This week in the NBA

[Guest fanofcoils]

You're insane. Not only do the Clippers not have "much less" talent than years ago, they probably have better talent. As far as your ridiculous assertion that they have "mediocare" talent, Elton Brand is not mediocre talent. Neither is Sam Cassell, nor Corey Maggette, nor Cuttino Mobley, nor Chris Kaman.

 

The Clippers have much less talent than their team a few years ago. I never said Brand was mediocare talent. And I never said the Clippers didn't have a player that was above mediocare talent, good thinking there. Clippers overall right now have mediocare talent overall obviously and they are overachieving because of "chemistry".

 

Jeff McInnis, Darius Miles and Michael Olowokandi are mediocre players.

 

The Clippers had a deeper roster a few years ago (and even five years ago I believe), however they didn't have that many better players than the ones on the current roster, except maybe for Odom. They clearly had more talent with having Odom and being deeper.

 

The team that the Clippers have now is the best team that they've ever had

 

Best team winning on mediocare talent and good chemistry, but haven't there been better Clipper teams before? I think 6 other Clipper teams made the playoffs.

 

Nobody expected the Clippers to do anything this year, they clearly have overachieved.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Veteran leadership (Cassell and Mobley) is the difference between this Clipper team and the team from a few years back, simple as that.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

The Clippers have much less talent than their team a few years ago...

That's a matter of opinion, and your opinion is wrong. The second-best team that the Clippers have had since Brand was traded there was in 2001, and Brand, Odom, Maggette, McInnis, Richardson <<<< Brand, Cassell, Maggette, Mobley, Kaman. That team couldn't shoot, rebound or defend. only four players shooting 44% or better from the field, compared to eight in 2005-06. Most of the players were inexperienced; there was no one on that team that they could turn to down the stretch. Brand and Maggette are better players now than they were then, especially Maggette; they have matured, and they have a much more matured and much more talented team around them.

 

 

... The Clippers had a deeper roster a few years ago (and even five years ago I believe), however they didn't have that many better players than the ones on the current roster, except maybe for Odom. They clearly had more talent with having Odom and being deeper...

So, basically your argument is that the Clippers had more talent when they had Lamar Odom, and there is nothing to support that at all. Odom only played with Brand two years: the first year, they were mediocre, and the second year, they were godawful. They were not a deeper team years ago, and if they were, then they wouldn't have spent the past several years struggling to win thirty games. Cuttino Mobley is better than Quentin Richardson, Kaman is better than Olowokandi (or whoever the hell else they've had at center), and Cassell is the best point guard that they've had since Norm Nixon. This is the best team that the Clippers have had, by far, since moving to Los Angeles.

 

 

Best team winning on mediocare talent and good chemistry, but haven't there been better Clipper teams before? I think 6 other Clipper teams made the playoffs...

This will be the sixth time in their franchise history that the Clippers have made the playoffs, but this Clippers team is on track to finish better than all of them; they're almost a lock to finish with at least forty-six wins, which would automatically make them the second-best team in franchise history, and might have a shot at hitting forty-nine, which would make them the best team in franchise history... and, if they *aren't* the Clipper team of all time, they're definitely the best team since 1975, which would make them the best team of my lifetime, and probably yours, too.

 

Nobody expected the Clippers to do anything this year, they clearly have overachieved.

The Clippers haven't overachieved so much as the Kings, Rockets and Timberwolves have all underachieved. It's not the same thing; if anything, the Clippers are capitalizing on their ineptitude... The only team in the west that has truly "overachieved" is New Orleans: most people predicted them to finish dead last, and they still have a shot at making the playoffs.

[St. Gabe 0]

and why does he keep putting "chemistry" in quotation marks?

[alfdogg 0]

fanofcoils must just be mad that his team is no-selling the playoffs

[Guest fanofcoils]

The Clippers have much less talent than their team a few years ago...

 

That's a matter of opinion, and your opinion is wrong. The second-best team that the Clippers have had since Brand was traded there was in 2001, and Brand, Odom, Maggette, McInnis, Richardson <<<< Brand, Cassell, Maggette, Mobley, Kaman. That team couldn't shoot, rebound or defend. only four players shooting 44% or better from the field, compared to eight in 2005-06. Most of the players were inexperienced; there was no one on that team that they could turn to down the stretch. Brand and Maggette are better players now than they were then, especially Maggette; they have matured, and they have a much more matured and much more talented team around them.

 

You left out Miles in their 01 team. And you left out Olowokandi. Interesting..

Brand is barely better now than back then. This season he is overachieving like Ray Allen overachieved last season. The 00-01 team was deeper and more talented than this season's team. This team has more "veteran leadership"/chemistry. Sam Cassell is also less talented than he was years ago. Maggette is better but as I mentioned, the 00-01 team is deeper than this season's team.

 

The Clippers had a deeper roster a few years ago (and even five years ago I believe), however they didn't have that many better players than the ones on the current roster, except maybe for Odom. They clearly had more talent with having Odom and being deeper...

 

They were not a deeper team years ago, and if they were, then they wouldn't have spent the past several years struggling to win thirty games.

 

The 00-01 season they had more talent and underachieved. This season they have less talent and are overachieving. Get it?

 

Nobody expected the Clippers to do anything this year, they clearly have overachieved.

 

The Clippers haven't overachieved so much as the Kings, Rockets and Timberwolves have all underachieved. It's not the same thing; if anything, the Clippers are capitalizing on their ineptitude... The only team in the west that has truly "overachieved" is New Orleans: most people predicted them to finish dead last, and they still have a shot at making the playoffs.[/color]

 

Actually the Clippers have overachieved. I don't think the Kings have underachieved.

[Adam 0]

Lets break it down slightly. Brand and Maggette are much better players now than in 05-06. Brand has become more of a scoring Power Forward than a rebounding one, as noted in his stats from the two seasons, which I am looking at right now.

 

Jeff McInnis averaged 14, 2 and 6 in 01-02. Cassell has so far averaged 17, 3 and 6. Those stats are close, but you can't deny that Cassell has a larger overall impact on the way the team plays than McInnis.

 

Cuttino Mobley has 15.7 PPG, 4.6RPG and 3.2APG, and has also made a major impact. Lamar Odom had slightly better numbers overall at 13, 6 and 5. Chris Kaman has been playing a blinder all year, with 11.5PPG, 9.5RPG, and 1.4BPG thrown in. These are slightly better than Michael Olowakandi's 11 and 8.

 

Off the bench, Q-Rich and Miles were both very solid, but then again, so are Vladimir Radmanovic and Shaun Livingston. By the numbers, the teams are pretty much even, with this years' team averaging 2 more points per game, and having slightly better shooting percentages from the field and the line (although the 01-02 team did better from beyond the arc, but come on, they had Q).

 

Overall, it comes down to record. The 01-02 team finished at 39-43. The current Clippers team, with 13 games left, is already two wins above that.

 

Now, argue the hypotheticals all you want, but those are the stats.