Coming on at 5:30p PT today, ClipperBlog presents The Trial of Vinny Del Negro.
For the prosecution, Charlie Widdoes. For the defense, DJ Foster. The expert witness – Jordan Heimer. Andrew Han will preside as judge.
Tune in tonight and see a man’s head coaching job hypothetically hang in the balance.
The Clippers’ offseason is only a few days old, but the clock is already ticking. They have until June 1 to decide if they want to pick up the team option on Vinny Del Negro’s contract, and how they decide could have a lasting impact on the direction of the team and its general manager, Neil Olshey, who is also currently without a deal for next year.
Pedro Moura of ESPN LA spoke with Olshey on Monday following the Clippers’ standard year-end exit interviews to discuss the immediate future:
It was my intention to title this piece “A Post-Mortem for Vinny Del Negro”, but out of respect for the Clippers organization and with memories of the Comeback in Memphis, I’m not going to completely count this team out. Nonetheless, the elephant in the locker room is Vinny Del Negro’s coaching performance, particularly his “overly subtle” response to the Spurs 24-0 run in the third quarter.
[Ed note: Look, clearly the optimal way to consume Clipper Blog Live, our flagship post-game video roundtable, is live. Live is, after all, the third word of the title. But, hard as it is for us to accept, we know that not everyone has 90 minutes to watch the show live (after, presumably, already taking 3 hours to watch the game itself). Or perhaps some people simply prefer their video blog condensed, transcribed, and ready to print. Does that mean they shouldn’t have access to the content? Of course not.