SB Nation User Blog: MichaelCage

Houston - A study in contrast

MichaelCage — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 06:53:37 -0000

Our first meeting against Houston this year is fascinating. Mainly because most people assumed that without Yao and TMac, the Rockets do not have enough talent to compete night in and night out. But something about this Houston squad and the way they pushed the Lakers to 7 games last year impressed me. True they don't have any clear cut "superstar" active on the roster, but they do have alot of complementary young talent and a very underrated coach in Adelman. Our roster, in comparison, look far superior, even without Blake and Eric. In a way, if you had to choose between a healthy Yao and a healthy Blake, Yao would win, because he has proven his worth in the NBA. Same with comparing a healthy TMac against a healthy Gordon. As promising as Gordon is, he has yet to reach the level of dominance that TMac once achieved on his way up. Yet Houston, with the loss of their two All-Stars, have a better record than we do. And on this night, they proved that, as constituted, they are clearly a superior team.

During the heady days of summer, when the Clippers got Blake, Sebastian, Craig Smith, and Rasual Butler, many of us thought that a playoff position is preordained for such a deep and talented Clippers roster. But there is a huge gap between the talent on paper and the chemistry on the floor. Young, talented teams like the Clippers and Memphis lack an inner fortitude when the pressure is on, and it culiminates in their inability to execute down the stretch, going for long stretches without a point. Well coached, well organized teams like Houston, on the other hand, who have felt the pressure of playing and pushing the NBA champs to 7 games in a hard fought series, come away with a certain confidence. You can never discount this experience. It probably means the difference between winning and losing 5 to 10 games a year.

The season is still early, but if you were to analyze the western conference playoff picture, particularly for the last spot, there are more surprise teams than teams not meeting expectations. Until recently, Phoenix has performed much better than expected. Only New Orleans have performed worse, but whenever you lose the top point guard in the league, you're bound to drop a few notches. But even without Chris Paul, they beat us, and now we're only half a game ahead of them. San Antonio and Utah are hitting their strides and will soon be beyond our grasp. With Tyreke Evans leading the way, Sacramento is now 9-8, which is a huge surprise. Oklahoma City looks alternatingly brilliant and dysfunctional on any given night, but they have managed to be 10-8, which is where they're expected to be. With their win tonight against us, Houston is also 10-8. As it stands right now, we are 11th in the West, ahead of 12th place New Orleans by only half a game. We will eventually get Blake back and they will get Chris Paul, and we would have to assume that right now, Chris Paul is the superior player.

I believe that the break even .500 record is an important psychological threshold for this Clippers squad, both for the veterans like Baron and Camby to remain interested and for the younger players to avoid the here-we-go-again downward spiral. The loss tonight against Houston is damaging because we have failed an important test against a team that we must surpass if we have any hope of climbing to the eight spot. Indiana on Saturday now becomes another "must win" game in a season already full of crisis games. If we lose on Saturday, the Clippers will be 4 games below .500 with Orlando and a surging San Antontio team coming up. If this team falls 6 games below .500, the hole will get too deep and the bottom will fall out when we start to play the better teams in the league. It will mean that our come back win on Sunday will probably be the season's high point, the closest we will get to .500 this season. And that is a depressing thought.

For this night at least, we can see with our own eyes, how a "talent-deficient" team like Houston can be two games over .500 while we're three games under .500. We can only hope that order is restored soon and talent will win out in the bigger scheme of things. Though in hindsight, I'm not sure that Landry, Scola, Brooks, Battier, Hayes, et al are less talented than Baron, Kaman, Thornton, Butler, and Sebastian, as they have proven to be a better squad on the court.

Clippers 104 - Detroit 96: The Rollercoaster Continues

MichaelCage — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:46:37 -0000

If there is a pattern so far in this disconcerting Clippers campaign; it's that the team has found ways to bounce back after soul crushing losses. In a perverse sense, the players and coaches deserve some credit for not throwing in the towel and pointing fingers at one another (like in Golden State and Washington). After the inexcusable loss to a depleted Indiana squad on Wednesday, you get the sense that the team was flat on the mat once again, and a loss tonight against the tiny-toon version of the Detroit Pistons would mean the psychological death of this Clippers squad. A dejected Dunleavy described Wednesday's loss as "horrible," Ralph called it "devastating," and Smith said it was "unacceptable" for the Clippers to lose both games on this road trip.

