If you had to choose between Chris Paul and Eric Gordon, who would you choose? We're not talking trade scenarios, or contracts, or any of that other stuff. Assume a straight-up trade, with both players being under team control for roughly the same amount of time and dollars. You can only have one or the other on your team. Which one?

(75 word minimum nonsense for a FanPost, blah blah blah blah blah).

Oddsmakers currently have the Clippers' number at 38.5 regular season wins. More precisely, it's 23% more likely to go under (61.5%) than over (38.5%). Meaning, you can get around +160 on the over (risk $100 to win $160).

Perhaps it's time for Club Optimism members to put up or shut up.

The Lakers are at 56.5 (-110 O). The SuperHeat are at 63.5 (-140 O) - best team in the L. The Timbercubs are at 22.5 (even) - worst team in the L.

You can risk $125 to win $100 that anybody other than John Wall (will the real Blake Griffin please stand up) will win the ROY.

Thoughts?

I hate to be Debbie Downer, but is everyone really THAT excited about Blake Griffin? Does he have that Ewing/Duncan/Lebron type of "guarantee"? Watching the LAL/DEN game I can't help but compare Griffin to *gulp* KMart.

I do see Griffin's presence helping us get Kaman 2.0 back though. But this team is devoid of any passers, that's going to continue to be problematic. And our defense won't see any improvements either.

Griffin will help this team get a few more wins, but unless there is a much bigger overhaul of the roster (and probably coaching staff) Roeser will be representing the Clippers at next year's draft lottery.

Renardo Sidney is going to announce his decision to attend UCLA this Sunday at a 4pm press conference at Fairfax H.S. He still has to gain eligibilty with test scores, but I'm sure the powers-that-be will somehow work it out. The kid is a Z-Bo clone, down to the deadly lefty jumper from deep and the "baby fat". Thoughts, zhiv and Jax?

I'll be there at the press conference. FWIW, Biddy's agent is trying to "sign him up". Sidney wants to be a "one-and-done," but a lot will depend on Howland.

Great get for the Bruins.

In a battle between teams with 4-game losing streaks, the Brand-less 76ers defeated the Clippers 100-92. The Clippers followed up last night's two point loss to the Kings by losing yet another very winnable game to the Sixers. Add to that the 3 preceding blowout losses, and the Clips end the 2008 calendar year with 5 straight Ls and a 8-23 record. We're still only 17.5 games behind the Lakers in the West (and Pacific) and 10.5 behind Phx for the last playoff spot. I'm just saying.

Another game, and another different Clipper starting lineup (11th this season). Tonight Mardy Collins started at the 3 and I immediately puked in the empty seat in front of me. It's, as always, for match-up purposes...but Iggy isn't exactly setting the net on fire to warrant the Collins offensive kiss of death. For those of you who thought QRoss was a nightmare, Collins must be the freaking apocalypse. Result: 2pts (an uncontested layup) on 1-5 shooting in 20mins.

Philly shot 57% in the first half to the Clippers 41%. So the Clips were extremely lucky to be only down by 3. The Clippers came out of halftime with great effort and execution, especially on the defensive end. They went on an immediate 11-0 run and the 76ers didn't get their first FGM until the 7:48 mark (and that was on a goal tend). It was a see-saw battle from then on, until the game was tied 86-86 with 3:12 to play.

Clippers possession. Baron has the ball and drives left baseline, gets doubled and the ball is deflected by Iggy out of bounds with 10secs remaining on the shot clock. Out of a timeout, the best shot the Clips get is a Baron fadeaway 20ft jumper, no good. On the other end, Iggy passes the ball deep in the paint to Thad Young for the easy lefty hook: 88-86 Sixers lead. Next, Thornton dribbles the ball off his foot, an unforced turnover. Then, Ratliff sets a screen on Fred Jones which frees up Lou Williams for the open jumper - good for a 90-86 Sixers lead. Note: now the Philly youngsters are giggling and laughing and doing choreographed handslap routines. Guilty culprits are Iggy, Williams, and Young.

Out of a Clipper timeout, Baron penetrates and gets Jones an open 3PA that's partially blocked. Miller gets the ball and flings a gorgeous bullet alleyoop pass from halfcourt to Young, who dunks it in: 92-86 Sixers. The Clippers follow up with 3 missed shots at the basket and a deflected pass from Baron to Camby. Then Miller AGAIN throws an alleyoop from just inside halfcourt to Iggy for the foul and the 2FTM: 94-86 and pretty much lights off, game over.

