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Vinny Del Negro and the Clippers coaching situation: An Overview

2013-05-20T23:49:35Z

I've been trying to ignore the coaching situation for the Los Angeles Clippers since the team was eliminated from the playoffs a couple of weeks ago. Why? Well, it's a very long off-season from the beginning of May until training camp opens, and it can get crazy jumping on every rumored development in something that figures to be as slow-moving as a Clippers-coaching decision. But it's time to weigh in a bit.

Overview

Vinny Del Negro's contract as the Clippers head coach expires this month after three seasons with the team. He was originally hired in 2010, aka the year 1 BCP3 (before Chris Paul) and signed a two year deal with an option for a third season. Del Negro was 32-50 in his first season, 40-26 in year two and 56-26 this year, setting franchise records for winning percentage in each of the last two seasons. His overall winning percentage as a Clippers head coach of 128-112 (.533) is the second best of all time, behind Larry Brown's 64-53 (.547), but of course Brown compiled his record in less than a year and a half and then quit on his own. If the Clippers were to fire him, it would be the first time in franchise history that they had fired a coach with a winning record. Del Negro currently stands as the third winningest coach in franchise history, after Mike Dunleavy's 215 wins and Jack Ramsay's 158.

But despite his success, there is a persistent perception that Del Negro is overmatched as an NBA head coach. He was fired after two seasons straight playoff appearances in Chicago in his first coaching gig, and the conventional wisdom is that both his offensive and defensive schemes are too simplistic -- that he's not an X's and O's guy. Del Negro himself has never really disputed that, but he does seem to be a decent motivator in the locker room, which counts for something.

After a four straight playoff losses to the Memphis Grizzlies, bringing a premature end to the Clippers post-season in the wake of their best ever regular season, it was widely accepted that Del Negro was done as head coach. However, more than two weeks after the first round failure, no decision has been made -- and in fact, nothing concrete has been done to move towards a decision as far as anyone knows. While Brooklyn and and Milwaukee and other teams acted quickly to fire their head coaches and start interviewing candidates, the Clippers have done ... nothing.

Will the Clippers fire Vinny Del Negro?

We've worked hard in Clips Nation combat the perception that something will always go wrong with this team because "It's the Clippers." But this is one case where those three little words still have relevance. "It's the Clippers", so who knows what they're going to do?

This has never been a particularly decisive franchise. Mike Dunleavy won just 42 games in two full seasons and was two thirds of the way through a third losing year before he was fired 2010. They then waited until well after the draft, after every other team had filled their coaching vacancies, to name Del Negro the head coach. In another franchise, this approach might be described as 'thorough' or 'methodical' -- with the Clippers, it's more often seem as 'incompetence' and 'inertia'.

Del Negro and general manager Gary Sacks spoke to the media on Monday, May 6, just two days after the playoff exit, and at that time the plan was for Del Negro to sit down and talk with owner Donald T. Sterling. The meeting was first rumored to be the week of May 6, then it was pushed to the week of May 13, and then to the weekend -- and as of now, there's still no news as to whether or not the meeting has happened.

Why the super slo mo on this process? No one can say for sure, but money probably has something to do with it. Sterling is loathe to spend much, and particularly dislikes giving long term contracts to coaches -- he's been sued by each of the last two coaches who had long term deals for not honoring the contracts after they were fired. While the conventional wisdom says fire Del Negro and hire a proven winner like Stan Van Gundy, Sterling is going to have to be convinced to pay the kind of money that it will take to lure Van Gundy to L.A. Firing Del Negro takes him one step closer to potentially committing long term money to a high-priced replacement, so like a teenager with homework to do, he's procrastinating.

All of which is means it's no longer a given that Del Negro will definitely be fired. For one thing, the playoff embarrassment is less fresh and less painful. If he wasn't fired Sunday morning after a bizarre Game 6 which was, in Bill Simmons fairly accurate words, "his bad coaching magnum opus" then each day he survives the bad memories fade a bit more. For another, Del Negro got the job with the Clippers in the first place by selling himself as a coach to Sterling. For all his shortcomings on the sideline, Del Negro knows how to handle Sterling. Finally, if VDN is willing to work for relatively inexpensive, short term deals he'll have an advantage over some of his potential replacements.