So with their back to the wall; the Clippers found a way to win against a clearly depleted Pistons team. But it was a hard fought victory, much closer than it needed to be, despite the fact that the Clippers played relatively well on the offensive end and limited their turnovers. Defensively, the Clippers allowed another unknown NBA scrub to torch them. Well, our sole Swedish Clippers fan can enlighten us on the wonders of Jonas Jerebko. But I, for one, have never heard of the kid who torched us for a career high 22 points on 8-11 shooting.

More than the blown rotations and our weak perimter defense, however, this game was nearly lost on the defensive glass. We gave up 19 offensive rebounds to Detroit, most of them to a hustling Ben Wallace. Maxiell also came up with some big rebounds against our wings. The fatal flaw of this Clippers squad that some of us have been worrying about since the summer are now coming to fruition: the inability of our wing players to get boards. Eric, Sebastian, and Baron are a bit too small to grab crucial rebounds, and both Rasual and Thornton are below average rebounders for their position. Al is doing a better job on the offensive glass, but now he needs to step up on the defensive end for this team to have a chance. Luckily for us, Ben Gordon, Tayshaun, and Rip were all out, so even when they got three offensive boards to extend a possession, they were not able to cash them in consistently. We escaped with a win tonight in spite of ourselves. The plane ride back to LA won't be as morose. But you get the feeling that this team is still standing on a ledge, on the verge of falling.

The first quarter started out well, particularly when Kaman made a very nice reverse left handed layup. When Kaman makes those shots, you get the feeling that Mr Flippy has been banished for the night. Baron continues his strong play from Indiana, and the two man game of Baron and Kaman carried us in the early going. On the bad side of the ledger, Rasual Butler tried to back down his defender on the low post and clanged up an ugly turn around jumper then forced another three pointer early. Al also settled for some early jumpers that were off the mark. Perhaps sensing desperation from Butler and Al, Dunleavy subbed in Eric and Novak at the three minute mark of the first. Eric is clearly rusty, his usual dependable jumpers slightly off. But he's better than Rasual at reading the floor and was able to take the ball hard to the hoop and draw some fouls on Stuckey. Near the end of the 1st quarter, however, Detroit starts to assert themselves on the offensive glass, and after three straight offensive boards, Baron committed a frustration foul. Right before the end of the quarter though, Eric made a great drive to the hoop and after drawing the defenders to him, kicked the ball out to Kaman for an open baseling jumper to tie the ballgame.

The second quarter started out well with a great alley oop from Sebastian to Al. Then Al went back to his strength. He used his athleticism and explosive first step to get to the hoop and get to the free throw line. With Al establishing his slashing game, the Clippers eked out a 39-36 lead. After that, things fell apart. It fell apart when Detroit defenders step back from Al and dared him to shoot a 20 footer. He obliged and missed twice in a row. Detroit goes up 43-39 on the strength of Stuckey, Bynum, and Wallace's hustle. Baron goes one on one and kept us in the ball game. On one sequence, Baron poked the ball away, Eric scrambles for the loose ball and somehow taps the ball to a streaking Baron for a layup. It was good to see Baron smiling and commending Eric on a great play, as you get the sense that Baron isn't overly fond of Eric. In the ensuing posession, he tries to pay back Eric by giving him the ball on a break but Eric lost the ball as he went up. From that point on until half time, Baron looked to pass to Kaman in the low post almost exclusively. This killed our offense rhythm as we became predictable and our offense bogged down: Kaman backs down his defender and turns the ball over on one posession, or kicked it back out to Baron on another, only to have Baron force up a bad three pointer with the clock expiring. Detroit outscored us 27-20 in the second and took a 7 point lead into halftime.

