Griffin quickly becoming a media darling - he's fresh material...
11.6.99 00:59:09
CELTICS
Hard work earns Griffin accolade
By PAUL KENYON
Providence Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- It was 5:15 p.m., nearly two hours before
tipoff for last night's Boston-Charlotte game at the
Fleet Center, and many of the players were beginning to
arrive.
One Celtic starter, though, already was out on the
court, in full uniform and hard at work. Rookie Adrian
Griffin was with assistant coach Andy Enfield, moving
to the basket, cutting behind an imaginary screen,
squaring off after taking a pass from Enfield and
taking mid-range jumpers.
By the time the game ended, more than four hours after
Griffin first took the court, it was obvious that hard
work pays off.
Griffin was named star of the game as the surprising
Celtics scored their third straight victory and best
yet, a rousing 103-100 decision.
Griffin had 8 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 5
steals. He made the game-winning play in the final 10
seconds when Charlotte had the ball and isolated its
star, Eddie Jones, on one side of the court against
Griffin. Griffin poked the ball loose, it went to Kenny
Anderson and the Celtics had a terrific victory.
It will be remembered as the night Adrian Griffin came
of age, the night all his hard work finally won him the
spotlight in the NBA.
It was a very different scene five months ago when
Griffin arrived in Boston, unknown and unsure of his
future. He was 25 years old, more than three years
removed from Seton Hall and had never played a game in
the NBA.
But it was constant work that has made Griffin perhaps
the best among many pleasant Celtics' stories in the
first week of the season. He has done it in a very
different way than most.
Griffin goes about his business the old-fashioned way.
With hard work, dependability and consistency.
``I think he's a throwback. There's no bull to his
game,'' Jim O'Brien, one of the Celtics' assistant
coaches, said before last night's game. ``He's a
straightforward guy. He does the little things.''
``I'm not a flashy guy. I've never been,'' Griffin
acknowledges. ``I would not feel comfortable coming
down and throwing the ball behind my back or beteween
my legs. That's just not my style.''
Which is why the 6-foot-5 lefty considers himself
fortunate to have found himself in the right place at
the right time. He had a very nice college career at
Seton Hall, scoring 1,414 points and hauling in 800
rebounds. He was third-team all-Big East as a junior,
second team as a senior.
Perhaps more significantly, he also was the Big East
Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 1996, his senior year.
He was a communications major.
``My (grade point) average was over 3.0 until I took
Spanish,'' he said. ``I think I finished 2.97. . . I
didn't want to be labeled as just an athlete. I wanted
to get something out of college, not just baketball.''
Griffin, who is from Kansas, spent three years in the
minors, in the USBA and the CBA. He was the MVP in the
CBA last season, playing for Hartford. But it looked as
if that's all he was, a CBA player. He doesn't really
have a true position. He's part forward, part guard.
What he does have, though, are long arms which can make
him play taller, broad shoulders which give him the
strength to battle inside and great hands. Most of all,
he knows the right way to play the game.
Back in June, when he was invited to work out by the
Celtics, he was just one of about 15 guys looking for
an NBA job. Tyson Wheeler, the former Rhode Island
star, was there with him. And former UConn players
Kellie Ollie and Donnie Marshall, too. Griffin was the
one who did enough things well to get invited to play
on the Celts' team in the summer league in Los Angeles.
It was there where he grew on the Celtics coaches.
``When he was at the tryouts, we weren't sure he had
the size or the speed to be a regular player in the
NBA,'' O'Brien related. ``But we said, Let's look at
him.
``He played eight games with us in L.A.,'' continued
said O'Brien, who helped coach that team. ``He really
played solid. He didn't make any mistakes. He was a
go-to guy. His head was in every game. He was just a
very consistent player. At that point in time coach
(Rick Pitino) just knew he had to be on the team.''
``We have a great eraser in Adrian Griffin, the best
eraser I've had in a long time,'' Pitino said.
``Somebody takes an errant shots, he tips it back in
play. He not only tips it, he steals it and keeps it
alive.
``He's also the nicest gentleman I've ever coached in
my life. I've had a lot of nice people,'' Pitino added.
``He's a gentle man who respects everything. It's
wonderful to see. It's refeshing in this day and age to
have that type of young man.''
Adrian Griffin might be considered an overnight
sensation in some eyes. But not to anyone who was at
the Fleet Center at 5:15 last night and saw how hard he
was working.
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