MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Among Oklahoma fans, Blake Griffin goes by three nicknames: ‘Superman,’ ‘The Beast’ and ‘The Terminator.’ In the Sooners’ 84-71 victory over Syracuse in the Sweet 16 Friday night, he demonstrated reasons for all three.

Superman: On one of his monster dunks, Griffin soared so high in the air that he hit his head on the bottom of the backboard. ‘That’s actually one of the first times that’s happened in game,’ he said.

The Beast: In the first half, Griffin crashed into Jonny Flynn so hard that the guard flew across the paint. He hobbled around the court for the rest of the game. ‘Yeah, he’s definitely a beast,’ forward Paul Harris said.

The Terminator: This one is easy, because Griffin helped terminate Syracuse’s season.

Griffin, a sophomore forward and the runaway favorite for National Player of the Year honors, lived up to his hype Friday. He tallied game highs with 30 points (on 12-of-15 shooting) and 14 rebounds. And that line actually brought down his NCAA Tournament average. Coming into the night, he put up 35 points and 15 boards a game.

The Orange double-teamed Griffin the entire game, but it still had no answer for him. Virtually every time he touched the ball, he found a way to gash through the defense and create an easy shot.

‘Blake Griffin – as good as advertised,’ Syracuse point guard Flynn said.

Syracuse spent the last week preparing its 2-3 zone specifically to contain Griffin Wherever Griffin was on the floor, either Arinze Onuaku or Rick Jackson leaned on him and tried to front him so Oklahoma’s guards could not get him the ball. When Griffin touched it, a Syracuse guard left his post at the top of the key to trap.

But Griffin has seen double-teams all season. He was not fazed.

As the game progressed, the SU big men wore down, and Griffin established post position with ease. When that happened, he was quick enough to explode to the hoop before the second defender doubled down.

It was especially difficult to guard Griffin Friday because the Oklahoma guards played better than Syracuse could have imagined. Guard Tony Crocker scored a career-high 28 points and hit six 3-pointers. In the locker room afterward, Harris said Crocker had ‘the game of his life.’ Flynn called Oklahoma’s hot-shooting the team’s ‘worst nightmare.’

As the Sooner guards drained outside shots, SU’s zone had to stretch.

Which only left more room inside for Griffin.

‘It’s hard to worry about one guy when you play zone,’ Jackson said. ‘You got to bump, and you got to work. You have other guys who can rebound in there, so it’s hard to worry about just one guy.’

Offensively, the Orange tried to pound the ball inside to its big men, hoping Griffin would get into early foul trouble. On the first few possessions, the guards fed Onuaku, but he was unable to penetrate the defense. With the inside closed, Syracuse relied on its 3-point shooters, who struggled throughout the night.

‘I feel like that was their plan from the beginning,’ Griffin said. ‘We did such a good job collectively on defense that it kind of got them out of that.’

Griffin finished with just two fouls in 33 minutes, before leaving to a standing ovation from the FedExForum crowd.

In the days leading up to the game, much of Syracuse’s focus was on finding a way to stop Griffin. On Friday, Griffin showed why he is projected by most rating services as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft in June.

As far as SU head coach Jim Boeheim is concerned, one professional team is about to land a catch. When asked about Griffin, Boeheim listed his attributes – high praise from someone who has made his living trying to stop the country’s best big men in the Big East each year.

‘He’s a great inside player,’ Boeheim said. ‘He’s as good in around the basket as anybody. He’s patient. He takes his time in there. He’s obviously a very good rebounder, but he’s very strong around the basket. He’s as good around the basket as anybody I’ve seen.’

jediamon@syr.edu.

Published on March 29, 2009 at 12:00 pm