Duke’s AJ Griffin found his stroke against Lafayette. Who is the Blue Devils’ new weapon?
Don’t look now, but undefeated Duke is getting yet another weapon to make lives miserable for opponents up to speed.
While freshmen Paolo Banchero and Trevor Keels have been constants in Duke’s starting lineup and in game highlights, classmate AJ Griffin toiled behind the scenes.
The 6-7 Griffin arrived at Duke a five-star recruit just like Banchero and Keels.
But Griffin, already hampered by high school injuries that cut short his junior season and wiped out his senior one, sprained his knee in practice on Oct. 5.
Recovery put him on the sidelines for nearly three weeks and he played minor roles in Duke’s first four wins of the season.
That’s changed this week, with Friday night representing Griffin’s crescendo thus far.
Playing a season-high 20 minutes and 56 seconds in Duke’s 88-55 win over Lafayette, Griffin poured in 18 points. He hit 7 of 10 shots overall, including 4 of 6 3-pointers.
“He can shoot,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “He’s got one of the softest shots. Just keep coming. He’ll make us better.”
On Friday night he helped make Duke’s win a comfortable win. The Blue Devils, thanks to poor shooting, only led winless Lafayette by eight points at halftime. With Wendell Moore scoring 15 of his 23 points in the second half and Griffin scoring 14 after halftime, the Blue Devils rolled to an 88-55 win.
It proved the perfect opportunity to get Griffin even more playing time.
After playing a combined 27 minutes in Duke’s first three games last week, Griffin played 16 minutes in Tuesday night’s 92-52 win over Campbell.
He topped that by playing four second shy of 21 minutes against Lafayette and he displayed the skills he’d only been able to show in practice, away from the bright lights of a game, for most of the last two years.
“I feel like I’ve built confidence over each game with just playing and getting the reps in, and just realizing that you’re not too far behind or anything,” Griffin said. “You’ve just got to keep working and building every single day and staying neutral with your mindset, attacking every single day the same way, and that’s with being aggressive and being confident.”
Moore, a junior and one of Duke’s captains, sounded happier about Griffin’s performance than his own major contributions to the win.
“The work he puts in is second to none on this team,” Moore said. “To say I’m proud of him is an understatement. I’ve seen the works he’s put in. I’ve seen everything he’s been going through. I’m just so proud he’s finally been able to come out of his shell and show everybody what he can do. I mean it’s really what we knew he could do from the start.”
The coaches felt a night like this was in the offing, too. And more are possible.
“He’s getting in shape,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s a big learning curve. But he’s in better shape right now. So it’s not just one or two plays. He can play multiple plays.”
Griffin knows basketball at a high level thanks to his family.
His older brother, Alan, started his college basketball career at Illinois before transferring to Syracuse, where he averaged 13.3 points and 5.8 rebounds last season. He’s now playing in the NBA’s G League.
Their sister, Aubrey, plays at Connecticut.
Adrian Griffin, their father, is an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors following his nine-year NBA playing career.
So AJ Griffin has the knowledge of the game and the skills. He just needed health and he appears to be finding it just as Duke prepares for its toughest non conference games of the season.
After the Blue Devils close their five-game homestand against The Citadel on Monday night at 9 p.m. they travel to Las Vegas to play No. 1 Gonzaga on Friday night. On Nov. 30, Duke plays at Ohio State in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.
With each shot Griffin made Friday night, the Blue Devils relished in what they saw, knowing what it means for the rest of the season.
“AJ, he’s been coming,” Krzyzewski said. “Hitting those shots is one thing. But the reaction of our kids is terrific. Our guys really pull for one another. They are so happy for him.”