Wow, did Baron Davis' dreams of a winning return to L.A. vanish quickly. I wasn't really sold on the the Davis-Elton Brand combo as a playoff ticket anyway. For one thing, Brand--Mr. 20 and 10 as he's being called nowadays--has made the playoffs all of once in nine seasons in a league where over half the teams make the postseason. Admittedly, he did play with some lousy teams with the Clippers and Bulls, but everyone should know by now that a good player on a bad team always puts up inflated stats. Would he have a career 20-10 averages on championship contenders? I don't think so. And his one playoff appearance was on a team led by Sam Cassell when he could still play, a bonafide winner everywhere he goes. I mean the guy helped lead Milwaukee and Minnesota to Conference Championship Series, not to mention his three rings with Houston and Boston. Does Baron Davis have that kind of pedigree? Nope.
The Clippers did win a first round series that year, but they beat the Nuggets,a perpetual first round whipping boy. And they did take a Phoenix team without Amare Stoudamire to a game seven, but came up short. All the promise in that team quickly vanished, however, and they were back to the same old Clips. Davis, on the other hand, has been on a handful of playoff teams in his career, but never got out of the second round either. Last year, he played in all 82 games, but he only played in more than 60 games twice in the previous six seasons, and never more than 67. Keeping him healthy and on the court has always been an issue.
But now, that doesn't matter. Brand is a new Philadelphia 76er and all the talk is about how they are championship contenders now. Well, not quite. For one thing, let's see what kind of shape he's in after missing all but 8 games last year before we anoint them as this year's Celtics. There's a lot of talk about the good nucleus, and how they were up and coming before signing Brand. Well, they do have some good young talent, but they were still 40-42 last year, in a season where they clearly over-performed in a really bad conference. They did go up 2-1 on the mighty Pistons, but we all know Detroit has a tendency to lose games in the playoffs to teams it should stomp. Once they fell behind, Detroit crushed Philadelphia handily in the last three games. Did the Sixers actually win those two games or did the Pistons just sleep-walk through them? I'm guessing the latter.
Does this mean Philly will miss the playoffs? Doubtful in the mediocre east, but not out of the realm of possibility. First of all, they need to match whatever deal is on the table for restricted free agent Andre Igoudala, then they have to keep everyone healthy and on the court. Even at that, I still don't see them being much better than a lower playoff seed, first round exit kind of club. And don't expect three teams at .500 or worse making the playoffs in the East again this year, so they'd better approach 50 wins, or they could be back in the lottery themselves.
As for the Clippers, I would throw the entire check book at Josh Smith and pray that the Atlanta Hawks won't be intelligent enough to match. Or maybe make an enormous offer sheet to Igoudala just to drive up his price for Philly. Nothing like a little gamesmanship, just ask the Warriors, who signed away the Clippers other best player, Corey Maggette. Outside of that, and probably even with that, it's lottery time again.
Maggette, on the other hand, showed himself to be a true loser. He was courted by virtually every legit title contender in the league; San Antonio, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland; for mid-level exception money ($5.8 million). Instead, he took $10 million to take Baron Davis's place in Golden State, moving from one of the league's perpetual losers to another. Golden State does have some talent, but even coach Don Nelson admits he's going with younger players this season at the expense of victories. Backtracking from their 48 wins of last year isn't going to get it done in a conference where the eighth seed had 50 wins, and who really knows how good Portland can be? He could have played one year with San Antonio or Detroit on a national stage, maybe taken home a ring, and still gotten a big payday next year. Or better yet, two years polishing a championship resume then been in position to cash in on the salary cap space left over from the LeBron James losers. But no, he took the money today over any realistic chance for a title. Golden State may grow into a contender in two or three years, but in the West as of now, they're still a lottery team. I guess he just wanted to stay in his comfort zone, watching the playoffs on t.v. rather than playing in them. But hey, at least he can afford a nice couch.
