Playing Brand and draft position.

PatrickJNYC · Post #1 » by **PatrickJNYC** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 8:41 am

As true Clipper fans do you want Brand to return to his superstar form this season and win a few more games, or would you rather sit him down like when the Spurs sat Robinson down to tank games ?

With Livingston's future being uncertain, wouldn't it be a lot better to shut Brand down and try to go for the top 3 pick ?

I'm a die hard Knick fan and I root for them to lose to try to win the lottery again. We won't beat the Celtics or the Pistons so why get into the playoffs at all. Do you feel the same way ?

Post #2 » by **mkwest** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:14 am

That's a tough question but a good one. Personally, I'd like to see him and Shaun come back and play a few games, but nothing too strenuous. EB's looking like he may return sooner than originally expected and if he's on the court he's going to give it his all. In our last 18 games we face 14 teams with an above .500 record (unfortunately 3 of the sub .500 teams are Memphis, Seattle & Minnesota) so that'll be against teams fighting for a spot/position on both ends. I fantasize about who would be a nice fit and all, but I'm trying not to get too attached until mid-may after the lottery has taken place. Wherever we pick I hope it's someone that will bolster the backcourt and make it "youthier" :lol:

. I cannot root for the Clips to lose, even if it may be in their interest concerning the draft.

The perfect situation of course would have us playing hard while still getting lucky in the lottery to snag a top 3 pick. :pray:

mj_shoefanatic · Post #3 » by **mj_shoefanatic** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 5:29 pm

^No lie I hope we get Mayo, Rose or Bayless in the draft.

Post #4 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:31 pm

I think we should have Brand and Livingston come back for the last 5 games. Just to get a little bit more comfortable with playing again. When most of our players play we seem to play hard but it doesn't always result in victories. I feel that management will probably sit some players down toward the end of the season so that we have a better shot at winning the lottery. But we all know having the top spot doesn't mean that you will get the first pick.

That Nicka · Post #5 » by **That Nicka** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:51 pm

I hope you guys get O.J.

remixer2017 · Post #6 » by **remixer2017** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:51 pm

i agree with one of the posts ahead of me and let brand and livingston come back with 5 games left to get there groove back. i would love to see brand back as soon as possible but with our teams luck i would not chance it. if the draft coming up was a weak one like the bogut class then i would want to see brand and livingston back, but since this draft class is better than last years i say we tank like we never tanked before. i want eric gordon from indiana on our team next year, mobley is getting old and its showing so he can come off the bench and gordon and step right in and help us make the nba finals next year. imagine, livingston as PG, gordon as SG, maggette as SF, brand as PF, kaman as C. plus we got mobley, thomas, powell, davis, ross, and hopefully cassell coming off the bench. i dont think any team could beat us with that team. just a thought, GREAT TOPIC i deeply enjoyed writing this post. THANKS.

remixer2017 · Post #7 » by **remixer2017** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:53 pm

and thornton coming off the bench as well i forgot to add.

ClipperDomination · Post #8 » by **ClipperDomination** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 3:14 am

It's a tough question to ask. We want to have a high lottery pick, but at the same time, we would like to win some games in the process.

Derrick Rose would be a match made in heaven for the Clipps.

JJ LoDuca · Post #9 » by **JJ LoDuca** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 3:51 am

Well, I literally don't give a damn about the lottery until my team is on the clock...so I don't know what all this "2008-2009" nonsense is. I'm still into the 07-08 season...sadly. Rose, Mayo, all them guys are good ball players but I ain't too keen on fantasizing about them in Clipper unis just yet.

As for EB and Shaunie, it kinda sounds like the general idea is that when they come back, we're all of a sudden gonna sweep the rest of our games or something. Those two will be more focused on getting their own groove back than helping the team win (and rightly so, that's just how its gotta be, right?). So even if they're both back for say, the last 20 games, I don't think it would really make a big difference as far as our chances in this amazing, precious, fantastic lottery go. Look at Boston & Memphis last year. And Portland walks away with the top pick anyway! So purposely soiling our team's history in hopes of a higher draft pick is blasphemy.

Shoot.

I'm still rooting for us falling one game shy of the playoffs again!

madmaxmedia · Post #10 » by **madmaxmedia** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:25 pm

Yeah, the main goal is to get them back to some sort of basketball shape, so they don't sit too long before next season. Especially Shaun.

With the lottery system, you can't worry too much about it anyway (a good thing). A few wins instead of losses isn't going to make that much of a difference going into the lottery.

Right now we have the 4th worst record in the league (yikes!) Our talent already is probably better than that. I think we'll end up somewhere higher regardless of how many games EB and Shaun play. So chances are that we'll end up outside the top 3. Or we could end up at 10th worst record and still get lucky and bag a top 2 pick. Who knows.

JJ LoDuca wrote:As for EB and Shaunie, it kinda sounds like the general idea is that when they come back, we're all of a sudden gonna sweep the rest of our games or something. Those two will be more focused on getting their own groove back than helping the team win (and rightly so, that's just how its gotta be, right?).

Post #11 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:06 am

I did say before that the team with worst record never seems to win the lottery. As far as EB and Shaun go, I do want them to come back this season. At this points sounds like EB will come back before Shaun. I just want both of them to come back healthy and I want both of them to get back into game shape. I'm sure we will probably get a pretty good draft pick and like JJ said I'm more interested in this season as of right now. It ain't even the all star break yet.

Dantares · Post #12 » by **Dantares** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:27 am

I am a Knicks fan and I want us to tank games too so we can get a guy like Thornton or Kaman. Clippers are lucky you guys have 3 great players for the near future to build around in Brand/Kaman/Thornton, i dont even think Clips need to rebuild. You guys could just trade Maggette and the draft pick to pick up a few really good complimentary role-players like Jose Calderon, Ronnie Brewer or bigs like Biedrens and Haslem.