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Found Objects: Looking Back and Moving On Edition

May 14, 2012
by Charlie Widdoes



  • After an incredibly hard-fought series, the Clippers must’ve enjoyed celebrating around this gift from the Memphis fans quite a bit.
  • Adrian Wojnarowski, on Vinny Del Negro, who he says deserves credit, and a contract beyond this season, because of his team’s performance yesterday: “On his walk to the bus, Del Negro talked about wanting Paul and Griffin to engage him with ideas, with the proper plays to run at the proper moments. Hey, this guy’s in foul trouble. Let’s attack him with this play or that one. ‘That’s the next level for us,’ he said.”
  • Some Clipper quotes from the win.
  • The league has rescinded the bogus technical that referee Marc Davis assessed Reggie Evans for high-fiving Blake Griffin. As Kelly Dwyer noted, regardless of the outcome of that game specifically of the series in general, Davis has a lot of explaining to do.
  • Andrew McNeill of the fantastic Spurs blog 48 Minutes of Hell takes a look at how the next series will come down to which team is able to get shots from the area(s) it wants, while preventing the opponent from doing the same. In short: watch the rim and the corner three. Also, take a look at the picture on the post and tell me it doesn’t say a thousand words about the gap in stability between these two franchises — every Spur is still a Spur, and no one on those Clippers is still with the team.
  • Check out the series page on ESPN.com. You will notice a few things, including: every “expert” picked the Spurs to win. Jon Barry represents the most pessimistic view of the Clippers chances, while Kevin Arnovitz, and three others, picked the Clips to take it to seven games. You’ll also notice if you take a peak at the series schedule that Games 3 and 4 at Staples will be played back-to-back, on Saturday afternoon and Sunday night.

Charlie Widdoes

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  • http://clipperblog Apostolos

    Marc Davis should have a lot of expaining to do at the very least he shouldn’t ref the clipper games anymore. Nothing worst then people praising Vinny Del Negro What F’n games are they watching are u kidding me it took him 7 games to realise what worked against the Grizzlies. I mean we have NO plan or set plays whatsoever what are they watching?

    • http://www.clipperblog.com Charlie Widdoes

      Suffice it to say, I did not agree with Woj’s take on the situation.

      • Clips4

        There are too many people who are willing to praise VDN because he managed to coach one good game. I keep bringing up the talent he had in Chicago and he couldn’t do better than a .500 record in weak eastern conference. VDN needs to do what he did yesterday every game and not just once in a blue moon. He needs to work on his X’s and O’s. I personally think he needs to be Doc Rivers’ or Pop’s understudy for a couple of years to bring his coaching chops up. He needs to learn from some of the best coaches in the game. Playing for a HOF coach is one thing but coaching under them is a completely different story because the player is more concerned with working on his own game than learning how different systems work. That is the job of the coach.

      • http://clipperblog Apostolos

        Del Negro talked about wanting Blake and Chris Paul to engage him with ideas with the proper plays to run at the proper moments.

        Isn’t the Coach supposed to do this(Isn’t that what he gets paid for).That one referense says it all

        • http://www.espn.com Tim

          Thats making sure they all buy in and take ownership. Its a team, but this is a different age. We got youngsters in this. Guys have to feel like what they think and say counts for something, even if Blake was sitting on the bench in the 4th. What good ideas were soaking in, right about then? None, but at least Blake could feel like he had some imput on something, even sitting there on the bench. Vinny is pushing all the right buttons, flipping the correct switches, and minus a system, due to no practice time, and an entire new roster for the most part, I think he’s doing fine.

