The Puppetmaster

2009-06-25T13:02:10-04:00

The Puppetmaster

2009-03-25T02:49:22-04:00

2009-06-25T13:02:10-04:00

worriedman

North Hollywood 800204

50 The Lakers games are known as "The Lake Show".... Clippers games are now known as "The Blake Show" http://www.TheBlakeShow.com 5874568

2009-03-25T21:51:32-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/102/41/thumb/images.jpg 8553 NC

jackman....!

Blip 10261

42 His season ends Friday, (Dont estimate the Cuse). 4817922

2009-03-27T22:33:17-04:00

GrimReaper

Kent 164768

ooppss....

49 His season ends Friday, (Dont estimate the Cuse). 4850539

2009-03-27T22:01:50-04:00

hubdog

Stillwater 130325

48 So what happened to that elite Big East powerhouse? I'm confused. 4850148

2009-03-25T21:51:32-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/102/41/thumb/images.jpg 8553 NC

jackman....!

Blip 10261

42 His season ends Friday, (Dont estimate the Cuse). 4817922

2009-03-26T16:13:47-04:00

bleeds crimson

Portland 632226

His season ends Friday, (Dont estimate the Cuse).

47 I think you mean underestimate which i don't think OU will. BG will get his 20+ points and 15+ boards regardless of this all of a sudden "fantastic" post play that Syracuse has. The key will be how OU's guards play. If they play well Cuse' doesn't stand a chance. If not, then i think it will be a very close game. 4830293

2009-03-26T11:55:45-04:00

gridironvet

Bloomington 744646

46 The story here isn't Griffin's success in handling cowardly defenders. Where are the real men in college basketball who can play clean defense? That's the story. Where are the sportswriters who expect referees to protect players before injuries happen. This isn't the NFL, and Griffin's not a receiver who caught the ball in front of a hard-charging safety. 4825049

2009-03-26T11:52:37-04:00

gridironvet

Bloomington 744646

45 This and other articles are very strange. The story isn't Griffin's ability to play through abuse. Where are the teams with real men who can play clean defense? Where are the sports writers who expect referees to protect players before injuries happen? The subject is basketball, not NFL receivers going over the middle. 4824928

2009-03-26T03:06:16-04:00

Boomer SOUner

No City 744346

44 BG is a great player that will only get better!! I am glad he plays for the Sooners, what really makes me laugh is all the cry baby michigan fans....OMG when was the last time you guys won a championship in anything?!?! I think its great the way Ohio State punks you out almost every year..LMFAO michigan wolverines haha posums or peacocks or lum lums lol, your fight song should be"I wish I was an Oscar Meyer weiner"...lol THATS IT!! the michigan weiners..your bball team blows and your football is second rate, get over it, the truth hurts. 4820272

2009-03-25T22:01:11-04:00

jim bonaldi

Westwood 744140

43 frank m--mr. stealth has been under the radar for years. He made a bet he could jump rope for two hours without missing--resting, hitting his leg, etc... the bet was 25 white castle burgers. he did it with a bunch of guys watching. our good buddy had to eat the burgers---the funny thing was our buddy Jim Rush couldnt stand white castle burgers--therefore after 10 or 15 he begged to go to mcdonalds to complete the bet. this was in NJ when Frank was training people out here. he has a bunch of good training stories. jim from NJ 4818009

2009-03-25T21:51:32-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/102/41/thumb/images.jpg 8553 NC

jackman....!

