December 2008 Archives

Hey guys,

I'm on vacation for a couple days, but I wanted to pass this along from the Clippers, who announced they have signed guard Fred Jones.

A six-year NBA veteran, Jones played 70 games with the Knicks last season, averaging 7.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 25.1 minutes. The Clippers will be the fifth NBA team for Jones, who has appeared in 378 total games and is averaging 7.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in his NBA career.

The official prognosis isn't in yet, but the general assumption is that rookie point guard Mike Taylor will miss approximately 4-6 weeks with a broken right hand. Where does that leave the Clippers, who were already thin in the backcourt?

The team has an extra roster spot, but according to a source familiar with the club's thinking, the most likely course of action is to go with two point guards (Baron Davis and Jason Hart) until Taylor is ready to return or until teams can sign players to 10-day contracts in early January, whichever comes first.

The team is unlikely to bring a player in immediately, because they only have four games the rest of the month after tonight's game in Milwaukee, and one game in the first week of January.

If the team needs extra help in the backcourt, Eric Gordon and Mardy Collins have experience at point guard.

From the Clippers:

Los Angeles Clippers guard Mike Taylor fractured his right thumb with 8:03 remaining in the second quarter of tonight's game in Indiana.

A time table for his return will be determined after further evaluation is done upon the team's return to Los Angeles.

Indiana Pacers are without their top two scorers, Danny Granger and Marquis Daniels, and forward Troy Murphy, in tonight's game against the Clippers.

The Indianapolis Star reports that the three are hospitalized, getting treatment for flu-like symptoms.

when is ricky davis coming back ? Have the Clippers talked to Jason Williams at all ? Is Baron Davis secretly injured ? hes shooting so horribly.

--I'll take these one at a time. Ricky is expected back around Christmas, though that is not a firm date and I wouldn't be surprised to see him out until after New Years. It's the kind of injury you want to make sure is really healed before you come back, because that was the point of sitting out so long in the first place.

--To my knowledge, the Clippers have not spoken with Jason Williams since he retired before the start of training camp.

--I don't think Baron is secretly injured, as you put it, but I do think his finger affected him in the early part of the year. I think it affected him more in terms of dribbling than shooting. But the last time I looked at it, the finger looked quite a bit better than before. I'll ask Baron about it the next time I see him.

What is Baron's relationship like with Dunleavy? Does Baron respect him? Do they have a friendly relationship like Dunleavy seemed to have with Cassell?

-- That's a hard question to answer because I don't get to see them behind closed doors. I think coach is close with some players. Actually, I know he was very close with Cuttino Mobley, even after trading him. I don't think he's formed that bond with Baron yet, though from what I've seen he's definitely tried.

Hey,

Since the Clippers are out of town this week, I figured I'd open the floor up for some questions. Try and have them in by Friday afternoon, though I'll try and answer them as they come in.

I noticed someone asked about Kaman's return date...

Last time I asked Mike Dunleavy about it, he said Kaman would likely be out until Christmas. The Clips play Dec. 22 vs. Toronto, then have a long break until Dallas comes to town on December 28. The Clippers will take the 23-25 off, then reconvene the afternoon of the 26th, meaning all the guys will have a chance to go home for Xmas, though most likely they'd have to fly home the night of the 25th to be back in town for practice on the 26th.

All that said, my guess would be the soonest Kaman would be back is the game on the 28th, though it could be the 30th in Sacramento or the 31st against Philadelphia back at Staples. I can't see him rushing back for the game on the 22nd when there is a six-day break after that. It would be a much better idea to sit out the 22nd and use the extra week to heal.

Just came across an explosive story in the Indianapolis Star in which Clippers rookie Eric Gordon said that members of Indiana's basketball team, which he played on last season, used illegal drugs and it caused a vast division within the team.

"Sometimes it felt like it wasn't even a real basketball team because of all the turmoil that went on," Gordon told the newspaper. "I was just thinking about that the other day. It was so crazy that all that stuff threw off a good season and made it a waste, basically.
"It was really tough for us to be around each other all the time off the court because we were so separate."

