The OtherArena

[Steve Yohe]

I have to admit that I watch Clippers games. I like their announcers & I can go to their games because they don't sellout like the Lakers.

The last few years, I watched mainly to see the new Chris Kaman "fuck up". Even went people think he's having a good game, he'll screw something up to help them lose. Early this week in Mexico City (in a game I didn't see), San Antonino over came a 19 point Clipper lead to win by one point. The ending had Kaman double pumping a shot as time ran out.

Last year Kaman averaged something like 21 points a game, but only scored over 25 twice (this may be statistically wrong but it's something like that) twice the whole year. He has good shooting skills but is a huge choke. I don't think he has ever scored over 30 points in his career. And he is considered they're top scorer.

Last night he had 19 points in the first half. I was so happy because I knew what was coming next. On the first play of the 2nd half, he made one FT out of two. He hide for the rest of the half, & didn't get the ball. At the 6 min mark of the 4th, he made a basket, kind of a big one, and made 2 ft out of 4 for the half. Ended up with 23 points.

In the last minute of a close game, he did grab at a rebound but tipped it to one of the Denver guys. On the next play, he was boxing out a player and didn't go for the ball, so a Denver guard got in front of him & got the RB. The clippers gave up three offensive RB in the last min to lose by 5.

I love watching Kaman & it's been going on for years. He has skills & size (he is a very nice guy & everyone likes him) but mentally he is a mess. This isn't happening once in a while but every game. It is so much fun.

Wish I kept track of everything he did last year. He averaged like 23 points in the first half of the season and he cryed about not making the All Star team, thinking he should have had Paul Gasol's spot. Carlos Boozer also didn't make the Al-star team, but didn't say much. So the Clips play Utah that night, & Boozer destroyed Kaman getting 38 points and 18 rbs. Kaman started a slump that night & got like 8 points. He is so funny. I love it.

I think he did make the Al-star team because someone got injuried but hardly played, going 2 for 4.

I'm upset that I can't remember more, so I'm going to start posting his "fuck ups" here...just for the fun of it.

Anyway I saw Blake Griffin last night for the first time & he looked like the real thing. Finished with 24 points & 14 rbs without a one on one game. Most of it was pick & rolls with dunks following. So he has to get hurt soon.

Griffin was also very good on defense. Moves his feet well & drew a bunch of offensive fouls. Was 10 for 10 from the FT line but killed them in the last 2 mins by missing two straight.

Maybe Griffin will take some pressure off Kaman & he'll straighten Kaman out, but I can't see that. Really I can't see them ever winning with Kaman around. I think he's the screwiest player in the NBA.---Steve Yohe

[jdw]

Seeing that about Kaman, I'm reminded that Steve hasn't had as much fun with an NBA player since Vlade retired. ;)

John

"Watch Vlade choke on this possession... SEE!!! He'll never win anything!"
-Yohe for a decade :)

[JAG]

How did you deal with the immortal Kwame Brown, Steve?

I saw him airball two dunks in one half at Sacramento a few years ago. He had Roberto Duran's hands and was scared half to death most of the time. Just a mess of an offensive basketball player.

And Kaman certainly looks the goof part.

Griffin v. Wall is going to be a fun Rookie of the Year race.

Jagdip

[Steve Yohe]

I don't worry about the draft. Hardly think about it. So I wasn't on Brown's ass. He was a good one on one defender & could rebound. Had a first round body and the worst hands in NBA history. At times he helped the team. He didn't bother me. He did end up in a major trade that resulted in a good result, so I wish him luck.

Kaman is just a ton of fun because it's all in his head.

Yohe

[Steve Yohe]

The Clipper are opening on national TV tonight...because of Blake Griffin. Wonder how long we have to wait before the team gets it's first major injuy. I'm looking for Baron Davis to be the first, but I think Gordon is breaking down. Funny in the papers Kaman is getting quoted every day & he seems to be the team spokesman.---Yohe

[jdw]

Lakers fans love the eight-man rotation of Elmore Smith + Brian Winters + Dave Meyers + Junior Bridgeman (Kareem), Gail Goodrich (Magic), Dan Ford (Worthy), Vlade (Shaq & Kobe), and Kwame (Gasol). ;)

John

[Rian]

ESPN and the local Portland station are broadcasting the game, but the ESPN version is at least 5 seconds ahead of Portland's.

Kanan still looks like a tool even with the skullet removed.

[Steve Yohe]

The Clip/Portland game was a lot of fun. Blake Griffin showed his potential and S. Center was in a buzz all night. Clippers looked good at times but mentally they are weak. They play a great 4 minute and then loss concentration for two. They'll play good D for a play & then forget the rebound. Only great teams like the Lakers & Boston can concentrate for 48 mins & they win. So Portland ended up taking the Clips apart at important times & won.

Kaman looked in great shape. Running good. He made a great play, spining around 3 guys to sham the ball & everyone went nuts. He then got excited & missed his next five shots. He was 4 for 15 in the fourth QT and in the last 5 mins they decided to go to him three straight times. Kaman missed two easy set shots and a short hook shot got blocked. He didn't touch the ball for the rest of the game (ending up 4 for 18), spending the time walking around looking at the floor on national TV.

Portland looked very good. Could rival everyone in the west. In Miller, Aldridge, Camby, & even Roy they have a bunch of the most underrated players in the NBA.

Clippers look like fun this year....still waiting on a injury.

Griffin may be the best new player sense James.

Yohe

[jdw]

Durant is the best player since James. Griffin isn't as good as Durant, and won't even challenge him until he adds an outside shot.

