Post by Jayborne23 on Feb 28, 2007 18:01:12 GMT -5
(Los Angeles) - There was a time when the Clippers roster was comprised of Terrell Brandon, Shawn Kemp, and Cedric Ceballos. Not too long after that, they won the #1 pick in the draft and made the decision to take Elton Brand over Dirk Nowitzki. Not long after that, the team was putting it's hopes in a combination of Wally Sczcerbiak, Nazr Mohammed and Elton Brand helping turn them into a winner. Yes, Wally Szczerbiak. After realizing that wasn't a great idea (only 2 years after the rest of the league), a series of small miracles happened. It began with the creation of a new league, the GlobalABCA. Many of the top GMs defected to the league. Not too long after that, Mike Bibby made a shocking decision to take less money and join the Clippers. He would soon look like a genius as the Clippers made a mid season trade that sent players, including The Great Wally Sczcerbiak, and picks to Atlanta for Keith Van Horn. And thus the era of winning begins.
Although the Clippers seemed to struggle to find some chemistry that season, they came out with guns a'blazing in 2003. Van Horn was saving a career year, Brand and Bibby produced, and Dejan Bodiroga was extremely effective. They surged into the playoffs onto to lose before the Western Conference Finals. That offseason fan-favorite Dejan Bodiroga defected, but his replacement seemed to have come in the form of a late 1st rounder named Rodney Jones. The Clippers had great regular season success winning the Pacific Division and were thought of as a possible contender for the ABCA Championship. This time, the Blazers stop them short of a Conference Finals berth. The next year, a franchise high 59 wins and a loss in the 2nd round to the Jazz. Now its 2006/07, and the core of the Clippers is still around and still producing. They rebound with a 56-win season and get the Sacramento Kings in the 1st round. The Kings then proceed to upset the Clippers on their own court.
Let's do a quick recap. 4 really good regular seasons, a core of 3 really good players, and 0 conference finals appearances. The Clippers organization is a perennial playoff loser. They had solid talent around their core 3 players, but nothing like the hyper lineups that Utah and Portland had. Keith Van Horn puts up amazing stats, but isn't a winner...or on the right team. Elton Brand has done nothing to legitimize him being picked over Dirk Nowitzki, but he didn't pick himself so it really isn't his fault. Mike Bibby was a very good PG when I signed him, now he's no better than the starting point guards on over 50% of the teams in the league. The Clippers, their management and players, are nothing but a bunch of overglorified losers.
Reality finally hit GM Jayborne when he realized that he was never going to win a championship in the ABCA, especially with his group of players. The Clippers acquired Zach Randolph and J.R. Smith for Elton Brand last year, both of whom they hope will be leaders in this new era of the Clippers. Rodney Jones may be the best of the new era as his game has improved greatly under the tutilage of Van Horn. It is widely noted that this will be the last year of Clipperdom for KVH, Mike Bibby, and Vin Baker. While most would think the Clippers would trade them if they don't plan on resigning them, the organization has already made it known that they'd rather give it a last go-round with those players than trade them for pennies on the dollar (more specifically, about $0.20 on the dollar).
So comes the end of an era, one that brought hope back to the "other" team in LA. Let's hope the next one actually amounts to something more than moral victories.
Although the Clippers seemed to struggle to find some chemistry that season, they came out with guns a'blazing in 2003. Van Horn was saving a career year, Brand and Bibby produced, and Dejan Bodiroga was extremely effective. They surged into the playoffs onto to lose before the Western Conference Finals. That offseason fan-favorite Dejan Bodiroga defected, but his replacement seemed to have come in the form of a late 1st rounder named Rodney Jones. The Clippers had great regular season success winning the Pacific Division and were thought of as a possible contender for the ABCA Championship. This time, the Blazers stop them short of a Conference Finals berth. The next year, a franchise high 59 wins and a loss in the 2nd round to the Jazz. Now its 2006/07, and the core of the Clippers is still around and still producing. They rebound with a 56-win season and get the Sacramento Kings in the 1st round. The Kings then proceed to upset the Clippers on their own court.
Let's do a quick recap. 4 really good regular seasons, a core of 3 really good players, and 0 conference finals appearances. The Clippers organization is a perennial playoff loser. They had solid talent around their core 3 players, but nothing like the hyper lineups that Utah and Portland had. Keith Van Horn puts up amazing stats, but isn't a winner...or on the right team. Elton Brand has done nothing to legitimize him being picked over Dirk Nowitzki, but he didn't pick himself so it really isn't his fault. Mike Bibby was a very good PG when I signed him, now he's no better than the starting point guards on over 50% of the teams in the league. The Clippers, their management and players, are nothing but a bunch of overglorified losers.
Reality finally hit GM Jayborne when he realized that he was never going to win a championship in the ABCA, especially with his group of players. The Clippers acquired Zach Randolph and J.R. Smith for Elton Brand last year, both of whom they hope will be leaders in this new era of the Clippers. Rodney Jones may be the best of the new era as his game has improved greatly under the tutilage of Van Horn. It is widely noted that this will be the last year of Clipperdom for KVH, Mike Bibby, and Vin Baker. While most would think the Clippers would trade them if they don't plan on resigning them, the organization has already made it known that they'd rather give it a last go-round with those players than trade them for pennies on the dollar (more specifically, about $0.20 on the dollar).
So comes the end of an era, one that brought hope back to the "other" team in LA. Let's hope the next one actually amounts to something more than moral victories.