The Clippers open the third quarter strong and came out focused. Maybe it was one of those come to Jesus moment in the locker room or maybe it was because they had some professional pride and couldn't tolerate losing to a team that started Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko. After closing to 56-58, Baron came down with the ball on a crucial posession. He passed the ball to Butler on the wing, and Rasual Butler once again singlemindedly tried to assert his low post game by backing down his defender and forcing up an awkward looking turnaround jumper. It was not close. One thing you can say about Rasual Butler is that he isn't Quentin Ross. He isn't afraid to shoot and he's also not half the defender that Q Ross was. That became clear as Stuckey left him in the dust and Detroit took a 56-62 lead. Baron came down to hit a 3 to pull us back to 59-62. Detroit comes up empty and once again Rasual tried to assert himself as the big shot guy for the team. He missed a spot up 3. On the other end, Stuckey used a good pick by Wallace to pick off both Kaman and Butler for a 59-64 lead. Baron responds on the other end; 61-64. But once again, Stuckey beats Rasual off the edge and drew the foul. At this point, Dunleavy brought in Eric to cover Stuckey and moved Rasual to Austin Daye. Whether by design or accident, Detroit immediately found Daye along the baseline and drew another foul from Butler.

At this point, the game can go either way. Baron and Kaman have played well offensively and Eric and Al have played well in spurts. Despite shooting over 55% to Detroit's 40% the game is close. Ben Wallace's energy has been huge. He out hustles Kaman and our team to every loose ball and Detroit has grabbed 15 offensive rebounds on us by the third. We finished the third quarter on a gift goal tending and foul call on a quick drive by Eric but the officials gave Detroit a makeup call on the other end on a phantom foul by Craig Smith on Chucky Atkins. Detroit finished the quarter holding a 74-75 lead.

The Fox Sports broadcast went down at the end of the third quarter and for most of the game. Perhaps everything in Detroit is falling apart. From the radio, I was able to gather that Al started to establish his slash game once again. He got hot and got himself to the free throw line. This helps his confidence and even when he settles for his mid range jumpers, they go in. Eric drove the lane and drew two free throws on Villanueva, then Al hits an open 15 footer. But the pride of Sweden Jonas Jerebko kept Detroit in the ball game. He matches Al shot for shot. Jerebko scores inside and gets foul. Jerebko steps back and hits a 3 pointer to keep Detroit on top; 86-87. Al answers with a 17 footer to put the Clippers back on top 88-87. Though it would be close the rest of the way, Jerebko was unable to pull Detroit ahead after that. Jerebko would lead Detroit with 22 points. Baron would finish with 25 on 6-9 shooting. Kaman would finish with 26 on an astounding 11-13 shooting, but with only 7 rebounds. After a shaky start, Al finished with 19 points on 8-12 shooting. On this night, perhaps the worst shooters were Eric and Rasual, but Eric was able to get to the free throw line and finished with a respectable 14 points with 4 rebounds and 4 asissts. As a team, the Clippers shot a remarkable .587 pecentage to Detroit's .396. That the game came down to the final minute is testimony to Detroit's hustle; the ageless play of Ben Wallace, and our almost fatal inability to get defensive boards.

As the month of November draws to a close, the Clippers are still alive despite many near death experiences. The optimists will say that if you take out our first four games against playoff caliber teams, the Clippers have played .500 ball without Blake Griffin. But the pessimists can also say that we have played .500 ball against some of the worst and most injury depleted teams in the league. The Clippers needed to finish with a sizable cushion early in the season because those games agains the Lakers, Celtics, Orlando and the elite teams of the NBA loom on the horizon. But this team has been given up for dead against Denver as well and they surprised everyone. When it looked as if we would somehow find a way to lose to this Detroit team after being down by 7 at half time, they came back and squeezed out a victory. So where they go from here, nobody knows.

How will the recession affect the Clippers and the NBA?

MichaelCage — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:13:41 -0000

There seems to be a chill in the free agency market this off season. Unlike most years, we've seen very few inflated long term contracts being awarded and alot of good solid veterans signed for much less money than what they would have earned a few years ago. Part of this might be due to the big free agency class of next season, where many GM still harbor fantasies of adding Lebron and D-Wade to their franchise. A bigger factor might be due to the reduced salary cap, which is a concession by the NBA that the recession has impacted league wide revenues.

