My bags are packed, but the plane doesn't leave for another four hours.  The ClipperWife is grabbing a nap, and I figure I have 45 minutes or so to squeeze out one more post.

Long time readers of the blog (and the one or two of you who were there for the old blog) know that Team USA is a bit of a pet subject of mine.  If I had the time, I'd link to lots of things I've said before, but I'm in a pretty big rush.  You can just do the search.  Or I guess this one and this one should summarize what I was thinking in 2007 and 2006.

So, this rant isn't going to be particularly well-researched - more off the top of my head.  But the Olympics start next week, and I'm going to miss most of the pool play games while I'm in Costa Rica; so I thought I should get on the record before it's all over.

I was reading in the August 4 issue of Newsweek the other day about the basketball team (sorry, I couldn't find an online link).  It's always interesting reading about sports in a non-sports focused publication.  They're writing for a different audience, and they have to take a different approach.  I won't say they have to dumb it down, but they can't skip steps like a sports publication would.

At any rate, there was one very interesting thing (at least to me) in that article. 

Since [2002], despite a pledge to restore American supremacy at its own game, Team USA has added only a pair of bronze medals - at the 2004 Olympics and at the 2006 worlds.  So America's basketball brain trust regrouped and came up with a new plan:(1) apply pressure to elite NBA superstars to commit; (2) require all of them to play in early qualifying rounds so that a cohesive team shows up in Beijing, rather than a collection of All-Stars, and (3) include role players, notable defenders and long range shooters, to provide more balance.

Interesting.  And pretty much completely incorrect. 

The re-grouping (making Colangelo the head of USA Basketball, appointing the coaching staff of Coach K, D'Antoni and McMillan, etc.) came BEFORE 2006, not after.  And getting superstars to commit was NEVER really part of the stated plan - they wanted commitments, but not necessarily from the elite players.  In fact, in the above 'plan', number (1) would seem to be incompatible with numbers (2) and (3) since elite NBA superstars would in fact make up a collection of all stars and would presumably not include role players.

Of the three points above, only number (3) was actually a stated goal of USA Basketball, and of course that's the one that has been almost completely ignored (of the players in China right now, only Tayshaun Prince could be referred to as a 'role player' by any reasonable person).  But I don't think this is just sloppy reportage by a non-basketball reporter.  I think it's revisionist history, and I suspect we'll be in for a lot of it.  Win the Gold medal, and whatever you did must have worked.

What's interesting about Colangelo and company's attempts to 'fix' USA Basketball is that they have done almost NONE of the things they said they would do.  But of course, if they win the Gold Medal, they'll take all of the credit for fixing it nonetheless.  At the end of the day, simply getting Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd onto the court is what appears to be making a difference for this team.  And presumably any of Colangelo's predecessors would have tried to do that as well.

In fact, other than putting together a pretty good group of All Stars, which after all has been the approach since 1992 and was supposedly the approach that this new brain trust was going to avoid, one has to really worry about how this team is constructed.  Wasn't one of the big problems with the 2002 team in Indianapolis that it was made up of so many similar players?  Just a bunch of athletic wings?  Well, guess what?  Fully half of the 12 man roster in Beijing falls into that category. 

I said it last summer, and I still think it's true.  This team is built to beat opponents by 40 - or to lose by 4.  A team with more size and a low post presence would not win by as wide a margin, and would be less likely to lose at all.  Remember that when a Gold Medal is all that counts, Pool Play is meaningless.  When the single elimination rounds start with the quarter finals, that's when it gets interesting.  One loss and you're out.  What happens when this version of Team USA runs into an opponent that handles their pressure?  Take away the easy baskets that come from that pressure defense, and the team is suddenly going to take a lot of jump shots.  So three things have to happen for Team USA to lose.  The opponent has to handle the pressure.  The opponent has to make shots.  Team USA has to miss shots.  None of those seem extremely unlikely.  Sure, Team USA will probably win the Gold Medal, because they have the most talent.  But I don't think this team has been challenged since it's been together.  What happens when they get challenged?

Carmelo Anthony (a mediocre rebounder for a SMALL forward in his NBA career) is the team's power forward.  Dwight Howard is the only legitimate center.  What if Howard gets hurt?  What if he gets into foul trouble at the hands of the admittedly capricious international refs?  Actually, Team USA is lucky that Germany and China do not appear to be major medal threats, because both Kaman and Yao would have a field day against Bosh or Boozer.  But Greece has size AND a complete team. 

