Winning Ways

The Los Angeles Clippers are in the midst of a twelve-game win streak!
  Needless to say, this is a franchise record for the club once labeled as "the worst franchise in sports" by Sports Illustrated magazine.  The twelfth consecutive victory last night over the Sacramento Kings breaks a 38-year-old mark, set while the team was playing in Buffalo as the Braves.  That Braves team also went on to achieve a franchise-best overall record of 49 wins, which the current roster is on pace to better with ease.
  The Clippers are currently atop the Pacific Division, and hold the second-best record in the entire NBA at 20-6, only a game behind last year's Western Conference Champions and NBA finalists, the Oklahoma City Thunder.  If they continue to win at this rate, they stand to finish with greater than 60 wins by season's end; a feat truly unimaginable a few short years ago.
  Much like the aforementioned Thunder, the Clippers' change in fortunes can be marked by a single draft pick.
  In the 2007 NBA draft, the once-great, but quickly deteriorating, Seattle SuperSonics used the second overall pick to select 18-year-old phenom, and consensus National College Player of the Year, Kevin Durant from the University of Texas.  Durant had an immediate impact on the SuperSonics, leading them in scoring as a rookie.  Not surprisingly, he led all NBA rookies in scoring and took home the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.  Before Seattle's fans could enjoy what the future would hold, the franchise was moved to Oklahoma City and renamed the Thunder.  The move did not slow Durant in the slightest.  He became the youngest player to lead the league in scoring in the 2009-10 season, averaging 30.1 points per game at the age of 21.  He has gone on to win the scoring title for three straight seasons, being named to the All-NBA First-Team all three years, as well.  Add to that Gold medals for Team USA in both the 2010 World Championships and the 2012 Olympic Games, plus a trip to the NBA Finals last year, and it becomes easy to see how the SuperSonics/Thunder's top draft pick from 2007 has redirected the franchise's trajectory.
  To be fair, the Thunder also went on to draft Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka in 2008, and James Harden in 2009, all of whom have impressed early in their careers, played prominent roles in this past summer's Olympic Games, and are perennial NBA All-Stars going forward.  The 2009-10 team boasting a ton of potential made a 27-game improvement from the previous season (sixth most in NBA history) and reached the playoffs well ahead of schedule.  It took a couple of season, but the team's scale of fortune was unquestionably tipped with the acquisition of Kevin Durant, and the now incredibly young and talented franchise may never have to look back.
  Similarly, the long-lowly Clippers found themselves with a top draft pick in 2009 after finishing with only 19 wins the previous season.  Clippers management had historically botched such great opportunities in the past, selecting busts such as Benoit Benjamin, Danny Ferry (who refused to play for the Clippers after they'd selected him second overall, opting instead to sign a contract in Italy), Bo Kimble, Terry Dehere, Michael Olowakandi, Darius Miles, Shaun Livingston, and Yaroslav Korolev when rewarded lottery picks.  By 2009 the Clippers' 20 lottery picks were more than any other team since the NBA implemented the lottery system in 1985.  Sadly, only one of those selections (Danny Manning) ever became an All-Star with the team.  The other nineteen were either traded immediately for a song, or faded into obscurity.
  Amazingly, the Clippers did the smart thing with the first overall selection of the 2009 draft; they took Blake Griffin from the University of Oklahoma.  Griffin seemed like the logical selection after a sensational sophomore season, in which he recorded 30 double-doubles and swept the NCAA individual awards, being named as college basketball's top player by the Associated Pres and The Sporting News, while also awarded both the Naismith College Player of the Year and John Wooden awards.  Recognizing that defying logic had been the Clippers' modus operandi up to this point, I was holding my breath until they made that historic pick.
  Blake Griffin's impact on the team and the league at-large would not be as immediate as that of Kevin Durant.  After being named MVP of the NBA's Summer League, he suffered a fractured kneecap following a dunk in the final Summer League game, which would cost him the entire season.
  The following season, though, he would take the league by storm as much with his highlight-reel dunks as his great scoring and rebounding production.  He was the first rookie to be voted into the All-Star game by the coaches since Tim Duncan in 1997.  By the end of that 2010-11 season, Griffin would lead all NBA rookies in scoring, rebounding, and double-doubles, earning him the first unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year award since David Robinson in 1990.  The team only won 32 games, though, so it was clear that Griffin and the Clippers, like Durant and the Thunder before them, still needed help.
  That off-season, the Clippers would pull the trigger on deals bringing in talented veteran leadership in the form of Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups, Caron Butler.  All of whom were named All-Stars at least once in their careers, and were prepared to contribute instantly (for more on this development, see my original post "Hell Freezes Over").  In a lockout-shortened NBA season, the Clippers would post a record of 40-26 and reach the playoffs for only the fifth time since 1976.
  This year, they boosted the talent level of their bench with the additions of Jamal Crawford, Lamar Odom, Matt Barnes, Grant Hill, and Rony Turiaf.  They are considered by most to be the deepest team in the league, often relying on their reserves to stimulate runs while the starters get their rest.  Crawford even led the team in scoring through October and November, despite playing a backup role.  Barnes is playing the best basketball of his career, while providing hard-nosed defense and much needed toughness.  Even third-year point guard Eric Bledsoe is starting to fulfil his potential as he begins to show signs of the electrifying player he can be when his number is called.

