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l Thornton is averaging 20.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes through two games. Garrett Ellwood (NBAE/Getty Images) |
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Vegas, Baby, VEGAS!
posted by Dena | July 12 @ 1:07 pm
I am sad to report that I am not reporting directly from Sin City, but I am THRILLED to see our boys back on the court. I’m keeping up by watching the live web casts on NBA.com. Are you? If not, you’re missing out and I insist that you start watching tonight when the Clips take on the Timberwolves at 7:30 pm (PST). Then tune in to NBATV on Friday afternoon to watch them take on Mike Conley Jr. and the Grizz at 3:00 pm (PST).
Yes. We’ve lost the first two games – nearly coming back from a 29-point deficit to lose 108-104 to the Nuggets on Sunday, then a 90-76 loss to the Rockets on Tuesday night. But let’s think about the positives, shall we?
No. 14 pick Al Thornton is one of the Vegas league’s top ten scorers through only two games, averaging 20.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes. (Unfortunately he’s also leading the team in turnovers, averaging 4.5 per game, but give him time…)
I spoke to Sam Cassell about Thornton the other day, who said this about his fellow Florida State alum: “His athletic ability is unbelievable,” Sam told me. ”He can run down the court, block shots, rebound. He just needs to work on his jump shot a little bit. He just needs to make some adjustments and we’ll have a real good player.”
Will Conroy agreed. “Thornton’s athletic ability is off the charts,” Conroy said. “His ability to get off the ground twice in a row – like he can jump once and then come back down and jump again to block a shot… he is off the charts.”
Jared “J-Jo” Jordan may not be the scoring threat the Clippers need at starting point guard, but Clipper Nation could definitely see this kid coming off the bench. Through two games, J-Jo is leading the team in assists, averaging 5.5 per game, despite only 4.0 points on 37.5% shooting and only eight shot attempts. If he could take more than four shot attempts per game, we might start to see the same kid who averaged 13.1 points at Marist.
Let’s hope he will also start taking more shots from three-point range. He took ZERO shots against Denver and only two (made one) against the Rockets. But that’s what Summer League’s all about – developing as a player and figuring out your NBA game.
“That kid Jordan is a hell of a passer,” Sam said after watching Jordan during the first few team practices. "He understands the game of basketball. He understands his teammates’ strengths and weaknesses.”
By the way... you can get your Rookie Report Text Messages after each game by texting "CLIPPERS" to MYLAC (69522) to receive Al and J-Jo’s Summer League stats after each game.
Mike Gansey… who is Mike Gansey? The little-known guard from West Virginia is becoming a bit more well-known among the Clippers coaching staff over the first two games. Against the Nuggets, Gansey scored eight points in 17 minutes then 16 points in 24 minutes against the Rockets. Gansey is shooting 44.4% (4-for-9) from three-point range. Gansey, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the Miami Heat in July 2006, had 18 points in West Virginia’s loss to Texas in the Sweet 16 in 2006.
Paul Davis… missed out on Summer League in 2006 due to a hamstring injury. One of the biggest challenges for Paul during his rookie season was his consistency (15 points one game, zero the next), and the hope is playing during Summer League will help with that. Check out his stat lines from the first two Summer League games:
| GAME LOG | |||||||||||||||
| Date | Opponent | Result | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OFF | DEF | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Jul 8 | vs. DEN | L 104-108 | 31 | 7-16 | 0-0 | 4-4 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 18 |
| Jul 10 | vs. HOU | L 76-90 | 23 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Hmmmm… still looking a bit inconsistent. Coach Dunleavy thinks Summer League will help Davis balance out his game. “I think Summer League is the first step (for Paul),” Dunleavy said. “It gives a player a visual idea of where they stand and their relationship to conditioning and skill level against the competition. It’s a good testing ground.”
In other Summer League news… you must have heard by now that Greg Oden will not be competing in any more games in Vegas because he has giant swollen tonsils that are blocking his airway and the boy can’t breathe. It looks like we’re going to have to wait until November for the Oden-Durant match-up, October if the NBA schedules a pre-season meeting between the Blazers and the Sonics. (P.S. Make sure you get your Clippers tickets now so you can see them when they come to LA this season).
