Sitting Griffin would be a good move
Blake Griffin’s status for tonight’s Oklahoma-Kansas basketball game remains unknown, and this might be a Willis Reed moment. Right up until tipoff, fans might keep their eyes glued to the Lloyd Noble Center tunnel, hoping to see their star center walk onto the court.
But sitting Griffin might be the prudent move, even if doctors say he’s OK to play after suffering a concussion Saturday night against Texas.
Concussions are tricky things. We don’t see them much in basketball; they’re a football-centric injury. A turnaround this quick — 48 hours — seems a little hurried to try to get a player back on the court.
Jeff Capel on Sunday talked about Griffin’s future and how that’s the paramount consideration in this discussion. But this OU team’s future favors extreme caution with Griffin.
The KU game is huge for all parties. It’s a virtual Big 12 title game. But this team has reason to look far past Big 12 championships. This has been a Final Four contender all season, and in recent weeks the Sooners have served notice that they are good enough to win the NCAA championship.
A loss to Kansas would cripple OU’s Big 12 title hopes but not would not damage, in any way, OU’s national title hopes, if the loss occurs without Griffin. No way would the NCAA seeding committee hold it against the Sooners if they lose without Griffin. But even if it did, it wouldn’t be worth risking Griffin’s health.
Standing on the OU practice court Sunday, the Norman Transcript’s John Shinn made an excellent point. All over the practice court hang banners for OU’s basketball success. At this time, Shinn said, those banners (pointing to a Final Four proclamation) are a lot more important than those banners (pointing to a Big 12 flag).
That’s true. As much fun as they are to win, and as much pride as they instill, winning a Big 12 basketball championship pales in comparison to the NCAA Tournament, the defining event in any season.
Proceed with caution with Blake Griffin. Handle with care.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
if those criminals and various animals of questionable species were properly coached to NOT TRY TO HURT anyone, Griffin ewould suit up and pour it on the jayhawks like the would have against the human part of Texas team. I think it is the ref’s fault for not calling that hooligan Pittmam to quit plqying so dirty! what do you expect out of Texas? put em back in jail where Texas getsds most of their “good” players! Football? Sane thing! Texas sucks, cheats, plays dirty cause that’s the way they are.
yikes. Did you even see the play where he got hurt? It was good defense and unintentional. He’s been elbowed in the face, rammed to the floor, and punched in the cash and prizes all season. I think he can handle himself. Freak accident, nothing more. Texas played him cleaner than other teams have. There was an obvious what do we do now moment at the close of the second half Saturday, and as long as they go in tonight knowing he won’t play, I think they win.
totally agree… OU is good enough with Blake Griffin to win it all no matter where they’re seeded, be it a 1 or 2 seed. So even if they lose without Blake, it doesn’t matter too much. But tourney seedings and championships aside, I would certainly hope that the young man’s health, present and future, is the top priority of all concerned.