Its crazy how things have changed in LA. For most of my life the Clippers have been a sorry excuse of a franchise. They were straight up losers year in and year out. It did not matter who they traded for or who they drafted, things just didn’t work out for the Clippers.
Over the last few years the Los Angeles Clippers have stopped being a joke and started becoming a legit team. First they drafted Blake Griffin and then they traded for superstar Chris Paul. After that they’ve been adding decent role players piece by piece.
Recently they traded away their dead weight big men Antawn Jamison and Byron Mullens in order to open roster spots for better players. Last week they picked up Glen “Big Baby” Davis. Then this morning it was reported that they will pick up Danny Granger as well. Pretty much the Clippers aren’t playing any games.
The Clippers are already on top of their conference in the West and now look like they are trying to contend for the top spot of the Western Conference. While guys like Jamal Crawford and Darren Collison have stepped up this season, and Chris Paul has been his normal self, the reason the Clippers have been so effective has been their two big men: Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
What has hindered the Clippers in the playoffs the last few years is the lack of a go to scorer. CP3 shows up when they need him too but nobody else could be seen as a go to guy. This season Blake Griffin has been that. Ignorant sports fans will say he just dunks. If you sit there and watch this guy you’ll be amazed. Grifffin is the only power forward I know that will do about 8 moves just to get to the rack for two points. When I say 8 moves I mean crossovers, spin moves, post ups and etc. He has expanded his mid range game as well, developing a little jumper. In past years The Griffin has lacked aggression when he wasn’t flying in for a dunk, now hes aggressive the entire game. Just watch him its almost funny how much works he puts in on the offensive side of the floor.
DeAndre on the other hand is a simple case as well. Now that he has a coach that believes in him in Doc Rivers he has simply played better. he still misses his free throws but so do other big men as well. He is rebounding and defending the paint like he should be. He is also playing more minutes as well. Jordan is doign all the same things hes done before, just better.
The Clippers have been an interesting team this season. They have filled out their roster very nicely. The best part is that they still have one more open roster spot. Another big man to come off the bench would probably put them over the top. The Clippers should be an interesting team to watch this season come playoff time, they might make a decent run this time.
Everick Davis Jr.
Was good though, it's me Everick Davis Jr. Born and raised in Portsmouth Virginia, I'm currently a senior at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. I watch every sport (not so much golf) but I am huge on the NBA. My favorite players right now are J.R. Smith, Russell Westbrook & Nick Young. Drinking beer and watching sports is my favorite past time and I do it year round! I used to play basketball on the regular until everyone else kept growing and I still stood at 5'6. So that's when I channeled my efforts into becoming the next Stephen A Smith or anything close to that. I currently write for "The Carolinian" newspaper in Greensboro, NC and intern for http://theurbantwist.com/ Random Fact about me, I love anime, my favorite one is One Piece! Second random fact, I got beatz! check me out http://www.reverbnation.com/ielabs