    • http://www.espn.com Tim

      We got the high intensity defense! We got the bench chemisty at all time highs! We got the pick and roll. I noticed a couple a variations, no one saw the extra pass to Kenyon for the flush during the regular season. We got Bledsoe forcing turnovers, and now he is actually looking for Young and not just Williams, or taking it himself. The 2nd unit is diversified, and all on the same page, not the coaches fault right? These guys stick together, love each other, fight for one another, and San Antonio is going to find out real fast, that the team they played against during the regular season is not the same team. The Clippers have evolved, while the Spurs have been playing pretty much the same system for the last few years. We can look at tape from last year, and its the same package. The Clippers will control the painted area, cut off Tony Parkers penetration, double-team Mano to get the ball out of his hands, and close out on their shooters, and rebound. Our bench is superior to theirs. They run about 8 deep, and we’ll wear them down with dunks, and 3’s, and no rebounds, and pressure packed 4th quarter possessions, and it will be too much for them to handle. Clippers in 6. It won’t be pretty, but so what? This ain’t the Pete Carill Princeton back-cutting Harry Highschool x’s and o’s hoops. This is Clippers old-skool, scrapin’, scrapping, clutchin and clawin’, toothin’ and knawing, scritchin’ sneakin’ out wins in the post season with regularity! 3 wins and Vinnys back next year, 4 wins, and lets sign him up for 5 more! Lets get some home town discounts on Swaggy, and Foye, lets keep this together, and I like what I see for 82 games! Give it to me! Like I’ve saw all along, Please, no trades, I like this team!

      • Clips4

        You cannot say our bench is superior to theirs when their bench was rated as the best bench in the league this season.

  • Bootstrenf

    it was obvious from the start of the series that Bledsoe should be getting the lions share of minutes at the 2 spot….How in the hell did he not see that??? foye got way more minutes than Bledsoe in all 7 games. What exactly did foye contribute?

    • http://clipperblog Apostolos

      Exactly( and Nick Young as well as a spot up shooter and NOT an isolation player)

  • Bongstradamus

    Unless Vinny gets us to the Finals, I think we need to look at other coaches. There are just too many great coaches, and honestly, a large majority of our wins were CP3 willing us to victory in the 4th quarter and had nothing to do with Vinny coaching.

    Giving credit where credit is due, VDN does know his players and puts them in positions to contribute that a lot of other coaches wouldn’t consider. That said, VDN coaching compared to Pop is like a PhD playing Jeopardy with a pre-schooler. Pop can, and probably will, take one of these games with his entire second unit playing the 4th quarter. Why? Because he can.

  • joeluis323

    The Spurs game relies on Ginobli and Parker having a good game. (which for the most part they do). Parker will have to deal with the cp3/Bledsoe combo for at least four consecutive games!. (very tough combo).
    Yes the Spurs can shoot the 3 and they got a very nice bench, but we got heart and cp3’s brains leading the way. I’m deff looking forward to this match up.. Go Clips!

    FYI – John Barry is a knuckle head!!

  • http://www.espn.com Tim

    That pass from Bledsoe to Young for the step back 3 doesn’t happen without a great coach who understands personalities. We noticed earlier in the season, Bledsoe and Williams working exclusively. On run-outs Bledsoe would pass the ball to Mo, but on similar run-outs, would elect to taking it himself rather than give it up to a wide open Young. Vinny got that fixed, and our 2nd unit is now a cohesive unit. Was it Bledsoe sitting a while, to work that out? We don’t know, but all of a sudden Bledsoe and Young are playing together. Nah, Vinny gets no credit, we can just call him stupid for sitting Bledsoe, because we don’t know, do we.

  • http://Lou Lasko

    I do not have the elements to evaluate VDN or not but I know there are a lot of coaches playing golf now or watching the games on TV. One of the them if the guy from the Bulls, he has not gone anywhere with a better team than Del Negro had. He might have doing somthing right.

    • Clips4

      Thibs got the Bulls to play the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals and got them to the #1 seed in the East two years running. The reason why he’s out of the playoffs is because his two best players got hurt. Without a star player like the Bulls had for most of this season, Thibs got them to the best record in the East whereas VDN had Rose albeit not the MVP-caliber player we know today with a bunch of role players to only a .500 record. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how the coaching change helped the Bulls get to where they are today while I think the Clippers underachieved this year in terms of their record. Many of the wins were undeserving. The only reason we won those games was because of CP3 being CP3. Without CP3, the Clips are a terrible team. If Thibs was coaching this team, the Clips would still be good without CP3 if he got hurt.

      • http://www.espn.com Tim

        You have Boozer on the team, but you say the 2 best players are Rose and Jo-kim? You are giving Jo-kim waaayy too much credit, they have a back up center who brings as much to the table as Jo-kim. Bulls had players, Thibs just couldn’t motivate them to play, and beat the rudder-less 76ers. Asix and Noah are similarly skilled players. They should not have missed a beat. The Bulls had some guards, the bulls had no business losing that series, and stop making excuses for Thibs. They lost, and a better coach finds a way out of that series. You lose to a Doug Collins coached team? Watch as Boston sweeps them right out of the playoffs, so then what? Thibs is overrated.