No sports franchise or league can be completely independent of their macroeconomic environment of course. As unemployment edges up ever higher and households rein in their spending and reduce their debt burden, how will this affect attendance at games this season, and consequently, how will it affect the team's payroll in the future? Though we might technically see an uptick in our GDP this quarter, consumer spending might be weak for years. And spending upwards of $5k for season tickets each year is an indulgence that is easily cut.

Many of us renewed our season tickets last year before the fall of Lehman Brothers and before the extent of the collapse of housing values became known. Our record had alot to do with the sparse attendance last season, but we also have to remember that alot of those tickets were already sold to season ticket holders who were trying to unload them for pennies on the dollar during the year. This season promises to be alot better in terms of quality. But we are also staring into a very deep recession and a nagging sense that it would be wiser to put that extra $5k into CDs or TIPs rather than spending money as if we're immune from the recession.

The Clippers, as we know, are doing their best to maintain ticket prices for this season, which is a bit mind boggling as other teams with better records have slashed prices in order to maintain their fan base. I haven't renewed our tickets this season yet, and of course, I've been innundated with calls, special package deals, and incentives for renewal. I've talked with other season ticket holders who are also on the fence these past few weeks to compare notes on what Clippers rep are offering and it's very telling:

The reps are aggressively trying to get existing season ticket holders to buy additional tickets. They're offering to sell a second or third seat for half price. They've offered free parking passes plus two free tickets for every game (in the 300 section) for an extra $500 per seat (if you buy two seats in the 100 level). And prime seats in the first three rows of many sections are still available. What it adds up to is that ticket sales this year is shaping up to be disastrous for our Clips. They're hoping that they can sell more tickets or give away free tickets in the 300 section to existing season ticket holders and let them try to off load those seats to their friends and neighbors. I suppose this shouldn't be surprising with retail numbers still dismal across all sectors, with even stalwarts like WalMart reporting very weak sales figures.

Many of us here are hard core basketball junkies, of course. And there used to be consensus that during economic crisis and hard times, entertainment and sporting events tend to do well. But that was when going to a Yankees game cost you 25 cents. It seems that we are now light years away from those days, as a beer will now cost you $11 at the Staples Center. I'm curious if the recession will affect anyone's ability or willingness to attend Clippers games this year? Is anyone reining in their discretionary spending at all? Or are we still splurging on $100 scotch and laughing at the recession?

Where the Clips stand in the West

MichaelCage — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:08:59 -0000

After going through some posts on this blog, and talking to our Clippers rep for the upcoming season, it seems to me that many people assume that we have a good chance of making the playoffs next year. This seems a bit overly optimistic for a team coming off a 19 win season. Even if we double our wins to 38 next year, which would be a pretty impressive turnaround, that probably won't be enough to snag a spot in the western conference playoff. Granted the West has gotten weaker than in years past, but of the eight playoff spots in the West, how many are actually up for grabs?

I was talking to a friend today and this is our run down:

PLAYOFFS BOUND TEAMS (barring catastrophic injuries to superstar players)

1) Lakers - The world champs will snag a top three spot in the West even if they lose Lamar to free agency. Their only weakness is a thinning bench (if they lose Lamar) and a starting PG to ease the minutes for Fish. Artest might also run around naked and burn down the team hotel one night. Barring that, though, they should have a playoff spot locked up.

2) San Antonio - My sentimental favorite to win it all next year. The health of Ginobli is still key, but if their core can stay healthy with the addition of Richard Jefferson and darkhorse rookie DeJuan Blair, they might have enough fire power to take out even the Lakers on their best day.

3) Denver - Chancey has calmed the team down tremendously, and while they might not be as good as they were during the first two rounds of the previous playoffs, they'll probably get 50 wins even if they sleepwalk through the regular season.

4) Portland - Unless they take a huge step backwards, their young core should be even better next year. Maybe adding Andre Miller to the team will screw up their tempo and chemistry. But asides from that, they should have enough raw talent to contend for spots 3-6.

5) Utah - Deron Williams and Jerry Sloan will have to be placed on suicide watch if they fail to make the playoffs, with or without Boozer. They have enough talent and are disciplined enough not to slack off during the regular season.