  Consider the Clippers impressive early record of 20-6.  Consider also the aforementioned 19 win season of 2008-09.  Consider how it must feel for a player like Blake Griffin to take a team unable to win 20 games in an entire season, to one that reaches that goal before Christmas.  But also consider the bigger goals; staying healthy, winning the division, making the playoffs, winning the title.
  For both Blake Griffin in L.A. and Kevin Durant in O.K.C., the rise has been meteoric, but not without support.  Neither will settle for their respective current success, nor will they take the credit therefor.  Changes such as those made for the top two teams in the NBA today require time and teamwork.  It's not only about winning games, but about developing a "culture of winning," whereby statistics and personal accolades take a backseat to team success and a potential handful of rings.
  As Blake Griffin said after last night's historic victory:

"I remember the year I got drafted. The season before that they had only 19 wins. So what we've accomplished so far is great. But the best thing about it for me is being a part of something that's much bigger than Chris (Paul) or I. It takes everybody from top to bottom - the GM, the coaching staff, the players, everybody. And from Day 1 since I've been here, everybody's been serious about changing."

  And serious about winning...as the record shows.

The NBA: Where Star-Shining Happens

This year's Los Angeles Clippers team is all about depth.  I discussed the matter in my previous post, and it has been alluded to repeatedly by NBA players, coaches, and media since the season began.  In a league built on superstars, wherein hopeful teams will max out their salary caps on a few elite players, the Clippers have chosen more of a divide-and-conquer approach for the 2012-13 NBA season.
  No other major North American professional sports league lauds its star players as the NBA does.  Since the league skyrocketed in popularity during the 1980's due to the on-court success and marketability of the likes of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, the value of star players to both an individual team and the NBA as a whole has increased in corresponding fashion.  Recent history has shown that the addition of a high profile player (or two, or three...) to an NBA franchise results in immediate increases in ticket and merchandise sales, television and media contracts, worldwide fan interest, and ultimately (in most cases) team success in the form of conference and league championships.
  The phenomenon of the star NBA player compared to stars of other major leagues is, in my opinion, the result of a number of factors.
  First to consider is team size.  An NBA roster may feature 12 active players at any one time.  Compare this to the 53-man roster of an NFL team, the 25-man roster of an MLB team, or even the 23-man roster of an NHL team (which is considered a major North American professional sports league as long as you are Canadian...), and it's easy to see how an individual star can greatly impact a team's profile and success.
  Secondly, we must consider playing time.  An NBA star is often called upon to play over 40 minutes out of every 48 minute game, unless the game is out of reach early or they find themselves in foul trouble.  Basketball players are all required to play both offense and defense, being substituted strategically during stoppages in play throughout the game rather than automatically due to changes in possession.  This, of course, is not the case in football, where players are on the field for either offense or defense exclusively (with a nod to those also participating in special teams), and are, thus, rarely featured for more than half of any one game.  Major League Baseball has players playing both ways (aside from pitchers in the National League), but they're only called upon to bat every few innings and, in the case of starting pitchers (often the teams' biggest stars), not all expected to play even every other game.  The only comparable league in terms of playing time is the NHL, but even there the gap is vast.
  While the NHL has a similar approach to offensive and defensive responsibilities and continuous play, players are subbed into and out of the game on the fly, playing far shorter shifts and far less total minutes in a game.  For example, last season's leader in minutes played in the NBA was the Chicago Bull's Luol Deng, who played over 39 minutes per game, while the NHL's leader in minutes played was the Florida Panthers Brian Campbell, at less than 27 minutes per game.  Consider that an NHL game is 60-minutes in length and Campbell was on the ice for only 45% of the average Panthers game, while Deng was on the floor for over 81% of the average Bulls game.  Campbell and Deng may not be their respective team's biggest stars, but it stands to reason that your best players will play the most in these two leagues and the numbers show that there really is no comparison as to which league's stars get more time to shine.