        • http://www.barmapla.com FD

          I think almost everyone thinks Noah is their 2nd best player.

        • Bongstradamus

          I think Deng is better overall than Jo, but not many 7 footers can play so its a tad lopsided trying to compare.

          The Sixers are playing really well though, I wouldnt call them rudderless. Evan Turner has really stepped up. The first game against Boston was a lot of fun to watch despite them losing. Much of that was KG playing like he was 20 again.

          • Clips4

            I think Noah is their second best player because he’s their defensive anchor and plays with energy every night. Deng is third because he’s the glue guy. Deng’s production is replaceable because of the wing players the Bulls had. Noah is irreplaceable because of what he brings. Asik as good a backup center as he is is nowhere near the defender Noah is especially in pick and roll situations.

  • DeMote DeAndre

    Key contrast in yesterday’s game:

    DeAndre Jordan had a team worst +/- of -6.

    Reggie Evans, his replacement, had a team best +/- of +18.

    I really didn’t think it was possible for Jordan to play worse than he did in the regular season, but somehow he did manage to play worse in the Memphis series. It’s probably because the players he was going against upped their game for the playoffs and he wasn’t capable of doing that. Also, Memphis had time to prepare and focus on Jordan.

    Jordan probably will be even worse against San Antonio. Popovich will draw up all sorts of things to destroy the defensive delusion inside. For one thing, the Spurs will demolish Jordan on the pick and roll. It could be really, really bad.

    Of course, all the Olshey puppets will blame that on Del Negro instead of on Olshey and his pet prize Jordan where it belongs.

    • http://www.barmapla.com FD

      Jordan playing worse is on the refs cus they are calling less fouls. Everyone including the guards just push DeAndre out of the way to get rebounds.

      You can’t be happy that VDN is letting Jordan get more minutes that Reggie Evans, or that Jordan is getting 20-25 minutes a game? I think even most people on this board would start Evans or Kmart of Jordan. I guess what you’re saying is most other coaches would do the same thing and you wouldn’t trust Olshey to hire some no-name coach.

  • DeMote DeAndre

    By the way, DeMote DelNegro is not me.

    Actually, I’ve often said I’m neutral on Del Negro. I also recently said after game 6, that I thought it showed good things about his coaching ability that with the two stars injured and Foye pulling a hamstring and Mo Williams injuring two fingers on his shooting hand, plus being stuck with the worst starting center in the Western conference playoffs, that the Clippers only lost by two points.

    The win yesterday says a lot more good things about his ability.

    As I once said, if Jerry Sloan or Phil Jackson wants to come and coach the Clippers, then sure, let one of them. But besides that, I don’t see any other coaches out there that are obviously better . . . and I said that before the Memphis series.

    I certainly don’t think the assistant coach of Memphis is a credible replacement for Del Negro, as TJ Simers has recently written that Olshey wants to do.

  • http://www.espn.com Tim

    Props to all you Hardcore Clipper fans, and all you wishy-washy Clipper fans and you know who you are? Thanks for keeping the conversation interesting. Nothing like a good Clipper conversation to keep things real while we await these Spurs! Go Clippers!!!!

    • clipsy hustle

      Like the comments tim, keep em comin. And demote, we know how much you dislike dj but c’mon man he’s part of the team. maybe the kid can redeem himself against san antonio. Either way dj is a clipper and he needs our support now more than ever. Remember dude,united we stand/Divided we fall. Clipper nation stand up!

      • http://www.barmapla.com FD

        Yeah poor millionaire needs our support. The guy is getting pushed out of the paint by point guards.

  • Bootstrenf

    the frontcourt of gasol/randolph is pretty imposing. True, Jordan could’ve done better, but maybe he will bounce back in this next series.

    • Bongstradamus

      I think we need to put Blake on Duncan just for the experience and development/matchup reasons. If thats the case, that means DJ will have a mismatch and hopefully he plays well enough to find his mojo and move forward.

      I think you’re right though, the Z-Bo/Gasol wall of brutality screwed with his head, he clearly wasnt the same player last series he was throughout most of the season.