His beard has grown long and shaggy. The clean-cut look Baron Davis brought into the season long since overgrown by a more grizzled look.

These first few months back in his hometown have been tough. A lot tougher than he expected, if we and he are being honest.

``I'm always optimistic, but I think I was too optimistic in the beginning of the season,'' Davis said after the Clippers beat Houston 95-82 on Saturday night, marking their first two-game winning streak of the season.

``I just thought things were going to start clicking from the beginning. But missing training camp, with all these new faces, it was tough. For me, it was a humbling experience.''

Keeping the beard trimmed, in other words, was the least of his worries.

After 23 games, two games past a fourth of the NBA season already gone by, the Clippers have just six wins to show for their efforts.

But for the first time, since maybe the beginning of training camp, they have reason for optimism again.

Saturday's win over Houston was their second in as many nights against one of the NBA's elite teams. Houston and Portland, whom the Clippers beat in double overtime Friday night up in Portland, were two of only eight teams in the league with at least 15 wins coming into Saturday night.

``You've just got to feel your way out of it,'' Davis said.

In terms of challenges he's faced during his career, Davis said the Clippers woeful 4-17 start ranks ``right up there'' with the toughest situations he's had to overcome.

``But now ... I've never been more optimistic than I am now with this team.''

Strong words for a star player who has uttered few of them in the last month or two, preferring to keep quiet until a brighter day, if it ever came.

But with new power forward Zach Randolph turning in his second straight impressive game, Davis' mood was starting to brighten, even though his face still looked grizzled and worn.

Saturday night Randolph finished with 30 points and 13 rebounds. Add that to Friday's 38 points and 11 rebounds and you've got a dependable, if not dominant low post scorer.

``Zach is as good as advertised,'' center Marcus Camby said. ``There's not a shot he can't make. He's a real great basketball player.''

Randolph, impervious to the early-season woes his new mates suffered through, didn't even know it was the Clippers first back-to-back wins of the season.

``Really?'' he asked, when a reporter asked for a reaction. ``It's a building block. We're trying to build. That's what we got to do every night. Come out and play hard and don't worry about the offensive end until we get stops.''

Saturday night, that was the key against a Houston team that scored 119 points against Golden State on Friday night and 103 points against the Clippers back on December 3.

The Clippers held Houston to just 34 points in the second half Saturday. Only Yao Ming (24 points) and Tracy McGrady (19 points) finished in double figures.

``Games like this, when we don't move he ball and move ourselves,'' Rockets forward Shane Battier said. ``We normally lose.''

Al Thornton scored 26 points for Los Angeles. Camby added 12 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. Davis had 13 points and nine assists.

Same bat channel, same bat place...

I'll be joining you intermittently. Have fun:

The Clippers, like many teams around the NBA in this down economy, have had to get a bit more creative in the packaging of their tickets these days. What does that mean for the average fan?

Seats to some of the best games left on the home schedule and autographs from some of the players ...

The packages include the Clippers' contests vs. the Lakers on January 21, the Boston Celtics on February 25, the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 10 and the Portland Trail Blazers on April 11.

RISING STAR HOLIDAY PACKAGE - $250
Two tickets in the upper level corners for each game.
A private autograph session with rookies DeAndre Jordan and Mike Taylor.

STARTING LINEUP HOLIDAY PACKAGE - $400
Two tickets in the upper level center for each game.
A private autograph session with the choice of two (2) of the following players:

Marcus Camby, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Zach Randolph and Al Thornton.

SILVER ANNIVERSARY HOLIDAY PACKAGE - $800
Two lower level seats in the end zone for each game.
A Limited Edition 25th Year Anniversary Official Cap, woven in black and autographed in silver by Clippers guard Baron Davis.
A private autograph session with your choice of three (3) of the following players:

Marcus Camby, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Zach Randolph and Al Thornton.