Blip 10261

42 His season ends Friday, (Dont estimate the Cuse). 4817922

2009-03-25T20:51:34-04:00

jenkstrojansgpg12

Jenks 744146

41 texas sucks 4817310

<div class="photo_container image_center" style="width: 615px;"> <div class="photo"><img style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/30081/16blake1.jpg" alt="Blake Griffin" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align:right;">Nick Laham/Getty Images</div> </div> KANSAS CITY -- The constant in all the cheap-shot incidents directed at Oklahoma's Blake Griffin this season has been his reaction. He never really has one. After the pain subsides, his expression reverts to the blank state that Texas Tech coach Pat Knight said reminded him of the Terminator. There is no rage or retaliatory reflex that would lead to a technical foul; at most, all Griffin does is fiddle with his mouthpiece, shake off the cobwebs and walk away. It was this part of the likely national player of the year -- his extreme unflappability -- that fascinated me most <a href="/si_blogs/tourney/posts/58621-the-griffin-problem-and-four-things-we-learned-from-day-3-of-the-ncaas">while watching him in the first and second rounds in Kansas City</a>, more so than his baseline spin moves or the breathtaking dunks in transition. Part of it, I suspect, comes from his father, Tommy, whom I met in the stands at the Sprint Center and found to be similarly stoic and even-keeled. But I had also heard (through a mention <a href="http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1150929/index.htm">in an SI feature by Kelli Anderson</a>) about a San Francisco trainer named Frank Matrisciano who helped build Griffin into an even more explosive force over the summer, and introduced him to a mental-control concept called the "Puppetmaster." Matrisciano is a hard man to find -- he has no listed number, no Web site and has never allowed his full face <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/06/08/SP6U1147J0.DTL&o=0" target="_blank">to be photographed for a publication</a> -- but is renowned for training not just basketball players but also members of Army Special Ops units, federal marshalls, martial artists and boxers. He addresses people as "sir" during normal conversation. You have to know someone in his training circle to become a part of it, and Matrisciano said Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel was aware of him "through an old Duke connection." At Capel's urging, Griffin, his brother, Taylor, and fellow Sooner forward Ryan Wright went to San Francisco in the offseason, doing basketball skill work in the mornings with a group of college and pro players, and then going through Matrisciano's grueling and unconventional training -- which includes plenty of outdoor work on Bay Area beaches -- in the afternoons. I got Matrisciano's number through a friend who knew one of his basketball clients, and called him late last week. Matrisciano said he considers the Griffin brothers and Wright to be his friends, and had watched their game against Morgan State the previous evening. The technique Griffin used <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VUaobnPsLs&feature=related" target="_blank">while being judo-flipped by Bears henchman Ameer Ali</a> had made Matrisciano proud. "Blake did a wonderful thing there," he said. "When you roll into the throw, and let your body go as limp as possible, you're less likely to get hurt. Because if you're stiff when you land -- like what happened between [UConn's Hasheem] Thabeet and [Pitt's DeJuan] Blair, you land a lot harder. Blake did exactly what he was supposed to do. "What made me prouder, though," Matrisciano said, "was that he walked way. He could have ripped [Ali's] head off. But then Blake's kicked out of the game, and the next game too. So who wins? If he retaliates, he hurts himself and the opponent achieves his goal. That whole thing was meaningless to Blake. [Ali] will tell his grandkids, 'I flipped a Hall-of-Famer.' But Blake didn't react, and didn't let him win." This, in a nutshell, is the Puppetmaster concept Griffin embraced for his sophomore season, after a freshman campaign in which he was easily ruffled by defenders and referees. "You're either a puppet on the court, or you're the puppetmaster," Matrisciano would constantly tell him. "You're either allowing someone else to control you, or you're the one in control." When <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxTsDzD_nvs" target="_blank">USC's Leonard Washington punched Griffin in the groin</a>, Utah's Luka Drca tripped him, umpteen players elbowed him, Ali flipped him and Michigan's Manny Harris undercut him, Griffin stayed in control of the situation. Matrisciano said Griffin was able to do this because he and his brother have the mental discipline of "robots," allowing them not only to stay in control, but also plow through workouts that had caused umpteen NBA players to quit the training programs. "I can't express to you how hard we work," Matrisciano said. "I've had pros who, three minutes in, 11 minutes in, a couple of days in, say, 'F--- this, you're crazy, I'm leaving.' Those kids just woke up every morning and worked." Matrisciano recently had T-shirts printed that he plans to give to the Griffins (who will likely be preparing for the NBA draft) and Wright when they return to San Francisco this summer. On the front of the shirt are two images -- a puppet, and then hands with strings going down to a puppet -- and a question: "Who are you?" In the case of Blake Griffin, Matrisciano already knows the answer: "He's a puppetmaster, sir. He sure ain't no puppet."

Luke Winn

New York 4563 59221