  The third factor to consider is the accessibility of the fans.  The NBA is the only league amongst those hereby discussed not to feature a physical division between the fans in the stands and the athletes in the game.  In the NFL, the front row is walled-in, elevated off the field of play, and set back 30 feet from the sidelines.  In MLB, the closest of the front row seats are walled-in, elevated off the field of play, and set back 20 feet from the first-base and third-base lines.  In the NHL, the best seats are very close to the action, but are still separated from the game by 4-foot high boards and further 8-foot high glass.  Unless you are the unlikely 12'6" hockey fan with front row seats, you will not be privileged to an unobstructed close-up view of your favourite Maple Leaf.  Every NBA arena, on the other hand provides seating on the very court the players are running upon.  No need for netting, walls, boards, or glass.  Just be wary of loose balls headed your way, or you may lose your $12 beers to a charging 7-footer attempting to maintain possession.
  Similarly, I have heard it argued that the NBA player's profile is increased due to the lack of uniform as a whole.  That is to say that an NBA player with bare arms and legs, not wearing any protective headgear is more familiar to the average fan than the MLB fielder under his cap, or the NFL/NHL athlete covered head to toe in padding and sporting a massive helmet.  Much like soccer players in Europe, who often translate their on-field heroics into greater cultural starring roles, this bodily exposure in the NBA also allows its players to express themselves and their personalities more so than other North American athletes through their facial expressions, on-court interactions and behaviour, hairstyles, and tattoos.
  Lastly, a major consideration into a star player's impact on a team often overlooked by the average fan is the way the NBA game is played today.  The league is progressive, in that the rules are forever changing.  Each season sees a new group of regulations added to the referees considerations, mostly in an effort to increase excitement (ie. offense) and fanbase.  The two biggest changes to the NBA game since the league's inception in 1946 were the addition of the 24-second shot clock in 1954 and the three-point line in 1979.  Both these changes to the rules were made as a direct result of declining fan interest resulting from slower, more defensive-minded strategies employed to win games.  Much like Major League Baseball has done in the recent past by bringing the outfield walls closer to home plate, and juicing their balls, bats, and players (all facts) to ensure more home runs and higher scores, the NBA has recognized the fans lust for scoring and acted in their own best interest.  More recent rule changes, such as illegal defense and hand-check fouls directly limit individual and team defensive success.  They also make it a lot easier for individual players to take over games when necessary, allowing them the freedom to get to their spots and get their own shots.
  This is star-building at its finest.  Players like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Carmelo Anthony live off isolation offense.  Gone are the days of running your shooting guards and small forwards off seven back screens while working the ball from side to side in an effort to get an open look.  Mostly gone also are the post-up centres, commanding double-teams with their backs to the basket before scoring or finding the open man.  In today's NBA, you sign a star (or two, or three...) and you isolate him on the wing when you need a basket.  Everyone not in possession of a max-money contract can clear out to the other side of the court and watch their team's investment break his man down off the dribble to score.
  This is no secret.  This is no conspiracy.  This is very obvious and easy for the basketball-savvy to recognize game-in and game-out.  Especially towards the end of a close game, when a team really needs a basket.  Watch for it next time you're privy to a tight match.  As the final 30 seconds of the NBA game in question drags for an eternity through intentional fouls and other oft-employed clock-management techniques; note the offensive movement, or lack thereof.  Note the repetitive high screen-and-roll executed again and again in an effort to get the ball to the man making the money.  Note the other eight players on the floor fading into the background as he and his unlucky defender square off.  Note the defender's need to stay dangerously close, in case he should take advantage of the space allowed to launch the game-winning three.  Note the same defender's unwillingness to create any contact due the new hand-check rules.  Note the lack of help defense from said defender's teammates thanks to the illegal defense rules.  Note the lack of concern on the indulged offensive star's face as his time to truly shine nears.  It's the same look he's given you so many times before from the tv screen to the newsstand as he builds his brand, and the NBA's along with it.  And he'll give it you again and again, just the way the league wants it.
  After it's all said and done; after the shot falls or doesn't, note the players from both benches as they join in the respective celebration or consolation.  Note how much it means to them, too.
  More on one of them next time.

