quintonrosslac

Bermuda Launches Anti-Money Laundering Website, by Jason Gorringe ...

2006-09-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

Pending Money Laundering Cases-Finance wants CID cell till framing of new law

Finance ministry acting on Bangladesh Bank's advice has suggested the home ministry to form a temporary Criminal Investigation Department (CID) cell to deal with the money laundering cases now lying idle since the dissolution of the Bureau of Anti-Corruption (Bac).

Bermuda Launches Anti-Money Laundering Website, by Jason Gorringe, for LawandTax-News.com, London 18 August 2005

Bermuda's National Anti-Money Laundering Committee has launched a website detailing the initiatives being taken by government to combat and reduce the incidence of money laundering in the jurisdiction.

News-Record.com - Greensboro, North Carolina: News: Budget isn t ...

2006-08-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

News-Record.com - Greensboro, North Carolina: News: Budget isn t all money it s policy, too

RALEIGH The state budget compromise does much more than just raise and spend money.

Court Tells New Jersey Borrowed Money Isn't Income: Joe Mysak

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Even in New Jersey, where creative financing can lead to indictments, you can't count borrowed money as income.

News-Record.com - Greensboro, North Carolina: News: Budget isn t ...

2006-08-03T17:41:00.000-07:00

News-Record.com - Greensboro, North Carolina: News: Budget isn t all money it s policy, too

RALEIGH The state budget compromise does much more than just raise and spend money.

Court Tells New Jersey Borrowed Money Isn't Income: Joe Mysak

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Even in New Jersey, where creative financing can lead to indictments, you can't count borrowed money as income.

News-Record.com - Greensboro, North Carolina: News: Budget isn t ...

2006-07-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

News-Record.com - Greensboro, North Carolina: News: Budget isn t all money it s policy, too

RALEIGH The state budget compromise does much more than just raise and spend money.

Court Tells New Jersey Borrowed Money Isn't Income: Joe Mysak

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Even in New Jersey, where creative financing can lead to indictments, you can't count borrowed money as income.

clippers-news

2006-07-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles Clippers are a National Basketball Association team based in Los Angeles, California who were formerly known as the Buffalo Braves and the San Diego Clippers.

clippers-news

2006-07-27T10:18:00.001-07:00

The Los Angeles Clippers are a National Basketball Association team based in Los Angeles, California who were formerly known as the Buffalo Braves and the San Diego Clippers.

clippers-news

2006-07-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

The Los Angeles Clippers are a National Basketball Association team based in Los Angeles, California who were formerly known as the Buffalo Braves and the San Diego Clippers.

2001 NBA Draft Revisited

2006-07-24T12:48:00.000-07:00

I was at the beach last week so I wasn't able to post what I usually post each year right before the NBA Draft, namely an analysis of the draft 5 years prior. But the 2001 NBA Draft was such a monumental draft in terms of spectacular successes and busts that I couldn't just let it pass. You'll see in this draft that the trend of picking high school players backfired a little bit while almost all the foreign picks paid off handsomely which accelerated that trend.

1. Washington - Kwame Brown - I think this pick perfectly summarizes the precariousness of picking a high schooler in the draft (even if those days are technically done). It's been five years and even though you'd have to rule this pick a bust, you still don't know what you have. There's still a chance Kwame might be a great player. Of course, now it would be with the Lakers as he was traded a few years ago.

2. LA Clippers - Tyson Chandler - LA traded this pick to Chicago for Elton Brand which is an excellent trade by the Clippers. Maybe this is the moment in time where their fortunes changed for the better. Chandler is still with Chicago and is a pretty decent defensive player, but is nowhere near the talent of Brand. It was clear in this draft that Jerry Krause was buying time which probably led to his "retirement" a few years later.

3. Memphis - Pau Gasol - Gasol has turned into an All-Star which makes this the best pick so far. I remember the commentators saying that this would be a big risk for Memphis as foreign players were still not quite as accepted as they are today. If I'm not mistaken, this was the highest a foreign player who didn't go to a U.S. college had been taken at that time.

4. Chicago - Eddy Curry - Not a bust by any means, but he's definitely not lived up to his potential. Curry is a 6'10" 300 lb center who can score but is soft as a doughnut. He had a heart condition which prompted Chicago to trade him to the New York Knicks who promptly signed him to a $60 million contract. Chicago has just turned the pick they got in return into superstud prospect Tyrus Thomas. Ah, Isiah. The NBA is definitely a more interesting place thanks to you.

