Overall Thoughts on 08-09 Season?

[jflipclip]

I just want to see everyone's opinion of the season regarding our Clippers or the NBA in general.

On the Clippers:

Big expectations coming in. All the ruckus in the offseason, then the hype during the preseason. I think no one expected to be such a major downfall. Baron Davis and Camby, the major pickups, had slight injuries in the beginning which foreshadowed a number of bad things to come. Last season (07-08), I rarely watched any Clipper games because of our terrible ballplay. Sadly, that play was much better than this season. It's hard to consider Dan Dickau to be a better PG than Baron, but sadly it can come to those terms. Heck, I think Rick Brunson was better than Baron this season.

Anyways, I know some of us had insisted we trade Tim Thomas and Mobley. Timmy, yeah, it was a good idea-- as with Mobley, but from the moment we got Randolph I noticed a lack of defense. EJ was perhaps the only person who showed some effort on D (and Camby, but towards the end of the season you could kinda tell he didn't care), but EJ, being a rookie, made some rookie mistakes. I think that's what killed our team. No defense. At least in some of our prior losing seasons, we played decent defense with Q. Ross and Maggs.

Randolph seems to be our pivotal player now, along with the development of Gordon. I'm not surprised by Randolph's eerie consistency on offense and on the boards. The question was off the court and on D, which we've seen, is his ugly side.

I'm not sure if I can see Gordon flourishing to an All-Star. It's quite possible, but you have other guys that need the ball in their hand like Thornton, Randolph, and sadly, Baron. I think it's quite possible that we can see Gordon turning into a combo guard/point guard. It's funny cause some of us we're all ehhh on the idea of him becoming our PG and whether he can, but then we signed Baron as if NOW it's okay to breathe. Instead, Baron turned out to be a disappointment, and Gordon was simply awesome.

Now our bench, it's interesting. DeAndre has turned into a great character to talk about. Before that, we just had Kaman. Ehhh. I also like how he and Mike Taylor are getting along. Speaking of Mike Taylor, I like how he plays. Seems to be a solid contributor, just needs some guidance. I can't wait till that chemistry between DJ and Mike Taylor produces many future ally-oops. Fred Jones has also been an interesting player. He can make some bad mistakes, but I like his effort out there. What's bad about our bench? Not reliable. And Ricky Davis. And Kaman. Yeah, they were injured, but with that kinda showing, they might as well be bench players for a D-League team. Novak seems to be a nice player to have around, though, I see a contender signing him in the future.

I guess that sums it up. I wonder how much of a difference Jason Williams would make. Also, I don't really hate Brand anymore. I just feel sad for the Sixers they wasted their money.

On the season:

Lebron is a beast. Enjoyed watching him this season. I know this may anger some of you, but the Lakers were entertaining to watch this season as well. Not that I was rooting for them...

All of the teams that didn't make the postseason, all have interesting futures with the draft ahead. Kings, TWolves, Grizzlies, Bobcats, Knicks, Nets, Pacers. As for the playoffs, I want to see a Blazers-Lakers matchup. It kinda sucks cause I wanted the Hawks or the Heat to make it to the second round but they're matched up against each other. =[

I called the Rockets to win in the Finals in the beginning of the season. I'm not sure anymore, but if it happens, wow. I'll stay with my pick for now.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

i was pleased with how all of our rookies played. They all exceeded my expectations. I'm sure that Novak will be gone this season because I think he's a restricted free agent and some team will probably offer him a nice sized contract that we won't match. Hopefully the summer will help the team to become closer, get in shape, and work on their game. If this team doesn't work next season then I'm all for blowing it up and keeping our young players.

[mkwest]

Camby is player whose game I definitely love and respect. When injuries were not an issue (December through January), he was having huge rebounding games. I thought he was a nice complement to both Randolph and Kaman. He clicked sooner with Randolph, and his stint with Kaman didn't really last long. The most beneficial thing that he was able to do this season was provide guidance for the younger players. Obviously he's a great player for DJ to model his game after, but players did notice that he was all about the business. When you have players that take games off mentally, the professional character that Camby had was a good thing to be recognized by the likes of Jordan and Gordon. I personally don't think that he'll last through the whole season. As of now, he's our best available trading chip and a veteran team would be interested in his services come the trading deadline, as well as teams who are looking to shed salary. I'd hate to see him go, but if the right deal comes along then you have to go for it.

Collins is a player that grew on me during the time when he was our only legit point guard. He's a player with decent size that can see minutes at the 1, 2 & 3. He's a pretty decent defender and the Paul Pierce stopper. Originally I looked at him as a throw-in, but he's proved to be serviceable and I'm glad that he'll be back next season. I'd love for him to work on his 3 point shot and finishing at the basket. I just hope that his foot is healed up and doesn't cause him any problems next season.

