http://ripcityproject.com/2010/12/06/andre-miller-suspended-one-game-for-shoving/

Andre Miller suspended for 1 game because of what he did to Blake Griffin last game on the break. Funny that Cook gets a flagrant for body contact, and Pryzybilla and Fernandez don't for contact with the face and neck..

And the Andre Miller altercation doesn't even recieve a foul. These refs lately have been really bad.. First the 59 free throw game, now this? That being said, we still should have won last night's game even if we had those bad calls. We missed more than enough free throws that would have helped us put the game away.

This is always a highly debated topic.

To me, being "Clutch" doesn't mean hitting the buzzer beating game winning 3 pointer. Many people have that misconception- that because the player threw the dagger, he won the whole game.

Being "Clutch" actually has many more requirements than a last second heave. So if the Lakers are up by 15, Bynum and Gasol foul out.. Mbenga comes in and misses 8 straight shots and the other team ties the game.. But Mbenga makes a last second buzzer beating shot to win the game, he's clutch? If you answered yes, then I would have to disagree with you.

This topic came up when me and my friend were discussing whether or not Gordon has become more clutch since last year (where we all remember, he made some rookie mistakes in crunch time during the close games). Let's face it, he wasn't clutch last year. But as he matures, he'll get better at it right? Well so far this year he hasn't disappointed me. The game against Memphis was the game where he proved it to me.

In that game against Memphis, in that 22-0 run, Gordon made 3 layups, one of them while being fouled. But wait, scoring isn't everything right? He played incredible defense, and also threw 3 perfect fast break assists to AT during the big run (would have been 4, but Al got fouled on a dunk attempt for one of them). By saying perfect I mean perfect- Gordon and Al executed what is called the "perfect fast break" in many coaches eyes (where the ball is advanced up the court without either player taking a single dribble... Meaning pass, pass, layup).

So in those last few minutes, Gordon scored, played defense, handled the ball, and threw perfect passes for his teammates to score. If he wasn't clutch, the only one he could pull off would be playing defense. When you're nervous or "not clutch", scoring will be tough, and everything becomes complicated. Handling the ball under pressure would be hard to do, and throwing passes would probably be the easiest thing to mess up when you're nervous... Turnovers waiting to happen.

So all in all, what does being "Clutch" mean to you, and has anyone showed you any "symptoms" of it yet in this early season?

This situation is actually weeding the panicky fans from the ones that have more faith in their team, to be honest. 

I was at basketball practice when I saw the text, and of course a bunch of my friends' spam (texts and missed calls and voicemails). I put my jacket over my head and I too, like most of you, felt like I lost a member of my family. My friends asked if I'm alright, I told them what happened.. So they're like oh, are you sad for the Clippers? 

I was like no, the Clippers are fine. I'm sad for Blake Griffin. 

Poor kid hated sitting in the sidelines during PRACTICE. We ain't even talking about the game. Not the game- but PRACTICE. (haha) If Blake Griffin "felt like a kid who was grounded, sitting in the corner watching everyone else play" during practice, how is he going to feel about missing the first few legitimate games of his NBA career? I immediately thought of him and hoped he would be alright. His loss isn't a tremendous hit to our wins/losses RIGHT NOW. 

Think about it, sure he hustles alot and inspires the team. But don't you see it? He's rubbed off on many of them already. Even when he subbed out and was sitting on the bench, they were playing like he's still out there. He taught the Clippers something very important, much more important than his dunks, posters, and rebounds. He taught them to never give up on a play, and to actually play with their hearts, even in meaningless games. 

Guys this team was built to win. Griffin or not. We were supposed to be good even if we didn't win the lottery. The lottery was just icing on the cake, and if you think Griffin hasn't had an impact on this team yet you're truly wrong. Even DJ on his twitter wrote "Having lunch with @blakegriffin... all we do is eat and work out. Is that a bad thing?" I was told that him and Griffin hang out very often, and sometimes at 9:30 or whenever they hang out, Griffin just randomly says "Hey DJ, let's go work out a little bit.. Let's work on my outside shots and your free throws". This is the real thing that Griffin is bringing us, not his 18/10 or whatever he was averaging. 

