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We missed this the other day and also didn’t realize the Athletic is allowing you to use the site if you register, as opposed to a paid subscription, but here’s a great interview with Duke-bound AJ Griffin who talks about recovering from his injury, missing a year of basketball and heading to Duke, among other things.
A couple of excerpts:
- Asked to describe his game: “I feel my motor got better. And I would just say my hand-eye coordination, with dribbling, being able to shoot off the dribble. I haven’t been able to play as much, but that’s what I see from the showcase. But coming into the year, I’ve been really working on my pick-and-roll game. A lot. Handling, being able to shoot the ball, catch-and-shoot, off the dribble — all that. I’ve been working on all that in the time I had off, but I’d say I’m continuing doing that. But those are just a few improvements of mine.“
- On getting to Duke: “...I’m most excited just to get to work. Really, just have a fun year of working hard. Getting to that championship game, the national championship. That’s what I’m looking forward to: having the opportunity to get there. I just know we’re all going to have to pitch in and really work our butts off every day. That’s really where it starts off, Day 1 of the summer. So I’m just excited for that.“
We’re really looking forward to seeing this guy in a Duke uniform. We think even despite his reputation, he’s undervalued.
By the way, this is something we’ve been meaning to mention for awhile: we sometimes link to things that are subscription sites because, well, we figured out (legal) ways to access them without subscribing. We won’t list those here but if you hit a link for a subscription site, chances are it’s accessible. Poke around and you’ll find out how.