6) New Orleans - Unless George Shin goes into complete miser mode and dumps Chris Paul's contract for peanuts, the Hornets should be able to snag one of the spot. Paul and Byron Scott are too competitive for the team to lose focus. Getting Okafor for Chandler gives them a bit better offense in the post, though they lose a bit of an edge defensively. Playing with Paul should also get Ike some good numbers.

7) Dallas - Kidd is another year older, but Dirk is still in his prime. They have alot of questionable guys like Jason Terry & Josh Howard, and a bunch of one dimensional ex-Clippers in Q Ross, Singleton, and Tim Thomas so they're almost a bubble team. But Carlise got those guys to play hard and they competed well in the last month of the season. Before he burns out the team completely, this Dallas squad should be able to build on their momentum this year. I think they'll probably end up in the 6th or 7th spot again.

BUBBLE TEAMS: That leaves these five teams fighting for the last playoff spot

8) Phoenix - Nash and Grant Hill might have enough left in the tank for one last push for the playoff, with Amare getting monster numbers now that Shaq is gone, but wins might be a different story. It's hard to count out Steve Nash, though, and they seem capable of at least playing .500 ball.

9) Houston - Was last year's playoff series against the Lakers without Yao a fluke? Artest played horribly after the first two games, so in a way, they were winning without him. Who knows how much T-Mac's got left, but they have a decent young core and Adelman might squeeze enough out of Brooks, Landry, Scola, and Battier to at least fight for the last spot. Aaron Brooks looks like a star against the Lakers. It will be interesting to see how effective he is in the regular season against guys with better ankles than Fish. But their young guys gained alot of confidence last year in pushing the Lakers to 7. The NBA season is long, but they just might have enough mental toughness to contend for the last spot.

10) Clippers - It's all about young core developing and making sure that the veterans don't suck up all the crunch time shots and stifle the growth of Blake and EJ. If Baron don't sulk and comes back in relatively good shape we should be there fighting for the last spot. It would help if you can sneak into the West under .500, but that hasn't happened in a long time. We need ALOT of luck, Blake & EJ to have a monster year, no injuries, and hope that Phoenix, Houston, OKC, and/or Dallas falters.

11) Oklahoma City - People are whispering that Durant might be able to lead the league in scoring next year. They have a good young core and the budding superstar. We're probably on equal footing with OKC and a step below Phoenix's level of consistency and veteran leadership. It will be interesting to see who finishes the season with a better record. That might be the real race for the Clips this year.

12) Golden State - Nellie is going to ramp up the pace again with all his young guns. They're alot more volatile than most teams, so if Nellie catches lighting in a bottle, they can get 45 wins, but on the other hand, everything can completely collapse on his head. Stephen Jackson and Maggette can get into fist fights or end up choking Nellie before the season is over.

Anyways, that's our take on the playoffs picture next year in the West. We're hoping to contend for the final spot, but with the teams ahead of us, it doesn't look all that promising. So we're dialing down our expectations accordingly. That way, if we make the playoffs, it will be a nice and pleasant surprise.

SportsXchange: Dunleavy says no changes for next season.

MichaelCage — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:21:56 -0000

For those fans who don't approve of changes in either coaching/personnel (40% of respondents), this should warm your hearts:

Los Angeles Clippers Getting Inside
SportsXchange
Apr. 16, 2009 09:40 AM

In limping to the finish line with their poorest record since the 1999-2000
season, the nagging question is this: Can the Clippers satisfy their long
suffering fan base by promising that an injury-free season next year with the
same cast of players will produce a playoff team? Clippers coach and general
manager Mike Dunleavy could be banking on that risky platform because when asked recently if he expected an overhaul of this year's team, his answer was that he did not think so, pointing out that of the 15 players currently on the team,
only two could claim to be Clippers in 2007-2008.

The makeover began in the offseason, which featured the ballyhooed signing of free agent guard Baron Davis, and it continued into the season, when Dunleavy sent veterans Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas to the New York Knicks in exchange for high-scoring forward Zach Randolph and sparingly-used swingman Mardy Collins. The trade did little to affect the Clippers' fortunes for this year. Time will tell if it is to have any future positive effect, other than opening up a starting position for potential star Eric Gordon, the 20-year old guard, whom the Clippers
selected seventh overall in the 2008 NBA draft.