Should the Clippers fire Vinny Del Negro?

I've pointed out before that Del Negro has done some good things, that he's not as bad as his reputation, that the Clippers had the third best point differential in the league this season so he must have been doing something right. I've also pointed out that most coaches are fairly interchangeable, that every team runs more or less the same schemes, that players win and lose games, not coaches, that Del Negro is no worse than most of the other coaches in the NBA.

Having said all of that, this is a no-brainer. Of course they should fire him. For a couple of simple reasons. One, because the perception is that he should be fired. The Clippers still have to battle the perception of the franchise, and if Del Negro stays it will be interpreted as incompetence or parsimony or both. Should it matter what the media and the public think? Maybe not, but it does. The other obvious reason to fire Del Negro is because they can. If Del Negro is not much worse than other coaches, he's certainly not any better. It's hard to take the next step, from the second tier to the top tier, and that's what the Clippers have to do now. They don't have the flexibility or the picks to significantly upgrade the roster -- so they'll have to find improvement elsewhere. Coaching is one place to look.

In fact, if Sacks and club president Andy Roeser are smart, they'll explain to Sterling that finding the right coach now is probably the most cost effective way of improving. Once Chris Paul re-signs, the Clippers will be bumping right up against the luxury tax, and buying wins with better players will cost double or even treble between the various luxury taxes that could be levied on the team. But there is no luxury tax on coaches, so finding the right one, even at a steep price, is a bargain compared to going into the luxury tax to buy more and better players.

So where are we now?

Who knows what's going on at this point. Sterling was seen at the Spurs/Grizzlies playoff game in San Antonio this weekend. Sterling doesn't go to Clippers games too frequently these days, and almost never on the road. For him to show up to watch two other teams in San Antonio is unheard of. Was he scouting potential head coaching candidates? Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins, like Del Negro, will be a coaching free agent this summer. Grizzlies assistant David Joerger is the man credited with turning Memphis into a defensive juggernaut, and like Tom Thibodeau before may be ready to become a head coach now. Then there's Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, who has been on the short list of assistants who are ready to move up to the first chair for years. Could Sterling have been in town to 'scout' potential head coaches, as ESPN's Marc Stein suggested?

There's just one problem with that idea: Sterling doesn't have the basketball savvy to 'scout' potential coaches. Sitting courtside at a playoff game would be meaningless in his decision-making process. It might make sense for him to meet face to face with a potential future coach -- but the Clippers don't have permission to speak to any of these people, so that didn't happen. There's a first time for everything I guess, and maybe Sterling was indeed there to get a feel for a potential future coach -- but the idea is a little laughable on its surface.

Regardless, the Clippers need to get out of their traditional foot dragging mode and make some decisions. Van Gundy has already interviewed with the Hawks and is being courted by other teams as well. Several teams are getting a leg up on the Clippers simply by being active in the candidate search already. It's advantageous that the Clippers job is considered one of the cherry positions this off season -- Chris Paul and Blake Griffin can make any coach look good, so unless you'd rather have a deep-pocketed Russian Billionaire as your owner, there's no better opportunity. But the Clippers are used to waiting until the available coaches have been picked over a bit and then doing some bargain-hunting; but they need to change their approach and go after the top candidates before they've taken other jobs.

Why was Donald Sterling in San Antonio?

2013-05-20T17:29:55Z

Here are some of Marc Stein's tweets:

Hottest theory circulating here in San Antonio is that Donald Sterling was at Game 1 sitting across from Grizz bench to scout Lionel Hollins
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 19, 2013

Could Sterling have been in San Antonio on other business, on a Sunday, two rounds after Clips eliminated? If so, that's a first for him
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 19, 2013

Clips, I'm told, have NOT asked to interview Spurs' in-demand Mike Budenholzer. Suggests Sterling was thus scouting free agent-to-be Hollins
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 19, 2013

And ESPN's Insider has this nice excerpt:

Vinny Del Negro's future with the Los Angeles Clippers is very much in doubt and we got word from ESPN.com's Marc Stein that owner Donald Sterling may have been scouting a possible replacement on Sunday.

