Ever since Chris Paul joined the Clippers and added structure to their young core of Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan; they've remained one of the top 3 best teams in the Western Conference of the NBA. Having said that, however, they haven't done anything note worthy since CP3 joined them either. Every season, at the start, everybody has big expectations for the Clippers and every season, in the playoffs, the Clippers utterly fail. So can the Clippers finally rise up and go deep into the playoffs, possibly even the finals? I say yes!!!
We all know the story from last season. The Clippers had the Rockets dead to rights with a 3-1 lead over them in the playoffs, yet somehow, the Clippers choked and lost the series to the Rockets. A lot of people have placed a lot of blame on this reason or that reason as to why the Clippers lost, but there was really only one thing I seen that caused them to lose last season in the fashion that they did; NO BENCH. The Clippers were, honestly, just a 6 man team last season. They had their 5 starters, who were honestly just about the best starting 5 in the NBA and Jamal Crawford. The rest of that team couldn't be relied on. Sure they had their moments where they showed that they had potential, however, it wasn't enough. So what happened to the Clippers last season after winning a classic 7 game series against the Spurs and handily beating the Rockets in the 3 games in the second round? They ran out of gas. I know that sounds like a cop out or like its to simple but that's what happened. Now this season, nobody thinks that the Clippers have a shot with the common message from everyone being, "The Clippers are and will be the Clippers". Meaning that no matter what they do or change, they're not capable of winning the championship. I say, hold on just a second. I was going to post this thread at the start of the NBA season, but I wanted to see how the Clippers looked before I did and people, I hope you're ready to see the Clippers emerge. Not only do they have, IMO, the most improved superstar in the league in Blake Griffin, but they still have that killer starting group from last season (minus Matt Barnes who is honestly just a good bench player), and they have very much improved bench. Their bench is actually able to hold and even extend leads now, which is huge because it allows the starters to rest. The Clippers started this season 4-0, then lost to the best team in the NBA right now Golden State (by only 4); in a game where their bench controlled much of the action. They then lost to the Rockets (again by 4) in a game where CP3 didn't play and the refs missed a call that would've put them in a position to win. Now they've lost to Dallas (by 10) in a game where Dallas was playing inspired and emotionally because of the whole Jordan thing and the Clippers were playing sort of meh. I mean, the Clippers almost won that game playing way below their normal standards and even then, Dallas had to play as best they could to win. So, as of now, the Clippers are 5-3 on the season. They have a lot of new players and a lot of things to figure out, however, I think that once everybody gets comfortable, the western conference is going to have a new best team. The only thing that they really need now is Jordan to hit free throws. If he even hit 50-60% of his free throws, they'd be unstoppable.
I think that the Clippers take it this year and make history. What do you guys think?
We all know the story from last season. The Clippers had the Rockets dead to rights with a 3-1 lead over them in the playoffs, yet somehow, the Clippers choked and lost the series to the Rockets. A lot of people have placed a lot of blame on this reason or that reason as to why the Clippers lost, but there was really only one thing I seen that caused them to lose last season in the fashion that they did; NO BENCH. The Clippers were, honestly, just a 6 man team last season. They had their 5 starters, who were honestly just about the best starting 5 in the NBA and Jamal Crawford. The rest of that team couldn't be relied on. Sure they had their moments where they showed that they had potential, however, it wasn't enough. So what happened to the Clippers last season after winning a classic 7 game series against the Spurs and handily beating the Rockets in the 3 games in the second round? They ran out of gas. I know that sounds like a cop out or like its to simple but that's what happened. Now this season, nobody thinks that the Clippers have a shot with the common message from everyone being, "The Clippers are and will be the Clippers". Meaning that no matter what they do or change, they're not capable of winning the championship. I say, hold on just a second. I was going to post this thread at the start of the NBA season, but I wanted to see how the Clippers looked before I did and people, I hope you're ready to see the Clippers emerge. Not only do they have, IMO, the most improved superstar in the league in Blake Griffin, but they still have that killer starting group from last season (minus Matt Barnes who is honestly just a good bench player), and they have very much improved bench. Their bench is actually able to hold and even extend leads now, which is huge because it allows the starters to rest. The Clippers started this season 4-0, then lost to the best team in the NBA right now Golden State (by only 4); in a game where their bench controlled much of the action. They then lost to the Rockets (again by 4) in a game where CP3 didn't play and the refs missed a call that would've put them in a position to win. Now they've lost to Dallas (by 10) in a game where Dallas was playing inspired and emotionally because of the whole Jordan thing and the Clippers were playing sort of meh. I mean, the Clippers almost won that game playing way below their normal standards and even then, Dallas had to play as best they could to win. So, as of now, the Clippers are 5-3 on the season. They have a lot of new players and a lot of things to figure out, however, I think that once everybody gets comfortable, the western conference is going to have a new best team. The only thing that they really need now is Jordan to hit free throws. If he even hit 50-60% of his free throws, they'd be unstoppable.
I think that the Clippers take it this year and make history. What do you guys think?