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To (quasi) quote the movie Major League... THE CLIPPERS ARE 4-0! THE CLIPPERS ARE 4-0! I DON’T BELIEVE IT, THE CLIPPERS ARE 4-0!
Ron Hoskins (NBAE/Getty Images). |
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Let’s Waste the Sportswriters Time...
posted by Dena | November 9 @ 11:09 am
Nikki Looney from Orange, CA writes…
There are a few things that I love. One is that the Clippers are 4-0. The other is that you quote movies like you do. Keep up the great quoting!
Nikki,
Wait, what? The Clippers are 4-0? Hmmm… didn’t all of the sportswriters out there pick them to finish with basically negative wins? Makes you wonder if Coach D. took a cue from Cleveland Indians Coach Lou Brown (Major League, people). I can only imagine Coach D.’s pre-game speech in the locker room on opening night went a little something like this…
“All right people, we got 10 minutes 'till game time, let's all gather 'round. I'm not much for giving inspirational addresses, but I'd just like to point out that every newspaper in the country has picked us to finish last. The local press seems to think that we'd save everyone the time and trouble if we just went out and shot ourselves. Me, I'm for wasting sportswriters' time. So I figured we ought to hang around for a while and see if we can give 'em all a nice big (expletive)burger to eat!”
Two words to the non believers out there: Boo. Yah.
Before we all get TOO excited, let’s sit back, relax and take a deeeeeeeeep breath. We’re four games into the season. That leaves 78 games left on the year.
Keep in mind that three of the four teams the Clips have demolished (slaughtered, demoralized, you pick) are a combined 0-13.
Not to open up old wounds or anything but, last season, the Clippers started out 5-1, went on to win only 40 games and just missed the playoffs. Just throwing that out there…
A lot can happen between now and April 16th. But something about this year’s outlook is different. Maybe it’s because the pressure seal has been broken. The expectations for this team were lower than low by most, if not all of those (burger eating) sportswriters out there.
Other reasons why this season doesn’t spell DOOM: The Caveman is back (ummmm... 16.8 ppg, 16.5 rpg, 2.0 bpg), Cuttino Mobley got his shot back, Maggette’s starting every game, Timmy T. is shooting .542 from beyond the arc…
But so far the most impressive feat has been that the Clippers are winning on the road. Last season, the first road win didn’t come until December 9th at Memphis (which isn’t saying much considering the Grizzlies were in the Oden sweepstakes by the second week of the season).
Instead, this season the Clips are 2-0 on the road, with the biggest test of the Central Division trip coming against the 3-1 Detroit Pistons at the thunderous confines of The Palace of Auburn Hills.
And for the record… to my former coworkers in Detroit, the torrent of trash talking e-mails are becoming excessively obnoxious. First of all, we got Thornton, ok? You didn’t. You got stuck with Stuckey! He’s a stellar player, so quit your whining. Second, we're still undefeated. You? Not so much anymore!
And by the way, you Pistonians can’t claim to be the true bearers of red, white & blue. You abandoned that right when you went to maroon and teal in the 90’s!
Tip-off at The Palace is tonight at 5:00 pm (PST). Get Ralph’s play-by-play and humiliating comments about that Mikesmith guy on KTLA the CW or listen to Brian Sieman’s call on 710 ESPN.
Okay deep breath over.
THE CLIPPERS ARE 4-0! THE CLIPPERS ARE 4-0! I DON’T BELIEVE IT, THE CLIPPERS ARE 4-0!
P.S. That was another Major League quote for you, Nikki (well, sort of).
P.P.S. A limited number of great seats are still available for this Sunday's home game against King James and the Cavs! Buy them now!
P.P.P.S. This image makes my heart swoon. Now to your e-mails, you giddy fans, you.
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Some E-Mails are Still Fun...
Derick Green from Northridge, CA writes…
BIG QUESTION: Will Brand be at most to all games? I would love to see him on the bench or behind it each and every game. We need his leadership! Lots of player seem to be at the arena training but aren't watching the games with their team.
Derick,
You’ll probably see the players at most if not all of their team’s home games, much like we saw EB and Shaun sitting sideline on Opening Night. Road games are a different story and whether or not that injured player travels with the team depends entirely on his rehabilitation schedule. For example, Shaun’s rehab is advanced enough that he traveled with the team to Chicago and Indiana and worked with our trainers Rich Williams and Jasen Powell. He won’t be in Detroit on Friday so he can rehab at home in LA.
As for EB, he likely won’t travel with the team until he’s cleared by his doctors.
Frank from Norwalk, CA writes…
What about my main man Tim Thomas? Did anybody forget about this guy? He used to play center and PF for the Suns once upon a time. He won't be an upgrade from EB but he can defend his own... Thomas’ got game.
