By John Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
He’s mainly an all-around player, but Malcolm Griffin understands that offense is captivating, especially dunks in hostile environments. In the first round of Basketball Champions League’s Group Stage, the 27-year-old American, former Fresno Pacific and Toledo NCAA player, scored a total of 47 points in seven games, but started the second half of the Regular Season with 25 in AEK’s away win over Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem last Tuesday.
The BCL title holders completed a seven-win streak beating all of their Group C opponents. Griffin himself completed a full circle from his offensive struggles to his absolute domination against the Israelis. He was 8/10 from the field including 3/4 beyond the arc and also notched seven rebounds, four assists and two steals on his way for a 34 efficiency performance. His emotions were running high and he showed it on the court.
Towards the end of the game at Jerusalem, he summed up his effort with a breakaway jam he really enjoyed. How exactly did he fell at the moment? “Obviously I wasn’t the best for my team offensively from the beginning of the season. Just getting this win and finishing it off with my dunk felt good. I expressed my emotions at that point. The game was pretty much over” he mentioned during the press conference after the Champions League match.
He scored more than half the points he sank in all of AEK’s first seven BCL games, but his offensive burst wasn’t shocking. He proved in Latvia and during his first stop in Greece that he could pour points whenever needed. As a Queen player, he doesn’t need to carry the offensive load, as he did with Kolossos Rhodes and Liepajas Lauvas, but he’s surely a pleasure to watch when he accompanies his creative and defensive abilities with his scoring touch.
Let’s take a step back for a moment and revisit Griffin’s NCAA years. He scored his NCAA Division I personal-high on January 16th of 2011. The up and coming guard then poured 31 points with 14/24 from the field in Toledo 64-54 defeat to Northern Illinois. He went on to play his junior and senior season for Fresno Pacific earning two All-Pacific West First Team honors and being the Conference’s leading scorer in his final NCAA Division II year.
He started his professional career in Africa before joining Liepajas in December of 2016. Griffin really showed his stuff in Latvia and moved on signing with Kolossos during the summer of 2017. His biggest game during his first stop in Greece was on October 14th, when he sank 30 points with 13/15 from the field in the 90-70 victory against Panionios. In January he left Greece as the Basket League’s leading scorer to join Zenit Saint Petersburg and help the Russian club in its EuroCup campaign.
He returned to Greece this year hoping to help AEK retain its top BCL spot at the end of the 2018-19 season. Despite playing in the country for the second time, he needed his adjustment period, but is really improving lately aiding the Queen grab one win after another through its injury woes. His performance in the hot Pais Arean was his best up to date, but offense wasn’t solely on his mind. After the match he said: “The game plan was the rebounds. They get a lot of their points off second chances. My assignment was Da’Sean Butler, one of the best rebounders on their team. I just locked in and focused on that, everything else just came along”.
His basketball journey has had its ups and downs, but AEK fans hope to only see Griffin moving forward with performances of this level for the remainder of the Basketball Champions League season. Luca Banchi’s roster has its share of prolific scorers, but the American point guard’s contribution could indeed be a deciding factor on the Greek team’s attempt to relive last season’s BCL glory.