  • Bongstradamus

    Available Coaches with NBA Finals experience:
    Jeff Van Gundy
    Stan Van Gundy
    Rick Carlisle

    Euros with multiple Euroleague Championships:
    Zeljko Obradovic (the Phil Jackson of Euroleague)
    Ettore Messina

    and then of course there is always
    Phil Jackson
    Jerry Sloan

    Let’s not make VDN our Sam Mitchell and re-up just because we got to the playoffs. Not with the people on the market.

    • Bootstrenf

      Would absolutely love Sloan or Jackson, in that order might I add. And then my preference would be the Van Gundys, then Carlisle. I’m not so sure about the euro coaches though. Has any euro league coach made it successfully in the NBA?

      • Clips4

        I’m up for Phil Jackson but it is only if Donald Sterling doesn’t mind paying him for what he is worth. My main concern with that is if Phil would install the triangle and basically destroy CP3’s career.

    • http://clipperblog Apostolos

      I’m really impressed you mentioned Obradovic Best coach in Europe(possibly anywhere) He’d be option 1,2, and 3 if he has any interest in the Clippers job . Not to mention he has a long friendship with Gregg Popovich(who pritty much looked up to him until he got the Spurs job).His teams always play inside/out and smart. He’s won 6 or 7 titles in Europe and is a legend <and his coaching would translate anywhere

      • Bongstradamus

        Yea, Obradovic is amazing. Its like 8 championships with 4 different clubs and he’s only in his early 50s. That’s 4 more championships than Coach K. He’s someone that could translate really well here. Hall of Fame material already for what he’s done in Europe and the NBA is the next logical step for his career.

    • Clips4

      Don’t forget Nate McMillan. I’ve been pushing for McMillan all year long.

      • http://clipperblog Apostolos

        Me 2 good defensive coach that helped Lamarcus Aldridge a lot at Portland.

  • The Frozen One

    Extra Thumbs Up for this post, Bong.

  • Hypajet

    My 2 cents: Noah is the Bulls 2nd best player. I don’t like VDN cause he will not give Eric Bledsoe the minutes his talent deserve! Go Clips!

  • http://Clipperblog AL

    We have a young team and it usually benefits a young team to have a veteran ass kicker type coach thta preaches fundamentals and discipline. However, that being said, I say we give him the benefit of the doubt and see if he coaches his butt off and we beat the Spurs!

  • http://www.espn.com Tim

    Vinny is the Rodney Dangerfield of coaching, No respect!

  • http://www.espn.com Tim

    Question?? Did Rudy Gay get stopped, or did he light us up? I’m not sure. I was told he was going to light us up. I was told Mike Conley was pretty good, but he only scored 5 pts in a Game 7? So question, how good is that? I was told Ramon Sessions was great, 2pts??? 2 freakin points, are you kidding me?? Where’s everyone at, I got questions now!!!!

    • Clips4

      Rudy Gay is Kevin Durant without a jump shot.

      • http://www.espn.com Tim

        Kevin Durant without a jumper would be garbage, just like Gay!

        • Clips4

          If Rudy Gay is so garbage, why did the Clips try to pursue him a couple years back?

          • http://www.espn.com Tim

            Even Rudy Gay was an upgrade from what we could trot out there at that position at the time. Just because you have Dan Dickau and Brevin Knight at the point, and make a play for Ramon Sessions, doesn’t make Sessions any good, just a little better than Dickau and Knight. Same with Gay. Just because you have Al Thornton at the 3, and make a play for Gay, doesn’t make Gay all that good, just better than Thornton.

        • Bongstradamus

          Hes a top 5 SF. He actually can shoot, despite the bricks in our series, he still shot over 40% from the field. His stats from the last 2 years are pretty impressive.

          19ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2 steals. Shoots a career 45% from the field and close to 80% from the line. Dude can ball. After LeBron, KD, and Carmelo name the next 2 best SF’s and Gay is most likely on that list. He’s better than Granger and after that there really isn’t much to pull from. He’s high tier 2, borderline all-star. And he fills the stat sheet unlike ISO 3’s like Melo and Durant.

          • Clips4

            I would think Gay would be #4 and then after that is a toss-up between Deng and Iguodala. I would rate Deng over Iggy because Deng is a good player who can score when he needs to and is an overall great glue guy.