Tinseltown Takedown

First off, I'm sorry for the nearly year-long layoff.
  I believe the timing of Chauncey Billups' freak achilles tear, only two weeks after I praised him as the Clips most reliable player, was too much to bear.  The notorious Clipper Curse had reared it's menacing head once again.
  To summarize last season, the Clippers still managed to finish with the best record in franchise history, earning them the fifth seed in the Western Conference come playoff time.  They won an epic and exhausting seven-game series over the fourth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies, only to be swept by the aging but experienced San Antonio Spurs in the second round.  It was a bitter end to a thrilling 2011-2012 season, but it wasn't for naught.  The Clippers adding quality wins and a playoff appearance to their popular highlight-reel act put the league on notice.  Suddenly, they were about more than just futility and Blake Griffin posters.  They had become winners.  They had become contenders.  They had become, at long last, a competitive NBA team.
  For a second straight off-season, the Clippers management worked to strengthen the roster for 2012-13.  Where previously the Clippers had seemed annually intent on spurning talent in favour of lesser contracts and greater salary cap space, they have recently ante'd up and made the necessary trades and free agent signings to put a legit product on the Staples Center hardwood.
  Last off-season, they signed veteran All-Stars Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups to add depth, character, toughness, and much-needed experience.  They also re-signed their young, uber-athletic centre, Deandre Jordan (who got his foot in the mesh last night, see vid below), matching a huge offer from the Houston Rockets.  Then, days before the lockout-shortened season began, they traded for Dream Teamer and team saviour, Chris Paul.  The positive results were immediately obvious.
  Perhaps Clippers owner Donald Sterling learned from this experiment, for he opened up his wallet once again this year, signing more quality vets in the ageless Grant Hill, the creative Jamal Crawford, and journeymen Matt Barnes, Ryan Hollins, and Ronny Turiaf.  They also traded for the versatile Lamar Odom, whom they had originally drafted with the fourth overall pick in the 1999 draft, and the dependable Willie Green.  Before playing a single game, this had already become the best team in franchise history.  On paper, at least.
  Now, only two games into the 2012-2013 NBA season, they look as good in action as they do in the team program.  They are easily the best team to don the Clippers red and blue, are arguably the deepest team in the NBA, and are seemingly the best team in Los Angeles after walking all over the star-studded Lakers last night.
  I have previously written about the challenges faced when the Clippers meet their Laker roommates (see "The Good, The Bad, The Upset").  After finishing only one game apart in last year's standings, it looked as though the gap between the two historically-polarized NBA franchises coexisting in L.A. was shrinking quickly.  Then the Clippers went and made the aforementioned roster moves, and I thought they'd finally have the pieces in place to usurp the Lakers' throne.  However, the Lakers made moves of their own and my expectations were beyond tempered.
  In typical Laker fashion, the gold and purple brass pulled the strings on deals bringing super-duperstars Steve Nash and Dwight Howard on board to produce the most daunting foursome seen in years, perhaps ever.  With a starting lineup boasting two-time NBA MVP and eight-time NBA All-Star Steve Nash at point guard, 2008 MVP and five-time NBA Champion Kobe Bryant at shooting guard, 2004 NBA Defensive Player of the Year and former NBA Champion Metta World Peace (the Artest formerly known as Ron) at small forward, four-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA Champion Pau Gasol at power forward, and three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and six-time NBA All-Star Dwight Howard at center, the Lakers suddenly had all fans and haters in a frenzy.  The Lakers roster now features a total of 35 NBA All-Star appearances in their six-man rotation.  This is a very disheartening development for us wishful Clipper fans.
  Basketball, though, is a team game.  While the Lakers had gone and built a fantasy starting five, the Clippers had assembled a quality cast that can easily go twelve men deep.  And this was the difference when the two teams met last night.
  The game, played on the Lakers home floor, was close in the first half before the Clippers pulled away in the third quarter.  The difference, as I said, was the depth.  Lakers coach Mike Brown went with a nine-man rotation, with no reserve playing as much as twenty minutes.  On the other hand, Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro got everyone in uniform into the game, playing all 11 active players, with both Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes seeing about thirty minutes of floor time off the bench.  In total, the Clippers starters played 128 minutes, versus 189 for the Lakers.  This allowed the separation in the second half, where the Clippers were simply fresher then their opponents, and bodes well for the rest of the foreseeably long season ahead.  When you consider that neither Chauncey Billups nor Grant Hill, both of whom are expected to play major minutes once healthy, were dressed for the game, it stands to reason that the Clippers will be fresh come playoff time due to Del Negro's play-everyone approach.  Even a season-ending injury to a key player not named Chris Paul or Blake Griffin won't be able to thwart the Clippers playoff, and dare I say Championship (?), aspirations.
  Hubie Brown, the retired Hall of Fame coach calling last night's game on ESPN, repeatedly referred to the Clippers as contenders for at least the Western Conference crown throughout the night.  Had he made such statements two years ago, he'd have been institutionalized.  People would have accused the old-timer of finally losing touch with reality or perhaps showing signs of dementia at his advanced age.  Last night, though, no one questioned his old man logic.  Not even me, the most realistically skeptical of Clipper supporters.
  Here's hoping Hubie still knows what he's talking about.  Go Clips!  We believe!

