Showtime87

I can't believe I'm going to dignify this with a response, but It's so obviously asinine that I felt it necessary. Mobley isn't on his fourth team in as many years because he's a cancer, he's on his fourth team in as many years because he's still a viable commodity in this league unlike Sprewell. Orlando made a terrible trade for Christie and have regretted it ever since, Mobley only moved on from Sacramento because the Clippers were able to offer him more money than the Kings were willing to pay.

Now, saying that Sprewell is a better is just plain wrong. I can't help but think that a lot of Lakers fans out there are still clinging to the image of a 24 year-old Sprewell when he averaged 24 ppg in Golden State. This is NOT the same guy! He's a 35 year-old rapidly declining former star who has a history of being a distraction everywhere he's played. Why in the world would you want this guy on your team? He is not a difference maker anymore, nor is he worth the trouble he's going to bring. I'm just glad the Clips are steering clear of him and going with younger, hungrier players who are actually coachable and want to win. Despite what he tries to make people believe, Spree is all about Spree, always has been, always will be.

14HipClip

Okay. I guess i get the picture.
NBA.com has the Clips at 21 - #10 in the West.
I hope the Lakers get Spree.. to go along with their lame bench. Unless Kup makes some miraculous trade since they have 2 rosters full of bodies, the "other" LA team will struggle and Kobe will have to really play out of his mind and still go home wondering "what if" i stuck to my guns and switched teams.

Clips may not pick up anyone else to bolster their bench, however, if this thin bench can stay healthy...or let's say, the first 8 players can have a relatively injury free 2005-2006 season.

I believe Singleton will surprise people. I think he is similar to a Rodman with more hops and touch from the outside but will board with the likes of a Brand. QRoss will be in there to play D and hit his occasional 18' J.

Here's to going for the #6 slot with this lineup.. Ewing and Korolev filling the 11th and 12th spot.

4 more weeks till the first pre-season game and then on to a new dimension of a team.

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Go Clippers!!!

yamaneko

Doubt the clippers would go after spree after the debacle on live TV last year where he was shouting expletives to a clipper fan that was caught on tv....its the cause of there now being a few second delay in the broadcast, plus required an embarrasing apology on behalf of KTLA 5.

People complain about cassel always asking for more money. This guy is one of the top 5-10 pg's in the league the past 10 years, probably top 3-5 for sure for someone who has actually played 10 years, yet he has never made over 6-7 million dollars when you have guys like derek fisher making that. Then you have spreewell making double that and complaining that he doesnt have enough to feed his kids or some ridiculous thing like that.

Just to start an actual logical argument about the clipper and laker lineups, we can put it this way.

Starting Center - Kaman Vs. Mihm Advantage Clippers. Mihm wasnt that spectacular even on a team that didnt have a lot of weapons. On many teams he would be a backup.

Starting PF - Brand vs. Kwame Advantage Clippers. No need for any comparison here.

Starting SF - Maggette vs. Odom EVEN. Maggette puts up more points, keeps his head in the game more, Odom has a better all around game, but struggles to play with Bryant.

Starting SG - Mobley vs. Kobe. Advantage Lakers. No need for comparison here.

Starting PG - Cassel Vs. Mckkie. Advantage Clippers. ALMOST no need for comparision here, yet the fact that mcckie doesnt have to be as good a PG in the triangle, makes it closer...yet clearly cassell is better.

Backup Center - Rebraca vs. Slava. Advantage Clippers. Lakers will most likely use a rotation here, but lets just say slava will be the first 5 off of the bench. Rebraca would probably start on the lakers, so to say he is better than slava is an understatement.

Backup Power FOrward - Wilcox vs. Cook. Advantage Clippers. Another no brainer here. Neither are great defenders at the position, and each have different strong points. Cook with shooting, wilcox with athleticism, but Wilcox again is someone that most likely would be starting on the Lakers.

Backup Small foward - George vs. Singleton. Advantage Lakers. Again, this is a position that each team will have a huge rotation on, but we have to pick someone to compare. George, IF he stays healthy is somenoe you can count on for 5-7 points. Singleton definately a higher ceiling on him, but since hes never played in the NBA, you cant give him too much credit yet.

Backup Shooting guard - Ross vs. Walton- Advantage Clippers. Walton is out of position here kind of, but we have to put him somewhere with so many SF on the lakers. Walton has his moments but is a huge liability deffesnively.