Baron was a huge letdown. What he provided would have been great if he wasn't the "face of the franchise" and being paid $65M over 5 years. He put up some of the worst numbers in his career. He failed to use his strengths. I am aware that he was out of shape and injured since the beginning, but we would have been bettered off with him sitting through the injuries. Maybe then we would have a little more hope that he could actually get it done if healthy. I will say that he did lessen his chucking over the season, but he still needs to take higher percentage shots. He can make it look so easy sometimes, but he falls in love with shots that are out of his range. If his 3 point percentage was 37% as opposed to just his field goal percentage, then I don't think people would mind him shooting a few a game. He did show some flashes of what could be, and that was when he was more unselfish and set his teammates up. I'd rather see him have 10 or 11 assists than 20 points. We were 6-7 when he had 10 or more assists in a game. Is that great? No, but it would be a start. I just hope that he takes this offseason more seriously and comes into camp in shape. Leave the Jenny Craig alone and hire a personal chef.

Ricky is someone that I can't really stand. I'd be happy to see him on another team's roster in the upcoming season, but I doubt he'll opt out his contract.

Gordon has shown that his future can be very bright. He approaches the game as it should be approached. He respects it. After the miserable performance of the team, he's one of the only reasons that I tuned in each game that I could. In the offseason, I hope that he works on his point guard skills (ball handling/passing). I think that the potential is there for him to do that, and he would really be able to exploit his size against them. He has the quickness to match as well as the length to bother them on defense. Another thing I would like for him to do is become more vocal. I know that he's more reserved in his demeanor, but he is a no longer a rookie and is arguably our best player. There's been too many times during the season where he would put up 10-13 points in the first quarter and then did not really get opportunities on offense until sometime midway through the 4th quarter. If he's gotta go Keyshawn on them in the huddles, then by all means do it.

Jones is a nice hustle guy off the bench who can fill in at the 1-3 spots (although I don't really like to see us playing him at SF). It was a win-win situation for both he and the Clippers. I wouldn't be mad at all if we re-signed him.

Jordan has a lot of work to do over the summer. He said he is going to take about a month off and begin training for summer league. I'd like to see him get stronger, work on his defense, free-throws, boxing out, post moves, overall understanding of the game, etc. He has a lot of personality and that's definitely needed to keep the guys loose. His chemistry with Taylor is also good to have. Hopefully they won't have to be split anytime soon. He was a raw project, so I didn't expect much coming into this season from him. He had some big games, so he's further along than I would have thought. He just needs to continue to work on his game and then he'll be able to hopefully fit in well when Camby is gone.

Kaman bugged me this year. I gave him a pass when he wanted to play for his grandparents homeland last summer. It was an experience that not many get to say that they were a part of. The fact that he wants to do it again if Dirk decides to play this summer has really irked me. I'd rather him go on another 3 hour tour with Kim Hughes. Seriously he needs to be monitored throughout the offseason and go back to putting in work. If I could count on Kaman 2.0 (07-08) coming back then I could care less what he did in the offsesason, but clearly that's not the case. He really needs to put on some muscle. Take a page out of Fesenko's weight training regimen.

Novak is that dude. When he is on, he is on! In fact he got a little too hot there for awhile and looked like he was going to really drive up his market price in the offseason. You can't expect much more than 3-balls or long 2's from him, but he's clutch. This guy is used to sitting on the bench and being asked to come in and knock down a huge 3, and he is very capable of it. We have to keep him.

Randolph is somebody that we need to get used to, because he's not likely to be going anywhere anytime soon. Before he was Voskuhled, he was great. We actually had a winning record with him in the line up at that time. The problems came up after the illness/death of his father. Does that directly excuse him? No, but it could be related. The DUI was really disappointing. I still don't know what his BAC level was, so I don't want to totally condemn him for the incident. He needs to use better judgment, and if what happened to Adenhart didn't open his eyes then I won't have much more to say about him. He's made promises to work hard in the offseason, and I hope he lives up to it. I don't think he's fat like most people, but like Kaman it wouldn't hurt to see him tighten it all up a bit and some muscle.

Skinner was ok. He plays defense, he's a great shotblocker and is decent in spot minutes. I'd probably look to play elsewhere if I was him though.

Taylor showed potential to be a good back up. He needs to know when to turn it up and when to slow it down. Right now he only goes one speed and that "Ludicrous Speed." He also needs to work on his point guard skills as well as perfecting that floater/teardrop.

Thornton was a bit frustrating. I still like him as a player and think that he is a good talent considering his draft position. The problem with him is that there is still a lot of holes in his game. Consistency was a major issue, as well as his defense. His b-ball IQ isn't the highest, but he is a hard worker. He's taken the most internal criticism of all of the players on the team. He responded by being more aggressive and attacking the basket. Then he got hurt He has had stretches where he played solid defense, and throughout the month of March he played very productively. He made it a conscious effort to hit the boards more. He shot over 50% in 10 of those 13 games. He needs to come back next season playing like that. If he does then I think there will be a lot less complaints about his game. He needs to focus on being more instinctual as opposed to thinking about it too much. He was too much of a ball stopper and settled for too many Kobe-like shot attempts. Hopefully his shoulder will not require surgery and that he'll be able to get back to work after he is done rehabbing.