The Good, The Bad, The Upset

As discussed in my previous post, I'm still holding off crowning my beloved Clippers as contenders until they show better consistency where winning games is concerned.
  Due to the intensity of this season's condensed NBA schedule, the Clippers have won three games and lost one in a few short days since my "Managing Expectations" piece, which should put me at ease.  I'm still coming around slowly.  Problem is, the games they won were all hard-fought and still within ten points at the final buzzer, while the one they lost was out of reach early in the third quarter and ended with a 29-point spread.
  The Good: Beating the Lakers on Saturday was huge.
  The Clippers have been the long-forgotten second fiddle (even third, perhaps, when the WNBA's Sparks are winning) of Los Angeles pro ball since their arrival in 1984.  Since the Staples Centre opened in 1999, they've had the unique distinction of being the second-best NBA team in their very own stadium.  Imagine what it must feel like sharing your space with the league's most successful franchise while consistently reaffirming your title as the "Worst Franchise in Sports."  The Lakers and Clippers do not share a locker room, but they do share parking lots and hallways, and are thus bound to cross paths with some regularity.  Something tells me that players from the two teams would have had a hard time communicating due to the polarity of their roles.
  I picture their past relationship playing out like a lunchroom scene from a bad teen movie, wherein Kobe and the "cool" kids in purple and gold harass and ostracize the nameless "losers" in blue and red sitting at the next table.  Cherokee Parks, the goth, gets teased about his hair and tattoos.  Marko Jaric, the foreign exchange student, can't defend himself with his limited English.  Whang Zhizhi, the token Asian, tries desperately to ignore the tater-tots bouncing off the back of his head.  Andre Miller, the quiet loner, gets robbed for his lunch money...daily.  Michael Olowokandi, the uncoordinated tall kid, gets his pants pulled down in front of the popular girls...daily.  And Eric Piatkowski, the Rooster...well, his nickname really is "The Rooster."
  While the Lakers have been more associated with winning than Charlie Sheen, the Clippers have struggled just to earn anyone's professional respect since their founding in 1970.  The Lakers are arguably the most successful NBA franchise in history, boasting 31 Conference Titles and 16 Championships.  The Clippers have neither.  As described in the opening paragraph of the Los Angeles Clippers' Wikipedia entry: "The team has only had six winning seasons in its entire history, and only two since moving to Los Angeles in 1984. They have never won a division title or gotten past the second round of the NBA playoffs."  In other words, the Clippers are simply not good...ever.
  Until now, or so it would seem.
  The Clippers followed this past weekend's win over the Lakers by beating the lowly New Jersey Nets on Monday.  The Nets are terrible, so the only significance of this win was that the Clips achieved it without star point guard and team leader Chris Paul, who's sitting out right now due to a pulled hamstring suffered towards the end of the Laker game.  To those paying attention, the victory proved that the Clips could win without Paul.  To those paying closer attention, they simply beat the Nets just like everyone else does when it's their turn.
  The Bad: The loss to the Jazz on Tuesday was of epic proportions.