5. Golden State - Jason Richardson - Richardson is a near All-Star so you can't say that this is a bad pick. But he's not exactly helping Golden State get out of the lottery. Of course, that might be too hard of a task for anyone to overcome.

6. Memphis - Shane Battier - Battier is a solid NBA pro who has just been traded to Houston. He plays good defense, hits open threes and generally does all the little things that annoyed me when he played for Duke. The knock on Battier is that he's too selfless to be a star which at the time I thought was a ridiculous criticism. Now that he's helped Memphis make the playoffs a couple times but never got them past the first round, I have to agree with that assessment. But if McGrady and Yao are healthy for Houston, he could become a very dangerous player for them much like Josh Howard was this year for the Mavericks.

7. New Jersey - Eddie Griffin - New Jersey drafted Griffin and traded him to Houston for Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong. This is probably my favorite draft trade of all time because it was so one-sided. I'll get more into as I reach the other picks, but Griffin was a spectacular bust for Houston. He was never that good on the court. Also, he had a drinking problem and missed the entire 2003-04 season. To his credit, he's still hanging around the league in Minnesota. Unfortunately, he's also still making stupid headlines.

8. Cleveland - Sagana Diop - As recently as a year ago, this pick would have been viewed as a flop. But Diop left Cleveland and went to Dallas where he was a very servicable backup center. He looks like he has a lot of potential for the future. I think this was the worst case scenario for GM's who drafted high school kids. Your team may not be the one that benefits when that player develops.

9. Detroit - Rodney White - It's odd that one of the better teams recently made one of the worst picks here. Detroit redeems themselves down the road, but this was a terrible pick. Not sure if Rodney White is anywhere near the NBA anymore, but I do remember someone lobbying for this guy as the number one pick.

10. Boston - Joe Johnson - This is a good pick. Unfortunately for Boston, Johnson really blossomed when he was traded to Phoenix midway through his rookie year. If Boston hadn't given up on some really good players (Johnson, Chauncey Billups), they might be contending for the Eastern Conference crown.

11. Boston - Kedrick Brown - Of course, if Boston also would have contended if they hadn't made dumb picks like these. Kedrick is out of the league already and Boston is still in the lottery. Amazingly, neither Rick Pitino nor Danny Ainge were responsible for this pick.

12. Seattle - Vladimir Radmanovic - A decent offensive player who played with the Sonics up until last year when he was traded to the Clippers. Now he just signed a contract with the Lakers so we'll see how much better Kobe makes him.

13. Houston - Richard Jefferson - Included in the Eddie Griffin deal that I mentioned above, Jefferson alone makes this trade lopsided. I'm not sure if Jefferson has ever been an All-Star, but he's pretty damn good. It was a good pick by Houston, just a bad trade.

14. Golden State - Troy Murphy - A pretty good player with a terrible team. I've heard his name mentioned in trade talks so if he gets moved somewhere, maybe we'll find out how good he really is.

15. Orlando - Steven Hunter - I remember this guy had some pretty good pre-draft camp performances which, combined with the fact he's 7 ft tall, got him picked here. He probably shouldn't have been picked this high, but he's still playing in the league and getting some minutes. So it's not a terrible pick like this next one coming up...

16. Charlotte - Kirk Haston - Oh boy. This is a really bad pick. I mean really bad. Not only did he not pan out, he left Indiana early while they went on to the NCAA Championship game the next year. He could have been the difference that helped Indiana win. So now he's out of the league and everybody in Indiana hates.

17. Toronto - Michael Bradley - I remember thinking that this would be a good pick, but that goes to show you that I can be wrong. Still in the league, but has bounced around being the end of bench cheerleader for a lot of teams.

18. Houston - Jason Collins - I was going to say this was a good pick for Houston as Collins is one of the top defensive centers in the league now, but in reality, New Jersey probably told Houston to make this pick. So Houston really blew it here too.

19. Portland - Zach Randolph - At this spot in the draft, this is an excellent pick. Randolph is now one of the few legitimate low-post threats in the league who can average 20 points per game. Unfortunately, he's also a knucklehead and probably didn't do anything to dispel the "Jailblazers" mystique.

20. Cleveland - Brendan Haywood - If I'm not mistaken, Brendan was traded to Orlando and then later traded to Washington where he now resides. Despite having a shooting range of about two inches, he's a defensive presence and can put in a few stickbacks for you. You could do a lot worse for the center position.