The other thing people forget about Durant is just how young he is:

Date Of Birth
Sep 29, 1988 Durant
Mar 16, 1989 Griffin

Durant was one-and-done in Texas, while Griffin played two years at OU. Durant is just a half year older. As much as we can talk about the growth potential of Griffin, it's the same with Durant: he has an insane amount of room to grow.

John

[Steve Yohe]

Tonight, the Clips traveled to S. F. to play Golden State. They went to Kaman early and he missed his first 4 shots before getting a layup. He soon was benched & didn't do much after that. They were behind most of the 1st half, but played hard & were only behind by 2 at the half. Everyone was kind of happy about the comeback, but they forgot to play starting the 2nd half & before you know it, they were behind by 22. I switched to the Laker game. I know Kaman was 5 for 14 and GS won. GS is looking good.--Yohe

[jdw]

It took just two games for the Clippers to prove once again that they suck. The Warriors aren't even a contender to get to the Wester Final, and they rolled the Clips.

John

[Rian]

Spurs vs Clippers, any takers? :)

[Rian]

Clips look lost after putting together a good first half. Not having Baron doesn't help either. They'll put it together at some point in time.

[JAG]

I will have a vague interest in the Clippers this season as Eric Gordon is on my fantasy team.

The Spurs treated them like the Clips tonight, but Gordon did have a fantastic fantasy line for the Bash Brothers.

23 points (10-17 shooting), 11 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and just 2 turnovers.

So when you go Steve, root hard for Eric Gordon.

Jagdip

[jdw]

Spurs aren't all that great anymore, and are fading due to the age. They just lost to New Orleans at home. The Clips have the excuse of back-to-back games, but they were at home. What's more telling is that they were both losses to fading former Western Conference powers: Dallas and San Antonio.

Portland is a young but talented team. The Warriors are terrible. Dallas and SanAn are old and fading. Three of those games were at home, and the easiest was on the road. If you're not an awful team, with hopes of the playoffs or 40 wins, you have to win two of those (one on the road against GS and one of the three against the "better" teams that aren't really NBA Title Contenders). Teams like Portland, Dallas and SanAn are going to lose aren't 30 games this season. They even drop some to bad teams on the road. The Cips going 0-4 through this run is a really bad sign.

The worst thing about the Clippers is Davis. It's the Clips equiv of a Marberry deal: someone who wasn't as good as he thinks he is, isn't as good as some think, does very little to make his teams better on a consistent basis, has massive holes in his game (defense, shooting), injury issues going back half a decade, and eats a salary that not only cloggs up your own payroll, but makes him tough to trade.

Davis isn't the level of prick that Marberry is, so he's not quite as obviously destructive. But Davis is going to be Davis, which means hoisting up too many shots, running the offense largely how he's going to... it's a less obvious form of being destructive because it's not a personality issue out in the open. Instead it's just a bad player who is overrated so there's no way to control him into a better team concept. Not that even controlling him makes him useful. I'm not even sure that Davis would make a useful backup on a good team because his talents don't fit well with any good team, nor would he want to sit. Does anyone think he would be better coming off the bench to spot Nash that the guy the Suns currently have? Would you want Davis or Blake if you're looking for someone who might play a supporting role with the Lakers, knowing you've got someone who will fit in rather than try to bend the team to a degree (think of how problematic Gary Payton was on the last Kobe-Shaq-Phil team in contrast to how well Malone worked to fit in until getting hurt in the playoffs).

The bigger problem with the Clippers is that they *always* are doing things like Davis, on large and small levels. They've never gotten lucky that the guy they've paid a ton to is a Lebron, KG, Kobe, Shaq, etc. Granted, they probably would have screwed up KG and Kobe, while Lebron and Shaq were pretty much impossible to screw up.

By screwing up, one suspects that if Kobe had been drafted as a Clipper, he would have spent his career chasing two things: Kareem's scoring record and Jordan's number of *scoring* titles. What fed Kobe's "recent" lust for titles was Shaq getting to 4 first, then topping Shaq's 4th. Now knowing that he'd only be caddying the scoring record for Lebron, and that he's not going to set any record for scoring titles, he tastes catching Jordan in NBA Titles.

If he were drafted by the Clippers, he would have focused on scoring early, and then when people started later in his career talking about him like they talked about Wilt, he would have engineered his trade to a team that had a chance of getting a title. Like Wilt in 1967, he would have at some point "done everything right" to get his title, then promptly go back to chasing scoring records since he's be too far behind Jordan and Magic in titles.

But I digress in pointing out that the Clips would have even screwed up Kobe. ;)

Point: the Clippers are never going to be a contender under current management. They frankly are never even going to be a thrilling young team like New Orleans was a few years back (or Seattle in the 90s), or a wide open cool team like the Suns, or really even a solid team for a decade like the Pacers were in the era of Reggie Miller.

Pause and think about that for a moment. Even the level of a team that really wasn't a true contender like the Pacers but rather a pretty good team for quite some time... *that* level if impossibly beyond the Clips with their current owner and management. Or the level of the Jazz, which has been a good team for two decades and even lucked into a pair of NBA Finals. It's not like the Jazz were a great team in the 90s, and in the current era they've simply been "good" and play well together.

Clips can't do that.

Let alone be a "fun" team like the Suns, or Nelly's Warriors in the 80s and 90s.

If I were a Clips fan, I'd love to be the Suns. Sure you're not going to win the title, but the team would be entertaining, semi-unique in the NBA, win quite a few games, and it would be a lot of fun.

John