Now, if anyone has access to Insider, can you please post some interesting points made in the article?

P.S. Thanks goes to John Raffo who came up with the title of this post.

Raffo: I found this pic from Getty images dated yesterday. That's Peter Holt with his back to the camera:

2012-2013 Clippers Exit Interviews: Grant Hill

2013-05-20T13:00:11Z

Name: Grant Hill

2012-2013 Key Stats: 3.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 15.1 mpg (in 29 games)

Age: 40

Years in the NBA: A million

Years with the Clippers: 1

2012-2013 Salary: $2,045,065

Contract Status: Signed through next year

In a Nutshell

I was overjoyed when the Clippers signed Grant Hill last July. Here was a pro's pro who'd battled his way through serious injury to come back and contribute deep into his thirties (he is, at 40, the oldest player in the NBA), years when most players are finding themselves in a steep fade or out of the league. When healthy, Grant Hill has always been a complete player, from his early days as Rookie-of-the-Year and an All-Star point-forward for the Detroit Pistons to his latter day expertise as a superior floor-runner and shooter for the Phoenix Suns, But it was on the defensive end that Hill is really memorable. Stick him In against the opposition's best player, regardless of position, stir lightly, and watch him expertly do his spider-attack thing.

But that didn't happen this year. Instead Hill was injured early, missed much of training camp and the entire first half of the season. While the Clippers probably figured he'd become a fifteen to twenty-five minute backup to Caron Butler, Hill found himself buried on the bench behind the surprisingly effective play of Matt Barnes.

Strengths

It happened in February, in a game against the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden. Carmelo Anthony spent the third quarter burning the Clippers. Vinny Del Negro, desperate for an answer, looked down his bench and saw the pleasant, intelligent face of Grant Hill. Hill came in the game and attacked, playing 15 late minutes, and shutting down Anthony... leading the Clippers to a 14 point win.

Yahoo, right? Not so fast. Unfortunately for Hill, Vinny, and the Clips, it never happened again. Del Negro tried to find a spot for Hill in the rotation, but an ill-advised experiment with Hill as backup power forward failed, and Del Negro didn't care to mess with the not-brilliant but not-bad Caron Butler to Matt Barnes one-two punch. When Chris Paul went out with injury, Captain Vinny even gave minutes to Hill at the point, but Hill never found his rhythm and never found a spot in the rotation. (He made only one appearance in the playoffs, in the drunken, ludicrous sixth game).

But it seems Hill's speed and open court prowess should have fit well into the Clipper's open court bench scheme. He's always been a solid shooter with an ability to get to the rack. His size, quickness, and strength seem relatively un-diluted even at forty.

But Grant Hill's most valuable feature might be his age and the size of his brain; on a team where enthusiasm often seems to overcome sense (see DeAndre Jordan), Hill's calm, heady demeanor might be seen as an asset on the Clipper's bench and in the locker room. Ironically, it might have been Hill's passivity and grace that allowed Del Negro to keep him on the bench; he isn't a guy likely to carp or criticize. Should he have openly complained or whined about minutes, the Clipper's spongy coaching staff probably would have acquiesced. (There's a reason Chauncey Billups saw big minutes in the playoffs, even while he continually proved himself to be totally ineffective... on both ends of the floor.)

Weaknesses

Uh. Well, Grant Hill IS forty. And it's hard to measure how much he has left. In the last two years he's totaled only eighty games (although the three years before that he averaged 80 games each season). How much does Hill have left? And how much does he want to play? Moreover, how much does he want to play for the Clippers? Even though he was out for the first half of the season, he probably could have come back sooner if the team had needed his skills... and he clocked long strings of DNP-CD's at the end of the season even though he was perfectly healthy.

Future with the Clippers

Hill has another year on his deal at $2 million, which is fairly expensive for a twelfth man... and he has hinted at retirement. But, if the Clips lose Matt Barnes to free agency or package Caron Butler as part of a trade, Hill might still be a valuable and relatively inexpensive bench player. Despite the benefits of keeping him around, I'd put the likelihood of his return to the Clippers at around 20 percent.

