Ronald Martinez - Getty Images
Seems so long ago that we've had a game! After a ferocious two weeks of games, this two day lull is taking forever!...Here is some stuff for you to check out: oh yeah, updated due to Flip being fired!
Breaking News: Wizards Coach Flip Saunders fired - Wizards Insider - The Washington Post
Coach Flip Saunders has been fired after a 2-15 start by the Washington Wizards. A league source confirms that he has been replaced by lead assistant Randy Wittman.
Lakers Trends - Oh How the Mighty have Fallen - Silver Screen and Roll
Good analysis of tomorrow's opponents.
In Baron Davis, Knicks Seek Glimmer of Hope - NYTimes.com
The injured point guard Baron Davis took the court for the first time in nine months, but the Knicks did not give a timetable for when he might play in a game.
2011-2012 Hollinger Power Rankings 1-15- National Basketball Association - ESPN
With this Hollinger Rank Leaderboard (1-15), find out who leads John Hollinger's 2011-2012 NBA Power Rankings and why!
Nuggets' Harrington, Miller anchor productive bench - The Denver Post
George Karl and the coaching staff have a plus-minus system theyre fond of, which helps rate which combinations of players work well together on the court.
AFP: Clippers will play it safe with injured Paul
Video: Jason Richardson leaps off the bench to play defense | Ball Don't Lie - Yahoo! Sports
Read 'Video: Jason Richardson leaps off the bench to play defense'
Perceptions of Blake Griffin change as his game evolves for the Los Angeles Clippers - ESPN Los Angeles
Perceptions of Blake Griffin have changed as his game has evolved. Missed this little item by next fav clippers writer...
CLIPPERS: BILLUPS MOVES UP 3-POINT LIST
The Clippers 15-year veteran passed Peja Stojakovic To Move Into Fourth Place On The NBA All-Time 3-Point Shooting List
Spurs to Retire Bruce Bowen's No. 12 Jersey on March 21 - Pounding The Rock
Bowen, greatest NBA player out of CSFullerton! Great 1-on-1 defender, hell of a 3 pt shooter, plus he rocks the bow tie on espn once in a while! Go Titans!
0 recs | 35 comments
Does Hollinger REALLY have the Lakers ahead of the Clippers in power rankings?
Ricekrispy10 - January 24, 2012
I don't get it either
The Clippers are 15 out of 15 teams. And the order seems all wacky. Tis a strange one.
Chris McD - January 24, 2012
I don't read his Power Rankings
Marc Stein dropped Clippers in his Power Rankings too. I don’t get it. After impressive wins over Heat, Lakers, and Mavs. ESPN are losers.
Hengtime81 - January 24, 2012
hollinger’s power rankings are based purely on statistics. he has some crazy formula that weighs heavily on how many points you win by and strength of schedule.
micmac36 - January 24, 2012
Looking at the numbers he lists...
He has the Lakers with a strength of schedule over .6 – way out of line with all the others. It almost looks like a mistake. A straightforward strength of schedule calculation based on opponent record would have the Lakers and Clippers with more or less the same SOS right now (see basketball-reference) but Hollinger has the Lakers at .6 (toughest in the league by a wide margin) and the Clippers at .528. That one’s hard to figure.
The Clippers are also being dinged for having a home friendly schedule so far, as well they should be.
Steve Perrin - January 24, 2012
The Beauty of the NBA
Is that they play games, and in each game a winner is determined. They also keep standings. At the end of the year, there are playoffs, and each round, teams advance until a champion is crowned.
Screw power rankings. Those only matter in college football, where they haven’t yet figured out this newfangled thing about deciding such matters between the lines.
BoSoxFan45 - January 24, 2012
CP3
I really think the plan all along is to have CP3 rest until the Lakers game. How awesome would it be that CP3 comes back tomorrow and just runs all over the Lakers just how he did two weeks ago.
Hengtime81 - January 24, 2012
it would be pretty awesome
TinkyTime - January 24, 2012
Except they are saying...