I think Craig Smith is going to shock you guys, you underestimate how good of a player he is. And DJ will get more minutes now too. This could be DJ's big chance. All in all this isn't the same team as last year. We have 1 year of chemistry under our belt, 1 year of improvement for the young guns, a motivated Baron Davis, 3 great new pickups in Butler, Smith, and Telfair, a HEALTHY TRAINING CAMP (an unhealthy training camp was what really destroyed last season for us), and better defensive sets (Dunleavy went back into the 05-06 defensive playbook). 

I still have faith and you guys should too. Now let's start this season off right- let the Lakers make a toast to their new rings, and an 0-1 start to their season.

I was thinking about this last night... Took me a while to come up with it but this is the best group of words I can come up with to fully describe all the thoughts flying around in my head.

Oh and with Griffin's work ethic I think the sky is the limit... You've seen guys like Varejao and Oberto and how successful they have been for teams JUST off hustle. Griffin brings hustle AND talent all game long.

This is preseason but as Eric Pincus said we would not have won this game last year. Doesn't that mean something to you? It does to me. It shows that the attitude of THIS TEAM is much better than the attitude last year. And yes, Rasual Butler, Blake Griffin, and the other new additions bring a positive mentality to this team. You can hear the excitement in their voice, this isn't the same old cursed Clippers. These guys are proud of the team they're on.

To be honest, I'm sure when Butler heard he got dealt to the Clippers, or Craig Smith, or Sebastian Telfair, heck even when Griffin got drafted by us, they were thinking "oh... the Clippers... um.. cool..." but I can see the change of attitude.

Griffin said all the right things on media day. TELFAIR said all the right things, but you can tell he was a bit hurt. Craig Smith was the only one that showed some kind of real emotion to coming to LA, since he was raised here and has family here. He was the only one I truly believed was happy to come here. But now I've seen all the new additions, they are super confident with this team and love it. And guess what, I do too. I was watching the interviews, and just watch the one with Butler. He seems so excited now with this team. His attitude shows someone who's probably thinking "MAN I wouldn't expect it to be this awesome, but I'm really glad they traded me to the Clippers!"

OUR TOP 5 BENCH PLAYERS can make a starting 5 in the NBA.

PG- Telfair

SG- Butler

SF- Smith

PF- Camby

C- Deandre

Telfair, Butler, Smith, and Camby have all been NBA starters. Deandre is getting there. This, guys, is our BENCH. And guess what- with talented bench players, you have confidence, heck, even cockiness. I've played for good teams and crappy teams. The crappy teams would always say things like "WOW these guys we're playing against are GOOD.. they have 2 guys that are over 6'5", and just drooled at our opponents with no sense of winning the game. Then again I've been on GOOD teams... and when you have good players on a team, there's a good chance most of them are going to be cocky. So the attitudes are totally different. Oh and cocky is not a bad thing sometimes- sometimes you need to just have an attitude of "we're going to beat anyone that challenges us". It really rubs off on everyone else too. If a few people in the locker room doubt the team, it'll spread through the team. If most of the team is confident, even the ones that doubt will start realizing that they need to be confident too.

If you guys understand what I wrote, I'm sure our players have a sense of comfort knowing their teammates are talented. Even if they fear the opponent, they can always look around, and see all the good players management has provided them with as teammates- and they stop feeling that feeling of fear. When you were a kid, and you were afraid, I'm sure the first thing you would do is look around and see if there's anyone around you that can protect you, and if there was you would feel protected, and a sense of comfort. I guess that's what I'm trying to explain- players like Griffin and Gordon that might have the jitters before a game can look around the locker room and feel protected by having awesome teammates surrounding them.

I know I wrote a long story about random things, but I was sitting there right now thinking about how these Clippers feel, and why the atmosphere would be SO different from last year that they would be ready to jump from a 19 win team to the playoffs- and when I thought about all this stuff I wrote about, it made so much more sense to me.

This my friends, sounds like a team that is ready to turn some heads this season. Now let's just hope and pray that injuries don't happen, and that this chemistry remains the same.