NBA Draft Combine: Intriguing Prospects for Clippers

2013-05-18T15:17:23Z

The 2013 NBA Draft Combine in Chicago came to a close this past afternoon. Last year some of the winners of the combine were Damian Lillard, Terrence Ross, and Thomas Robinson. This year's draft class was viewed in a different light from previous years. It has been billed as the worst draft since 2000 in terms of prospects and actually doesn't differentiate all that much from that draft at the top. The likely top overall pick, Kentucky's Nerlens Noel, tore his left ACL on February 12th against Florida. The top overall pick back in 2000, Kenyon Martin, broke his right fibula and also tore ligaments. The combine this year helped showcase guys who hoped to shed the "worst draft in a decade" label that's been thrown onto this pile of talent. Well, not only did this crop of kids show that they were the most athletic to come out in a long time but they also showed they might be better than some think. However, we're only going to look at the prospects that the Clippers might see when they show up on the clock in the first round.

NOTABLE PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR THE CLIPPERS PICK

Vander Blue: I should preface this by saying that I have a friend who currently moved to South Carolina but previously had lived in Chicago. Before Chicago, he attended Marquette. We talk on nearly a daily basis and I called him today after watching Vander Blue. He hadn't seen how Blue performed but I had. He asked me if it was good and the only thing I could say was "better than good" before he jumped back in by raving about him more than he ever had to me. From a pure measurement standpoint, Vander Blue isn't going to blow you away. He stands 6'5¼" and weighs 197.4 pounds while possessing a 6'6" wingspan. He's really a prototypical two guard in the NBA as far as size is concerned. But then he hit the court. And you saw the potential. Blue ran a blazing three-quarter time (3.14) and then backed it up with an even more ridiculous lane agility time (10.40). Vander then ran a modified time of 2.70 and finished off with a maximum leap vertical of 37½". He's not quite Tony Allen but he's close. Tony Allen had him with a 6'9" wingspan. Everything else is nearly identical to the numbers Tony Allen put up. He could either be the next Tony Allen or the next Malcolm Lee. It says a lot when a guy who is a noted great defender can come in and showcase his athletic ability like this. His two-way game should translate extremely well to the NBA and the Clippers could definitely take a gamble on him late in the first round.
Tim Hardaway, Jr.: I've been pretty sour on Hardaway as a prospect since I feel like he's a solid player but not anything worthwhile as a whole. He showed up at the combine and displayed that he does have legitimate NBA two guard size at 6'6¼" and 199.4 pounds with a 6'7" wingspan. Hardaway then showcased his athleticism by performing very well in the three-quarter time (3.25), lane agility time (10.68), modified time (2.93), and maximum leap vertical (37½"). Oh and he was also the top three-point prospect that showcased his skills. He attempted 25 shots from beyond the arc and made 19 of them. When it came time for the three-on-three drills, Hardaway also stepped up and performed well. The one problem with Hardaway is that he doesn't always give his best on defense. As a player coming into the league, coaches and executives want to see a kid willing to do what it takes to win on both ends of the court. Even if you're only good on one end, you must at least try and compete on the other end. Hardaway, if he proves to people that he can compete on defense, could slide his way into the late first round and possibly to the Clippers.