Throughout this season, Dunleavy has used the same excuse that he offered for the team's debacle the previous year -- injuries. No doubt the team was decimated by injuries, with not one player able to stay healthy enough to play all 82 regular-season games. But it is possible that even if all the players would have remained healthy that the squad Dunleavy assembled was a combustible one.Randolph and free agent acquisition Ricky Davis came dragging baggage and both had episodes that gave credence to their wayward past. Ricky Davis had to serve a suspension for violating terms of the NBA's substance abuse policy, while Randolph was docked with a two-game team suspension for being arrested on a suspicion of DUI.

Clippers assistant general manager Neil Olshey said recently that it would be
difficult for whomever the Clippers draft to break into the rotation. (As their roster is already loaded with talent and lacks only chemistry to be successful).

So it seems that we will have more of the same next year, an encore of this season. Dunleavy still believes that he has assembled a very talented squad: as Ricky Davis, Zach, & Baron are capable of going off for 30 points on any given night. They didn't do so very often this season, but just wait till next year.

The Baron Poll: Part III

MichaelCage — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:02:56 -0000

I'm interested to see if fan opinion on this website has changed with regards to Baron. Earlier in the season, when sentiments turned against Baron at Staples, it seemed that his popularity held up relatively well online. The first poll, if memory is correct, gave Baron 85% approval. By mid season, the second poll gave Baron a 60% approval, so there were some decline, though the majority still believe that he is the team's leader and future. I would like to see if there's any further changes in opinion regarding Baron's leadership and role with this team going forward.

Poll

Should Baron be the Clippers starting point guard again next year?

Yes. Baron is still an All-Star, MVP caliber player. Give him, Dunleavy, and the team time to jell. Baron will lead the team to the Playoffs next year.

43 votes

No. Baron is fat and finished. Hand the team over to Gordon and the youngsters and rebuild.

52 votes

95 votes | Poll has closed

Dunleavy vs Fan

MichaelCage — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 10:25:25 -0000

Ok, I'm pretty exhausted as after the game as we spent a few too many hours at the Roosevelt afterwards, but this is too good to pass up. I've been watching Dunleavy's reaction to fans heckling and chants throughout the season and for the most part, the man has kept his composure. But tonight, at half time against Portland, he finally lost his cool.

One of the season ticket holder in my section is a pretty vocal guy. He's a big dude, with a deep baritone, who yells some pretty funny and sometimes derogatory things to opposing players to knock them off their game. This season, his ire has also turned to Dunleavy, Baron, Zach, or Kaman depending upon their level of ineptitude. Earlier in the season, he brought along signs and tried to lead the crowd in chants of "Pat Summit" to replace Dunleavy...which I thought was pretty funny, if you knew who Pat Summit was.

Well tonight, after a dismal second quarter, he was yelling at Dunleavy again. He wasn't the only one, as there were others yelling at Dunleavy to fire himself and of course, the now constant "Fire Dunleavy" chants reverberating in different part of the arena. But tonight, as Dunleavy was walking off the floor, he seemed more agitated than usual, and he turned to our section's human megaphone, grabbed his crotch and yelled back in very clear term to "kiss my ass." The redness in his face and his anger was palpable and made it clear that he wasn't joking around.

We thought it was amusing, though I'm sure that if this were New York and Dunleavy were Isiah, there would be an uproar about the coach cursing out his season ticket holders. I feel a bit sorry for the man though. Dealing with hecklers and unhappy fans is part of the job of being an NBA coach. But I get the feeling that the facade cracked a bit tonight. The season has been terrible and the toll is heavy for all involved...perhaps more on Dunleavy most of all. Perhaps relieving Dunleavy of his duties now would be the humane thing to do, though I doubt it will happen due to Sterling legendary miseriness. It will be an interesting off season to say the least.