Hi guys, I'm not too famous around these parts (at least I don't think I am) so let me introduce myself. I'm TheCalmInsanity- or TCI, and I'm known to upload videos of certain highlights that NBA.com fails to upload- they don't give us much justice! Clippers have had their good and bad years, but I really have a good feeling about this year.

So enough Clipper talk, I just wanted to let you guys know that I really like this Warrior team this year. Before the game today, I was just telling my friend how GSW is a team people need to keep their eye on, and that I think they're going to make the playoffs. My friend laughed, but I know it's a big possibility. I don't care about your record last year- the past is the past.

You guys have 1 extra year of chemistry under your belt, rising stars, and future stars. Write this down and put it on your refridgerator, ANTHONY RANDOLPH IS READY TO EXPLODE. I watched a few Golden State games last year, and I immediately saw his potential. My friend in the bay area is a huge fan, and he was telling me how awesome AR is going to be. Well I kept my eye on him in the second half of the season- he was terrific.

The Clippers players have the same situation- we don't get much spotlight because we don't win as much as the other teams. You have players like Farmar on the Lakers getting recognition... Decent player, good team. Then you have other players like Morrow, Randolph, Gordon, Thornton, Jordan, who aren't getting recognition at all because of the team they're on. Heck, Gordon didn't even make All Rookie first team, but GARBAGE Michael Beasley somehow made it because everyone knew his name from the draft (I despise Michael Beasley, if any of you want my reasons I'd be glad to tell you, but that's not what this post is about).

MONTA ELLIS IS UNBELIEVABLE. Amazing talent. Hopefully not offending anyone, he needs to stay away from the media. Chemistry can make or break a team, and it's not too late for that. It's only preseason right now... If Monta can see the talent on this team, he might change his mind about talking to the media about not wanting to play with Curry.

Morrow is definitely one of the best shooters I've seen. Part of being a great shooter is being able to launch your shot whenever you want. Steve Novak is one of the deadliest shooters in the NBA, but he can't create his own shot. He relies on screens, and plays to get his 3 balls up. Morrow on the other hand, has shown me the ability to shoot virtually whenever he wants, even with a defender in his face.

Stephen Curry is my 2nd favorite rookie behind Blake Griffin. Yes yes LA bias. But Griffin works really hard and is a hell of an athlete.. His work ethic is unmatched and is adapting very quickly. I liked Curry in college alot- I couldn't believe he dropped down to #8. Great pick for you guys.

OH AND ABOUT OUR ANNOUNCERS!! No, Ralph wasn't just saying BINGO for the Warrior fans. Lol, that's a tradition of his... He's known for it. Back in the day, the Clippers had a lights out shooter named Bobby "bingo" Smith, and every time he nailed a 3 Ralph would say BINGO! And I guess it just stuck on. They're the coolest announcers period- I've met them in real life many times. They always make fun of each other on air (Ralph and Mike), and they're JUST LIKE THAT in person. I told them they were my favorite announcers, and Ralph turned and pointed at Mike, and said "him too?!" haha!

Anyways, here's to a great season, hopefully both our teams can be in the playoffs.. People underestimate us. They forget that the Warriors have such good young talent (and I'm very jealous of whoever is the radar for you guys.. Getting Azabuike UNDRAFTED and Morrow UNDRAFTED? Insane!). They also forget that the Clippers last year were mostly injured during training camp, had 13 new players and no time to develop chemistry. Throw that with an unmotivated, disappointed Baron Davis who got ditched by Elton Brand, and you get a lottery pick. At least we lucked out with the number 1 pick.

Anyways glad to meet all of you- I look forward to discussing basketball with you guys in the future! California teams stick together!!!

Hey guys, I was sitting center court today, in Section 5 row 2.. I loved where I was sitting. The view was amazing and I got to see everything in perfect detail, including the player reactions, the team chemistry, everything.

From what I saw, it was a great game for the Clippers. There were also many flaws that I noticed, but overall this team is much more tightly knit and close together than last years 13 new faces on 1 team.

