| Rumors of Brand’s Demise Greatly Exaggerated Authored by Graham Flashner - November 13, 2006 - 10:10 am
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He was physically fatigued from two draining weeks with the U.S. National Team at the 2006 World Championships.
He was mentally exhausted from the Clippers’ exhibition swing to Moscow in October.
He was running himself into the ground with relentless practice sessions that, some team officials feared, would sap his strength during the grind of the season.
Bothered by double-teams and no longer freeing himself for his customary post-up shots, he was no longer the Clippers go-to guy.
The whispers stopped in the Clippers’ sixth game, a 92-76 win over the New Orleans Hornets.
Brand reasserted himself with 22 points on 8-12 shooting, and 10 rebounds. He also found room for 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocked shots, in 39 energetic minutes.
Afterwards, unfailing polite as usual, he joked that “there’s gotta be something to write about, or it wouldn’t be any fun.” Then he turned serious.
“I got here by working hard,” Brand said, “They make me sit during practice and not get my shots up, then I feel like I’ll get in the game and I won’t be as fluid as I want to be.
“They’re going to have to fine me to get me off the court,” Brand added.
As for the Hornets, they should be fined for stepping on the Staples Center court. This was their fifth loss in a row on the Clippers floor, though at least it was nowhere near the nightmare of last March, when the Hornets scored 16 second-half points in an embarrassing 89-67 loss. Sunday, after falling behind by as many as 13 points, they hung with the Clippers until early in the fourth quarter, when an 8-0 Clipper run stretched the lead to 76-66.
“I'm sure they remembered that horror show, so they really showed some resilience on their end today by fighting hard and coming back," Brand said. "But we didn't fold. We wanted to get that win. You've got to send a message to other teams that it's going to be tough to win at Staples Center -- especially when you play the Clippers.”
It’s also tough to win when you commit 26 turnovers, which the Hornets did, in endlessly creative ways: shot clock violations, back-to-back traveling calls, errant passes. In one 70-second stretch, reserve forward Cedric Simmons committed three all by himself.
“That was very uncharacteristic of us,” said Hornets guard Chris Paul. “They did a good job of playing team defense, of talking to each other.”
Though Paul hit his first five shots in the first quarter, he scored only 10 points over the last three, finishing with 20 points, 3 assists, and 6 of the Hornets turnovers. Every time he tried to penetrate, it seemed that either Quinton Ross, Sam Cassell, or Chris Kaman was in his face.
“We stayed in front of him, gave him a lot of help,” said Brand. “We got in the passing lanes, trapped when we were supposed to trap.”
After a 4-0 start, the Hornets have dropped three straight on the road. The Clippers, at 5-1, having not lost since their opening game in Phoenix, remain atop the Pacific Division. And Elton Brand would like everyone to know he’s feeling just fine, thank you. |