What separated the Sixers from the Clips tonight was alley-oop conversions. Camby to Thornton, offensive interference (0-1). Williams to Dalembert, clank off the backboard (0-1). Miller to Iggy, dunkaroo (1-2, 2pts). Miller to Iggy, catch and jam (2-3, 4pts). Miller to Iggy, put in plus the FTM (3-4, 7pts). Miller to Young, slam (4-5, 9pts). Baron to Camby, knocked away (0-2). Miller to Iggy, fouled for 2FTM (5-6, 11pts). Game, set, match.

Iggy filled up the stat sheet (27/7/7) but didn't shoot well from outside at all. He benefitted from Miller's passes and got a lot of freebies at the charity stripe (14-17). Thad Young had another excellent game against the Clips and he's really impressed me in both games this season. I'd trade Thornton for Young in a heartbeat right now.

The best Clipper PG tonight was Mike Taylor. His "DNP - finger injury" outperformed the two Clipper PGs that actually logged minutes. Biddy (he's not getting recognized for any D from me) scored 11pts, shooting 5-16. That's 49 straight games without shooting over 50% now, folks. I keep hearing that he's a "volume shooter" - let's just be glad for the sake of humanity that Bizzle's not a volume surgeon or something. The other local boy Jason Hart scored 0pts on 0-6 shooting. Welcome home, fellas.

The ESPN recap mentioned the "Fire Dunleavy!" chants at Staples tonight. Those have been there since last season, and were louder at other times this season. Tonight was the first time I've heard fans call out Baron ("Baron you suck!", "Baron you're doing nothing for us!", etc.) I don't know if it's because of the Stephen Jackson thing or what. But believe me, he heard every word. Whether that lights a fire under his butt or causes him to dog it (even more) remains to be seen.

If the Clippers went out to celebrate New Year's last night, I hope they made a resolution to actually "Play Loud" for the fans in 2009.

Media Day pics - Glad that Skinner kept his blonde goatee. I find DTS's hair to be comedy gold, but then again some of you follically challenged folks might be green with envy. Kidding, CS.

More Media Day pics - Pic 1 hurts. I don't quite understand the Jelani McCoy inclusion, but whatever.

Michael Eaves blogs about Media Day - A tidbit at the end about Q, first reported.

Ray Ratto slams the Clips and Warriors - He may be a negative guy, but at least he's gorgeous.

LAT tidbits - MDSr has some nice words for his rookies; let's hope that translates to some playing time for DJ and MT (build our depth). Also very high praise for TT, which may scare some of you.

DeAndre Jordan's journal - Everyone's excited about the new Training Center.

Yahoo: Brand-less Clippers Seek New Identity - Another BD jab at EB. Cute.

Yahoo: Clippers Team Report - Good stuff: Novak lighting it up, TT in shape, and a "spry" Cat.

Nuggets sign 3 07-08 Clippers to training camp roster - Best of luck to Fazekas. Personally I prefer him over PD and definitely over McCoy, but the Clips aren't employing me either. Big LOL at Smush and Patterson.

Maggs, for poops and giggles - Jax's heartbreak. BTW I listened to his media day interview and Maggs must have mentioned 24-hour access to the weight room about 23987498234 times in under 6 minutes. He loves him some sexyness.

Brief interview.

Weird pictures. The first one makes him look fruity. The second one it looks like a witchdoctor shrunk his head. Who's the other guy in the third pic, and what's he looking at?

I like what I read though. "I work out every day, twice a day working out on the court and lifting weights and doing strength and conditioning with a trainer." Excellent.

"Free time? I love movies! I’ll go out to the store, I think it’s every Tuesday and Friday, or Tuesday and Thursday, those are the days they have the new releases. And I don’t buy just one, I have to get like eight or so. And I watch them all!" He can't get hurt or arrested watching movies.

I'm expecting an even better season from our "too old" Big Al. No sophomore slump here.

Let's hear it Clipper Nation. I'm curious to find out how the die-hard Clipper fans feel about what EB did. I suspect the national media is going to give this the "no big deal" treatment. EB's not going to get criticized like his Dookie pal Boozer. After all, Gund is a "nice blind man" while DTS is a "mean tanned man". And oh by the way, it's just the same ole Clippers! So what do you think?

Add your own if you don't like the options listed.

2008 Draft Party - Thu, Jun 28 @ 4pm

Who's going? You don't have to be a season ticket holder to attend, it's open to the public. At the very least it's a good excuse to leave work early.

The 75 word minimum for FanPosts is pretty lame. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. BLAH!

IN ORDER:

1) Brand the Clips: Extend EB, if he's willing. I disagree w/ CS here in that I don't think we should overpay by self-imposing a loyalty tax. In fact we should (kindly) ask EB to take a slight pay reduction (a la Duncan) to help fill out the rest of the roster. Explain to EB (and Falk) that the Clips will "do the right thing" if things don't work out (point to Sam dancing around in Bos green). But we all want to see the "Brand" Clips jersey hanging from the rafters of Staples, and maybe - just maybe - alongside a Clips championship banner (or two, or three, or...)