Backup Point guard - Livingston vs. Lakers scrubs - Advantage Clippers. I dont mean scrubs in a disrespectful way, but how else would you describe sasha, bobbit and smush?

Third String Center - TBD. vs. TBD. Even. Neither the clippers nor lakers have a 3rd string center at this time.

Third string PF - TBD vs. TBD. Ditto above unless im missing someone. (of course different players will be rotated in these spots that were already mentioned above)

Third string SF - Korolev vs. Jones Advantage Lakers. Lakers have about 1000 Sf's, we could go to like 4th and 5th string...

Third String SG - TBD Vs. Wafer? Even. a veteren guy here would probably be about the same as wafer.

Third string PG - Ewing vs. Lakers guys Even. Ewing hasnt proven anything, neither has the lakers guys.

Anyway, barring any unforseen roster moves, this is how it most likely will shake down. Clippers first team and second team have overwhelming advantages over their laker counterparts, while the laker 3rd string OWNZ the clippers.

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08-09 Clippers - One more piece away from relativity

CDRacingZX6R

Hands down.. I'm a fan of both the Clippers and Lakers. And I watched most of all games from both teams even recording games when they conflicted with each other.

The Lakers bench is in serious trouble. Am I saying the Clippers bench is something impressive? No I'm not, but I'd take it in a heart beat over the bench he Lakers currently have. Quinton Ross is one of my favorite new comers, on the defensive end. But I think Wafer (if he can keep his attitude in check, were talking about a HUGE problem area for Wafer), I think wafer can be in the same ball park as Ross next season if his stupid personality doesn't screw his progress up. Thats again is a BIG if.

Slava is decent, but he is hurt to often and inconsistant. Perhaps in the triangle he might become a little more effecient, but at this rate Id do just about anything to get him and the biggest softy in the NBA Brian Cook out of the Lakers lineup..

Shaun Livingston off the bench hands down would destory Sasha in every category but one.. Health.. If Shaun cant make it through a game without spraning his finger or something stupid he is going to miss half a season again. I'd like to see Shaun bulk up a little more, I mean he doesnt have to be huge.. Just enough to get some more meet on him and make him a little tougher. But hell, in my opinion you through Shaun in a wheelchair and he'd probably own Sasha.. I mean Wafer did everything durning the SPL and Sasha... An experianced NBA player... Well.. More experianced than most guys in the SPL didnt do much of anything but look horrific.

Jerome James, not much now.. But anyone who has followed Phil Jacksons career with the Lakers or before with the Bulls knows just how much Phil likes a player like james. He has a decent jump shot, extremly athlethic and fast, and good work ethics.. If he picks up the triangle fast, he would be one of the better bench warmers the Lakers have to offer. But still.. Probably not as effective as the Clippers bench rotations in his same position.

That being said do I think the Clippers have a chance at more wins next season? Yes, I do. There are many factors that most people already know about that will mainly influence the outcome of next season, in terms of rivalry between these two teams. Injuries on both teams.. Shaun going down, Corey going down, etc for the damaging amonts of time next season? Is Bryant, is Odom, is Mihm going down for long peroids of time? Who knows.. The Clippers have enough talent that if Corey goes down for 10 games, or 15 they can pull together and work out the issues on court and still get the wins nessicary.. Lakers lose Bryant... Well.. Im not exactly as confidant that they can pull it together... I guess thats where coaching comes in... Now the Lakers actually have a real coach again, I think most of the defensive bile the Lakers had last season is going to be taken care of.. And if... again a BIG if... Phil Jackson can get the most of out Brown.... The Lakers would have a much bigger case to make in terms of King of LA.

In my opinion there are far to many IF's going into next season.. I think the Clippers have a 57 percent chance of making the playoffs next season, and at this rate.. The Lakers without a soild full time PG, or backup C, Im going to say have maybe a 48 percent chance of making the playoffs.. Things could change, but the only reason I even give the Lakers that 48 percent is because of Kobe Bryant.. Love him, Hate him.. Wish he was dead, whatever.. Most the people that think he sucks, or will never be "good" enough to lead a team are homers desperate to find fault in anything the Lakers have or do. Kobe, running triangle, under the best coach in the game... Could be good for 10 more victorys next season, maybe more.. Depends on how well they "get" over each others issues.