Tony Snell: I recently had someone tweet me about Tony Snell who told me he was a lot like Kawhi Leonard. I'm going to be honest, I didn't see it. However, he did showcase a jumper that looked like it could be taken to the next level. From a size standpoint, Snell was great. He came in at 6'7¼" and 198.2 pounds with a 6'11½" wingspan. Perfect size for the two or the three. Snell's three-quarter time of 3.25 was good, as was his 2.84 modified time and 36½" maximum leap vertical. The one drill that he turned heads in, besides shooting the lights out, was the lane agility drill. His time of 10.36 came in second in the entire combine. The only prospect to do better was C.J. Leslie (10.19). Snell features a bit of a two-way game but is more shooter than defender right now. That's not to say that he doesn't have the potential to be a great defender. He does. Tony Snell could be a steal late in the first round, and the Clippers could take him to be that two-way wing player that they desperately need. He does have the size, shot, and projection to make a positive impact.
Reggie Bullock: Bullock and the guy that will follow him are pretty similar. Bullock measured in at 6'7" and 199.8 pounds while featuring a 6'8¾" wingspan. His 3.31 three-quarter time was good but his lane agility time of 11.33 was mediocre. His 3.3 modified time was a little bit underwhelming but his maximum leap vertical of 36½" was actually quite good. As far as the athleticism is concerned, it's a hodgepodge of results. You have some good, some bad, and some average. Bullock pretty much is settled into the small forward role at the NBA level because of that. His defense is a bit on the average side, as well. The sticking point for him will be his shot. He shot it great at the combine (72%) and if he can take that to the pros then he has a good chance of making something of himself. Problem is that he'll have to show more. He'll likely be there when the Clippers make their selection but I think they'll want a little bit more from a player at this juncture.
Allan Crabbe: The other side of the Bullock coin, so to speak. Crabbe -- which, by the way, is pronounced like "crab" instead of "crabby" -- came into the draft with a lot of questions surrounding his athleticism. His defense is quite terrible. I've seen it on tape a few times and I've actually cringed while watching it. Anyways, Crabbe measured in at 6'6¼" and 197.4 pounds with a 6'11¼" wingspan. The wingspan shocked me. I didn't think he was that long. Crabbe's three-quarter time (3.32) nearly equaled Bullock's. His maximum leap vertical of 36" fell a hair shy of Bullock's. Crabbe's modified time of 3.10 edged out Bullock. The one place where Crabbe blew Bullock away, however, was on the lane agility drill where Crabbe posted a time of 10.67. A nearly identical mark to that of Hardaway. It means that Crabbe clearly has the athleticism and could possibly even be a solid defender at the next level if he actually tries. Was he just not trying all that time? Hard to believe. He did show a great shot (70%) and definitely will take that with him. He has unconscious range. He'll likely be there when the Clippers pick and wouldn't be a bad choice. Defense, as we are seeing with some kids, could be the problem.
Ricardo Ledo: I was fairly positive that Ledo would shine in a setting like this and move into the late lottery. Alas, I was proven wrong. I'm actually moving him down my board rather rapidly. On my first big board, I had him 9th. Tonight, I moved him down to 17th. He still will probably keep getting moved down. It's hard to see why a player like him, who had a ton of question marks surrounding him after his lost season, would show up out of shape. He showed good two guard size -- 6'6" with a 6'7¼" wingspan and 197.2 pounds -- but clearly put zero effort into getting ready. He timed well but didn't jump well. The thing that hurt him the most, unfortunately, was how he looked in workouts and his weight. He had 10.25% body fat. You could add up the three lowest body fats in the entire combine and get to 11.05%. Shameful. He'll be on the board for the Clippers most likely but I wouldn't want him. Not after that work ethic got displayed.