2) The Livingston Situation: We need to make a decision on Livingston. How's his recovery coming along? Is he going to be able to contribute as a 30mpg starter? Or is he better suited as a 20mpg bench guy? It's also possible that there's an unremovable fork stuck on his back. I'm comfortable with 3yrs/$10-12M, 2yrs/$6-7M, or 0/$0, respectively (the QO is out of the question). But Livingston's contract should be signed before we make our next move. Sell Livingston on the idea of him starting without guaranteeing it, because...

3) Bienvenido, Senor Calderon: AKA Au Revoir, Mr. Maggette. Tons of info in the BYC discussions scattered around CN recently. What's it going to take? If the price is right on the Calderon contract I'd go as far as Maggette + Mobley or Thomas + 08 first rounder for Calderon + Rasho (see 4 below). Of course I'd like to possibly get Tor's 08 first rounder back, and/or the right to swap firsts with them next year - do your job EBSr.

3a) Mobley: I like Cat. But I don't like Blanket. It would be brutal to see him play 35mpg next season, especially if ineffective and/or injured. Plus his contract is more expensive (good for 10/11 expiration purposes though). If used correctly, I'd rather keep him than...

3b) Thomas: Sir Doesn't-Care-a-Lot. No one really likes him, myself included - BUT, we actually need him to backup Kaman/EB and spread the floor. Plus I don't want to miss out on his contract year season, hehe. In an ideal world, trade Thomas this season and bring him back for 09/10. Whatever, I don't care, whoever Tor wants they can have.

4) Jason Lopez is Muy Bueno...For Min or OkC: That would drop either Bayless or Mayo to the Grizz at #5, and they would almost have to take either. Which then creates a bit of a conundrum for the Grizz, since that's the same position of their highest paid player who they've been trying to trade for the past couple of years. Well I suppose the Clips can save the day - offer up Rasho (expiring) and sweeten it with a pick (theTor first if we got that, or Minny's pick but top-3 protect it, or our 09 first but top-3 protect it) if necessary for Miller.

5) Dress for Less: Resign Ross, cheaply. With Calderon and Miller we'll need Q's D. I don't want to turn Liv into a defensive specialist, his D should be the cherry on top of PG duties. With legit scorers 1 through 5, it's going to be much easier to hide Q on offense.

BONUSES:

- Hire an Offensive Coordinator. I've been "clamouring" for this for years. At least teach some basic sets and off-the-ball movement (Calderon and Miller will help a lot in this aspect).

- Buy a NBDL Team. If it's good enough for the Spurs (and Lakers), it's good enough for me. But seriously, it would make the transition so much easier for a call-up if he was already familiar with MDSr's defensive philosophies (deflections!) Maybe guys like Korolev or Singleton or Diaz could have actually panned out had they been better prepared in the minors instead of rotting away. It's a lot easier to spend DTS's cash than my own, though.

http://dberri.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/the-clippers-continue-to-meet-expectations/#more-799

More (err less) than meets the eye? Thorton's WP48 of -0.081 and WP of -3.7 are BY FAR the worst of the 07-08 Clips. How is it that we saw the rookie as having a stellar breakthrough season, but WoW has him as the biggest detriment to the team?

I am now very worried about losing Maggette.

He just got waived by the Rockets. Is he worth taking a flyer on? Remember, a lot of critics of the Korolev pick wanted this guy instead, almost as badly as Granger (obviously not now). Now, like Korolev, any team can sign him for practically nothing.

CONS: Couldn't even crack the T'wolves' rotation this year. Has the basketball IQ of my pet rock. Clips need a point and a big with their two revolving door spots, and Green is neither. Clips' "offense" completely ignores his "strengths": fast breaks and alley-oops.

PROS: Has a good-looking stroke, and Clips need shooters. Incredible leaper with Vinsanity-esque smoothness. Has the ability to blow out candles. May possibly put three more butts in seats per game. Is there even a downside with ATT in effect?

IMHO: Sign him. At the very least he should entertain during warm-ups, right? Let Barrett go, Mobley can play emergency point. Brand is going to take Fazekas' spot soon. Let's have some fun the rest of this abysmal season. I'd like to see MDSr's face when Green and Maggette are out there making "decisions" simultaneously.

Here is DB's WP stats for every player in the L, up to the mid-way point of this season:

http://www.wagesofwins.com/AllPlayersMid0708.html

Camby is at 2...wow. And Kidd at 5 suprises me - how do you produce wins for a team that, well, doesn't? Kaman is at 15, but his WP48 is on the low side. Just from a glance it looks like WP really favors rebounds (and to a lesser degree assists).

