LA Clippers - Evaluation 2008 Summer

[Amen316]

http://scoutingthenba.com/blog/category/la-clippers/
We have Evaluated the "new" Clippers and have a result that should make many of the Clipper nation very happy. We forsee the new Clipper team winning about 44* games.

STN believes Eric Gordon is going to be 1st team all-rookie.

[GuyverX]

The site says 44 wins. If 44 wins gets us into the playoffs then great...but judging from last season, that's not enough and that's not making me very happy at all.

[JJ LoDuca]

In the West, 44 wins is mediocrity. After this offseason, mediocrity won't do.

[mkwest]

If Gordon is a 1st team all-rookie and the Clips are healthy throughout the season, then I really like our chances to make the postseason comfortably (5-7).

I think it will take 47 to qualify for the playoffs in the West. I personally don't think that there will be 8 plus 50-win teams in the Wild Wild West this year.

[illastrate]

Last season was an anomaly. It never happened before, who's to believe it'll happen again? I think 44 wins is good enough for the 8th seed.

[ClipperEric]

^ I agree with illastrate. A lot was made last year about the amazing Western Conference and all these 50 win teams. What they failed to mention was how bad the bottom half of the West is (and about 90% of the East.)

The Nuggets and Warriors were not legit 50 win teams, they just beat up on all the garbage teams in the rest of the league to inflate their records.

Its kind of like the Seattle Seahawks always winning the NFC West, its not that they're good, its because everybody else sucks so bad.

This year Denver and GS will certainly fall. And Dallas and PHX are at the end of their runs. Portland will be better but so will the Clips.

The bottom half of the West is wide open between those 4 teams, 3 should get in.

1. NO
2. Lakers
3. Spurs
4. Utah
5. Houston
6.
7.
8.

[Basketballfan423514]

i think we can win around 56 games this year give or take maybe 5 (more likely take 5).


we have the best interior defense in the NBA, A top 5 PG, top 5 C, and probably the deepest bench in the NBA. How can we not win 50?

[loflin3hree5ive]

i think we can win around 56 games this year give or take maybe 5 (more likely take 5).


we have the best interior defense in the NBA, A top 5 PG, top 5 C, and probably the deepest bench in the NBA. How can we not win 50?

Injuries, that's how. Although this evaluation/prediciton is far more generous than most predictions, I still think 43 wins is a pretty conservative number assuming the team stays healthy. I say with no bias that a healthy Clipper team this year with Gordon performing well enough to be an all-rookie first team member should outperform 43 wins. I do appreciate the optimism though. This is probably the first published prediction that the Clippers will finish with a winning record.

[Dnkndave]

This summer's off-season acquistions were great; we finally secured a top-flight point gaurd. Hated to lose Elton, but if he had returned, Kaman's numbers would have gone down. Now, with a low-scoring PF, Kaman's numbers should go up-----at least his scoring. The west is tough, no doubt, so I'll settle for:
1) This team playing up to their potential
2) Competing for, if not making the playoffs
3) Then after making the playoffs, being competitive in each seris (as far as we may go)

I would REALLY like to win more games than we did the last time we were in the playoffs. That would give us at least 48 wins--------yeah, I can live with that. My biggest concern with the team, as it stands now, is that we don't have another "big" besides Kaman who can score from the low block. As far as injuries go, we seem to have the depth to cover for anyone who is out for a few games-----5 to 8 games or so anyway.

If Gordon is 1st team All-Rookie, and Thor plays like he did at the end of last year, then we're on our way. Can't wait until it's basketball season again; let's do this!!!

[mj_shoefanatic]

44 W's?

I smell horse dung.

[Downtown]

Sonics fan here(Seattle, definitely not OKC). Now that my team is gone, I've been paying more attention to other teams and what they've done since draft day.

Who finally convinced Elgin Baylor that you can't become a winning team by continually stocking draft prospects? At some point you need to mix in a group of highend veterans.

Congratulations on the great offseason. I've been a huge Baron Davis fan going back to his Charlotte days. I think he's been a little underated the last few years with the crop of young pointguards taking the spotlight. The key to your entire team in my opinion is going to be the health of him, Camby, and Kaman. If they stay healthy Baron Davis is going to make everyone on your team a better looking player. He can shoulder the big load game in and game out, can plain take control of games in the fourth quarter and demoralize teams, can disrupt other teams with his defense, and generally is the guy that when things aren't going perfect steps up and settles the team down.

What can you say about how your management dealt with the departure of Elton Brand? I can't think of a better move you could have made than to bring in Marcus Camby in exchange for nothing. With scorers like Davis, and Thornton, having a former defensive player of the year standing next to Kaman(a healthy and motivated Kaman we hope) is going to make the difference in alot of close games where the outcome is decided by less than 5 points.

I followed Al Thornton last season since the race for rookie of the year boiled down to my guy Kevin Durant, Horford, and Thornton. I look for a much bigger role and success for him this season.

Absolutely solid draft. Eric Gordon won't have any pressure on him(unless he puts it on himself) behind two crafty veterans in Baron Davis and Cutino Mobley. He can learn, find his groove, and still contribute significantly and possibly working his way into more minutes as the season progresses. I think the consensus is that Deandre Jordan is going to be a work in progress but he steps into the perfect spot learning from both Kaman, but more importantly Camby. Again, like Gordon, he shouldn't have much pressure on him and he can concentrate on improving himself as a player over time without being expected to provide instant production.

