Los Angeles Clippers Have a Pulse and, Maybe, a Point Guard Controversy
These Clippers are as predictable as an earthquake.
Maybe they got tired of reading their obituary on Bleacher Report and other fine print and online sites. "Reports of our demise were greatly exaggerated."
Maybe they thought the first four games were still preseason. "Huh, wait, what…these games count?!"
Maybe they didn’t want to overshadow the Lakers' ring ceremony and subsequent fast start with one of their own.
Or maybe, they just played horrible basketball in the season's first four games.
Whatever the reason, the Clippers looked pathetic to start the 2010-2011 NBA season. A season that was called the most anticipated in the history of the Association. Of course, that had more to do with what was going on in South Beach and the chase for an unprecedented fourth three-peat in Los Angeles than anything to do in Clipper Nation, but still.
Clipper fans were anticipating something better than what the first four games showed. Sure, Blake Griffin looks to be what they hoped, but the team looked like, well, the Clippers.
Last night NBA commentator Jon Barry was gushing about Blake Griffin only to end with, "…now, let’s hope he gets out of Clipper-ville." It’s one thing to lose, but to lose so badly and for so long puts an organization in another category.
Clipper-ville.
For the Clippers, for these Clippers, it’s not enough to win; they have to win consistently. They have to work hard to erase decades of failures. The team’s great run in 2006, to within one game of the Western Conference Finals, is proof positive that it’s not enough to just win. Only die-hard Clipper fans still remember that year.
To everyone else, this is Clipper-ville, which is what made the 0-4 start such a punch in the gut. It wasn’t supposed to go that way. It wouldn't have even been so bad to lose all four as long as the team was competitive, but they weren't.
Now, with a solid victory over the Thunder, some things are coming into focus.
Maybe the team took a page from the Miami Heat playbook. The hype coming out of South Beach was unlike anything the Association has ever seen. What better way to deflect all that attention than by getting beat in Game 1?
Have you see what the Heat has done since that game? I bet the memo came straight from Pat Riley’s office.
Office of the President
Miami Heat Basketball
To: Coaching Staff and all players
Date: Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Subject: Deflecting the pressure
Lose the first game. We have 81 after that to win.
Trust me. I have five rings
PR
Pure genius.
The Clippers must have figured if it was good enough for the Heat, it was good enough for them. They just took a little longer to start winning. Good idea, bad execution.
Well, at least the team can say mission was accomplished; whatever pressure was on the Clippers beforehand is gone. Long gone.
Or maybe, if you don’t buy the lose-on-purpose idea, the team is just finally coming together and it took a few games to get there. Maybe it was addition by subtraction.
I watched the Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks on ESPN Classic a few nights ago. That was the first time in NBA history that a No. 8 seed took down a No. 1 seed in a seven game series.
It was also the last time Baron Davis looked like Baron Davis.
OK, that’s an exaggeration, but wow how far has this guy fallen? It really puts the Clippers in a tough position. On one hand, they know their best chance to win now is with Davis running the point.
On the other hand, they have a capable replacement in Eric Bledsoe.
Do they hand the reigns of the team to Bledsoe? If so, they will take their lumps, but likely will be better off for it in the long run. Doing so will make trading Davis, already a tough proposition, nearly impossible.
The alternative is to give the point back to Davis when he returns and hope he plays like he used to. The risk is Davis continues the slide down the “over the hill” hill, taking the promising season with him.
The only good possibility is that Davis returns with renewed passion, leads the team and plays inspired basketball. If the former head of eBay can be the Governor of the great state of California, then Davis can certainly rebound and be the great player he once was.
Huh? She didn’t win?
OK, never mind, but still, it could happen.
With Davis’s return unknown right now, the team will continue to lean on Bledsoe. With the team getting ready for their first big test of the season in the form of a four-game road trip against quality competition, the timing might be perfect.
Let’s see if Bledsoe is Lou Gehrig to Baron Davis’s Wally Pipp, or if he is just another resident of Clipper-ville.