  One can try to blame the Chris Paul injury, which left the Clippers without their new quarterback and hero.  One could choose instead to blame the grueling, lockout-shortened schedule, which had the Clippers playing three games in three nights.  One could even blame the challenging environment provided by the loyal and reputedly ruthless fans in Utah, where the Clippers have not won a game since 2003 and are 2-43 over their past 45 visits.  But the real blame has to fall on the Clippers players and coaches themselves, who didn't appear to notice they were involved in an NBA game until it was too late.
  The Clippers came out of the gates apathetic and unprepared.  They missed seven of their first eight shots, allowing the Jazz to jump out to a 13-2 lead within minutes.  The game never really got much closer the rest of the way, especially in the second half when both teams sat their starters to let the rookies and role-players get some burn.  Even then, the Jazz reserves took it to the Clips and stretched the already gaping lead.  The 108-79 final score was so extreme it's probably best forgotten.
  And it would seem as though the Clippers may have done just that.
  The Upset: The Clips take down the champs.
  As Bob Marley's Redemption Song played in the ears of Clipper fans everywhere (that being parts of the Staples Centre and my living room), Chauncey Billups calmly drained a game-winning three-pointer to give the Clips a much-needed win over the defending NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks.  In a back-and-forth game that saw team saviour Chris Paul still on the bench in (ridiculously expensive) street clothes while trade-bait Mo Williams went off for 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting, the Clippers emerged victorious in a true test of wills.  This was a big win due in part to the Mavericks current (although potentially fading) status as Champions, but more so due to the Clippers strong play down the stretch.  Closing out games is what separates the men from the boys in professional sports, and the Clippers played like men tonight.
  After Dallas' Jason Terry hit a huge three-pointer with only seconds remaining in the game, it looked as though the Clippers had missed out on a great opportunity on their home court.  As Terry's shot went through the net, the Clips on the court could be seen pointing fingers and arguing about who'd missed their defensive assignment.  The younger players looked dejected heading for the subsequent timeout - hands down, shoulders slumped, eyes to the floor.  But this is why the Clippers went after a player like Billups, an NBA Champion and Finals MVP himself in 2004, this offseason.  He's a winner.  He's a veteran.  He's seen it all in his fourteen years in the league and does not back down from dare-to-be-great moments.  He's cool, calm, collected, and clutch.  He's "Mr. Big Shot!"
  Chauncey Billups was recently named one of the most underrated offseason acquisitions in the NBA's annual GM survey, and tonight's game exemplifies why.  When Chris Paul is out with an injury, Billups is more than capable as his replacement.  He's been a star in the league for the better part of a decade and could start at point guard for most NBA teams, including the New York Knicks, who let him and his contract go prior to start of the season to make room for the long arm and longer salary of Tyson Chandler, only to find themselves with shoot-first and miss-most rookie Iman Shumpert running their offense...but I digress.  Billups is born for games like tonight's.  He is made for moments like these.  He's the anti-Lebron.  On a team suddenly full of stars, "Mr. Big Shot" doesn't care about who gets the most shine.  He cares about winning.  He simply goes about his business, making smart plays on both ends of the court until the big shot comes along.  Then he takes it.  And makes it.  And gets back on defense.
  Because that's what winners do.