By the way, I'm really hoping the Lakers trade for Ron Artest. Talent-wise, he'd be a perfect fit for what they need, but is the Staples Center really big enough for the egos of Kobe and RonRon? I can't wait to see how long they can go before being at each other's throats. And Artest's not like Shaq, who will just childishly rip someone behind their back. He'll smack Kobe upset his head if the mood strikes him. After all, what's more fitting than the team from Hollywood having a little drama?
aiight man....i'll say this. the modern day free agent market has turned sports into a revolving door ordeal for so many players and coaches. why even bother to question a player's decision to go to any given team just because you don't agree? for some guys it is about making money...and if that's Maggette's goal, then i say more power to him. everyone doesn't share the same urgency to win a championship in their career.
that being said...it should be very interesting to see what happens with the Atlanta Hawks. they have a very young and talented team, and chances are, unless the players decide they really want to stay in A-town...there going to lose 2 or 3 of their star players.
I think you are way off base about Brand. He played against much taller, heavier PF's in the west his entire career almost and still put up the numbers. He developed one of the best PF mid range jumpers in the league.
Sam Dalembert is the big winner here. With Brand helping on the boards two guys can't box out Sam and with Brand's 12 footer the possibility for alley opps to Sam is unlimited now. The whole idea of defending one guy on the Sixers inside is now gone. No more cheating and sagging in the lane on the one decent big guy on the Sixers. They are now legitimate eastern contenders.
As far as his being out of condition did you even see him those final 8 games he came back to show everyone his tendo was OK? He was in shape for someone out a whole year. Brand is a great player and will improve the Sixers tremendously. He didn't cut and run. He toiled for 7 years for the worst management in the NBA.
And no, I'm not a Sixer fan or a Clipper fan. I'm a Laker fan and Elton Brand is one of the best PF's in the league. You missed on this one.
I doubt Ron Ron will be a Laker but I hope he is. I'm sick to death of Odom's lack of attention span, his stupid fouls at the worst possible time and his softness.
As for egos? I don't know how many bigger egos there has ever been than MJ and Rodman. From what I can tell MJ just pretty much ignored Rodman and let him do his thing, knowing Rodman was key to getting those rebounds and playing defense.
I think any team that opens the banks for Josh Smith could be making a mistake, being the last young versatile talent is going to get him paid, I just wouldnt want to be the team on the hook for his salary. I love what the Hawks have including Smith but if something goes wrong your stuck with a huge contract, and more often than not they do.
Baron doesnt care about winning obviously just wanted some cash and be back and LA hes a good guy, but he isnt only about basketball knew that from all the times I partied at the bars in Westwood while he was at UCLA. He is a business man and a skirt chaser, good for him. Dont get me wrong he will average 30 and 10 for a mediocre Clipper team. YES 30 and 10 is very attainable at 40 minutes and 25 shots per night.
I understand what you're saying about Brand, I'm just not ready to declare him a difference maker on a championship level. When I said see what kind of shape he's in, I wasn't referring to his conditioning so much, although on a young, athletic, up-tempo team, that may be a factor being that he has missed an entire season, more or less. Mostly, I want to see how he holds up from the injury. My favorite football player of all time was Dan Marino, and he went down with an achilles injury and missed most of one season. When he came back, he was still very good but he just wasn't the same. Eight games late in a lost season doesn't really represent enough of a sample for me to be convinced. A lot of the talk is how he'll have the same impact as Garnett and Allen did on Boston this year, but I'm not convinced of that, even if he's completely healthy. Between Garnett and Allen, they'd made the playoffs 12 times in their careers before this year, and both reached a conference Championship Series. Brand has only made it once, losing in the second round to a team missing its all star and only legit inside presence. He may be a very good, even great player, but I need to see some actual meaningful results before I believe he's the key to a title for Philly, as has been thrown around.
Yes, throwing big money at Josh Smith could be an enormous mistake, but he also has the potential to be insanely good. If the Clippers ever want to be anything more than a league-wide joke, they need to take some chances. A Baron Davis-Josh Smith combo could potentially be more dynamic than a Davis-Brand one would have been. Sure, it could blow up on them, and Smith's attitude is concerning, but he's very young, grew up a lot as a player this season and that taste of playoff basketball just might get his head on straight. Besides, how much worse can it get for the Clippers? I'd rather go down fighting and taking chances than meekly fading away, but then, it's easy to say that when it's not my career or my money on the line.
I am an actual professional writer (hard to believe, I know, but I do earn a living at it) who even owns my own publishing company in Maryland. I am a proud drop-out from the University of Maryland and still a life-long Terp fan. My blog is named in honor of my favorite former NBA player, Tim Hardaway, without all the homophobia. I just loved the guy and his game. I only hope he doesn't kick my #### for saying that.
