Tim's Two Cents-February 6

The look on Baron's face says it all.

Mike Dunleavy Stepping Down as Clippers Coach Symbolizes Another Forgettable Season.  Mike Duleavy  chose to focus more on his GM responsibilities when he resigned as head coach on Thursday.  Kim Hughes is now the interim coach as the Clips get ready to face the San Antonio Spurs tonight at Staples Center as their season continues toward a downward spiral.

I'm not shocked at all that Dunleavy decided to step down.  As a matter of fact, I could care less that he did so.  I don't have anything against him, but the reality is Los Angeles is a Laker town when it comes to basketball, no question about it.

Dunleavy's tenure as head coach is just like any other who have held the position in the past.  Not very memorable.  There was only one season in which the Clippers made the playoffs.    Other than that, it has been business as usual. 

This season was supposedly going to be a breakout year for the Clippers with playoff aspirations, especially with Baron Davis entering another year with the team and the arrival of the number one overall draft pick Blake Griffin.  Instead, it has been the same old thing this season.  

The silver lining was they did make it farther than the Lakers that season when they beat the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2006 playoffs while the Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns.  The Clips would go on to lose to those same Suns the following round.

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Eric Molina under CC-BY 2.0 License

      

Tim's Two Cents-January 14

Are the Clippers Cursed?  News broke yesterday that this year's number one draft pick Blake Griffin is going to have season-ending knee surgery.  So that means Griffin will have to wait until next season to make his NBA debut.  The various reactions to the news centered around whether the Clippers are a cursed franchise.  I'm not holding my breath.

Ever since the Clippers moved to Los Angeles in 1984, they've always existed under the shadow of the other, more successful Los Angeles team.  The Clippers have tried so much to be like the Lakers that they even play in the same building.  How sorry of a franchise must you be if you have to share your arena with another team in the same sport?  This team should have moved to Anaheim a long time ago when they had the chance.  They probably still have the chance to move elsewhere but they will probably screw it up once again somehow.

As for the Griffin injury excuse for a curse, I don't buy it at all.  L.A.'s other team has more key players injured than any other team in the NBA right now: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest.  Those are three star players who have been dealing with injuries all season long.  As of last night, their record is 30-9.  The Clippers, who still have the likes of Baron Davis, Marcus Camby and Sebastian Telfair, are 17-20.  So don't give me any of this "we're cursed" nonsense.

The bottom line is the Lakers are a much better run franchise than the Clippers.  They're not a very good team to begin with, living in the shadow of the big brother.  Some other notable first round picks by the Clippers include Michael Olowokandi and Shaun Livingston.  They are now both virtually nonexistent in the NBA today.  Olowokandi never panned out as a premiere athlete in the sport and Livingston was a walking bandaid with numerous injuries. 

As far as I'm concerned, the Clippers will never be a viable franchise as long as Donald Sterling owns the team.

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Wikimedia Commons and Conman33 under CC-BY 3.0 License