Managing Expectations

This week, the historically lowly Los Angeles Clippers beat the star-studded Miami Heat.  Some have taken this to mean that the Clippers have arrived; have lived up to the preseason hype that accompanied the acquisition of Chris Paul. This longtime Clippers fan, however, is not yet convinced.
  First of all, they barely beat the Heat.  In all fairness, the Heat lost the game and the Clippers just happened to be the other team on the floor that night.
  While some of the credit is due to the Clips defensive effort, especially in the fourth quarter and overtime, the Heat could have won the game in regulation at the free throw line.  As a team, the Heat shot 20-for-34 from the line in the game, including 9-of-16 over the final seven minutes of the fourth quarter.  Lebron James led the charge, shooting 9-for-17 from the stripe with four misses down the stretch that would have either tied the score or given the Heat the lead. His final miss with 5.1 seconds remaining allowed the game to stretch to overtime.
  The Heat continued to struggle through the overtime period, which was their second played in as many nights.  They shot only 1-of-10 from the floor in the extra session, leaving the door open for a Clipper victory.
  Secondly, the Clips were running a paltry 3-man offensive show in the first half, wherein only Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, and Mo Williams had scored after more than twenty minutes of play.  With the sudden wealth of talent on the Clippers' roster this year, they will have to demonstrate more offensive diversity in order to succeed against the league's elite teams.  While both Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups eventually got into the act, each scoring in double-figures by game's end, their relative absence in the first two stanzas is cause for concern.
  And third, this was only the Clippers second win this season against a winning team.  Beating Golden State, Houston, and Milwaukee doesn't make up for big losses to better teams like San Antonio and Chicago.  Their only other notable win so far came against a Portland team that beat them right back earlier this week, nullifying any real ground gained.
  For this year's Clippers to fulfill their new-found potential, they must win consistently against playoff-caliber teams.  Beating the Heat in January means very little come May.  It should be noted that the Heat were little more than a .500 team at this stage of last season, before they seemingly found the cohesion needed to carry them all the way to the NBA Finals.  A number of lesser teams found ways to beat them early in the year, only to find themselves watching from home as the Heat burned through the Eastern Conference playoff bracket.  The Clippers were one of those teams last year, handing the Heat a loss 367 days ago.  Following the win, then-Clipper shooting guard, Eric Gordon, raved that the win was the best of his Clipper career.
  This marks the clear discrepancy between the top-tiered teams in the NBA and the Clippers as we've known them; the former will settle for nothing less than championships, while the latter bathe in the glory of a single regular season home victory.  Even more so when televised.  Can you imagine players from the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Spurs, Mavericks, or even the Heat listing regular season wins amongst their greatest ever?  Think Kobe ever hung his hat on a meaningless, January, one-game winning streak?
  The best teams play for the "second season," and nothing less.  Regular season foes are seen as mere obstacles and practice dummies for contenders, not career-defining opportunities.  Sure, they serve as a measuring stick for performance.  And, yes, every game is reflected in the standings.  But, for the players on those teams striving to write their names in the history books, a career pinnacle marked by an all-but-irrelevant mid-season conquest would be cause for retirement.
  Thankfully, the new Clippers seem to be coming to terms with this winning approach.  When asked, post-game, about the win over the Heat this week, Blake Griffin had the following response:
  "It's just another win. We can't hang our hat on that. It's about winning these games and winning the so-called smaller games because that's what puts your franchise in a winning position."
  Exactly!  Wining games because that is what winning teams do.
  Oh, and it's also great when they do this...

For full game highlights, click on the following link:
http://www.nba.com/video/games/clippers/2012/01/11/0021100153_mia_lac_recap.nba

Hell Freezes Over

I cannot believe the cost of shipping to Hades over the Holidays!

This past Boxing Day, following the Los Angeles Clippers' back-to-back intra-city preseason wins against the Lakers and easy victory over the Golden State Warriors in their season opener, I picked up a few extra winter garments at discounted prices to donate to Lucifer and his unfortunate souls below.  I had seen the signs of things to come and recognized that Hell must surely have frozen over.  How else could the Clippers' new-found success be explained?

The simple answer is the addition of all-world point guard Chris Paul, acquired via trade from the New Orleans Hornets a few short days before the preseason began.  According to multiple news sources, the addition of Paul moved the Clippers from an outside-looking-in potential playoff team to contenders for the NBA Championship.  While there is no denying Chris Paul's talent, nor his ability to make those around him better with his court vision and playmaking skills, this writer has yet to crown the Clippers as the best NBA team in the city of LA, let alone the Western Conference.

As a long-time Clipper fan, and I believe I speak for all four of us, I have experienced the disappointment of false hope before.  I have learned to manage my emotions and temper my expectations over the course of a tempestuous twenty-year love affair with the "worst franchise in sports."  After all, if more than two decades of lottery draft picks can result in...well...nothing but more lottery picks, how much can one player really change?