Player Evaluations

Blake Griffin- Played limited minutes, coming right off injury. His shot during warmups looked INCREDIBLE. And I don't mean compared to college- I mean even compared to Summer league. He completely fixed the cosmetics of his shot, it LOOKS beautiful and is much more consistent now. He started the game with 2 missed jumpers, but doesn't worry me at all.

He didn't really create his own shot today, but HE CERTAINLY CAN. Today was very odd- he wasn't really too aggressive offensively (except for fast breaks) and he was kind of shy. Maybe nervous since this was his first time playing against legit NBA players outside practice? Griffin will be fine. He has more than enough handles to create his own shot, and he has a nice looking jumper to keep defenders honest.

His low scoring (even in limited minutes) was partly his team's fault. I saw countless times where he pointed up, asking for an alley oop, and was ahead of everyone else (he's actually very quick to run down the floor!) and yet didn't get the ball. He also hustled alot and even dove over the scorer's table, just like the one he did in college! He landed on a few reporters and the reporters were pumping their fists like "YES, BLAKE GRIFFIN LANDED ON ME!!"

Eric Gordon- Played great, even Brandon Roy couldn't stop him. He added a little floater to his already full repertoire and looks like he bulked up a bit over the summer. His shot looked incredible too- in both warmups and in the game.

Chris Kaman- Actually looked very good! At one point he made 4 jumpers back to back, including a crazy fadeaway free throw range one after an offensive rebound. Lagged sometimes on defense, allowing easy rebounds/points for Oden and Przybilla but overall did better than I expected.

Baron Davis- Great game. From the FIRST POSSESSION of the game (he was facing AWAY from the basket, threw a pass backwards to a cutting Camby for the dunk). Took GOOD SHOTS, ran the offense while yelling and being a leader, and played great defense on Roy when Gordon wasn't guarding him. Hopefully he plays like this during the season!!

Sebastian Telfair- Very impressed by Telfair. I love his ballhandling and passing abilities. His shot was a little suspect and took a few forced shots, but sometimes they would full court press him or double team him and he would still escape with the ball in his possession. Threw an AMAZING pass to Deandre Jordan after an anklebreaking crossover, and Deandre rewarded him with an assist by slamming it HARD.

Rasual Butler- What a bounceback game. I really enjoyed watching him and at times, forgot that he was picked up by us. I'm really glad to have him, he's very versatile. Kinda reminds me of Rashard Lewis- has a very dangerous shot from outside, but likes to pump fake and drive in as well. Has a nice midrange game too- definitely someone to watch out for during the regular season.

Craig Smith- Boy can he rebound. He hustled alot tonight. Took some weird looking shots but I forgot that they're regular shots for him. Turnaround fadeaway? Easy shot for Smith. Him and Rasual Butler also made some WEIRDDD looking twisty layups, never knew they could do that!

Kareem Rush- Kept my eye on him today, since he had such a good first game. Had an off game today, didn't take the best shots. So a bad game.. So far we've seen 1 good and 1 bad game from him. So which one is the real Kareem Rush?

Al Thornton- Played a good game, took some of the shots that everyone hated last season, but MADE THEM. The thing with Al is- I've always had faith in his shot, he really needs it so that he can continue slashing without problems. He needs to threaten the defender with a jumpshot, and it looks like he's been working on it. He had a CRAZY step back jumper today that left his defender stumbling. He acted like he was driving in and instead of continuing, he just stopped and pulled up and scored.

Deandre Jordan- Another great night. The only bad thing about Deandre's night was his free throw shooting. But it's okay, he played great defense (even swatted Brandon Roy's shot!) and rebounded and did everything else well. His game is really maturing, I've been keeping my eye on it. Remember how he used to jump for every pump fake last year? One play where Roy ran past EJ, he ran into Deandre again.. so Roy tried pump faking, Deandre kept his ground. As Roy pulled up for the shot, DJ just put both hands up and completely changed Roy's shot.. Now that's defense! I'm very proud of the work DJ has been putting in.

Steve Novak- Poor Novak barely got any playing time tonight. And he didn't even play last game- what's going on here? But when he did come in, he took a 3.. The crowd got so loud and anxious when the ball was in the air. He missed- and as he did I was thinking to myself.. "Steve Novak is HUMAN!? When did this happen!?"