Italian guard Marco Belinelli, whom the Clippers looked at during pre-draft workouts, is creating quite the stir in Vegas.
J.J. Reddick is, once again, resembling the "cocky scoring machine who dominated college basketball slightly more than a year ago."
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The Moratorium Has Lifted
As expected, the Orlando Magic acquired forward Rashard Lewis from Seattle in a sign-and-trade deal in exchange for a future conditional second round draft pick. Meanwhile, my heart was shattered into a million pieces when Joe Dumars’ mission was accomplished and the Pistons re-signed Mr. Big Shot Chauncey Billups.
Alas, my favorite player will stay in Detroit, but in reality, the chances of him coming to the Clippers were slim-to-none anyway. The Clippers only have enough cap room to sign a top point guard at the mid-level exception, which puts Chauncey far off the radar. After the first full 24 hours since the moratorium was lifted, there are, in my opinion, four free agent point guards still available at the mid-level exception that could help bring the Clippers back to the Playoffs in 2008.
In no particular order…
Jason Hart. The man we’ve already seen in a Clippers uniform. Hart joined the Clippers on March 5th, just prior to an 88-74 home loss to San Antonio. The Clippers went on to lose six out of seven, but beginning on Tuesday, March 20th, with a 103-89 win at Chicago, L.A. WON six out of seven. The Clippers were back in the playoff hunt, and it was largely in part because of Hart’s play calling and leadership on the floor.
Hart, whose career stats include 5.7 ppg and 2.6 apg, averaged 9.0 points and 4.0 assists in 23 games (22 starts) for the Clippers. Not to draw completely ludicrous comparisons or anything, but… for the record, Billups averaged 11.1 points and 3.9 assists prior to signing with Detroit. With the Pistons, he’s scored 17.0 ppg and dished out 6.2 apg. I’m just sayin’…
Steve Blake. The unrestricted free agent saw his best season in Denver last year, averaging 8.3 points, 6.6 assists and shot 34.3% from three-point range in 49 games for the Nuggets. The pass first, shoot second energetic point guard is good in the half court offense, and would be a good fit in a Clippers uni. My colleague, Stevie E., is a HUGE fan of Blake. HUGE.
Steve Francis. It’s official, Portland bought out the remainder of Stevie Franchise’s contract on Wednesday, the terms of which were not disclosed but it’s something like $34 million over the last two years on his contract. Francis is expected to clear waivers and become an unrestricted free agent. A quality play-maker and scorer, Francis would be a good pick-up for the Clips this off-season. Need I remind you of the stats he and former teammate Cuttino Mobley put up in Houston from 1999-2004? The two combined for 37.5 points and 9.1 assists per night when dominating the Rockets back court all those years.
And finally, Mo Williams. OK fine. No reports are claiming that the Clippers even have a shot at the unrestricted free agent out of Milwaukee, but… IF he doesn’t take the reported five-year, $40 million deal with Milwaukee or the three-year, $17.4 million deal with the already way over the salary cap Miami Heat, I don’t see why the Clippers couldn’t be in the running…
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Clipper Nation Wants to Know...
Justin Collins from Costa Mesa (by way of Detroit and Eugene) writes…
Does the NBA need a pre-game official ceremony? Baseball has the first pitch, football the coin toss. If you had to decide now, for the rest of time, the one thing to precede every single NBA game from now till doomsday, what would it be and why?
Justin,
As somebody who used to lead the crowd in cheers at basketball games (yeah, I’m calling you out), you should know… the NBA already has a pre-game official ceremony. It’s called tip-off.
The opening pitch in baseball is, generally speaking, completely inconsequential unless it’s a) opening day / the All-Star game / the Playoffs, b) Shaun Livingston is throwing out the pitch, or c) the person throwing out the first pitch has a local flavor / story behind them. This is probably why Budweiser salutes “Mr. Ceremonial First Pitch Thrower Outer” as one of the “Real Men of Genius,” you think?
