Not much out there today. There will be a deluge on Sunday after Griffin works out for the team.
I've Been Waiting for this Story
It was only a matter of time before someone wrote the anti-conspiracy conspiracy theory thing. Howard and the Magic beat LeBron and the Cavs, forcing Nike and Vitamin Water to scramble the jets for new ad campaigns? The Clippers win the lottery? What is David Stern up to? These things don't just (not) happen.
An Interesting Take on Thabeet
This one has little to do with the Clippers, but bear with me (by the way, no real need to follow the link - I'm excerpting the relevant stuff here).
If you look at any of the great basketball talents, more times than not they chose basketball. They picked up the ball and started playing. When you're a 7-foot African, more times than not the ball was put in your hands and you were told to go play and learn the game. Hasheem did not choose basketball, basketball was chosen for him. As was going to UCONN, as is the decision to be in the NBA Draft. This is a vocation for Hasheem not a dream, as a result there are lots of questions about how good he'll be as professional, how driven will he be to be great? The team that draft's Hasheem needs to surround him with guys that help him develop an affection and passion for the game, if he cannot or does not find that love for the game because of bad coaching, poor locker room chemistry or bad team mates, he could be a huge failure. Great success in this league is rarely about talent, it's generally about drive and determination. How bad do you want it and what will you do to get there? Hasheem could end being more like Darko Milicic who approaches the game the same way and less like Dikembe Mutombo who everyone around Hasheem hopes he can become. Thabeet will go top 5, the question becomes how long will he play in the NBA and will he love doing it or just love the paycheck?
Our old pal Bill Walton used to say more or less exactly this about Michael Olowokandi. Don't get hung up on the African part - Olowokandi was the son of Nigerian diplomats and grew up in London - but Walton always said that Kandi would never be great simply because he didn't enjoy playing the game. For him it was a job. This was one of the only things that ever came out of Walton's mouth that made sense to me. Kandi was mechanical - even the things he worked on were learned by rote. He needed to play pickup ball at Venice Beach and get a feel for catching passes and finishing on the move. But he didn't do that and as a result he never belonged in the NBA, despite his massive physical gifts.
[Update by Steve Perrin, 06/05/09 10:06 AM PDT ]
I spoke too soon when I said there wasn't much today. Some intrepid citizens found some other good links and put them in the FanShots about the time I published.
Baron constantly offered to Dubs?
The article is about potential Warrior moves, and the money quote for us (and it's a throwaway really) is "Baron Davis is reportedly offered back to Golden State via trade from the Los Angeles Clippers every couple of weeks." I'm not sure I believe that. I mean, the Clippers need a point guard too, right? Not sure how sending Baron back to GSW would be feasible. Hat Tip citizen dulcius.
Q&A with Olshey on myClipper NATION
(Registration is required, but it's free and you should do it as there are definitely things you want to read there from time to time.) Hat Tip - citizen krapper11 (who I'm going to refer to as k11 in the future, as I feel a little silly calling him krapper). K11's take: "An interesting Q&A. He noted the possibility of acquiring a late 1st rounder, while also putting to rest any thought of us trading the number 1 pick. Oh and HE adds that Mike Taylor is part of the future.....nice."
Randy Smith, Buffalo State's all-time athletic hero and one of the most popular players in Buffalo Braves history, died unexpectedly in Connecticut on Thursday, according to close friends and former college teammates. Smith, 60, apparently suffered a heart attack, while riding a treadmill at his home in Norwich.
When the subject of potential retired jerseys came up in the comments recently, I singled out Bob McAdoo as the most obvious choice if you're talking about the history of the franchise. Randy Smith is a close second. Hat tip: citizen Lawler's Law.