Just my very long opinion though.

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CDRacingZX6R

Could agree more.. Kaman is FAR better than Kaman at this point and with Kamans youth has way better upside. Only problem with Kaman is injuries at this point, but I still have faith that Kaman will be one of the better centers in the game 5 years from now.

No need at all. I agree again. Elton Brand is a consistancey machine. When you need 20/15 a night, you arent going to ask Brown. Do I think Brown could become better? Yes, but right now he hasnt given me a SINGLE reason to have any faith in him. A guy like him with such natural abilities.. On both ends of the floor, runing his chances because he has such a horrible outlook and personality... Maybe he can grow up, show me the money as they say cause right now Im not buying into it. But he will be better than Brian Grant (The old and broken down Brian Grant the lakers had last season that is)

Well the only reason I believe Odom struggled so much was because he was playing out of position the entire season. Odom isn't a PF.. He might be a big boy, but he was getting worked by real PF's all season and thats not what he is good at.. He is a natural ball handler. Much of the Lakers last season through faulty coaching seemed to look like they had no "clue" where they were supposed to be.. I think they are going to be about even, but in terms of benifiting the Lakers I think odom will be EXTREMLY productive this year, Phil Jackson is in love with Odom.. and I trust Phil.

I agree totally.

I agree ugh! The Lakers got McKie.. The guy is a great person.. Nice, caring, friendly.. Bla bla bla. He would have been GREAT 5 years ago, but he has lost a couple of steps in his game.. Is fairly slow, and never been much of a shooter like Cassell.. Although McKie at this point is still a better defender than Cassell, he doesnt have the overall game Cassell has and especally the running ofense department. Id say this is Cassells win all the way, but I think the Lakers for the money made a decent choice.. Not many options open right about now. That they could afford.

Agree again. I love Rebraca, and feel he is going to waste as a backup. He could be a decent starter with a little better conditioning. I think Clippers made out like bandits wiht the deal, and next season will show this more.

Cook makes me want to vomit. The guy is a soft pile of crap. Oh buy the guy can shoot outside jumpers and is good for a streak of four three pointers ever 35 five attempts. The guy is a pile of trash, and even though Wilcox didnt do much last season Id take a chance with him any day of the week.


I agree with this one as well. George is also a very good defender, in fact thats all he is really good at.. He wasnt in shape most of last season but he came back towards the end after being off a year plus, so I think after some conditioning if George remains a Laker he would be decent as a bench warmer.


Walton is going to get ALOT more playing time this season and for good reason. He knows the triangle, and posses skills that Phil Jackson likes. I see Walton being night and day better this season, but still not better than Ross, so Id give the win to ross on defense alone.


Only disagreement so far. Wafer has got talent. He has probably one of the better shots I've seen on the Lakers, and can play Defense.. Although he is a little dirty and bad tempered. If he can keep himself in check, he is going to shock a lot of people next season.

Although I dont see it as being completely one sided in favor of the Clippers, I do forsee the Clippers having a better chance at the playoffs this season. I think coaching for the lakers could make a huge difference, although Jackson is rather unproven at taking a non-championship ready team, and making them winners I still have faith.

I think its gonna be a fun season to watch and see how this turns out.

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14HipClip

Clips just bolstered their bench.

I think it's time for the Lakers to sign spree to have a real good excuse for not making the playoffs.

Clips bench is way better than the Lakers.

#6-#10.
No contest peeps.

my only worry now is Jackson V Dunleavy.

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Go Clippers!!!

Free Arsenal

Jackson is unproven with a team that does not have Championship talent, no need for us to worry there.

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Davis Davis Davis Davis

DaFranchise

Stop living in the past. I never said anything about the last 10 years. Im talking about who has the better starting 5 and bench in 05-06. I know you guys were dominant but you also threw it all way. You could still be winning championships but egos got in the way. Just be honest with yourself and look at both teams. Relax my LA rival, no need to get defensive. Are u getting so defensive because you are scared of the CLips this year?

CDRacingZX6R

Although I agree with the line up aspect of your post I find it funny that your telling the guy that he is living in the past, but your living in a future that hasn't happened yet and maybe at all. As of right now the Clippers still havent won anything. A hand full of games over one of the worest Laker seasons in history is really nothing to be proud of..

Although I know what it's like to be a Clippers fan and my standards are somewhat lower than they should be.

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