SB Nation User Blog: mikey p

Fox Sports: Griffin will turn Clippers around

mikey p — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:57:40 -0000

Fox Sports: Griffin will turn Clippers around

Pretty good analysis by Kevin Hench (pretty good for a national writer, anyway). Believes the Clippers young nucleus of Griffin, Gordon and Thornton is as good as any, and that they will turn the franchise around within three years.

ESPN Clippers Trade Buzz (June 24)

mikey p — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:14:52 -0000

ESPN Clippers Trade Buzz (June 24)

Andy Katz: A source with knowledge of the situation said the Clippers wanted to move Chris Kaman but weren't able to do so as of Wednesday. There was nothing imminent for draft night.

The source said that the Clippers will continue to try to move one of three players -- Kaman, Marcus Camby or Zach Randolph -- by the time training camp opens. The source said the only 100 percent certainty is that expected top pick Blake Griffin will be in training camp.

Cavs/Clippers talked about Kaman/Camby, "sources" say

mikey p — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:59:59 -0000

Cavs/Clippers talked about Kaman/Camby, "sources" say

Sources said the Cavs were in serious talks about two other trades that could include multiple teams. One of those teams is believed to be the Los Angeles Clippers, who are dangling big men Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby as they prepare to select Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin with the No. 1 overall pick.

Marc Stein on the Clippers

mikey p — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:11:58 -0000

Marc Stein on the Clippers

Why is Marcus Camby said to be available in Clipperland so soon after being frequently described as off-limits leading up to this past season's February trade deadline? Because the Clips have discovered this month that they can't move Zach Randolph or Chris Kaman unless they're also willing to move down from No. 1 in Thursday's draft order. Which they obviously have zero interest in considering.

The Clips also love bargain-find frontcourt man DeAndre Jordan, so Camby -- whose defensive pedigree and expiring $9.7 million salary make him a hugely popular trade target -- is the big man easiest for L.A. to move to make room for the incoming Blake Griffin.

We're told that management also has decreed that assistant coach Kim Hughes will not be let go -- unlike the rest of Mike Dunleavy's staff -- to keep Hughes in place as a potential interim successor to Dunleavy in the unlikely event that the Clips and their under-fire coach/GM part ways during the season. A parting remains unlikely even if Hughes hangs on because, as you've surely heard dozens of times by now, Dunleavy still has two years left on his contract worth more than $10 million.

Hollinger's Draft Rater

mikey p — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:12:09 -0000

Hollinger's Draft Rater

John Hollinger does this annually. Blake Griffin is ranked 2nd this year behind Ty Lawson, who scored surprisingly high. Overall, Griffin is the 6th highest rated prospect since 2002, behind Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Mike Conley, & Lawson. Many of the rankings, both past and present, are suspect.

Hollinger offers a semi mea culpa on Eric Gordon's low rating last year: "Gordon is perhaps easier to understand because he was playing hurt at Indiana and his primary skill (shooting) didn't show through statistically, but that doesn't excuse the others."

Whatever.

Ricky Davis opts to return to the Clippers (surprise)

mikey p — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:34:01 -0000

Ricky Davis opts to return to the Clippers (surprise)

Davis, coming off a year with a terrible case of knee tendinitis, exercised his player option for $2.4 million.

It was a rough year for Davis who played in just 36 games, averaging 6.4 points a game on 33.9% shooting from the field.

The Clippers are curious to see of Davis can rebound with a healthy knee, although it wouldn't be a surprise if Ricky was included in a deal sending out one of LA's "extra" big men (Chris Kaman, Zach Randolph and/or Marcus Camby).

Al Thornton: The NBA's LEAST Productive Player?

mikey p — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:38:32 -0000

Al Thornton had a promising rookie season. He was the second leading scorer among rookies behind Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant, and boasted scoring outbursts of 33 and 39 points after becoming a starter. Many nights he was the Clippers go to scorer down the stretch, and was the only Clipper with the ability to effectively create his own shot. Because he spent a lot of time playing out of position, his rebound rate was below average, and it was no secret that AT's defense needed work. But for a rookie who slipped to #14, Al played well overall.

Perhaps the sophomore jinx is real, because Al Thornton clearly regressed in his second season. On the surface, his numbers improved. He averaged almost 17ppg and shot slightly better from the field. A deeper look, however, puts Al into a whole new light.