          • http://www.espn.com Tim

            Joe Johnson scores the ball much better than Gay. Tayshaun Prince brings alot to the table on the defensive end of the floor, and can impose his will on the game much more so than Gay. Parsons, Gallinari and Batum have more upside for a Gay who really hasn’t taken his seat at the table. So you have KD, Lebron, Melo, and then the nex tier, consisting of Gay, Prince, Grainger, AI, and Johnson, then you have the up and comers. At this point, its questionable if Gay will ever get his seat at the table, unless he pulls a Z-Bo, and after what just happened, it might be fair to say that Randolph is now on the downside of his career. Gay is a good small forward, good. He’s not top 5, more like top 9, and is top 9 or 10, really good? Yes,good, not great, not allstar good either. Just good

          • Clips4

            Tim, Joe Johnson is a 2. Marvin Williams is the starting 3 for the Hawks. Prince is not as good a shooter as Gay is and because of his recent injury history, Prince is a shell of the defender he used to be. Z-Bo is still really effective as a PF. His injury slowed him down. Z-Bo will be Mr. 20-10 again next year when he can finish rehabbing his injury this summer. It shows you don’t really watch basketball when you don’t know that Joe Johnson is a 2. You forget about Luol Deng too

          • http://www.espn.com Tim

            Joe Johnson is listed as a 3 check Atlanta’s depth chart on ESPN’s webpage, that was my source. Z-Bo took 10 years to reach all-star status, how many good years does he have left? Forgot, Paul Pierce has been known to make a shot or two here and there over the years. Pierce and Marion are players I’d take in a 1 game playoff, high stakes situation, where if you gave me a choice of Gay or Pierce, or Gay or Marion, after what just happened, I’m not quite sure I’d take Gay over those guys. Deng is on the lower end of the 2nd tier right there with Gay. I’m just sayin’.

          • http://www.espn.com Tim

            Clips4, you have an odd way of questioning my knowledge, when you spouted off at the mouth that we should trade Bledsoe for Ebanks. That little idea of yours has a lifetime of knowledge all to its self, sir. You also said Gay was going to light us up, and it didn’t happen. You know close to nothing about things such as what you claim to have knowledge about. Weren’t you the one who said, theres’ truth to the fact that if Memphis had scored a few more points here and there, that they would have won? Of course that true, but thats one of the lamest takes you could possibly back up, and you went there. Your imput is close to worthless Clips4.

          • Clips4

            Because he is listed as a 3 does not mean he plays the 3. Duncan is listed as center but plays power forward.

          • Clips4

            You’re right to take Pierce over Gay, but not Marion over Gay. The only reason Marion was an all-star was because of Steve Nash.

          • http://www.espn.com Tim

            And Bong, you and Clips4 both assess Ramon to being a great point guard, and he is proving your point night in and night out, 2 pts last night. The dude is garbage. If you are set with a great point guard on your roster, and somehow still end up with the #1 overall pick, you don’t go out and draft a player at the same position as to where you already have a great player, at least not one who is young.

          • Clips4

            Again, I do not let my Clipper fandom cloud my objective analysis and comments. Bongstradamus and I have called you out with facts and stats we post to back up our analysis. Even Renato S. has called you out. Your passion for the Clips is great, but don’t let it cloud your judgment and analysis.

          • http://www.espn.com Tim

            Ok, maybe not Marion but at least he has a ring that he earn, but look at all the names we’ve been going over, and if you have to mention that many names, then you pretty much know Gay is not that good. Too many names. You can say, KD, and Lebron, and maybe Melo, but thats it. The 2nd tier has a lot of names, and I wouldn’t necessarily put Gay at the top of that 2nd tier. Gay should never be an All-Star, unless he takes his game to a completely different level, and I don’t see it. I think, he thinks he’s already good enough, and he’s not.

          • Clips4

            Tim, I never called Sessions a “great” point guard. I’ve always thought he was a good point guard. He has been underrated. The only reason he was on so many losing teams was because the teams were in rebuilding mode and he gets caught on teams that go into the lottery to draft young prospects so he gets buried on the depth chart. He is an above average point guard and is not a bad player. You call him garbage. He’s not.