Former Clipper Cuttino Mobley announced his retirement Thursday afternoon at a press conference in New York after being diagnosed with the potentially fatal heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He, and the four clubs he'd previously played for, had believed his heart condition was merely a benign condition called an enlarged heart, also known as an athletic heart. But a recent series of tests following his trade from the Clippers to the Knicks on November 21 revealed the more serious condition.

It's not known if his previous condition had worsened since his September physical with the Clippers, or if the more serious condition had gone undetected in the past.

According to the New York Times:

Mobley made his decision after visiting three highly regarded medical specialists, including Dr. Barry J. Maron, a leading expert on HCM who is based in Minneapolis. Mobley had been aware that he had an enlarged heart, also referred to as an athletic heart, which can be a benign condition.

"Getting the M.R.I. basically saved my life," Mobley said.

According to several reports out of New York, and the Associated Press, it's looking like Cuttino Mobley could retire as soon as today.

It's a rather shocking turn of events, and final footnote to the Zach Randolph trade. But it sounds as if this trade could indeed have saved Mobley's life.

I don't believe that the Knicks are pushing Mobley to do this, though I'm not close enough to them to know for sure.

From what I understand, the Knicks had the option to just dump Mobley and allow him to return to the Clippers, as Antonio McDyess did recently with the Pistons, and chose not to. In other words, they did want him so there'd be no reason to force him to retire just to clear a roster spot.

We should have more information on Thursday. Mobley has not publicly spoken about his heart condition since the trade. But this was obviously an agonizing decision for him.

In this week's Sports Illustrated, L. Jon Wertheim writes on Baron Davis's use of the NBA as a platform to work as a social activist, movie producer and entrepreneur.

Wertheim writes: "When you've been involved in a successful presidential campaign, produced an Oscar-worthy documentary and include among your goals for 2009 brokering a truce among Bloods, Crips and Latino gangs, it's easy to see how tossing a ball into a basket against, say, the Milwaukee Bucks could seem somewhat trifling. And while Davis won't cop to it, there is a sense in some corners that his extracurricular activities have exacted a price on his basketball."

Says Davis: "Basketball saved my life, it really did. I owe everything to this game. I could never be one of those players who signs a big contract and then doesn't want to play. People look at all the things I have going on and say it's a distraction. But, you know, they're hobbies. Basketball is my stage, and the failing just makes you hungrier."

It's on page 48, if you're curious to read more...

Just got word from the league office that both flagrant fouls from last night's game have been reviewed --as all flagrant fouls are -- and there will be no further punishment to the players involved.

Zach Randolph was assessed a flagrant foul for his hard foul on Orlando center Dwight Howard. Orlando's Brian Cook was assessed a flagrant foul for his hard foul on Clippers guard Baron Davis.

The loss to the lowly Clippers on Saturday proved to be the final blow in the case against Minnesota coach Randy Wittman, who was summarily fired on Monday.

Almost as quickly, questions about which NBA coach would be next to be dismissed found a focus on Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy, who saw his team fall to a dreadful 4-17 with a 95-88 loss to Orlando Monday night at Staples Center.

But before anything began swirling, or spinning, Clippers president Andy Roeser put a sharp end to that discussion, publicly affirming Dunleavy's standing with the club.

``It's always darkest before the dawn,'' Roeser said after the loss on Monday night. ``We like our players and as hard as it is to say, we just need to be a little patient until it all comes together.''

It looks like the Clippers will have to wait a little longer to see how their new frontline of Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby and Zach Randolph will be able to play together.

Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said Monday that Kaman will be out longer than the team had first expected, possibly a few more weeks in addition to the two weeks he's already missed with a strained left arch.

``It seems like it's going to be a little slower,'' Dunleavy said. ``Basically what it is, is you have a partially torn tendon in your foot. It shows up on the MRI, you see the healing process and when it's all healed he'll be ready to go.''

Dunleavy had initially hoped Kaman might be ready for Monday's game against Orlando. Then that was pushed back to Friday's game in Portland. Now he's not even putting a timetable on it.

Kaman saw another doctor on Sunday and determined the foot was taking longer to heal than expected.