Using the incresingly popular Wins Produced metric, Al Thornton was last season's least productive player. Here's the list of the least:

Rank	Player	Team	Games Played	Games Started	Minutes Played	Wins Produced	WP48
1	Al Thornton	LA Clippers	71	67	2,654	-2.88	-0.052
2	Antoine Wright	Dallas	65	53	1,552	-2.70	-0.083
3	Bobby Brown	Minnesota-Sacramento	68	2	931	-2.48	-0.128
4	Donte Greene	Sacramento	55	4	725	-2.43	-0.161
5	Andrea Bargnani	Toronto	78	59	2,453	-2.31	-0.045
6	Jason Kapono	Toronto	80	12	1,831	-2.24	-0.059
7	Ricky Davis	LA Clippers	36	9	785	-2.09	-0.128
8	Al Harrington	Golden State-New York	73	56	2,546	-2.01	-0.038
9	Glen Davis	Boston	76	16	1,637	-1.98	-0.058
10	Nick Young	Washington	82	5	1,837	-1.94	-0.051

Other Clippers and former Clippers (Maggette) made the bottom 10%, but Al Thornton held the top, er, bottom spot. This metric is hardly and outlier. Al also managed to have the worst plus/minus of anyone in the NBA. The worst 5::

1. Al Thornton -575.

2. Kevin Durant -502.

3. Spencer Hawes -490.

4. Antawn Jamison -472.

5. Eric Gordon -462. (way to support your teammate, EJ)

Hence all the talk around here of going a different direction at the 3. (Sorry, Al). The point of this is not to pick on Thornton. He is hardly the only one to blame for the Clippers struggles last year (hello, Baron Davis). The point is to maybe convince AT to, well, just, try to be more productive out there.

For those interested in Wins Produced, here is a list of the league leaders by position. Marcus Camby was 13th overall in the NBA, while Zach Randolph was the 13th ranked Power Forward, and 110th ranked player overall. (Note: this metric does tend to skew in favor of centers and point guards. Power Forwards seem to have the most difficult time satisfying the parameters.)

Also, here is the Wins Produced by the Clippers thru 74 games last season. Baron Davis had the most signifigant drop off, but, as a unit, this roster was not poised to win many games anyhow.

Lots of work yet to be done

Laimbeer resigns as Shock coach. Wants NBA job.

mikey p — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:57:13 -0000

Laimbeer resigns as Shock coach. Wants NBA job.

I think a team would be very smart to hire this guy.

Congratulations to the Lakers

mikey p — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:03:23 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

20 days ago: A group of people attempt to flip over a car outside the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 14, 2009, after the Los Angeles Lakers' won NBA championship . (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Browse more photos »

Well done.

Congratulations to Kobe Bryant, for getting the proverbial "can't win without Shaq" monkey off his back (and thank goodness for him that LeBron didn't win one first). Now we can prepare for the incessant Kobe/Jordan comparisons. Should be tedious.

Congrats to Lamar Odom, who has come full circle vis a vis LA basketball. Way to hang in there.

Congratulations to Pau Gasol, who clearly appreciated not having to face the brusing frontline of KG and Kendrick Perkins this time around.

Congratulations to Derek Fisher for hitting the big shots when they mattered.

Congrats to Trevor Ariza, who just doubled his salary with his terrific Finals performance. We would love to have you here across the hall. Our locker room is not that much smaller.

Congratulations to Phil Jackson, perhaps the greatest coach of all-time, in any sport.

Congratulations to Jeannie Buss, who may now be closer to her first ring now that Phil got his 10th.

And congratulations to the Lakers fans. Stay classy, and try not to burn the whole city down.

My (sort of) Kobe mea culpa

mikey p — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:53:29 -0000

An update.

Following up on my completely frivolous and irrelevant Kobe Bryant post from a few weeks ago, which was really only wrtitten as a diversion to provide content and get a few hits (and a touch of boredom), I would like to partially revise my position.

I still maintain that the Kobe's reputation as the de facto "best player in the NBA", who at worst is #1 to any other hopeful's 1-A, according to some, is unfounded. In fact, I think LeBron James may have futhered the gap with his performance in the Conference Finals. His game 5 performance in particular was legendary. He was simply out-gunned in the series.

But Kobe Bryant put together perhaps his best playoff series since the Lakers sweep of the Spurs in 2001, and certainly the best of his veteran years. He did everything he is always accused of not doing in the Nuggets series. Very remarkable. And of the two, Kobe is the one in the Finals, while LeBron is chillin on the couch.

So while I still hold to the larger points, and still think LeBron is currently the more dominant player, Kobe is right there, maybe even 1-A.

An aside. I view the stuggles of both Kobe last year and LeBron this year as a reminder that the only player to win when it mattered EVERYTIME was Michael Jordan. The only one. Compared to MJ, everyone else is mortal.

The one certainty is that Michael Jordan is the greatest to have ever played. I don't see that changing.