I don't want to rain on this parade, but...

by WestsideBrandon on May 21, 2009 10:08 PM PDT Comment 26 comments

Something good happened to the Clippers. No, something great happened to the Clippers. They won the draft lottery and are going to get a bona fide stud in Blake Griffin in June. Good luck like this is like an eclipse for the Clippers, but that doesn't mean that it's time for us, the fans, to get content.

Let's face facts. This team still has a lot farther to go. Blake Griffin isn't going to magically make Baron Davis and Zach Randolph All Stars. The guys who played awful basketball for the Clippers are going to be on next year's team, and excitement over a draft pick guarantees nothing. Yes, Baron's got the potential to be Boom Dizzle again, but I'll believe it when I see it. This team is not going to make the playoffs if they remotely resemble last year's team, which they do right now.

Secondly, I refuste to be pleased with winning the draft lottery. The fans getting content is exactly what this inept organization wants. The reason that Andy Roeser was so relieved at the lottery was because he knew that fans would start buying tickets again. They're simply using this as a stopgap measure. We're not angry anymore, and getting the top pick is going to take attention away from the multitude of problems within this organization.

The main problem at this point is Mike Dunleavy. I'm not going to stop being angry about him until he is fired. I know it's a lost cause, but I'm willing to fight for what I believe in. Getting Blake Griffin is great, but not in any of MDsr's offensive schemes (as if there are any). Look, last year I subscribed to the Heisler school of thought which was wait it out, and I waited. I've waited long enough for something to happen. I want to see a good basketball team, and to be perfectly honest, the Clippers aren't even close. I like Blake Griffin, but he isn't going to change this organization.

This organization has problems, and if they aren't addressed we'll all be stuck watching more crappy basketball. I'm not going to get content because of this. I really don't mean to be pessimistic about the situation, but after last year I see all the things that can go wrong. I had hope coming into last season, and they came crashing down. I see the same kind of hope in many fans this year, and I don't want the same results.

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I'm with ya

Why is Dunleavy still around? No other coach/GM combos in the league. The man has been pretty good as the GM since he took that over. Let him keep that and get rid of him as coach. Baron doesnt want to play for him, we’re looking like we need to play uptempo and thats not his style. Get anyone, Get Kurt Rambis. It’ll be like Scioscia going from the Dodgers to the Angels and making them a contender every year.

by DocD on May 21, 2009 10:24 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Right on

More and more of you are coming around to this inescapable logic.

by Jax on May 21, 2009 10:25 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Nothing logical

About “anger” or hatred.

"So what are the odds that the Clippers can compete next season given their limited flexibility? Slim and none."

by John R on May 22, 2009 8:16 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Which is why I'm hoping you'll get some help

Nothing logical about sticking your head in the sand.

by Jax on May 22, 2009 9:11 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm done as well. I've been going to games for 20 years, and after last year, and KEEPING

Dunleavy, I don’t care who they draft. I’m not going, they’re not getting any more money out of me.

by eastie Rich on May 22, 2009 5:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i was kinda hoping that stan van gundy would be available...

by bystander on May 21, 2009 11:21 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

that guy sucks

he may be the only coach in the league that screams more than dunleavy

by krapper11 on May 21, 2009 11:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I can´t be pumped up. This is a team that won 19 games last year and used all the excuses available in sports.
Next year is gonna be more of the same, unless:
- MDsr is relieved of his coaching duties, not necessarily as a GM.
- Also, trading Baron Davis and Chris Kaman, as they still have some value, and netting a hungry point guard (Kirk Hinrich is attainable) and a serviceable SF is also a must to have a good year.

by edu_argentina on May 22, 2009 7:29 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Imagine that

Someone else with anger issues. OMG

by Jax on May 22, 2009 9:12 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Organization

Has always been hurting, though good players can help. i.e., sam cassell, elton brand.

We’ve talked about how the draft picks have been better the last couple years, but this could be the big score we’ve all been waiting for. We’ll have to see but we’ve managed to draft two good players w/ great high end potential: EJ & Griffin, and a couple more.