``Hopefully in a couple more weeks I'll start playing,'' Kaman said. ``I don't really know when. I just want to keep doing my rehab and staying on top of everything. It's still a little sore, but it's better than it was.

``I'd been testing it a little bit and it wasn't where it needed to be. I'm going to wait until it heals and I'm not going to come back any sooner because I don't want it to linger the rest of the year.''

Kaman has been out since November 26th.

Hey,

Sorry to have been away a few days. I don't travel with the Clippers on the road so there isn't as much new content to bring you.

I was thinking this might be a new cool feature for the blog. Stole the idea from Brian Dohn over at our UCLA blog...

Anyway, I'm going to be hosting live in-game chats during all games now. I'll be on most of the time, but when I'm up against it on deadline I'll have to duck out. But this is mostly for you guys, so let's see how much interest there is, starting with tonight.

It is still too early to call which way this thing is going to go, but the latest reports out of New York confirm what I'd begun to suspect: that Cuttino Mobley's heart condition -- which briefly held up the Zach Randolph trade -- is a lot more serious than previously believed.

The trade, in effect, might have been the best thing for Mobley if the condition he has, believed to be an enlarged heart, has actually worsened since his last physical with the Clippers before training camp began this September.

Because of their experience with Eddy Curry the Knicks are among the most cautious and knowledgeable teams in these matters in the NBA. At first, I like many others in the league, assumed they were just being cautious with Mobley as well. Especially when they tried to get some extra compensation from the Clippers during the 24-hour delay.

But since that time, Mobley has been seeing specialists all around the country trying to determine if it's safe for him to continue his career.

Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy and many of the guys on the team have been sending Mobley text messages throughout the process, just checking in on him.

So far, nobody, not even Mobley, knows what the end result will be or whether Mobley will be able to continue his career.

"He's just trying to see what's the best for him health-wise," teammate and former Clipper Tim Thomas told the New York Times. "I told him, 'Your health is more important than anything else.' He played 11 years, made some good money. If he's not able to play, it's just time to invest and move on."

Interesting article by Chris Mannix over at SI.com

Five games, five Golden State losses and a more than 2:1 turnover-to-assist ratio. Maggette's selfish play hasn't gone unnoticed by other players. According to sources, after the final buzzer against Boston, Celtics forward Kevin Garnett turned to Maggette and shouted, "Way to get your numbers."
"He just puts his head down and goes to the basket," an Eastern Conference scout said. "He doesn't even look to pass."
Word from team sources is that the Warriors are already regretting signing Maggette to a five-year, $50 million deal last offseason. When Monta Ellis returns to the lineup early next year, Golden State will have to figure out how to spread the wealth among three players (Ellis, Jamal Crawford and Maggette) who aren't very good at spreading it.

Just got done watching the end of what is probably one of the Clippers toughest losses to swallow of the season. The Clippers just blew a 12-point fourth quarter lead and let a guy named Jose Barea flat out beat them at the end of what could've been a season-changing win.

Barea is a nice player. He's cat-quick, smart and fearless. But when you play against the Mavs, he's not the guy you want beating you.

Anyway, from my vantage point, here's what went wrong in the final few minutes.

1. Failure to get the ball to Zach Randolph
Randolph was a beast in this game, but at the end the Clippers stopped feeding him the ball in the post.

2. Settling for jumpers
Part and parcel with a failure to get Randolph the ball. The Clippers did not take a shot inside of 16 feet in the last 5:02 of the game.

3. Failure to take time off the clock

When you're trying to run out the clock, you can't take shots early in the shot clock. It's one thing if there's a clear path to the basket, but in the final five minutes of the game it really seemed like the Clippers shot way to quickly on several key possessions.

What do you think? Agree, disagree? Sound off:

Just got a little more official word today from coach Mike Dunleavy that Chris Kaman will miss ``up to two weeks'' due to his sprained left arch. Dunleavy said there's a chance he could come back sooner, which would put the initial target of December 8th back on the table. But more realistically, I'd say the road game against Portland on December 12 or the home game against Houston on the 13th is more realistic.