Marcus Camby- Very good game by Camby. Hustled and played great defense as usual, and also buried all his jump shots. Camby needs to make those open jumpers to prevent his defender from leaving him and double teaming someone else like Baron or EJ. Camby made his shots and also drove in and had a couple And 1's.

Some team chemistry stuff

Deandre jordan stood by the scorer's table as his teammates were walking on the court to start the game. He bumped every single one and gave them all different types of high 5's while smiling and giving them encouragement.

Blake Griffin was on the jumbotron, he did a pre-recorded video talking about his home opener. As he was on, some of the Clippers poked him and pointed at the jumbotron. After the video ended, Deandre stood up stiff (imitating BG's posture in the video) and made a face while saying "Hi, I'm Blake Griffin, and you are watching my Staples Center debut" in a teasing voice. Blake laughed and pushed him.

During the Blazer comeback, Baron was FURIOUS. He threw the ball hard at the ref (but the ref was far away so no technical was assessed). As he was walking to the bench pissed as hell, Deandre Jordan came over and patted him on the head... LOL

Blake Griffin was high 5'ing everyone on the court when they got a stupid foul called against them. He was trying to make sure none of them were discouraged by the officiating (these new officials have been calling a LOT of fouls!)

Anyways this was a very fun night, my buddy bailed on me so I spent most of my Friday afternoon before the game looking frantically for a friend to join me.

The couple sitting next to us were very nice- and very good Clipper fans. We were talking about how we became Clipper fans and all the inside jokes from a while back- and then we found out they were actually on Topbuzz (and read Clipsnation frequently). So thank you to the Canons for making tonight more fun and social!

Hey guys, I'm sure you know of Eric Pincus. He's a friend of mine and a writer for Hoopsworld. He always has great articles for the Clippers and always hosts a live chat for questions and answers about the NBA at large. Anyhow- the Clippers now have a spot for him on their site- he's going to be answering questions every Thursday.

SEND IN YOUR QUESTIONS TODAY!! He needs it because this was a very last minute thing they set up for him- and he needs more questions in by tomorrow!! Just send your questions by email to epincus@hoopsworld.com . 

http://my.clippers.com/clippers/news.html?id=4 

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-nba-lottery20-2009may20,0,5679790.story

"Clearly, we're taking Blake Griffin," Clippers General Manager and Coach Mike Dunleavy said in a telephone interview from Barcelona, Spain.

"This guy is the No. 1 pick. We're extremely excited. He's the guy."

There wasn't much of a question the Clippers would do anything other than take the dynamic, explosive forward from Oklahoma. Dunleavy, though, wasn't about to be coy in the wee morning hours in Spain and erased any shred of doubt about the team's intention in the draft June 25 in New York.

Congrats to all the fans.. I screamed when it happened. I was AT A LAKER GAME (yes, my bank rep gave me free SUITE tickets), and it seems God has rewarded me for being loyal to LA. I was on the phone with my buddy, and he was telling me the picks 1 by 1. When he said we were in the top 3 and Sacramento and Memphis were out... I already had that feeling we won. We had the best chance of those 3. During the 3rd pick I was saying Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma.. and that's in fact who got it. Then I rejoiced- I knew that meant we got either Griffin or Rubio. During second I was saying Memphis Memphis Memphis and my buddy was like MEMPHIS!! 

So then I SCREAMED- and I was in my suite early so there was barely anyone at Staples yet and it was pretty quiet. Shootaround was taking place. I'm sure the Laker players heard me screaming and yelling. Hahaha!! 

I'm glad to hear Dunleavy say that we're going to get Griffin. There were other quotes from other people such as Neil Oshley and Roeser that showed that we're going to draft Griffin, but I wasn't comfortable until I heard Dunleavy say it.

The hard part now? Waiting till November for the season to start :( 

Great night for all of us though, we deserve it! Thanks for being such awesome fans guys!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok1M19A3avU

Watch it in HQ it's much nicer.