As far as the rest of the Clips, I'm going to ignore everyone else with a positive WP other than Diaz at 258, 0.1 WP. So a double 10-day contract temp has been more "helpful" to the Clips than: Ross (281, 0 WP), Powell (321, -0.1 WP), Frahm (381, -0.4 WP), Davis (385, -0.4 WP)...and...wait for it...TT (421, -0.9 WP)!

Oh there's one last Clipper. Our very own Al Thornton. Rookie game snub. The same stud we saw during the NJ and Atl home games. He comes in at 440. Yes, FOUR HUNDRED AND FOURTY. The 7TH WORST NBA player at -1.9 WP. Color me confused.

Preview:

The Clips (9-18) head to US Airways Center to play the Suns (20-9) in the second game of a back-to-back home-and-home. Phoenix will go with the same starting five that destroyed the Clips last night: Nash, Bell, Hill, Marion, and Stoudemire. MDSr's starting five last night were Knight, Mobley, Maggette, Thorton, and Kaman. I wouldn't be surprised to see either Cassell or Ross (or both) inserted into the starting lineup tonight. After all, they were both starters in the 2nd round playoff match from two years ago that saw us push the Suns to seven games.

Last night:

The less said, the better. It looked like a scrimmage for the Suns - layup drills and wide-open jumpshots. Kaman had by far his worst game of the season, managing only 9 points (on 4-17 FG and 1-4 FT), 9 rebounds, and 5 TOs. Sadly, the final score of 108-88 isn't even indicative of how hopeless the game was. The Suns were threatening to win by 40-50 points until they subbed in the likes of Sean Marks and Pike, the "Victory Cigar".

Tonight:

• Aerial bacon. If the Clips win tonight, go take a look outside. Pigs will be flying.
• Timmy! Will Thomas be back? After all, it was his playoff performance for the Suns from two seasons ago that fooled a lot of people into thinking he actually tries on a basketball court. With Powell being our only backup big, we actually need Mr. Cruise Control. It's very unlikely that Thomas will be available, though.
• Help, STAT! Amare owned us last night. Where's the double-team? Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather give up 3PAs to Marion, Bell, and Barbosa (and any jumper to Diaw) than let Stoudemire get a layup or dunk.
• Q, Where art thou? Ross played well in his 16 minutes last night. He defends Nash well simply by keeping his hands up ALL THE TIME and obstructing vision and disrupting passing lanes. And let's not forget his offensive "explosion" whenever Nash is forced to guard him. Personally, I'd start Cassell and Ross and bring Maggette off the bench. Both Corey's scoring and rebounding will be far more effective with the second unit.
• Double-double trouble. Kaman's streak of double-doubles ended last night (and I'm glad MDSr didn't leave him in just to extend the streak). For the Clips to even stay close, Kaman needs to start another double-double streak tonight. More than that though, Kaman has to make better decisions against the double-team. And kill Mr. Flippy.

• Cassell: an audition? The Suns are one possible trade destination for Sam. They are a contender and Nash needs a legitimate backup (D'antoni despises Banks, and Barbosa's natural position is two-guard). And we all know how the Suns love to hand out draft picks like Halloween candy.
• MBFFFFFFFGC. Courtesy of http://www.eurobasket.com/GRE/GRE.asp - "Just because it was previously written that Sofocles Schortsianitis (206-C-85) has been released from Olympiakos and he is now a free agent, we come back to correct this news and correctly inform our readers. So, briefly, after so many months absence from the fields, Olimpiakos decided to send Big Sofo to Switzerland in order to follow an appropriate program for him to lose all the weight that prevent him from playing and be therefore better fit to play. However, the player denied following what his team arranged for him, providing some doubtable reasons, and the Reds decided to stop his contact for the time needed."

Quoted from Chris Herrington of the Memphis Flyer (from TrueHoop):

"Talking to a friend today who was also at the game, we discussed how important Rudy Gay's emergence is. In the short term, it's even bigger than wins and losses. Sure, it's disappointing to be 8-17 right now, but ask yourself this:

Would you rather this team be 13-12 with Rudy Gay showing only modest improvement or would you rather be 8-17 with Gay looking like an absolute star? In the big picture, the latter is the more promising situation."

I immediately thought to myself:

"Talking to a friend today who was also at the game, we discussed how important Chris Kaman's emergence is. In the short term, it's even bigger than wins and losses. Sure, it's disappointing to be 9-15 right now, but ask yourself this:

Would you rather this team be 13-12 with Chris Kaman showing only modest improvement or would you rather be 9-15 with Gay looking like an absolute star? In the big picture, the latter is the more promising situation."

A case for optimism.