I’ve been going to baseball games since I was three months old. I think I remember two opening pitches. One was Shaun Livingston and the other was a little boy who threw it maybe four feet. I don't know too many people who pay attention to, let alone arrive in time for the opening pitch. In the NBA, everybody pays attention to the tip-off.
The coin toss in football determines possession for the entire game – and really, this only matters when playing outdoors at Lambeau Field when it’s 20 below in Green Bay, WI in the middle January. I’ve also seen pretty bad coin toss decisions in my time… like the time the Detroit Lions won the toss and chose to DEFEND during OT against the Chicago Bears on 11/24/02. The Lions lost (but then, that’s not really a surprise).
Regardless, similar to the NFL coin toss, whichever NBA team wins the opening tip determines who has possession at the beginning of each quarter for the rest of the game.
Justin, if you’d like to become part of our cheer / tumbling squad and learn more about and be a part of the Clippers pre-game ceremonies, Carl’s Jr. Fan Patrol auditions are coming up on Saturday, July 28th. Come on. You know you want to…
Taylor Moxon from Long Beach writes…
Do you think that Dunleavy might shy away from his half court offense and change to the full court running game that most of the Western Conference has adopted? It is in my opinion that with all the super athletes we have (Maggete, Brand, Thornton, Livingston) we could run a very good full court running game.
Taylor,
I think it’s too soon to tell what Dunleavy will do. Right now his focus is on Summer League play, and eventually locking in a point guard to either start or back-up Sam Cassell.
That said… I honestly believe that Coach D. will do whatever it takes to win. If you don’t believe me, that's what he said on AM 570!
When all is said and done and the rosters are set for the 2007-08 season, Coach D. and his staff will be evaluating each and every team to determine what type of offense needs to be run in each game.
 Traci B. |
 Erin Nicole |
Who’s hotter: Detroit’s in-arena hostess Erin Nicole or Clippers in-arena hostess Traci B.?
Kevin,
This is a tough call to make between two colleagues and friends of mine. They’re both blonde, they’re both phenomenally smart and talented women, and… they’re both smokin’ hot. I say we let them tip-off at half court to decide who wins. Any takers?
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I'd like to wish a very happy (upcoming) birthday to the following wonderful people in the Clippers family...
Who Killed Tangerine?
On Monday I re-discovered one of my favorite spots in Los Angeles. I went for my usual run but took a different route and found myself running up El Diablo Canyon One – the top of La Cienega Blvd. and Sunset Blvd. For those of you who aren’t aware of this hill (what I now call the “hill of death”), it easily slopes upwards at a 70 degree incline (or so I’m guessing). I first discovered this hill in high school when my friend Meredith was learning to drive stick shift on her brand new (used) red, manual Honda civic. It was much scarier then.
So, as I’m running along (well, maybe walking at this point), I got completely schooled by an 75+ year old man; he sprinted up the hill in about 30 seconds while it took me two and a half My Chemical Romance songs on my iPod. When I reached the top, I turned around to see what I had accomplished, and to my awe, saw all of Los Angeles below me. Everything from the skyscrapers downtown to the triangle towers in Century City – I could have seen further if it hadn’t been smoggy. Right then a totally awesome song I forgot I had on my iPod came on, “Who Killed Tangerine” by Tears for Fears, and I thought to myself, “Man, I’m glad to be back.”
Moments later as I was walking along Sunset, trying to catch my breath before taking on the 2.1 miles to get back to my apartment, I spotted a fairly large-ish man that resembled a certain heavyweight champion with a tattoo on his face sitting outside a cigar shop by the House of Blues. I paused for a moment, realized he didn't just resemble him, he was the heavyweight champion with a tattoo on his face, then covered my ears and ran so fast I caught up to and passed that 75+ year old man on my way home.
On that note… Have a good weekend Clipper Nation! If you’re going to Vegas to watch Summer League action, take some pics and send them to me at clippernation@clippers.com.
P.S. Look out for my blog this Sunday from Spirit Dance Team auditions!
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