[Det the Threat]

As most of us, i thought that we'd compete for the playoffs, after adding Davis and Camby, while losing Brand.

Though, this team has been an utter dissapointment and the only reason to watch them has been Eric Gordon, who, despite all the losing and bad habbits of his teammates, seemed to really give it his all. Right now, he's our franchise player and that's really sad, when you've got high paid players like Davis, Kaman and Randolph on your roster.

I also never understood the need of trading for Randolph. Sure, he can give you 20/10 on any given night, but he's just a black hole on offense and a really bad defender. His off the court actions are also something you really don't need on your team, especially with some young guys trying to learn how to survive in this league.

Marcus Camby has just been solid and a great influence on our younger guys and we can thank him for that, cause neither of those other veterans, save for Brian Skinner, has really shown up and tried to be a real leader, while also showing those younger players the ropes in this league.

Davis and Kaman, i really don't want to talk too much about them and all i can say is that i wouldn't mind them being gone this summer. Sure Kaman can be a double double guy in the middle, but his injuries are a killer and him, possibly, taking longer off from that injury, is something that leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. Davis, on the other hand, could rebound, but not under Dunleavy and looking at Dunleavy's contract + Sterling being the owner, i can't see him being shown the door.

Then we've got Al Thornton, who seemes to be an ok player in this league. Though, his inconsistancy just drives you nuts and instead of going for 35 on one night and a combined 11 points the next two games, he should try to do the things he can and at least produce on a daily basis. So even though i'd welcome him back, he's someone that should have some more competition for his minutes.

Two other guys that surprised were our second rounders DeAndre Jordan and Mike Taylor. I really don't think they'll be great players at all, but still, i could see them becoming regular guys in our rotation and that's something really nice for guys picked in round two.

Steve Novak is a guy i'd really like back, but as thanumba2clippersfan wrote, he's a great shooter and playoff teams tend to offer those guys some solid contracts, cause shooting is something you really need in this league. That's too bad, because Randolph surely won't be gone next season(who the hell would ever think about trading for him?) and with him being double teamed quite a bit, a guy like Novak is just great to have on your squad.

Other then that, Fred Jones is a guy i'd sign for one - two years on the cheap, if there's a guard spot to fill on this team. Mardy Collins can contribute and stay, but he surely isn't a deal breaker if that helps us getting rid of one of those contracts or adding something else.
Ricky Davis i'd like to be gone already, but he surely won't leave those millions on the table, with that player option.
Brian Skinner the same and i don't mind him coming back, because he's a nice back up to have on your team.
We've got a team option on Alex Acker's contract and i fully expect us to use it and save some money.


Looking at all those things, i really don't like the way this team is being put together and wouldn't mind if we'd blow things up. Though, i doubt that any team would touch Randolph's or Davis contract and therefore i only expect Camby and Kaman to be movable. I really think that there'll be quite some rumors about Camby and i expect something to go down before or during this years draft. He's a solid player on an expiring contract that most playoff teams would like to have and he surely could net us something nice. Kaman, on the other hand, has a longer contract, but i expect some teams(Bulls, Thunder etc.) to show some interest, because of his position, age and abilities.

With these two guys maybe gone, we'd still have Baron Davis on our squad and he'll, most likely, be "coached" by Mike Dunleavy Sr. If this doesn't changes, i think we'll have another craptastic season ahead of us, cause these two guys do not fit and i doubt that they can work together. That's not because they don't like or trust each other, but way more because Dunleavy's coaching style and Davis playing style just do not fit together.

So what should we be looking for next year?
I'm not really sure if you can call that looking for something next year, but Eric Gordon should improve some more and show the league what he can do. Jordan and Taylor will be one year older, while Thornton might actually get it and play more consistant basketball, which would really help our team. And then there's another lotter pick(1 - 6) coming our way, if we don't trade it.

So let's look for our youth and if we could somehow get rid of some of those older, high paid players, we could really look ahead for something better then this season...

[cinnamon]

Personally, I'm just very happy that the 08/09 season is over.
It was a pretty prime Clipper-fan-suffering year.
Not very much went right except for EJ.
And I hate to say it but if there are no significant changes during the summer other than adding a draft pick, I don't see things getting much better next year.

[madmaxmedia]

It blew up in different ways, but this season seems not unlike the year we got Andre Miller. Big expectations going in, followed an absolutely horrible year. In both cases, the big name PG just didn't work out.

I also think it would be nice to focus on youth. If you have a really young starting 5, chances are they will hustle their butts off and be fun to watch. It will be interesting to see what happens in the draft, what we can pick up.

I'd like to see Taylor and Jordan play more next year. I don't know what kind of upside they realistically have. But they're both very dynamic players. DJ would be absolutely fine if he could just learn to play good defense, if he had good fundamental defensive skills he would be a very good defender.

Unfortunately salaries limit what we can really do in terms of moving vets. I am fine with Baron and ZBo, but even the Clips wanted to go in a different direction I think we are stuck with them.