Clippers = Playoffs OR Lottery?

[RiversideClips]

Welcome to January, can the Clips actually push for the playoffs or does Management secretly want another JUICY draft pick to team w/ the young nucleus?
I mention Management's view b/c the Clippers are starting to offer Game TICKET Prices that are on par or cheaper than Season Ticket Holder Packages. Is this done to fill the arena, selling concessions & souvenirs or is the SAME DESPERATE move management made last year to get any MONEY it could?
I really am surprised w/ Sterling's lack of interest this year and Dunleavy missing a game (New Year's Eve) and having BROWN, not Lucas coach. I think the coaching choice was a sign from Dunleavy that he is still wanting to CONTROL all aspects of the team.
I have to start thinking if I am going to renew (for a 8th year) for next season, I am really not liking what I see from management.
Someone want to try & sell me on the Clipper's Rosy future?

[donemilio21]

I was just about the start a thread about this. I've been staring at the standings and just logged in to start a thread. Knowing how other teams perform, I just don't see how we can make the playoffs.

Where are we going?

It already looks obvious that first 7 teams in the standings (Lakers, Spurs, Suns, Mavs, Rockets, Blazers and Nuggets) will make the play-offs. Can we really beat Thunder, Hornets, Memphis, Kings and Jerry Sloan's Utah for that last spot?
No, we can't. Not with the inconsistent way we play. Not with a control freak, selfish and blind head coach. Not with a financial success > sporting success mentality owner.
Does anybody anticipate any changes soon? Forget soon, in the next couple years?
This is a franchise hasn't change much in the past 25 years guys.


I gave up on this season. I will still watch every game and support the team no matter what. However, I have to be realistic and reality suggest that another season is already lost.

[jflipclip]

Hanging below .500 won't cut it, nor will being at .500. We need to be above .500.

January will be a tell-tale sign of where this squad is headed. Just win. At this point, I could care less if Griffin returns this month since we have no idea to how well or not he will perform during this intricate month. I'm more concerned with a winning month from the squad we have now, not, when will Blake Griffin come back to save this season from being unwatchable.

[PlinkingPanda]

Gotta see how this team responds with Blake in the rotation to really say. We're still hanging around, but we really are missing a guy or two to be the big difference. Rasual has stepped up, but Craig has been on the bench quite a bit. If Blake can provide a solid 20-30 minutes then I think we may work for the 7th or 8th spot. A rotation of Kaman, Camby, and Griffin in the front court can be very lethal. We just gotta hover around .500 until then to see.

[Forte IV]

I had a dream that showed Clipper Darrell winning a lottery where he won 3.5 billion dollars then bought the Clippers. Then we pwnt in the fa, got Joe Johnson and a good bench.

[SportsFan215]

I say lottery for the reasons donemilio21 said, unless Blake comes back and dominates like we all hope he can dominate.

[mkwest]

I really am surprised w/ Sterling's lack of interest this year and Dunleavy missing a game (New Year's Eve) and having BROWN, not Lucas coach. I think the coaching choice was a sign from Dunleavy that he is still wanting to CONTROL all aspects of the team.

I would have expected Lucas to coach as well in this type of situation. Ralph & Mike gave the explanation that Lucas, Brown & Hughes rotate on going over game tape with the team. It happened to be Brown's game so he ended up coaching with Dunleavy out. In the post game report, Kaman commented on Brown's coaching style and how it differed from Dunleavy. He said that there was a different vibe in the locker room at half time, that Brown is straight forward and doesn't yell (i.e. he's more reserved/relaxed). I'm personally glad to hear that. It's kind of important that they have different personalities, because they're each able to bring out a different something in the players. I totally appreciate having Lucas on the coaching staff. I don't know how he would do as head coach, because his track record isn't the greatest. I do know that having his presence on the bench is an uplifting one for the players. He's become Baron's mentor and the team's cheerleader.



This season has been a letdown that started on October 26th. Losing the first 4 games put us in a hole that we have not yet crawled out of. We have played .500 since then, but that is with losing to teams that we should have beat, giving away games that we should have won. I'm going to keep watching as well. I believe that Blake could be the difference maker, because he's going to make stuff happen. He doesn't give up on plays, and his energy is infectious. Having him back is going to tighten up a lot of our holes. Everybody wants to see us run, having him on the court will make that even more possible. Will it be too late? That's a possibility depending on what our record is and when he gets back.



I'm not going to root for this team to lose for any reason (though there have been times when I minded less than others). I do not expect Dunleavy to be fired regardless of what Bill Simmons or anybody else says. It hasn't happened in all of these years, so I'm not going to focus on that even though he has been so frustrating to deal with. If we end up with another coach because he stepped down or was let go, then that's what it is.

[Det the Threat]

We'll be a lottery team this season, but that's not too bad.

We've got to remember that we just won 19 games last year and will be without the #1 pick for about half the season.

That's why we're a 30something win team, which will add another late lottery pick in this years draft. Though, we're also under the cap some and might be able to sign a nice free agent(for more than the MLE) or do a sign and trade for one of the bigger names(doesn't have to be Lebron, but maybe a guy like Gay).

The most important thing for us is to keep Kaman healthy and at the level he's playing right now, while also seing some more improvement from EJ this year. We should also hope to get Blake back for at least 30 games, which should give us a look at things to come.


The most important thing we've got to decide on this year is Marcus Camby. He's a great vet and would be brilliant as a back up to Griffin and Kaman, but lets be real, he'll most likely sign with some contender for the MLE this offseason. That's why we've got to look at the offers that we'll receive till the deadline and if there's something that nets us some picks/talents, then we should do it and trade Camby.


BTW: As far as coaching goes. I doubt that anything will happen during the season. So we should hope that Dunleavy(at least the coach) finally gets fired this offseason, so we can move on sign/promote someone else to this position.

[DangerCurtis]

Not to jump on the Dunleavy hate wagon, (frankly, I'm tired of listening to peeps' rants about it) but there was something different about the 76ers game. Possibly due to coaching? Aside from the Golden State win earlier this season, it was the only other game that I can remember where I wasn't holding my breath all the way until the end.

With or without Griffin, the team has the potential to earn a playoff spot, but the only way we're going to achieve that is if the players start playing more consistent throughout (something they've yet to show).

As for you, if you got the money to blow on Clippers season tickets, go for it. Otherwise, I'd just dish out the $10 a ticket to see the games I want to watch. The team has a tremendous amount of potential, but we're not showing it.

[ejftw]

Well, we are about 4 games out of the 8th seed at the moment, so if we do want to make a postseason push, we need to go on a nice 8 game win streak or something, which doesn't seem like something that this team can do due to the inconsistency problems.

As far as why Brown coached over Lucas, I would've preferred Hughes to take the reigns for that game over both of those.

[kombayn]

The Clippers need to add depth to the bench. I saw a deal of Kareem Rush for Devin Brown on the trade board and I think that's a really good deal, since Rush is non-guaranteed while the Clips need a back-up 2 guard who puts up points.

[TheNewEra]

I'd go for it Brown for Rush if possible have NO add a 2nd and we are gold.

[mj_shoefanatic]

D.Brown would be a perfect fit in our 2nd unit.

[madmaxmedia]

Being 4 games out of the playoffs isn't that bad, considering we finally get Griffin soon.

If we don't make the playoffs, we will be near the bottom in terms of ping pong balls. So hopefully we finish strong and at least make a late-season push to make things interesting.

[TheNewEra]

As soon as we get close to one we head for the other hopefully we can push this current streak