There are a lot of players that will be on the board when the Clippers pick. They even interviewed some players. Ryan Kelly and Erik Murphy immediately come to mind. Both are stretch fours in the Ryan Anderson mold. I truly don't believe either will be picked by the Clippers but rather they're just doing their due diligence. It is important to remember that just because a team interviewed certain players doesn't mean they're only going to pick from that pool of players. We've seen in the past where a team has drafted a player they never interviewed. It's one of the many great parts about the NBA draft process.

Source: Vinny Del Negro to meet with Donald Sterling this weekend

2013-05-17T20:02:39Z

According to Chris Haynes of Comcast Sporstnet...

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has scheduled to meet with head coach Vinny Del Negro over the weekend to discuss Del Negro's fate with the organization, a league source informed CSNNW.com.

According to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, says the two will meet in Los Angeles and a decision is anticipated shortly after.

The uncertainty of Del Negro's job status has been lingering over his head and coaching staff ever since the Clippers were bounced out of the playoffs in the first round by the Memphis Grizzlies, a team they took care of a year ago in the first round.

Clippers' assistant coaches operate on annual one-year deals. If Del Negro is brought back, the coaching staff is expected to remain intact.

Del Negro's contract expires June 30.

Exit Interviews: Ronny Turiaf

2013-05-17T08:01:23Z

Name: Ronny Turiaf

Pronunciation: RO-nee TOOR-ee-off

2012-2013 Key Stats: 1.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 10.8 mpg

Age: 30

Years in the NBA: 8

Years with the Clippers: 1

2012-2013 Salary: Minimum

Contract Status: Unrestricted free agent; the Clippers do not hold his Bird Rights

In a Nutshell

You may recall that I was pretty stoked when the Clippers filled the Reggie Evans void with the equally ridiculous Ronny Turiaf. I also harped pretty hard on Ryan Hollins, predicting that His Royal Terribleness would almost never play, and that Ronny, while also quite limited, would be the one to see minutes. Well Erik, great work. Right, as always.

So naturally, Coach Del Negro did the exact opposite of what I predicted, regularly going 10 deep in the lineup and switching between using Turiaf or Hollins as that 10th man. Completely to my surprise, the better of the two appeared to be Hollins. Of course, that had more to do with Hollins having one of the best years of his career, and less to do with Turiaf doing anything wrong. Ronny was who we thought he was. A relatively strong rebounder, a capable defender, and a good finisher—in general, Ronny was a guy who wouldn’t win you any games by himself, but he would at least be able to spell the starters without screwing anything up.

Strengths

Ronny Turiaf’s biggest strength might be the Finger Twirl. I don’t mean that as a slight, but rather, Ronny provided that same crowd-inspiring energy that Reggie did last year. The fans immediately picked up on this, and whenever Ronny was in the game, they joined him (and the Clipper bench) in celebrating his every bucket, every hustle play, and every bearded-jaw-dropping blocked shot with an enthusiastic Finger Twirl.

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’m pretty sure I’ve developed a chronic injury in my wrist thanks to the Finger Twirl, and I’m not even joking. It’s really screwing up my jump shot.)

Turiaf’s second biggest strength has been his defense—particularly in single-coverage situations. Ronny does a fantastic job of keeping his feet on the floor, his arms straight up, and his chest out, generally keeping his man from scoring without fouling too much. His 4.1 fouls per 36 minutes ranked him ahead of Lamar Odom (4.8) and Ryan Hollins (7.2—lol). His 1.8 blocks per 36 minutes had him tied with Ryan Hollins for second best on the team, barely trailing DeAndre Jordan’s 2.0 per 36. Most impressively, however, he held his opponents to an incredibly impressive 0.7 points per possession, making only 33% of their field goals. Mainly, his defense shone in defending post-up situations, where he used the aforementioned tools to frustrate opponents.

None of this was a huge surprise, though. We knew he was a strong defender, and we knew he was a great locker room presence and fan favorite. We knew his rebounding would be decent enough, rebounding at a rate of 7.8 per 36. He didn’t surprise us with unforeseen strengths like Ryan Hollins did. "Consistent" may be the best word to describe our good friend Ronny. Consistently aggressive. Consistently energetic. Consistently dancing. Ronny did everything—well, almost everything—we asked him to do.

Weaknesses

I honestly cannot understand what has happened to Ronny Turiaf’s jump shot. Everything, from his mid-(a.k.a. short)-range jumper to his free throw, it’s just all wrong. I remember, as a Laker, he had a decent enough jumper, and his career free throw percentage has almost always been at least decent, with a career free throw percentage of 65%. And yet this season, somehow, he put up an absolutely impressive free throw percentage of 36.5%. Last year, the PF/C rotation of Martin, Jordan, Evans, and Griffin was one of, if not the worst free throw shooting group in the league*, with a combined free throw percentage of 50%. This year, they were supposed to be so much better. Turiaf, Odom, and Hollins were all 65%+ free throw shooters coming into the season, and Blake and DJ were supposed to have retooled their shots. Well, thanks to Blake’s massive improvement at the stripe, and Odom/Turiaf deciding to avoid the line almost entirely, the new group improved to 56.6%, which is just… delightful.

*Note: DeAndre Jordan actually led last year’s group with a free throw percentage of 52.5%. Seriously. They were that bad.

Well, aside from terrible free throw shooting, and being completely useless further than 3 feet from the hoop, providing pretty much no offense whatsoever, there wasn’t much else to complain about with Ronny Turiaf.

