Detroit Pistons head coach Dwane Casey recently joined Keith Langlois of Pistons.com for a five-part interview. Amid their discussion, Casey likened Blake Griffin's preparation routines to those of Dirk Nowitzki.

Via NBA.com:

KEITH LANGLOIS: OK, now let’s talk about the guys at the top of the roster and the returnees. Blake ended the season with the knee injury and then we know he had a procedure right after the playoffs to get that cleaned up. How did his recovery go and what’s his status?

DWANE CASEY: He’s not where he was at this time last year, physically. He’s back on the court playing. He’s worked his butt off. They’ve been trying to slow him down a little bit just to make sure he didn’t overdo it because he’s such a worker, but he’s back playing and working out. He’s got his routine. He reminds me of Dirk Nowitzki. He’s one of those guys you’ve got to try to keep off of the floor, but we expect him back full speed, 100 percent, no lingering effects of what he went through last spring. The key with us is we have more diversity around him, flexibility around him, other guys who can handle the ball and make plays, which will take some of the pressure off of him of having to carry such a load.

Nowitzki announced that the 2018-19 campaign would be his last, ending with 21 seasons played in the NBA. The Big German enjoyed a fantastic career, earning 14 All-Star nods, four All-NBA First-Team selections and one championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011.

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Griffin should be good to go in time for training camp, according to Casey. The 30-year-old forward suffered a left knee injury in March, which led to arthroscopic surgery in April. His recovery seems to be going well, though, as he has already been cleared to participate in light basketball activities and is clearly itching to get back out on the court.

The Pistons finished the 2018-19 season with a 41-41 overall record, which earned the team a No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference Unfortunately, though, Detroit was swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.