21. Boston - Joseph Forte - Well, Boston went 1 for 3 and then traded away the only one they got right. Nice job by them. This miss was a surprise to me though. If you would have asked me in 2001 which North Carolina player would have a better NBA future, Joe Forte or Brendan Haywood, I would have bet the house on Forte. But unfortunately, his ego probably got the best of him as he seemed to only be in the news for clashing with coaches. He also had a habit of wearing an LA Laker jersey in the Boston locker room so maybe he wasn't the brightest guy either.

22. Orlando - Jeryl Sasser - I think this guy was a 6'7" point guard which is why he was drafted so high. Needless to say, I don't think he was a good point guard as he's not in the league anymore.

23. Houston - Brandon Armstrong - If this guy would have panned out for New Jersey, it would have rivaled the Manhattan purchase as one of the most lopsided trades ever. Maybe New Jersey and Armstrong agreed that he wouldn't become a good player so that Houston wouldn't be that embarrassed.

24. Utah - Raul Lopez - I would think that this probably the only foreign player in the first round that didn't work out. And I think he had some knee issues too so maybe it wasn't really his fault.

25. Sacramento - Gerald Wallace - Now playing with the Bobcats, he's turned into a pretty good player. He was stuck behind some veteran players in Sacramento for awhile but now I bet they wish they had him back.

26. Philadelphia - Samuel Dalembert - Signed a big contract with the Sixers last year, but that really doesn't mean anything as the Sixers sign everybody to big contracts. He's a pretty decent center, but probably not really any better than Haywood is. Just a lot more expensive.

27. Atlanta - Jamaal Tinsley - Atlanta immediately traded him to Indiana where he's been the starting point guard ever since. He's solid, but maybe not really starting material. Still, considering Atlanta's chronic need for a point guard, I bet they wished they held onto him.

28. San Antonio - Tony Parker - This pretty much sums up why San Antonio is an elite club and why Boston and Houston are still struggling. To get an All-Star player with the last pick in the first round is outstanding. If you redid this draft, Parker would probably be a top five pick. Maybe even number one.

Notable second round picks:

30. Chicago - Trenton Hassell - Plays for Minnesota now. Averaged almost 10 points last year, but I think he's more known for being a defensive stopper. If you get any production out of a pick from the second round, it's a good pick. So Hassell qualifies.

31. Golden State - Gilbert Arenas - Wow. Not only did every other team in the league screw up by passing on 30 point per game scorer Arenas, Golden State messed up by not picking him in the first round because second round picks weren't locked in guaranteed contracts like first round picks were. So when Arenas' initial contract was up after two years, he had vastly outperformed expectations and the market for him was so big that Golden State couldn't afford to resign him. Another reason why Golden State sucks. But give them credit for making possibly the best 2nd round pick ever.

35. New Jersey - Brian Scalabrine - Not much more than a bench guy, he signed a fat contract with Boston last year. He did have an awesome performance in a 2 OT loss to the Pistons in the playoffs a couple of years ago so my theory is that Danny Ainge had only seen him play in that game when he signed him last year.

38. Detroit - Mehmet Okur - As bad as their first pick was, they really got a steal here by drafting Okur. Okur helped the Pistons win the championship two years ago and then signed a fat contract with Utah. He had a pretty good year last year by averaging 18 points per game so this is another excellent second round pick.

40. Seattle - Earl Watson - He's bounced around a lot in his short career, but now he's back with Seattle. He's turned himself into probably the best backup and defensive point guard in the league. In fact, he probably should be starting over no-chair-guarding Ridnour.

42. Seattle - Bobby Simmons - Took awhile for this guy to develop, but played so well for the Clippers last year, he earned a big fat contract from Milwaukee. I thought the Bucks overpaid (almost $10 million a year), but Simmons had a pretty decent year this year too so maybe he'll prove me wrong.

53. Utah - Jarron Collins - Not as good as his brother, but still in the league with the same team. Pretty decent backup center.

I love this draft because it seems to be feast or famine. You could strike out with the top pick and then land a perennial All-Star in the second round. I'd still consider this a fairly strong draft even with all the busts and it's miles better than the previous year's draft. Too bad the league can't draft high schoolers anymore because I think that's a big reason why this draft is so erratic and interesting.

The Playoffs are Coming

2006-07-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

All 16 invitations to the NBA's postseason party have now been issued, but the seating arrangements (seeds) will be determined in the next few days as the regular season concludes. The Eastern Conference playoff teams are division winners Detroit, Miami and New Jersey, followed by Cleveland, Washington, Indiana, Milwaukee and Chicago; the Western Conference playoff teams are division winners San Antonio, Phoenix and Denver, followed by Dallas, Memphis, L.A. (Clippers), L.A (Lakers) and Sacramento. I will post my playoff predictions as soon as all of the matchups are finalized. Meanwhile, now is a good time to look back at my predictions for this season, which can be found to the right of this post in the four articles listed under the title "2005-06 Regular Season Predictions."

