Inside Enemy Territory with “Clips Nation”

Published by Kinnon Yee on February 6, 2008

The Clippers have always been the “other team” in L.A. Never content as the underdog, they certainly have their dedicated fans. This season has seen another promising Clippers team go down the drain with injuries completely decimating the club.

In our ongoing series, we’ll be talking with Steve from Clips Nation. Please check out Kinnon’s own answers to Steve’s three questions concerning the Raptors.

Q: Would a healthy Elton Brand have made a difference?

You’re kidding, right? Made a difference, as in leading the Western Conference? No. Made a difference, as in battling the other behemoths in the West for playoff position? Absolutely.

Elton Brand is the Clippers’ scoring, rebounding and blocked shots leader. He is their best offensive player and their best low post defender. This is what distinguishes this injury from, say, the Wizards’ loss of Gilbert Arenas. Arenas is a great scorer on a team already heavy with scorers, but he is a poor defender and he turns the ball over a lot. Replace Arenas with Antonio Daniels, your defense gets better and your turnovers go down, while Butler and Jamison are still here to score. Replace Elton Brand, with Tim Thomas and pretty much nothing gets better. The Clippers are measurably worse on offense, defense, and especially rebounding without Elton Brand. He makes a difference. I call this team the Generic Clippers - because they have no Brand.

Q: Was the miracle run from a few years ago just a blip, or do the Clippers have a legitimate shot in the talent-heavy West?

That’s the real question, right? This season is easy to dismiss, as the Clippers have suffered through the loss not only of Brand, but also the ostensible starter at point guard, Shaun Livingston, and various minor injuries to top contributors. In fact, the Clippers have only played a dozen games this season at “full generic strength”, and they have a winning record in those games. (Lucky Raptors, if Tim Thomas’ back is OK, you’re going to see that team.)

The real issue is ‘06-’07. Was ‘05-’06, with the Western Conference Semis Game 7, the blip? Or was it ‘06-’07, with the 40-42 record and a relatively healthy team? The emergence of Chris Kaman this season makes the prospect of a Brand/Kaman front-line tantalizing. If Livingston can play the point at anywhere near his potential, they will have a legitimate Western Conference playoff team. As for the competition, it seems reasonable to say that the Spurs and Suns are trending down, but the Lakers, Jazz and Blazers are trending up. So as a result, the West remains a brutal place to try to gain a foothold. Would you be interested in trading conferences?

Q: Who has been the biggest bright spot on the Clippers this season?

In all seriousness, this season could not really have gone better for the Clippers since Brand’s injury in early August. Let’s face it, as of that moment, with Brand and Livingston out for the majority of the season at least, the team had no shot at the playoffs. So what do you want out of the season from there? You want your young players to play well. Well, Chris Kaman has made a complete turnaround from last season, and has put up monster numbers on a consistent basis and first round draft pick Al Thornton has shown flashes of brilliance and a penchant for hard work that seems to indicate a bright future in the NBA. You want the injury rehabilitation to go well. Both Brand and Livingston have been on a steady progression towards returning to the court, and neither has had a single setback to date. Both are expected to play at some point this season and Brand is in fact running and jumping with a return to practice expected in the near future. And also, you want a good draft pick. So far so good there. But clearly the biggest bright spot has been Kaman 2.0, who is probably the leading candidate for Most Improved Player.

HoopsAddict.com would like to once again thank Steve for his time. Please don’t forget to visit Clips Nation!