Future with the Clippers

Ronny Turiaf, like Ryan Hollins, will be a free agent this summer, and he will have an extremely difficult choice ahead of him. At the tender age of 30 and on the downhill side of his basketball prime, Ronny will have to choose between playing for the veteran’s minimum for the Clippers, or playing for the veteran’s minimum for another team that has much uglier fans. He’ll probably have no trouble getting an offer from some NBA team—there’s always room for a big that plays defense and rebounds like Ronny—but it’s really up to ~~the Clippers’ Front Office~~ Chris Paul as to whether he’s brought back or not. And depending on who the coach is next year, the 10th and 11th players off the Clippers’ bench may not see as many minutes as they did in the 2012-13 season, so it may not matter either way.

Shelburne: Del Negro Not Dead Yet

2013-05-16T14:27:18Z

After a massive collapse against the Memphis Grizzlies in the playoffs, after the most bizarre single-game player rotation ever seen, after a total failure to help his young players improve (over three years), after he continually proved his own inability to make in-game adjustments, design any sort of offensive or defensive game plan, the Clippers, according to this article by Ramona Shelburne, are not yet done with Vinny Del Negro as coach.

Gary Sacks:

"Every offseason is huge," Sacks said. "Last offseason was huge. Vinny and I worked really closely to put this team together and get what we thought were the right pieces for our team to compete and be as good as we possibly could be as an organization. We came up short, and that's a disappointment. But we have to look at a lot of the positives. I thought he and the staff did a really good job during the season. We need to move forward looking for ways of improving ourselves to go further and achieve our goals.":

What?

Yeah, yeah, the Clips won 56 games, and 17 in a row, but they floundered in the second-half of theseason and their performance in the playoffs was embarrassing, an abject failure. Much of the blame has to be aimed at Del Negro.

In my opinion, Del Negro should have been fired the day after the season ended. For long time Clipper fans, management is sending out a terrible signal: Everything is status quo, even after you assemble the best roster you've ever had, you continue to watch every cent, hire a cheap coach, and accept mediocrity.

Gary Sacks and Andy Roeser should be thoroughly embarrassed by the Clippers playoff performance and by the performance of their coach. They should demand the same of their boss. They should throw tantrums and threaten to leave if he continues his short-sighted, penurious act. Or is that simply too much to ask for a pair of longtime bureaucrats who've managed to lay low enough, stay cheap enough, to hold onto their heavily tenured jobs?

Chris Paul should run screaming from this wreck of a franchise, and sign anywhere else. Blake Griffin should marking off the days on the walls of his gilded cell.

After the most successful season in Clipper history, this is what the fanbase gets? The Clippers need to grow up and get a first rate coach, and they need to do it NOW.

2012-2013 Clippers Exit Interviews: Ryan Hollins

2013-05-15T19:55:23Z

Name: Ryan Hollins

2012-2013 Key Stats: 3.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 11.1 mpg

Age: 28

Years in the NBA: 7

Years with the Clippers: 1

2012-2013 Salary: Minimum

Contract Status: Unrestricted free agent; the Clippers do not hold his Bird Rights

In a Nutshell

I was completely unenthusiastic about the Ryan Hollins signing when it happened last summer but it must be said that Hollins performed admirably as a Clipper. He shot a career high .614 from the field and outperformed his career averages in rebounding and shot blocking as well.

Coach Vinny Del Negro played yo-yo with Hollins minutes much of the season. Del Negro mostly played a 10 man rotation, and Hollins began the season as the backup center, often playing more minutes than Lamar Odom as Odom worked his way into basketball condition. Hollins was soon supplanted for the fourth big spot by Ronny Turiaf at which point Ryan claimed his rightful position as chief towel-waver on the bench. Hollins accumulated 22 DNP-CDs from the beginning of December until mid-March, mixed with garbage minutes and injury backup time. Then he suddenly re-emerged ahead of Turiaf in the rotation in the final month of the season. As if all that wasn't strange enough, during the first five playoff games Del Negro played both Hollins AND Turiaf in a five big rotation, with Hollins playing most first half minutes and Turiaf taking the second half rotation, in a vain attempt to slow the Memphis bigs.