The truth is, though, there is more than one player involved.  Also suggestive of Hell's freezing over, much hated and tightfisted Clippers owner, Donald Sterling, actually spent some money on free agents this off-season.  First, the front office was able to talk two-time All-Star Caron Butler into leaving the reigning NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks for a starting role with the City of Angels' oft-ignored NBA laughing stock.  Then, when the New York Knicks dropped five-time All-Star Chauncey Billups from their roster as part of the new collective bargaining agreement's amnesty clause, the Clippers were able to pick him up at the bargain-basement price of $2-million for the season (the Knicks will pay the other $12.2-million still contractually owed to Billups).  Even more shocking perhaps was the re-signing of DeAndre Jordan.  Not because the Clippers didn't need a center with Jordan's skill-set, but because they had barely played him since drafting him in the second round in 2008 and the Golden State Warriors had seemingly overbid for his services for the upcoming season.  The Clippers choosing to match the Warriors' offer sheet and pay Jordan $43-million over four years is yet another warning of a cold front approaching Abaddon.

All this has resulted in the Clippers suddenly news-worthy roster.  The team now boasts a starting lineup featuring four All-Stars in Paul, Billups, Butler, and last year's Rookie of the Year, Blake Griffin.  Not to mention another coming off the bench in Mo Williams.  Add to that the exciting dunking and shot-blocking of DeAndre Jordan, some first- and second-year players with star-potential, and a bevy of savvy role-playing vets, and one can see why the media has jumped onto the Clipper bandwagon so early in this young, lockout-shortened NBA season.

For me, this upswing in Clipper fortune all dates back to May 19th of 2009 when the Clippers unexpectedly won the NBA Draft Lottery, ensuring them the first overall pick in that year's draft.  I can still recall hearing the news and immediately letting everyone within earshot know that "we" had just won the Blake Griffin Sweepstakes and that everything was about to change for Clippers fans the world-over.  Again, I felt I was shouting for all four of us.

We desperate citizens of Clipper Nation were not home free yet.  We still had to wait for the announcement of the number one pick.  If the Clippers' previously-incomprehensible powers-that-be had chosen the young Spanish homebody Ricky Rubio or, worse, the eternal project that is Hasheem Thabeet, I would have had to renounce my fandom and join the rest of the world in jeering Clipper Nation for the rest of my days.  To my heart's content, though, NBA Commissioner David Stern took the podium at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York on the night of June 25th, 2009 and exclaimed the following:

"With the first pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Clippers select Blake Griffin!"

Blake's arrival in Clipperville was like my dream come true.  I had been avidly following his Sophomore season with the Oklahoma Sooners and had declared him my favourite player to watch long before his name was called by Mr. Stern.  His freakish athleticism, stoic demeanour, and tireless work ethic assured me that he would star for the Clips from the get-go.  When my girlfriend called me from the NBA store in NYC I knew she was hunting for a surprise souvenir.

"Who's your favourite NBA team, again?" she asked.
"The Clippers,"  I replied.
"Right," she continued, "and who's your favourite player?"
"Well," I explained, "he hasn't actually played a game yet, but his name is Blake Griffin."

A week later I was proudly wearing the jersey on the courts near our apartment in Victoria, BC.  Needless to say, I was the only one.  Now, with Griffin's jersey among the most popular in the league, I would probably look like just another bandwagon jumper in my red and blue #32.  The Clippers were among the most popular visiting teams in the league last year, selling out arenas nationwide over the course of Blake Griffin's travelling above-the-rim exposition.  What a difference a rookie season can make.

In my mind, there is no way that Butler, Billups, Paul, and possibly even Jordan would have ended up with the Clippers were they without Griffin.  He is the draw for fans and players alike.  His exploits are exciting, his candour is compelling, and his star is shining brightly for all to see.

Thankfully, due to the media's sudden love for all things Blake and never-before-seen regularly scheduled nationally televised appearances for the Clippers, the new shining stars of Staples Centre can now be seen even outside of the greater Lob Angeles region.

My money says that even Beelzebub and the boys will be spending the hellishly-cold winter months indoors, glued to their TV sets to catch all of the goings on in Lob City.  I wonder what NBA League Pass costs down there?