| Alive And (Relatively) Well Authored by Drew Decker - December 16, 2008 - 2:33 am
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
A Melo Behind The SuperstarsCarmelo Anthony has never been one of the league's most efficient offensive players.
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Friday night’s thrilling double-overtime victory on the road at Portland was just the kind of game that could turn a season around. Led by recently acquired power forward Zach Randolph’s 38 points and 11 rebounds, the Clippers overcame long odds and toppled one of the best teams in the West on their home court.
The next night, Randolph scored 30 points and snared 13 boards as the Clips returned to the Staples Center and convincingly beat the Houston Rockets 95-82.
The rest of this column will look at a few of the Good, Bad and Ugly elements of the last 15 games and also provide a recommendation on how to improve the team’s chances of making the playoffs (No…I’m not under the influence of any foreign substances right now).
The Good
Despite being labeled as a malcontent for much of his career, Zach Randolph has been one of the best big men in basketball this year. Not even Tim Duncan, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire or Yao Ming can match Z-Bo’s gaudy numbers of more than 20 points and 11 boards a game (22.1 ppg and 11.3 rpg). Since coming over from the New York Knicks, Randolph has excelled on both ends of the court and exceeded all but the highest of expectations.
Although a heel injury sidelined Marcus Camby for the first couple of games, he has really lived up to his reputation as one of the premier defenders in the game (10.5 ppg, 11.5 rpg and 3.1 bpg). Camby and Randolph have formed a formidable duo up front and will only get better the more time they have a chance to play together.
The Bad
Head Coach Mike Dunleavy’s still hasn’t adequately loosened the reigns on explosive point guard Baron Davis Saddling a thoroughbred like Baron Davis with dozens of plays doesn’t make a great deal of sense. I’m not suggesting that Dunleavy turn the Clippers into Golden State South, but this should be a fast break basketball team rather than a walk-it-up-the-court-and-call-a-play-team. Even the most novice of basketball fans can see this and hopefully Dunleavy will as well, before it’s too late.
Ricky Davis was simply the worst basketball player in the league for the first three weeks of the season. As poorly as he shot the ball from the field (27%), Davis looked even worse running the court. A couple weeks ago it was announced that he had a knee injury and is expected to be sidelined until after Christmas. While this explains why Davis performed so atrociously, it doesn’t explain why Dunleavy continued to play him as the losses piled up.
The Ugly
A 6-17 record through the first 23 games.
This brutal start has given the Clippers nearly zero margin for error the rest of the year. Realistically, the Clips need to go at least 40-19 the rest of the way to have any chance of nailing down the 8th seed in the West. Can this be accomplished? Call me delusional, but I say ABSOLUTELY.
The talent is there right now and one more trade could make it a foregone conclusion. As discussed above, Camby and Randolph complement each other very well up front and Chris Kaman will likely just “clog up the works” once he returns later this month. Why not deal Kaman and Jason Hart to the center-less Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Mike Miller and Calvin Booth? The salaries match and both teams get exactly what they need.
Al Jefferson is much more comfortable at power forward and Kaman would allow him to slide over to his natural position. In addition, Hart could provide valuable minutes at the point so that Randy Foye can shift over to shooting guard. Hell, Kevin “Frickin” Ollie started a couple games for the Wolves earlier this season. Yes, this is the same Kevin Ollie who bounced around the league for eleven years and possesses career averages of 3.8 ppg and 2.3 apg.
The Clippers receive a veteran sharp shooter to spread the floor while enabling rookie Eric Gordon to come off the bench to play twenty minutes as the 6th man. Miller also has a shorter contract than Kaman and extra cap space will be created when the deal expires at the end of next season.
A few people have accused me of occasionally looking at things through rose-colored glasses. Perhaps I’m being overly optimistic, but I truly believe a playoff berth isn’t out of the question…particularly if a reliable shooter the caliber of Miller can be acquired.
Of course, we’re still talking about the Los Angeles Clippers and if something can go wrong it usually does. We’ll see what happens…
Drew blogs about the Clippers and a lot of other topics at sandiegosportsguy.com. He can be reached at drew@sandiegosportsguy.com |