…CP3 might not even play against the Lakers. The funny thing about that is on Saturday VDN said that CP3 had a hard workout. Did he re-aggravate the hamstring? I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry, but I’m always skeptical that there are things they aren’t telling us. But even without CP3, if everyone else is healthy they should still beat the Lakers!
saxmanager - January 24, 2012
Spurs
Does anyone else feel like the Spurs hand out retired jerseys like candy? A few years ago the retired Avery Johnson’s jersey, cuz, you know, one year he averaged 13 points. Now Bowen. I mean, sure Bowen was a great defender and a big part of several championships, but come on. It’s not like Rambis or Cooper have their jerseys hanging in Staples.
Steve Perrin - January 24, 2012
Spurs will probably retire Jack Haley's next year...
for being a great 12th man.
Hengtime81 - January 24, 2012
Sometimes I wish the Clips had retired a jersey or two
Like Cat Mobley. Avery played a lot of yrs with the team, then he went on to the Nuggets. Still, he was the “Lil General” that played next to the Admiral. He was fast and could finish a layup. Getting a cool nickname=an okay reason to retire a jersey. Yes, based on these criteria, Eric “Polish Rifle” Piakowski should get his jersey retired too.
I also expect Parker, Manu and Duncan to have jerseys retired, as they were far more important than Bowen.
oasisman - January 24, 2012
Me too..
Maybe Loy Vaught. He was Mr. Double-Double for us during his tenure as a Clipper.
Hengtime81 - January 24, 2012
Buddahfan - January 24, 2012
I'd vote for Loy to have this # retired.
tenkaistar - January 24, 2012
Whoa!
That’s freakin’ awesome!
Hengtime81 - January 24, 2012
Parker, Manu and Duncan
Those three are no brainers. Basically, if you started on two or more championship teams in San Antonio, you have a jersey retired. Can Francisco Oberto be far behind?
Steve Perrin - January 24, 2012
Oberto No
Matt Bonner YES
TinkyTime - January 24, 2012
did you fix my blue font issue?
couldn’t get it straight! thanks!
Lawler's Law - January 24, 2012
Some franchises are less picky about who's jersey they retire.
Johnny Moore was a good player. Sean Elliot played most of his career there. Surprised Avery Johnson had a number retired there. I think these guys were fan favorites and loved in the San Antonio community. They are not all there necessarily for their greatness. Of course Robinson and Gervin were legit.
tenkaistar - January 24, 2012
chris brousard report
i didn’t read his full post because it is for espn insiders but the headline is about blake and deandre for dwight and ryan anderson. anyone else see this?
micmac36 - January 24, 2012
Not going to happen.
I think he wrote a trade like that can work, but I don’t think any discussions have taken place between both teams.
Hengtime81 - January 24, 2012
lol yeah Clippers FO firm on not trading Blake for anyone.
dulciusXasperis - January 24, 2012
just heard it on first take
Brousard was just saying that orlando should go out and see what they can get from teams like the clippers. there have been no talks for this particular trade, he is suggesting that orlando do the due diligence and see what is available to them for dwight. jumbaco is safe.
micmac36 - January 24, 2012
Great read by Arnovitz on BG
I usually get distracted and move onto something else about halfway through those ESPN features, but that was truly a great read. As I read through the “Perceptions of Blake Griffin…” I kept having visions of Peter Parker’s uncle saying, “With great power comes great responsibility.” I’m really glad that Arnovitz could get through his Hero/Anti-Hero piece without using that cliche. I feel like the whispers about Blake being “overrated” and “not as good as we thought” are getting a little bit louder as the Clips get more exposure. Every time the Clips show up on ESPN, it gives someone, who has probably never seen a Clips game before this year, a chance to pick apart BG’s game and find all the things that are wrong with it. But I think those of us around here have known all along what’s wrong with BG’s game and that it’s more likely that he’s playing exactly the way we expected him to coming into this year. Not necessarily a dominant force, but a force nonetheless.
BG isn’t overrated at all. He’s popular, sure, which admittedly probably makes him a little bit polarizing, but he’s definitely not overrated. He’s good for 20 and 12, a couple of monster dunks, a couple of lazy defensive possessions and a couple of complaints to the refs. He’s done more for this franchise in 2+ years than anyone could probably do in a career. Plus, the dude is 22 years old. The only O-word we should be throwing around when talking about BG is Optimism. But the Nation already knows this.