A Message from Andy Roeser

MichaelCage — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:36:23 -0000

Is the Clippers entire organization completely tone deaf? With better teams than us slashing ticket prices for next year, did Andy Roeser confuse our team with the Lakers? Yes, the Lakers announced that they won't raise ticket prices next year due to the economy and their fans take it in stride...because they're close to 60 wins and are favored to win the championship AGAIN. Our team on the other hand has the inverse record of the Lakers and we're going to hit 60 losses. We're the laughingstock of the league and the city. And Andey Roeser has the balls to tell us that he understands our pain and will not raise ticket prices. Gee thanks. What an idiot. What a completly dysfunctional, tone deaf, incompetent organization. The Staples Center crowd is going to look like a girls high school basketball game next year for Clippers games. What a way to destroy what is left of the season ticket holder base. This is the last handful of dirt on the grave of Clippers Nation.

Here's the email that we got today from the Clippers:

We want to personally thank you for your loyal support as a Clippers Season Ticket Holder. We understand times are tough and appreciate your commitment to the team.

We recognize the effect the economy is having on our fans. More than ever, we understand that investing your hard-earned dollars in season tickets is a big commitment.

To help make your renewal decision a little easier, we are pleased to announce that there will be no price increase in the lower level for the second consecutive year. In addition, we think you'll be excited to learn about the new benefits, flexible payment options, and tenured Season Ticket Holder programs we have added. You've maintained the kind of enthusiasm we admire in Clippers fans and we are grateful for your dedication.

We remain optimistic regarding our core of young players combined with the experienced leadership of our veterans. We will also have the advantage of one of the top lottery picks in the upcoming NBA Draft, who should give us a boost next season as well.

We need your support more than ever and encourage you to remain loyal for the better times ahead. Your 2009-10 Season Ticket renewal kit will arrive in the mail next week.

We look forward to seeing you next season!

Sincerely,

Andy Roeser
President

The Nuclear Option: Isiah

MichaelCage — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:31:18 -0000

Ok, so I'm just reading the Isiah GM rumors and I'm shocked beyond words. If this were to happen, then I'm done with this franchise. Never mind renewing season tickets, I will never watch another Clippers game again. As a matter of fact, I will be tempted to put my fist through every TV screen showing a Clippers game.

Is this Dunleavy's ruse to freak out the fans and remind us that there are worst alternatives than him? After all, the articles seem to suggest that it was Dunleavy who set up the meeting between Isiah and Sterling. Perhaps all of us have underestimated Dunleavy. Perhaps he is much more than inept, he might be one of those rare, truly evil men (Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot) who plans nefarious deeds for the satisfaction of seeing everything burn, wither, and die. Ok, maybe he's not that evil, but he's at least on par with Manson or Charles Starkweather.

At any rate, bringing in Isiah is the equivalent of calling in a nuclear strike on your own position. The devastation would be total and there won't be a soul left standing. With a franchise as moribound as the Clippers, this can be construed as a good thing, I suppose.

We Clippers fans are gluttons for punishment. We've taken alot over the years. But this might be the greatest indignity of all. It just might be the final fatal blow.

Poll

Should we bring on Isiah and burn the Clippers house down?

Hell yeah, bring on Isiah. Let's watch the fireworks. I will renew my tickets to witness the calamity first hand.

18 votes

Errr...I would rather have Dunleavy as coach, GM, and dictator for life.

17 votes

Neither Zeke nor Dunce, we need the real deal...can we offer Osama or Al-Zawahiri a contract?

28 votes

63 votes | Poll has closed

Chaning Frye's post game comments about Clips

MichaelCage — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:06:49 -0000

Read this on my mobile phone's SportsXchange page, though strangely, you have to be a paid member in order to access their website via a computer....It will be interesting to see which Clippers team show up on Wednesday against the Celtics. The one that played well against Golden State or the one that the Portland players described below:

Los Angeles Clippers Notes, Quotes
--Right or wrong, the Trail Blazers thought they detected some early quit in the
Clippers during what eventually resulted in a 116-87 Portland victory Sunday.
According to Blazers forward-center Channing Frye, Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy
kept calling the same plays over and over. In addition, several Portland players
said after the game that it seemed apparent to them that there was a lot of
bickering among Clippers players on the floor and it appeared that the players
didn't really like each other.