          • http://www.espn.com Tim

            Cloud my judgement? You are sitting here trying to tell me that my judgememt is off, because I will not sit here and allow you to tell me that Rudy Gay is a great player. He’s not. He might be the 10th best small forward in the game, and thats not great! Renato made all these arguments, but as the Clippers keep winning, and possibly run the tables, Renato’s arguments fall right by the waste-side. Vinny is doing a great job, and if he continues, with the talent on this roster, and if the Clippers win it all, then what? I’ve called you out numerous times, because you’ve been wrong numerous times, and you continue to be wrong, like when you said Gay was going to light us up. Like when you said Conley was dangerous, 7pts in game 7? Thats dangerous for trying to win a game 7.

          • Clips4

            When I called for the trade Bledsoe for Ebanks, that was back in February at which point, I had not seen anything from Bledsoe up to that point and based off everything coming off of his rookie year. He was hurt. I’d seen enough of Ebanks to see what kind of a player he could be if he got minutes and could develop. Given the new information that I’ve seen from Bledsoe, I have been off my stance for a few months now. Basketball analysts do this all the time. They make conclusions based off the evidence presented to them and change their conclusions when the evidence changes. Quit whining about how I wanted to trade Ebanks for Bledsoe when I do what every other analyst does. Your man crush of VDN is sickening too. You and the people who think VDN is a good coach wouldn’t know what a good coach is if it hit you in the face. The only reason we won so many games this year was not because of VDN. We won because CP3 is a great player.

          • http://www.espn.com Tim

            You make these man crush comments all the time. Prior to the all-star break when I was the only one on the blog showing faith in Randy Foye, you made that statement that I have a mancrush on undersized shooting guards. I told you at the time, Foye is good, and should not be traded, is 28, in his prime, and healthy, and getting comfortable. You said trade him, and that I have a man-crush. Well? Foye came back in the 2nd half of the season and made more 3 pointers than anyone else, and you? I guess you get to change your stance again, right??? So, when Vinny wins a title this year, is that when you get to change your stance again, is that how it works

          • Bongstradamus

            JJ is a natural 2 that plays 3 because Marvin Williams just flat out sucks.

            Gay is top 5. He is better than Prince, who is nothing like he was in Detroit’s heyday. The closest competitors are Granger and AI. Paul Pierce would be #4 and Gay would be #5 for me. Pierce has 1-2 seasons left, tops. Marion hasn’t been in the top 10 since he left Phoenix. Gay is a bubble all-star. He’d have a higher PPG on a different squad.

            Tim, quit attacking people and then covering it up in empty rah-rah. Half your posts are hit pieces on other commenters you’ve decided you have a bone to pick with.

          • Clips4

            Foye was useless against the Grizz. When he’s matched up against slashing shooting guards, he can’t defend them. I never liked Foye to begin with. He has improved over the course of the season but is useless beyond being a spot up shooter. If VDN wins a championship this year, I’ll change my mind based off the games I see. So far in VDN’s almost 4 years as a coach, I have not seen anything from him to justify me calling him a good coach.

          • http://www.espn.com Tim

            Bong, all you and Clips4 do is prop up the opposition, and bang on Vinny. Rudy Gay is not a top 5 small forward. You’d take Gay over Gerald Wallace? Clips4, yes Foye struggled in his first playoff series, but you can’t take back that he led the league in 3 pointers in the 2nd half of the season, no matter what you say. Bong, you said Sessions is great, now you own that, don’t come off you stance like Clips4. He owns that he thought Bledsoe should be traded, and he owns that he thought Foye should be traded, and you were both wrong. No rah-rah to that. In a 1 game clutch situation, Shawn Marion and Tayshawn Prince are proven, and have rings to show for it, and Gay has proven to be a choker, and definately not top 5, is all I’ve sayin. Pierce, Prince, Marion, are all players right now, that I would start ahead of Gay based on what just happened last week. I’d take Wallace, Pierce, Prince, Marion, to go along with KD, Melo, and Lebron, and since Johnson is listed as a 3, Johnson too. Gay is not a bubble all-star, and neither is Sessions, but you own that now, until you throw your expert card on the table like Clips4 frquently does, and then you are free to change your stance. All I can say is, 2pts aint that great, sir.