All in all, Hollins provided good energy with the second unit, defensive activity and enough offense to get by. His pick and roll defense was excellent, and was probably a big part of the reason that he was able to remain in the rotation as much as he did since having bigs who can defend the pick and roll is such an important part of today's NBA. He's still a limited player -- he lacks the strength to be a great post defender or rebounder and consequently he's a bit of a foul machine -- but he was more than serviceable for the Clippers this season.

Strengths

The term 'energy guy' is thrown around too much, but it certainly applies to Hollins. As part of a second unit that thrived early in the season on pressure defense and transition offense Hollins fit right in. Not the most graceful of athletes, Hollins nonetheless possesses surprising lateral quickness for a seven footer, and was able to show and trap very effectively pick and roll coverages. His long lean frame gives him the look of a shot blocker, and indeed early in his NBA career it seemed that he might turn into a rejection specialist, averaging 2.6 blocks per 36 minutes in his third season. Strangely, his shot-blocking fell sharply to just over one per 36 minutes over the last three seasons, but he was once again a valuable rim-protector this season, averaging 1.8 per 36, second on the team after DeAndre Jordan.

Offensively, Hollins fit in well in the "Lob City" paradigm, rolling to the basket and finishing lobs with skill and frequency. He made .614 of his field goal attempts, mostly because he limited himself to easy ones, but importantly he also made his free throws. While Blake Griffin missed one in three freebies and the other three Clipper bigs were among the seven worst free throw shooters in the entire league, Hollins shot a more than respectable 75% from the line -- I have little doubt that reliability was at least a part of the reason that Hollins resurfaced in the rotation in the final month, as Del Negro got fed up with having to worry about teams hacking his other bigs.

Hollins propensity for confrontation might be considered a strength or a weakness. He is more than willing to get into someone's face, to give a hard foul, to stand up for his teammates. That can be useful, but the technicals and flagrants that come along with it have a price as well.

Weaknesses

For his career Hollins has been an anemic rebounder for a guy his size, which is a big part of the reason that I was lukewarm at his arrival. His 7.5 boards per 36 minutes, while not great by any means, were much better than his career average (6.4) and in line with Turiaf's rebounding (7.8), but far below the per minute numbers for the Clippers other bigs.

Hollins biggest weakness in the NBA, coincidentally. is probably his weakness. Basketball-reference lists him at 7'0 230; the Clippers listed him at 240 this season. Regardless, he is probably the frailest seven footer in the league. (By comparison, the Nuggets listed JaVale McGee at 7'0 252.)

That lack of size and strength makes it difficult for him to hold his position in the low post, so while he is a good help defender on the pick and roll, on weak side shot blocks and on rotations, he is a pretty terrible on-ball post defender. The problem then compounds when he is forced to reach and foul against stronger opponents. Hollins averaged a ridiculous 7.2 fouls per 36 minutes on the season -- a number that rose to 9.7 fouls per 36 in the playoffs. The Clippers defense was much improved this season, but they were terrible at defending without fouling -- in fact, they were 29th out of 30 NBA teams in opponent free throws per field goal attempt. Of course you can't blame all of that on Hollins, but he certainly wasn't part of the solution. Hollins' frailty doesn't matter a lot in every matchup -- but against the Grizzlies in the playoffs, it was disastrous.

Future with the Clippers

Hollins is a free agent. After playing for the Clippers on a one year minimum deal, there's little reason to suspect that he'll command much more than that this off-season. He'll get another NBA job -- he's certainly earned that -- but I don't envision a bidding war for his services. So the question will be fit and opportunity. As a fourth or hopefully fifth big as he was this season, he's a good value but I'm guessing he'll end up providing that value elsewhere. The Clippers will be looking to upgrade at that spot if possible, and the tendency in the case of an 11th man type is to move on -- the player wants to go to another team in hopes of a better opportunity, the team wants to try another player in hopes of getting lucky with a real contributor. If you're looking for a third string big, why not sign one who's in his early 20s and still has some headroom rather than a known quantity who'll be 29 before next season starts? Ryan's an LA kid who went to Muir in Pasadena and played college ball at UCLA so he'd probably love to stick around, but I'd be surprised if he were back with the Clippers.