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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.