          • Clips4

            Nobody ever said Sessions is a bubble all-star. I said he is underrated. Prince hasn’t been on a good team in five or six years. Marion has a ring because he plays defense and played with Dirk on a fluky team that happened to beat out the team with the better talent which happens once in a blue moon. That was the same thing that happened with Prince when the Pistons beat the Lakers in 2004. I would rather have Rudy Gay over Wallace because Gay is a better shooter and not an injury risk like Wallace. Crash is a great energy player but he plays with such reckless abandon that he’s always getting hurt. As far as staying power in the next five years, I would much rather have Gay over Pierce, Prince, and Crash. You still think Joe Johnson is a 3 when he doesn’t play the 3. He’s the starting 2. It shows how much you’ve watched the Hawks play this year. When Kobe went out, Ebanks played well. Wait…. I forgot you don’t watch basketball. I’ve watched enough of the other teams play to make decent analyses of who they are and what they do. Again, you only watch the Clippers play and make your assumptions off whoever plays the Clippers and your fandom prevents you from making objective analyses.

          • Bongstradamus

            I didnt beat up on Vinny till game 6. That last minute was unforgivable in my mind.

            I did maintain that we let him finish the season out when everyone was calling for his head after the trade deadline. I said keep him if we get to the Finals, and only under those conditions because the best coaches in the game are available and looking for work this offseason. It’s like LeBron’s FA season for coaches. We’d be idiots not to try and upgrade the most critical position for the franchise.

      • Bootstrenf

        Rudy gay is Gerald Wallace, without the defense…

  • http://www.espn.com Tim

    What??? Nick Young shot 52% from beyond the arch, for the series? No body better not use streaky and Nick Young in the same breath going forward! This guy was lights out!

  • http://www.espn.com Tim

    The Clippers accomplished an amazing achievement. Not only did they defeat the Memphis Grizzlies, they also defeated the referees, and thats no small feat. Guys like Randy Foye and Deandre were shell shocked due to the fathom fouls they committed, and the non-calls on the other end. The Clippers made it over a huge hump, but I still don’t think this team has played its best basketball. They’ve made some timely stops and baskets for sure, but I still haven’t seen this team put it all together, where the defense is generating stops coupled with the offense flowing for long extended periods, and multiple shooters in the zone. We peaked to a certain degree coming down the stretch of the regular season, but there is another level offensively that we have yet to reach in 7 games vs Memphis. Our defense was better than advertised, but we all know this team can score the rock. Its true, the Clippers can go to another level, and I expect to see that vs San Antonio. We’ve proven that we do have the defense, and its time now to go off, and start scoring the ball in the 110 to 120 range, which is what its going to take to defeat OKC in the Conference Finals. San Antonio is just a little speed bump on the path towards the championship.

  • http://Lou Lasko

    Will Blake Griffin play tonight?

  • Clips4

    Rick Carlisle is off the market. He’s returning to coach the Mavs.

    • Bongstradamus

      Good on Mark Cuban. The only reason not to re-up his deal would be if coach salaries counted against the cap.

  • http://www.espn.com Tim

    Check these headlines, Thunder crush drained Lakers to win Game 1
    and Fatigued Lakers have little time for rest during playoffs and
    OKC whips weary Lakers.

    aweee…. the Lakers are drained? OMG, stop feeling sorry for the Lakers already. If the Clippers get blown out tonight, the headlines will be as follows:

    The Great Popovich schools Del Negro, his pupil, or
    It was no contest for the former Champs, or
    The #1 seed shows the Clips how its done, or

    Or some other type of “in your face Clipper fan” type of headline.

    The Laker-humping media just kills me.

    • http://www.espn.com Tim

      It should say, Thunder crush Lakers or OKC whips Lakers… No excuse, stop with the drained and weary. The look that way because they are old, not tired.

  • David

    I can not for the life of me understand how every “sports write” keeps stating that the clippers beat the gizzlies that beat the Spurs last year. Total crap. The grizzlies lost three of their players from last year. The Spurs got rid of Jefferson, Hill, McDyess, and Green has done a total 180 on the way he is playing. the Spurs are not hobbled by a Duncan sprained ankle, or a broken elbow for Ginobili. we are the 16th oldest team in the league with the best offense in the league.The Spurs are on a 15 or 16 game winning streak and it is the third double digit winning streak, both ended by Pop ssitting the Big Three. get real the clippers are overmatched.


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