11-03-2005, 04:52 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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All-Star
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Southern California
Age: 33
Posts: 6,647
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from Bill Simmons on ESPN.com
A lot of Bill Simmons' articles are good reads. He has this one on "Page 2" of ESPN.com, with some...er... attention (I'm reluctant to call it love, but he knows what we've been going through) to the W's.
NBA Preview, Part II
Quote:
TWO TEAMS I WOULD FEEL MUCH BETTER ABOUT IF THEIR LAST NAMES WEREN'T "THE WARRIORS" AND "THE CLIPPERS"
1. Golden State
Any time your playoff hopes hinge on the words, "If Baron Davis can stay healthy," that's always a red flag. When those same words involve the No. 1 star-crossed franchise in the league, as well as the most tortured (and insanely loyal) fans around ... that's even more of a red flag. I'm already bummed out about Baron's impending knee injury and it hasn't even happened yet.
So here's what I think Warriors fans should do: You guys need to reverse-jinx this baby. Instead of saying, "If Baron can stay healthy ... " or being foolish enough to expect him to stay healthy, go the other direction -- say things like, "Well, if we can just get 40 games out of Baron before he blows out his knee again" or "Hopefully he'll get hurt in November, then he could be back in March in time for a playoff push, right?" Lower your expectations to the absolute minimum. Then, if he gives you more than 50 games, it will be like finding a $1,000 chip from Vegas in your jeans pocket.
2. LA Clippers
Basically the same team as last season, only with a real point guard (Sam Cassell), better outside shooting (Cuttino Mobley) and a healthy Shaun Livingston (hopefully). Considering that last year's team won 37 games, blew about 15 wins in the final minute and featured the worst set of point guards in the history of organized basketball, 45-47 wins seems totally reasonable. Then again, these are the Clippers.
(More importantly, in case you were wondering, the new NBA dress code does not affect Elgin Baylor -- he can still wear Bill Cosby's wardrobe from the 1986 season of "The Cosby Show" to home games. What a relief.)
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from Bill Simmons on ESPN.com
, so i hope that Montgomery has prepared himself with a separate playbook full of "No Baron" plays. He's definitely gonna have some challenging coaching ahead of him this season.
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