It's pretty hard to figure how anybody watched the Greece game in 2006 and said, "You know what our problem was?  Too much size."  Time and again the Greek pick-and-roll drew the only US player with any size (be it Brand or Howard, but they were never on the court at the same time) away from the basket, while a Greek big rolled down the lane being defended by a point guard, with the likes of Carmelo as the only help defender.  So, yes, by all means, go smaller. 

The Newsweek article goes on to point out something interesting about the goal of including role players on the team.  Eight of the twelve players on the squad led their NBA team in scoring.  Digging a little deeper, you'll notice that 3 of the other 4 are point guards - not a position that typically leads a team in scoring, but it's hard to argue that Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Deron Williams are any thing other than top tier NBA stars.  That leaves the aforementioned Prince as the only 'role player' on the team.  Let's hope there aren't too many roles.

Of course, nothing necessarily precludes players who are superstars in their NBA lives from becoming role players on this team.  And of course USA Basketball would tell you that's exactly what's happening.  But it's easy to play a role when you're ahead by 40.  What happens when this team faces some adversity?  Who will take the last shot, when the last shot actually matters?  Accepting a role in a blow out is one thing - accepting a role in a close game is quite another.  Who will be on the floor when they receive the inevitable challenge?  And how will the seven players NOT on the floor react to their new 'role' of benchwarmer?

I could go on about this for hours and hours, but I have a plane to catch.  Like I said, Team USA will probably win on talent alone.  But don't believe Jerry Colangelo when he tells you he planned it all.  The plan wasn't executed, but at least they brought some pretty good players to Beijing.

I'm leaving for two weeks in Costa Rica with the ClipperWife.  As it happens, ClipperMax and ClipperZoe will be with their grandparents, and we're actually taking a vacation sans enfants - for two weeks!  By far the longest kid-free trip since we became parents.  So it should be fun.

As we saw when I went to Yosemite, you guys don't even need me.  Have fun; keep those FanPosts flowing.  Now that we've got Taylor posting here, there's no stopping Clips Nation!

Carry on Citizens.  I'll be back August 16th.

Continuing their very active off-season, the Clippers today signed former Clipper Brian Skinner.  Here's the press release:

The Los Angeles Clippers signed veteran forward Brian Skinner, Vice President of Basketball Operations announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.

Originally drafted by the Clippers in the first round (22^nd overall pick) of the 1998 NBA Draft, Skinner is a 10-year NBA veteran who returns to Los Angeles after playing 66 games last season with the Phoenix Suns. Skinner averaged 3.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists for Phoenix in 2007-08.

“Brian Skinner is a veteran NBA player who will give us both size and depth in the middle,” Baylor said. “We are familiar with Brian, and know that he will be a good fit in his return to the Clippers.”

Skinner has averaged 4.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 538 career NBA games with eight different teams. The six-foot-nine forward started his career with the Clippers in 1998-99 and played three seasons in Los Angeles.

“We are very pleased to add Brian to our front line,” Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy said. “He adds great size, presence and veteran experience to our team.”

In addition to the Clippers and Suns, the Texas native has also played for Cleveland, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Sacramento and Portland during his NBA tenure and has played in 21 career playoff games

Is anyone else struck by the symmetry?  He left the Clippers as part of the trade that brought Brand to LA, and he signs with the Clippers as a free agent after Brand bolts to Philly.

I always liked Skinner.  Of course, we're all unrealistic dreamers or we wouldn't be Clipper fans, but does anyone else recall how great he was playing before he twisted his ankle in 2000?  He was never the same for the Clippers after that, and hasn't gotten much of a chance anywhere else.

Obviously the team decided that they could take Josh Powell's spot and use it on a veteran.  Given that Powell did not seem to have a whole lot of head room, I think it's the correct decision.  Opting for a 32 year old over a 25 year old is the move of a team that wants to compete now.  But I didn't really see Powell getting a whole lot better.  Sometimes youth represents potential, and sometimes it just represents youth.

The SBNation servers seem to be running a bit slow today, due to extraordinarily high traffic generated by the MLB trade deadline.  Apparently some guy named Manny has something to do with it.

Sorry about the inconvenience.  They're working on it, and in fact it does seem to be getting better the last hour or so.  So be patient and hopefully it will be working normally soon.  I know a couple people at least have had comments that they thought were lost that eventually showed up.  That's a symptom of the slow servers.

Listening to Ricky Davis during his radio appearances yesterday, I was struck by the stigma of being traded so frequently.  Sure, he's stigmatized by other things as well, but the simple fact that he's been involved in five trades in 10 NBA seasons implies something about the guy.  It doesn't take a math major to figure out that he's lasted less than 2 seasons per NBA stop, and in fact he's never been with one team for three full seasons (he was dealt at the trade deadline of his third seasons in Cleveland and Boston).  So what's the deal?  Does he wear out his welcome? 

