The soothsayer warned Julius Caesar to "Beware the Ides of March." T.S. Eliot's masterpiece The Wasteland begins with the observation that "April is the cruellest month" (though he was probably not referring to mathematical elimination from NBA playoff contention). But for a Clipper blogger, it doesn't get much worse than May.
With the exception of one glorious year, May is when the Clippers (and yours truly) are sitting around watching other teams in the playoffs. And invariably, one of those other teams is the Lakers, playing for what seems like an almost annual trip to the NBA Finals. Meanwhile, given that it's LA and that the Clippers are essentially ignored even when the Lakers AREN'T in the playoffs, there is no news about the team. None. Nada. Zip. At least in Sacramento there's a coaching search. Hell, the best thing I've written this month was on Sactown Royalty. There's just nothing much to talk about here in Clipperville.
Thank goodness that Citizen Mikey P cowboyed up and wrote his Kobe piece. Nothing like a little Kobe bashing to drive some blog traffic. I learned a long time ago that if I needed some page views, Kobe bashing was the way to go. But I always feel a little guilty doing it - sort of like going with the fart joke and getting a cheap laugh. I thought Mikey's post was great - well reasoned, articulate; not a fart joke at all. Yes, it attracted a little vehemence from some of Kobe's fans who happened upon it, but that's to be expected (fyi, I deleted that lame FanPost if you're wondering what happened). It's interesting: you'd think from the reaction of some that Mikey was saying that Kobe was terrible. He wasn't - he was saying that Kobe is likely the third best wing player in the NBA, something that is an amazing accomplishment in and of itself. Long time readers of Clips Nation know that Kobe's annual spot on the All Defense team is a major pet peeve of mine. But I can't write that same post every year (can I?) So I'm thankful to Mikey for stepping forward.
I went back through the archives, just to see what I wrote about in past Mays. Last year, there was a lot of canyoneering - and a few playoff observations, and of course something about the myth of Kobe's defense. Oh, this was interesting - after the Nuggets were swept by the Spurs, I posted about what terrible shape that franchise was in. How their cap situation was dire and they'd have to dump a big salary (I was right about that) and how the likes of Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith left them with a bunch of classless thugs, no leadership, and a glaring weakness at point guard. Amazingly, I don't think I was wrong about any of that, but Chauncey Billups single-handedly fixed it all and now Denver's in the Conference Finals for the first time since the middle of Reagan's presidency.
The year before that, there were 10 posts on Clips Nation the entire month of May. Ten posts in a month! I thought I was being a slacker this year, but we're on pace to double that.
The good news is that it should change in about a week. The draft lottery is next Tuesday, and obviously we'll have something to focus on there. More importantly, the draft talk can begin in earnest at that point. I find it difficult to get too worked up about this prospect or that prospect when the Clippers could be picking anywhere from first to sixth. After we know where they really are, we can start obsessing. Not to mention that things will be happening, like draft workouts and the like.
Things could really heat up in July. In fact, last July was by far the biggest month in the history of Clips Nation. Of course, we're unlikely to see anything quite like that this year - Elton Brand, Baron Davis, Corey Maggette, Marcus Camby.... There will never be another whirlwind of Clipper activity to match that crazy month. But there will be SOME roster changes nonetheless, and there will likely be trade rumors at least, maybe even actual trades. And there will also be Summer League, where the Clippers are likely to have a very high lottery pick playing alongside Eric Gordon, Mike Taylor and DeAndre Jordan.
So hang in there. I wish I was writing a whole slew of 'coaching search' posts like they are on StR, believe me. But that just doesn't seem to be happening. Sure, I could write another 'Baron had a bad year' post or another 'Eric Gordon is really good' post, but I just don't think I have a lot to add to what has already been said.
Oh, and I have a canyoneering trip coming up in June, so you've got that to look forward to as well.