And also, I'm sorry I don't mean to "advertise" but I'm saying it for your own convenience, keep an eye on my channel. If you want to subscribe or whatever that's your choice, but I ALWAYS upload highlights that wouldn't see the light of day otherwise.

Since we're the Clippers, we don't get too much love from ESPN and NBA.com. But Mike Taylor had a crazy crossover last Thursday and you missed it?! Or you want to see it again!? That's what I'm here for :) I want to do it, the Clippers are near and dear to my heart and I was never able to see highlights of them that I really wanted to see over and over again. So that's why I want to step up and do to others what I did not recieve when I wasn't blessed with the proper equipment.

I have a few more highlights that I need to post up.

Obviously, my username on YouTube is TheCalmInsanity. I have game highlights, specific highlights, and I'm working on making an Eric Gordon block mix (I have many specific blocks that Gordon did during this season that never made it on any mainstream highlight films).

You guys can always request certain highlights from a game, or certain things for me to mix if time permits.

Ok so my rep flaked out, but thanks to my friend UMEANDBD, who works full time sales for the Clippers, we're getting the fast break Friday deal, basically as cheap as it gets! We're going to sit in section 206 for $34. (That's season ticket holder price, and 50% off)

If any of you still want to come, please let me know! We still have seats available and welcome any Clipper fans :)

Hey guys, I don't know how many of you on here also check up on Clippers Topbuzz, but I'm running an event over there for us for the Clippers game against the Portland Trailblazers.

Someone is hooking me up, giving me a suite for $50 per person.. We also get free food and drinks (which are not part of the suite but my friend's getting it for us :D)

We need 12 people (or a number close to that) to be able to get it. So if any of you guys are interested, let me know as a reply here, and we can (as fans from forums all over the web!) all go to a Clippers game and enjoy it with fellow Clipper fans.

Also, if you have any questions, let me know!!

Are uploaded on YouTube by yours truly :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVUzW6XKgik

Sorry, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post links here, if I'm not, I'll kindly take it down.

I still have the full game recorded on my comp- as always, I take requests for certain plays or highlights that you remember from the game that I didn't upload. I'll go back and look for it and post it for you.

Ramona said so. www.insidesocal.com/clippers

I wonder what they want to do with the last roster spot? Maybe MD has his eye on a free agent. Something's definitely brewing...

I just got a tip from my good friend Chris Tomasson of what used to be known as the Rocky Mountain News (it published its final edition Friday) that the Nuggets are expected to sign Clippers guard Jason Hart once he clears waivers on Tuesday.

The Clippers would not confirm that Hart is being bought out, but a team source acknowledged that it was in the process of being completed.

Just for some background, Tomasson is one of the best NBA beat writers around and has been for a number of years, dating back to his days covering the Cavs. All of us are still in a bit of shock that the Rocky is out of commission. The news came down suddenly Thursday. But keep an eye on Chris' posts on various Denver-based sites over the next couple of weeks until some other fortunate paper snaps him up.

Hey there ClipsNation,

I'm TheCalmInsanity and I'm new here. Some of you may have heard of me, from Youtube or Topbuzz or maybe just met me at Clipper games. But for all of you who don't know me, here's a bit of info. I'm 19, I've been a Clipper fan since 1999-2000. Before that, I was a huge Suns fan for Jason Kidd. When they played the Clippers that year, I realized and decided that Clippers were more bearable to watch than the Lakers. I could also catch the Clippers on a consistent basis as opposed to the Suns. So I started watching Clipper games, even though my true team at that time was the Suns. But in 2000-2001, came the most fun Clipper team I can remember. That's when I became a hardcore Clipper fan (yes, another one that Darius and Q dragged in). I've always had a passion for the Clippers since then, and enjoy watching them no matter what- win or lose.

Lately I've been recording the games with my laptop and making highlights. However, I can't do that for a bit because my laptop's hard drive got messed up.. I ordered another one and it's coming soon. So hopefully you guys can live off the weak highlights from NBA.com for now. I've always been an active member on TopBuzz but I also keep close tabs on ClipsNation, ClipperBlog, and Inside the Clippers.

Anyways it's good to finally sign up and meet you all- I'll try to post here whenever I can.