As always, it's not wise to make assumptions without looking closely at the specifics of the situation.  It's obvious that Ricky has not been THE player his team has decided to build around - that goes without saying.  So he's not Michael Jordan or Reggie Miller or Kobe Bryant, playing a decade or more for the team that drafted him.  But NBA trades happen, and even Shaq has been traded - twice in the last four years.  So don't just assume that 5 NBA coaches have decided to ship RD out of town just to be rid of him.

August 1, 2000 - After two promising seasons in Charlotte, Davis was included in a huge nine player trade between the Heat and the Hornets.  Also in the deal were all-stars Eddie Jones, Anthony Mason and Jamaal Mashburn, not to mention Otis Thorpe and P.J. Brown.  This was a big trade.  I don't see how it necessarily reflects badly on RD - the best player in the trade, Mashburn, was going from the Heat to the Hornets.  A promising 21 year old wing might have been the sweetener that got the deal done for the Hornets.

October 26, 2001 - After one season in Miami, he was sent to Cleveland in a three team trade.  As it happens, his first season in Miami barely counted, as he was injured all year and played in only 7 games in that stint with the Heat.  This trade was definitely about getting rid of players that teams didn't really want - also in the deal were Don MacLean (who was waived by the Raptors the next day), Brian Skinner and Chris Gatling.  The key was apparently Gatling, a former all star whom the Heat must have coveted.  He signed a 3/$8M contract the day of the trade, played 54 games in 2001 for the Heat, and was waived a year later with 2 seasons left on his contract.  For what it's worth, Davis was by FAR the best player in that trade, and Cleveland must have been thrilled to get him.

December 15, 2003 - A year later, the Cavs were still happy with Davis, because they matched an offer sheet from the Timberwolves for 6/$35M to keep him.  But 16 months after that, the thrill was gone.  He was sent to Boston in another really big trade involving six players and a draft pick.  Of course the Cavs had drafted a 19 year old named LeBron James six months earlier, and they may have decided that keeping their leading scorer from the past two seasons and paying him $6M per wasn't really in their interests.  For the Cavs, this was all about rebuilding around LeBron - they got Eric Williams' expiring contract, a veteran big man in Tony Battie and a former lottery pick in Kedrick Brown.  This was not a fire sale trade, but a calculated move by the Cavs to use Ricky Davis (now a proven NBA scorer) to help get some pieces to complement their young superstar.

January 26, 2006 - A little over two years later, RD was once again part of a blockbuster trade:  this one involved the Timberwolves and the Celtics and included seven players and 3 draft picks.  In the case of this trade, I think it was about the T-Wovles WANTING Ricky and being willing to give up all star Wally Szczerbiak and a future first rounder to get him.  The Wolves saw that their window for winning with Kevin Garnett was closing, and Szczerbiak had clashed with KG.  It's hard to believe at this point, but in Jan. 2006 the Wolves were just 18 months removed from an appearance in the Western Conference Finals - they had certainly not given up, and they thought that Davis might help re-invigorate the team.  Obviously, it didn't really work out that way.

October 24, 2007 - So last off-season he was sent to Miami.  This trade was eerily similar to the one from Boston to Minny.  A team who had recently tasted significant success (in this case the 2006 Champion Heat) was looking more than a little old and stale and needed an infusion of talent.  The Heat wanted rid of Antoine Walker, and was willing to send a first round pick to Minnesota to make it happen, and RD went to South Beach to team with Shaq and DWade in Riley's last ditch attempt to salvage that team.  Once again, it didn't really work out.

I think that you can make an argument that, with the exception of 2001, each time Ricky Davis has been traded it was because the receiving team wanted him rather than because the trading team wanted rid of him.  Besides, he's also simply been part of some real blockbusters, which can hardly be pinned on him alone.  You don't put together seven, eight and nine player trades just because one guy is starting to get on your nerves.

So when you look at the specifics, I don't see how the simple fact that he has been traded five times is an indictment of Ricky Davis.  It is what it is.  It happened  It is perhaps somewhat more disconcerting what has happened in his last two stops, where recently great teams sunk to the depths of the NBA shortly after his arrival.  However, Minnesota's decline had begun before Ricky arrived in the Twin Cities, and he can hardly be held responsible for Miami's situation.  He certainly was not the hero for either of those teams, but he wasn't the villain either.

The Clippers signed him at a very reasonable cost to be a backup small forward, not a savior.  We'll see what happens next - maybe Ricky should rent - but for now, it's a good thing.

