Off-Season Game Plan: Clippers
After their first playoff appearance in a decade, the Los Angeles Clippers finished in the lottery again last season.
Off-Season Game Plan looks at what could be a challenging summer as the team tries to get back in the playoffs, despite a roster that appears to be going the wrong way at several positions.
The biggest challenge facing the Clips is what to do at the point guard position, where Shaun Livingston was set to succeed Sam Cassell in the role, but Shaun Livingston suffered a serious knee injury last season, requiring reconstructive surgery.
Sure, the Los Angeles Clippers can use their lottery pick on a point guard like Acie Law IV or Javaris Crittenton and that would suffice, but is that alone going to get the Los Angeles Clippers back into the playoffs or is this going to be the same old Los Angeles Clippers?
When the starting backcourt is 30-plus, there's a pretty good chance that their games are no longer at their respective peaks, and that's the case with the Los Angeles Clippers, where Sam Cassell and Cuttino Mobley have both seen better days.
The rest of the Los Angeles Clippers starting lineup is adequate, with Corey Maggette and Chris Kaman both figuring to be average or slightly better while Elton Brand is the team's one legitimate star.
When it's put together, it's not a terrible starting five, but it's not great, so a good bench would really go a long way towards keeping the Los Angeles Clippers competitive in the Western Conference.
That's where the Los Angeles Clippers run into trouble.
Tim Thomas is the best of the bench brigade and his tendency to float in and out of games has been long accepted. Quinton Ross works hard and plays good defence, but does nothing offensively, and after that it's a mish-mash of guys who are stapled to the bench.
Adding even a couple of reliable veterans to solidify the rotation would ease the load on the aging backcourt and give the Los Angeles Clippers a chance to hold their own in the Western Conference.
However, without two or three quality additions, the Los Angeles Clippers seem destined to miss the playoffs once again, leading down that dangerous path where failure becomes the norm and they become the same old Los Angeles Clippers.
See
more at www.tsn.ca