The only thing that’s overrated about Blake’s game is Blake getting to the FT line. The dude has completely lost his touch at the charity stripe and he kind of looks like Tiger Woods out there just swinging away hoping that something will eventually click in his shot. And by Tiger Woods I mean Andris Biedrins. Figure it out BG! It’s starting to get embarrassing.
Ah, but I digress because if watching BG miss free throws is the worst thing about watching Clipper games, then I’d say we’re in a pretty good spot as Clipper fans.
I’m in the Club. Now toss me a beer.
TinkyTime - January 24, 2012
I only disagree about the "couple of lazy defensive possessions"
More like half.
NewCavsfan - January 24, 2012
it's so true
i knew i was being a little generous … probably should have just said complete lack of any kind of defensive presence unless it’s going for a highlight block or chasing down a loose ball
TinkyTime - January 24, 2012
He’s not as good as everyone thinks he is, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s absolutely fantastic. Like Kobe Bryant is the single most overrated player of all time, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a top ten non-center of all time.
I think a lot of people forget how important defense is and Blake’s been almost Amare-like (shudder) at times, which is surprising to me at least for a person that works for every single offensive and defensive rebound. The wingspan is also probably going to prevent him from being a KG-like defender, but that’s an incredibly high standard since he’s arguably (not really he pretty much is) the best defensive player of this era.
What is scary though is that Blake is actually a pretty raw player—his post moves are good, but a lot of the time he seems to rely on his incredible ability to finish around the rim and he lacks the small things in Pau, Jefferson, Dirk, and hell even Aldridge’s post games that make them the best post players in the league; his tendency in a pick-and-roll to drop back like to the open space at the free throw line extended rather than to immediately slip the pick like Amare would with Nash or even Chandler would with Paul; oh, and those freaking free throws. In about four or five years, I can very easily see Blake making the argument for best player in the league.
muckduck - January 24, 2012
maybe the reason Blake keeps dropping back on the pnr instead of going to the basket is his free throws.
He doesn’t want to go for the easy foul cause it will result in free throws, so this year he’s settling for the wide open jumper that teams are fine with him shooting. i hope it’s not the case, just a though that popped in my head.
chrisd - January 24, 2012
Top 4 Teams in EC?
Holy Smokers. – When was the last time we saw this?
Buddahfan - January 24, 2012
Hollinger vs Basketball Reference - Top 5
Hollinger
1. Bulls
2. Heat
3. 76ers
4. Hawks
5. Thunder
Basketball Reference
1. 76ers
2. Bulls
3. Heat
4. Hawks
5. Nuggets
Buddahfan - January 24, 2012
Basketball Reference must be spoking some good mary jane
76ers first? Plus no Thunder. I have:
1. Bulls
2.Thunder
3. Heat
4. 76ers
5. Nuggets
Jayq - January 24, 2012
I don't know if I should root for Baron
I always liked him as a person, and his GS days were always special. I can’t help but feel a little annoyed with his performance as a clipper, but I do think they put a lot of expectations on him. When he didn’t have to be the “star” like last season, I loved the way he played.
Mostly though, I don’t like knicks fans, and want them to feel the same disappointment we did. I feel like a lot of them are having the similar expectations for Baron that Clips fans did. Obviously no one would expect him to come in to town thinking it’s going to be his team, but they still need a massive turn around to their season. I think it can happen though, cause even without Baron, they have too much talent to be a lottery team. I don’t know though, something about the knicks wants me to see Baron come in and jack up shots, and have everyone be disappointed, haha. Truthfully though, I think if baron takes kind of a back seat, and just dishes to everyone in the front court, I can see it working pretty well.
osamu - January 24, 2012
it's gonna be interesting to see where Baron gets his shots from since Melo shoots everything.
I kind of expect Baron to be more of a facilitator in NY than he has been before, something I think he can excel at if sets his mind to it. either way i can’t wait for CP3 to break him down when we go head to head.
chrisd - January 24, 2012
You guys see the night that Melo had?
Sooooooooo bad
TinkyTime - January 24, 2012
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Clips Nation to post a comment.