Frank,
If anybody did forget about Thomas, he certainly refreshed their memories starting at about 3:43 left in the fourth quarter against the Sonics on Sunday.
| 3:43 [LAC 103-87] | Thomas 3pt Shot: Made (14 PTS) Assist: Cassell (3 AST) |
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| Durant 3pt Shot: Made (24 PTS) Assist: Wilkins (6 AST) | 3:31 [SEA 90-103] | |
| 3:16 [LAC 106-90] | Thomas 3pt Shot: Made (17 PTS) Assist: Cassell (4 AST) |
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| Wilkins Driving Layup Shot: Made (18 PTS) | 2:59 [SEA 92-106] | |
| 2:43 [LAC 109-92] | Thomas 3pt Shot: Made (20 PTS) Assist: Cassell (5 AST) |
Yeah. That just happened. And by “that,” I mean three straight threes from Timmy T. in 60 seconds. (Insert right hand dance move here. Three times.)
Edison Machado of Ursel, Belgium, Europe writes…
I hope this year I won't have to waste hours of my sleep, last year was an almost year I don’t want leave of almost so lets go all the way.
Go Clippers you have reach far.
Go Clippers go!!
Edison,
Um. What you said. Go Clippers, go!
Grandma Shirley from Michigan writes…
Dear Chris. We are all praying for you that your back gets better in a hurry and we hope you and your team have a great season. Love you. Grannie
Grandma Kaman,
I’ll be sure to pass your note along to your grandson. Rumor has it his back is better. Good enough to pull down 22 monster rebounds against the Pacers on Wednesday night… just sayin’.
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I'd like to wish a very happy (upcoming) birthday to the following wonderful people in the Clippers family...
Dena,
Thanks again for walking a tech-handicapped guy through the calendar download process... You da bomb, girl (I think that's what my kids would say)!
Great blog, and I promise I'll check it regularly!
Kelly,
Any time you need tech support with Clippers.com just let me know. I’m always happy to help. Though I’m certain your kids could put my tech savvy to shame.
P.S. “You da bomb, girl” is so 2001. Check with your kids, but you probably meant to say, “You girl are major.”
Eric Will from Anaheim writes…
I think they are good enough to make the playoff and are they good enough to pass the second round only if Brand is back other than that no, maybe first or second round and like in 05 when they made the playoff. Still they are pretty good.
Eric,
Thank you for that very grammatically incorrect run-on sentence. It was impossible to edit. Though you have a point: still they are pretty good.
Howard Wolk from Lake Forest, CA writes…
My question pertains to the Marko Jaric trade to Minnesota. How many more years do the Clippers have to wait until the Timberwolves’ first round pick shifts to the Clippers? Knowing that if the Timberwolves finish above tenth in the lottery that it automatically goes to the Clippers…
Howard,
The beauty of the lottery is that unless you have a very sneaky ping pong ball (ahem Portland!), your team will pick according to where it finished at the end of the season.
The pick that we get from Minnesota is top-ten protected until 2011. If we still haven't received it by then, in 2012 it's ours.
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Clippers.com Presents...
Many of you (ok two of you) have been e-mailing trying to find out what’s happened to the Blog for the last month. Yes, I still work here. No, I haven’t forgotten about you Clipper Nation. It’s just this… trying to get everything on the site in tip-top shape for the new season has taken up all of my time!
Now that this well-oiled machine is up and running, allow me to introduce to you the top five coolest additions to Clippers.com for the upcoming season.
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1. GIANT PHOTO GALLERIES! Based on traffic reports and statistical analysis, we’ve learned that your favorite part of the site is the PHOTOS, particularly of the Spirit Dancers. (Hmm… can’t imagine why…) So, allow me to introduce to you the new gigantic photo galleries where the pictures are pretty, the dancers are aplenty and the game action is really captured. Not all photo galleries will be created in this ginormous format, but the dancers and games all will be. Check it out!
2. A very special thanks and shout out to the designers at Heil Brice who have designed these fantastical desktop wallpapers for the 2007-08 season. I heart the jersey wallpapers.
3. Where in the World is Clipper Nation? They’re EVERYWHERE. An oldie but a goody, you can send in your photos (of you wearing Clippers gear, anywhere around the world) to clippernation@clippers.com and we’ll post them online! And a special added bonus: this season we’re featuring your pictures on the home page for 24 hours. So if you sent yours in, be sure to check out the site EVERY SINGLE DAY to see if yours pops up. It’s all part of my evil plan to bring you back to our site on a daily basis…
4. EVEN MORE fan photos! Now when you go to a Clippers home game, you can get your picture taken with your friends, family, loved ones, etc. by one of the members of our friendly fan photographers. Then you can come to Clippers.com, click on this handy dandy link, and download and/or purchase your photo online. Cool, huh?
5. The Daily Clips. Welcome to your one-stop spot for all news Clippers. Every day we’ll pull the headlines from the six major sources that cover the Clips – LA Times, LA Daily News, Orange County Register, ESPN, Fox Sports and HoopsWorld.com – and put them on this page. In the PR world, these headlines are called “Clips.” Get it? Clips? Clippers? Creative, huh?
P.S. For those keeping score at home, No. 13 Michigan is now 8-2…
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