Add all this to the mix of depth veterans and I think your team could once again elevate to where they were a couple of seasons ago with a playoff spot. The west is still going to be awfully tough but I think if injuries stay away from the older group, and the coach gives certain players rest during the season to keep them fresh, then I see alot of great positives this season.

Good luck.

[mkwest]

Thank you. That was a great analysis imo. I'm not going to lie because that's exactly what I want to hear; but you do give us a fair and honest shot and that's a lot more than what most of the critics are giving us. We have been getting dogged somewhat and ignored for the most part.

As a Clipper fan, we've never had as proactive an offseason as we have had this summer. It was really one big emotional roller coaster ride from beginning to end. For a couple days we were on cloud nine, then panic started to set in after not hearing anything on the Brand front. We all know how that played out. Then came doubt that Davis may renege on the deal, but he stayed true to his word.

Dunleavy has had a lot of internal critics (the fans) over the years as a coach, but he did step up and redeem himself in the eyes of many with the actions that he took after everything fell apart. After being "Falked" over and "Branded", he came out and stood up for this franchise verbally by getting to the media to tell his side of the story (which neither Brand nor Falk refuted), but even more importantly by being a man of action. The Camby deal came out of nowhere (I'm so thankful that the Randolph didn't go through). The pieces that were added give us much needed depth and versatility. We lost some sentimental favorites, but we picked up some veterans that know how to the play the game and that can also help ease the youngsters in the NBA.

I'm hoping and believing for the best, but I'm happy just to see that the FO did not sit around twiddling the their thumbs this summer. For years I thought that if this franchise lost Brand that they should just fold, but his departure has actually helped put us in a positive direction now and for the future.

[CLiPPzWeRD42]

Sonics fan here(Seattle, definitely not OKC). Now that my team is gone, I've been paying more attention to other teams and what they've done since draft day.

Who finally convinced Elgin Baylor that you can't become a winning team by continually stocking draft prospects? At some point you need to mix in a group of highend veterans.

Congratulations on the great offseason. I've been a huge Baron Davis fan going back to his Charlotte days. I think he's been a little underated the last few years with the crop of young pointguards taking the spotlight. The key to your entire team in my opinion is going to be the health of him, Camby, and Kaman. If they stay healthy Baron Davis is going to make everyone on your team a better looking player. He can shoulder the big load game in and game out, can plain take control of games in the fourth quarter and demoralize teams, can disrupt other teams with his defense, and generally is the guy that when things aren't going perfect steps up and settles the team down.

What can you say about how your management dealt with the departure of Elton Brand? I can't think of a better move you could have made than to bring in Marcus Camby in exchange for nothing. With scorers like Davis, and Thornton, having a former defensive player of the year standing next to Kaman(a healthy and motivated Kaman we hope) is going to make the difference in alot of close games where the outcome is decided by less than 5 points.

I followed Al Thornton last season since the race for rookie of the year boiled down to my guy Kevin Durant, Horford, and Thornton. I look for a much bigger role and success for him this season.

Absolutely solid draft. Eric Gordon won't have any pressure on him(unless he puts it on himself) behind two crafty veterans in Baron Davis and Cutino Mobley. He can learn, find his groove, and still contribute significantly and possibly working his way into more minutes as the season progresses. I think the consensus is that Deandre Jordan is going to be a work in progress but he steps into the perfect spot learning from both Kaman, but more importantly Camby. Again, like Gordon, he shouldn't have much pressure on him and he can concentrate on improving himself as a player over time without being expected to provide instant production.

Add all this to the mix of depth veterans and I think your team could once again elevate to where they were a couple of seasons ago with a playoff spot. The west is still going to be awfully tough but I think if injuries stay away from the older group, and the coach gives certain players rest during the season to keep them fresh, then I see alot of great positives this season.

Good luck.

I agree with MK.. Thank you, and great analysis from an outsider! I really like our chances at the playoffs for the next couple of years, and if we get one of the bigs from the 2010 FA class, then I really like our chances at a championship.

[mkwest]

I agree with MK.. Thank you, and great analysis from an outsider! I really like our chances at the playoffs for the next couple of years, and if we get one of the bigs from the 2010 FA class, then I really like our chances at a championship.

If our young players (Thornton, Gordon & Jordan) progress like we think and hope they will, then I think we could be really dangerous come 2010. I'm really hoping that Jordan is able to get the grooming that he needs from Kaman, Camby & Hughes to be an effective contributor on both ends of the floor by then. Add a Bosh or a STAT to that and a championship could be just around the corner. Of course Sterling is going to have to be willing to pay these young guys when they're up for extensions as well.

[cinnamon]

I'm just wishing excellent health for every Clipper all season, and if this is so then I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them in the playoffs come spring.
As downtown says, given the circumstances they were faced with, FO could hardly have made a better series of decisions and deals in recent months.
Finally we can go into a season lookin good.

[~aZnPrYdE87~]

44 is too conservative. imo, this team can win atleast 48-50 ballgames barring any catastrophic injuries.