You read it here first: The LA Clippers will NOT make the playoffs again, no matter what you hear everywhere else. Forget about the fact that all their starters and the first guy off the bench are free agents at the end of the season. Forget about Odom being out indefinetely. There are more serious problems with them. 1. Chemistry and continuity. McInnis is out, Jaric and Dre are in. It's a major change for a team to have a new point guard, let alone two equally good new PGs. There will be something of a quarterback controvers at PG. Jaric is the PG of the world champions, the team that beat Miller's led Nightmare team. Don't expect him to back down. At the same time Miller will try to prove he is a max-money player. 2. Brand's injury. Elton Brand is absoluteley the most important player for that team. He extended a lot of energy at the Worlds and just had a surgery. Expect him to start slow. It's difficult to play catchup in this league, especially for young players. 3. Burden of expectations. The Clippers made huge progress last year, but everyone now is getting ahead of themselfes. Some rank them as #5 in the West, #8 overall. You can't expect another major improvement on top of last year's. The normal development of young teams is one leap forward followed by a consolidation and even maybe a tiny step backward. Same is true for individual players. Kandi had a decent second half last year, but Clippers should be happy if he can hold onto even a fraction of the stride he made last year. 4. Miles. Even though he was not a starter, don't underestimate his contribution to the team. He gave them important minutes off the bench.
I tend to agree with your assessment. I think it's funny reading some people's take that the Clipps are a virtual lock to make the playoffs. Hell, even some of the teams that made the playoffs last year in the west aren't locks imo. Seattle, Utah, Clippers, Rockets are all fringe teams. They could make it, or maybe not. It's not completely out of the realm of possiblity that Minny or Portland could implode as well, though less likely. SA, Sactown, Lakers, and Dallas, barring major injuries, are the only teams in the west that I feel are definite locks.
In terms of raw talent, I would rate the Clipps 5th too but I think they will have some of the problems you talk about. Either way, I still expect them to at least make the playoffs.
Are the 2002-2003 Clippers turning into the 2001-2002 Rockets? http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/gen/wire?messageId=9303929
Jason Kidd seemed to do fine with his new team. I think it's pretty clear that Andre is their current starter...Jaric might have a chance to make a run for that position in a year or two, but for now I'd call it Andre's spot. I pretty much agree with this statement, however I think brand is a tough player and like Paul Pierce after he was stabbed in the face...I think Brand will come back just as good as before (or possibly better...not better cuz of his injury, but because he's getting use to the LA system). Every team sets high expectations for themselves...when the Grizzlies were here in Vancouver, the last year they were saying early in the season that they thought the 8th spot in the west would be out of them and the Mavericks...well, it didn't work out. I believe teams set their own expectations on themselves and don't worry about the media's expectations. What are you gonna do??? Go into the season thinking you won't make the playoffs when you have talent like they do? Most ratings i've seen put them at 8th in the west...whatever one you're quoting can't be taken seriously IMO. I don't think you gotta worry about that. A. Miller Q-Rich Odom (Maggette when Odom's injured) Brand Olowokandi BENCH: Jaric Piatkowski Wilcox Stith and possibly Wang ZhiZhi that bench has pretty damn good talent IMO.