The Clippers today waived Josh Powell.  Powell had signed a three year contract with the team before last season, but the team had an option on the second two years.  They had to make a decision before tomorrow, and it's not surprising, given all the changes and given that there now appears to be a roster crunch, that they decided to look elsewhere for help.

Several quick thoughts come to mind in the wake of Powell's departure.

• Of the players on the 2006-2007 2007-2008 opening day roster, only Chris Kaman, Cat Mobley, Al Thornton and Tim Thomas remain.  That's quite a makeover.  Familiar faces Shaun Livingston and Paul Davis could still make the team.  Nick Fazekas and Marcus Williams were around for the end of last season, but not for the beginning.
• It's yet another indication of the absurd extent of the Clippers' injury problems last season that they just waived a guy who started 25 games for them, and yet is paid the NBA minimum.  Think about that - he has a minimum contract, he was 8th on the team in minutes played last season - and they waived him.  How did they win even 23 games?
• Although I'm not defending Elton Brand's behavior by any means, it is interesting that the Clippers ended up waiving Powell.  It would not have freed up much money had they done it sooner (even an empty roster spot has a cap hold), but it would have freed up some. 
• It's interesting that the Clippers appear to have chosen Nick Fazekas over Powell, despite the fact that Powell got significantly more minutes at the end of last season.  I love Fazekas, and I think it's the right choice.  He's just got a nose for the basketball and incredibly good hands.  But it's not the conventional move, going with the gawky white guy.
• The team is now down to five bigs on the roster - Kaman, Camby and Thomas all have guaranteed contracts, Fazekas has a qualifying offer, and DeAndre Jordan has a make-good contract.  (Actually, I'm just guessing that Jordan's contract is contingent on him making the team, but that's irrelevant because he's basically a lock.)  They definitely need at least one more big, and apparently they are talking to Paul Davis, Francisco Elson and former Clipper Brain Skinner.  It's worth noting that until Davis' knee injury last season, he was way ahead of Powell on the team's depth chart.  No doubt that had something to do with today's decision.  I suppose they could conceivably decide to go with two more bigs, especially since Thomas can play some three.  But I'm hoping it's only one more.

Bear in mind, the Clippers can only offer minimum contracts to free agents for the rest of the off-season.  Basically, if there's a pretty good big out there you'd like them to sign, forget it - they can't afford him.  Trades are of course always a possibility, and nothing would really surprise me in this crazy off-season.  But I really expect that the top ten guys (Kaman, Camby, Thornton, Mobley, Baron, Thomas, Ricky, Hart, Gordon and Jordan) are pretty much set and it's just a matter at this point of signing one more cheap big, and then looking for upgrades in the Taylor, Fazekas, Williams spots.

Oh, and Shaun Livingston.  The Clippers will bring him back if he is willing to play for them for the minimum.  It remains to be seen if any other team will offer more, but given that the guy hasn't played anything more strenuous than one-on-one in 18 months, it would seem unlikely.

OK, so I sometimes get more than a little Clipper-centric.  I spend so much time on the Clippers, there's not a lot left over to ponder other NBA issues.  At least not while also remaining a married person. 

My buddy in Detroit sent me an email this morning.  He used to live in LA, and remains a Clipper fan, but now also roots for the Evil Male Children, or whatever the hell it is they call themselves out there in MoTown, the Motor City.  Still reeling from the fact that Tim Thomas is a Clipper lo these two years later, it was almost too much for him to accept Ricky Davis to the Clippers and Kwame Brown to the Pistons on the same day.

Kwame Brown signed with the Pistons, says I to myself.  Hmm.  That's something.

But I just found out he signed for 2 years and $8M.  EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS!  Now I ask you, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? 

Is this the same Kwame Brown who played basically not at all for either the Lakers or the Grizzlies last season?  The Kwame Brown that was a contract?  A big, dumb looking, contract, whose hands were  bad even for a contract?  (That's really bad in case you were wondering, since contracts, technically speaking don't even have hands.) 

When the Wizards signed him for 3/$25M at the end of his rookie deal, I found it strange, since he really hadn't done much.  But, you know, potential and all.  When the Lakers exercised their option on him for $9M last year, I found it strange, but you know, what else were they going to do?  Besides, maybe his contract would come in handy in a trade, right?

Does Dumars have his eye on some $4M piece he wants to acquire in February 2010, right around the trade deadline?  Because we've now established that Kwame Brown can be a very effective trade piece in the NBA.  Other than that, I'm not sure what he's bringing.

EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS!  I had no idea.