If we were lucky, we’d already have a new coach right now, but he thing is, w/ Dunleavy surviving such a horrible year last year I don’t see how he’s incapable of surviving this year, it’s going to be a hell of a lot easier w/ Griffin & EJ in his second year.

It brings up an interesting dilema for Clipper fans. Do you root for a bad start to increase the chances of a coaching change?

by ghost_ride on May 22, 2009 8:15 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Sterling Owes...

…11 million to MDSr for starters, and now he has to pay Griffin $5 million, on top of pricey deals for BD, Kaman, et. al. I am depressingly certain there will be no coaching change.

by bpr on May 22, 2009 8:28 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The "Fire Dunleavy" Chants

Will be an interesting thing to track…

by ghost_ride on May 22, 2009 8:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The reality is

that no matter what players that luckily fall in our laps, without a good organization behind them, the team will not be successful long term.

It would be illogical to believe otherwise.

by Jax on May 22, 2009 9:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thank you Mister Spock.

Actually if I go back and read all your posts in that Leonard Nimoy voice, I start to understand. Of course, that’s it! He’s only HALF human!!

by swamigusto on May 22, 2009 9:30 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The secret is out!!

Go see the movie – I need some more money

by Jax on May 22, 2009 9:37 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know exactly what you mean...

That’s the problem that I have with this team. I want them to do well, but if they perform then Dunleavy stays. That’s the problem with getting the first pick. People are going to give the Clips enough support to justify keeping him. If this didn’t happen, I’m not sure how bad things would be.

"If a Clippers fan is reading a newspaper in his living room and the ceiling falls on him, he'll just shrug and move to another room." -Bill Simmons

by WestsideBrandon on May 24, 2009 10:20 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well...

You STH’s need to make it known, that just because we got the #1 pick, doesn’t mean that keeping Dunleavy as the coach is acceptable.. Don’t renew, until there’s a new coach.

'Cause how you play, is how you'll be remembered. PLAY LOUD!

by CLiPPz WeRD 12 on May 22, 2009 12:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I didn't, but I'll miss the games. And, if and when I ever decide to renew, I'll be put back at the end

of the line. So, I think my STH days are over.

by eastie Rich on May 22, 2009 6:00 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

Dunleavy had lost control of control of this team a long time ago. The players listen more to Jasen Powell.

"This kid is the best new talent in the league right now, and I don't care who else you mention." -Suns Coach, Alvin Gentry, on Clippers rookie sensation, Eric Gordon.

by cliptakular on May 22, 2009 3:26 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

IT'S DONALD STERLING

by MIKE MENG on May 22, 2009 6:29 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Sterling Article

Just finished reading the Sterling article on ESPN. Apparently the pleading of Dunleavy is the only reason Sterling has renegotiated his typical terms of keeping salary low, and brought in high priced free agents these last few years. It kinda seems like Dunleavy is the best shot we’ve got at getting to Sterling’s head, seeing that no other coach has EVER been able to do what Dunleavy has done.

Yeah he lost the players in the locker room. I think the psychological positives that come with winning the lottery could bring them back to him.

Plus, he’s just not going anywhere. Sterling is obviously the issue, and money is what Sterling talks. Firing Dunleavy into his contract would leave Stern paying off a coach who isn’t coaching. Not gonna happen.

To be honest, we had a WHOLE ROSTERS worth of guys try and mesh together to make a playoff caliber team last year. We were injury plagued the whole season, and morale was low because of a team that was dysfunctional on both ends of the floor. No one knew what they were doing. With a team like that, did we even ever have a shot? There was no history, no leadership, nothing. It looked like the first year of a new franchise.

BD is working out TWICE A DAY. AL stopped eating fast food. Deandre is working his butt off in the practice facility almost daily. They are tired of hearing about last season. They are making the changes they need to be successful, and drafting a talented, athletic, driven player like Griff will only help bring a team like this together.

by MarekTheBrave on May 22, 2009 8:09 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs