- Citizen Ric Caric put up a comment yesterday with an intelligent argument for hanging on to Vinny Del Negro as Clipper head coach. I think it's an excellent, measured place to start a balanced argument about whether VDN should continue in his current role. I asked him to put it up as a fanpost and now I'm promoting it to the front page. - J. Raffo 5/23/12 10:00am.

I don’t watch television except while traveling and therefore see almost no Clippers games. So I’m not saying that the arguments here should override the evaluation of Steve Perrin and others on Vinnie Del Negro. But there is an argument that can be made for keeping him and I thought I would put it out there.

RECORD. The Clips’ 60.6 winning % represented a 17-18 game improvement over last season and they moved up from 13th to 5th in the Western Conference, passing long-time rivals Portland, Utah, Denver, and Phoenix in the process. Given the newness of the roster, lack of training camp, and lack of practice time, it can be said at the very least that VDN’s over-all approach to the team had success.

(More after the jump)...

Continue reading this post »

Okay. The Clips got bounced out of the playoffs in the second round. Most of us, at this time last year, would have been delirious at the thought of making the playoffs, nevermind making it to the second round. After the acquisition of Chris Paul of course our goals changed a bit, but... all in all, for a team assembled on the fly, the results are pretty much about as good as we could expect.

And I think we learned a lot during the strike shortened season, and maybe we learned a little more in the playoffs. I made a list. (I make a lot of lists, I like lists, they help me focus). Here's my list of things we learned in the playoffs... some of them I guess we knew at the end of the season, some we didn't. Some of the items are obvious, but maybe some are not. Feel free to disagree. It's my list, not yours.

Continue reading this post »

Several months ago I agreed to venture on a cross country road trip to Florida. Leaving the second week of May, I knew that the trip would overlap with the Clipper playoff run. Now typically, I don't like to miss Clipper games. I certainly don't like to miss Clipper playoff games, which in my lifetime have been about as rare as yesterdays solar eclipse. But with Dallas, San Antonio, Memphis, and Oklahoma City all likely to make the playoffs and, potentially stops on my journey from sunshine state to sunshine state, I was excited at the possibility of catching a road playoff game or two. I got to go to game 3 at home against the Grizzlies, and watched from the comfort of my couch as the Clippers took game 4. Armed with league pass mobile on my iPhone and an auxiliary connection in the rental car, I hit the road with the Clippers holding a 3-1 lead in their first round matchup. San Antonio here I come.

Continue reading this post »

The discussion happens ever year around the all-star game, when Tim Duncan inevitably (until this year) makes the team as a power forward. But is Tim Duncan a power forward at all? It struck me last night as I was watching the Spurs dispatch the Clips in game four... that Duncan is, quite simply, not a power forward at all, but a center. Now, I understand a lot of you might be saying, "Did this just dawn on you? How long did it take for the light bulb to go off on this one?" But we've been listening to a lot of arguments lately, about how Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard are the two best centers in the game, blah blah blah...."

But last night I realized the argument was wrong. As Tim Duncan led the Spurs to an almost four game dismantling of our beloved LA Clippers, the fallacy of the Bynum/Howard argument hit me. Can either one of those guys touch the hem of the great Saint Timmay?

Continue reading this post »

I have to say, this was a great season to be a Clippers fan! To cheer for your team into May, is fun! I was at last night's game, and the atmosphere was great!
Expectations have been set high, and I know the FO will not disappoint. Here's looking to a good off-season!

Continue reading this post »