My 2005-06 predictions can be divided into three categories with self-explanatory titles: "hits," "misses" and "partial credit."

HITS

1) Successfully identifying 12 of the 16 playoff teams

I did not list the teams in the order of seedings but rather by how highly I rated their chances to win the NBA title. Still, I correctly listed division winners Miami, New Jersey, San Antonio, Phoenix and Denver ahead of everyone in their divisions (I discuss the Central Division in "misses"). How does this compare to other predictors? In the 2005-06 Sporting News Pro Basketball Preview, Sean Deveney was correct about six of eight Eastern Conference playoff teams (including two of three division champions) and four of eight Western Conference playoff teams (including all three division champions); the 2005-06 edition of Athlon Sports Pro Basketball was correct about seven of eight Eastern Conference playoff teams (including two of three division champions) and five of eight Western Conference playoff teams (including all three division champions); Street and Smith's 2005-06 Pro Basketball Yearbook was right about five of the six division champions, six of eight Eastern Conference playoff teams and six of eight Western Conference playoff teams; Lindy's Pro Basketball 2005-06 (for which I wrote the Denver Nuggets preview) correctly picked all six division winners. Lindy's top six Western Conference teams made the playoffs, as did their top four Eastern Conference teams (Lindy's picked the Knicks to be fifth in the East). After that, matters become a little murky, because the magazine assigned a point value to each team, resulting in a five way tie for 6-10 in the East and a five way tie for 7-11 in the West.

2) Picking the Lakers to return to the playoffs

None of the magazines listed above picked the Lakers to be a playoff team but I expected Kobe Bryant and company to win at least 45 games, which will happen if they win their final regular season game.

3) Picking the Bucks to make the playoffs

I wrote that Andrew Bogut, T. J. Ford and Bobby Simmons would be worth the 10-15 additional wins that Milwaukee would need to move into the top eight in the East; Milwaukee has won nine more games than last season with two games left.

4) Picking the Suns to be a legitimate contender even after Amare Stoudemire had knee surgery

I wrote my season preview articles after Stoudemire had microfracture knee surgery. At that point, a lot of people doubted that Phoenix could be successful with him out of the lineup for an extended period. The consensus seemed to be that Phoenix would struggle to be above .500. I acknowledged that Stoudemire's injury was a "devastating blow" to Phoenix but still picked the Suns to have the best record in the Pacific and ranked them as one of the top five contenders in the West.

5) Picking New Jersey to be the second best team in the East

I wrote that if Jason Kidd stayed healthy and the Nets received any production from Jason Collins and Nenad Krstic that they could "terrify opposing teams" with their fast break attack of Kidd, Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson. I picked the Nets to win at least 50 games; they are 49-31 with two games to go.

6) Picking the Cavs to finish fourth in the East

A lot of people expected the Cavs to be better this season and to qualify for the playoffs but I felt very strongly that the Cavs would obtain homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs if they could keep LeBron James, Larry Hughes and Zydrunas Ilgauskas healthy. As it turned out, the Cavs held on to the fourth spot despite Hughes missing a lot of games, thanks largely to James' stellar play and the great midseason acquisition of Flip Murray.

7) Predicting a tight race for the last Eastern playoff spots

I picked Chicago to finish with 38-40 wins and said that the loss of Hughes would drop Washington into that range as well. I said that neither team would make the playoffs but that they would be in the mix until the end. As it turns out, they will finish in that win range but due to the weakness of the East that will be enough to make the playoffs. I said that Orlando would finish with 30-35 wins; the Magic are 36-44 with two games to go (if I had known that Steve Francis would be traded I would have moved that estimate up). I was right that Boston would drop out of the playoffs but stay within sight of the eighth spot, which they did until the last few games.

MISSES

1) Picking New York to make the playoffs

I'm not the only one who "drank the Kool Aid" on this one, but I really thought that Larry Brown would coax this team into the eighth playoff spot, particularly because I foresaw that the East would not be very deep. The Knicks won 33 games last year and I expected that Brown would be worth 8-10 more wins. I've never been a fan of Stephon Marbury and his tendency to overdribble but I thought that he would at least make an effort to play the right way after seeing the success that Allen Iverson and Chauncey Billups had under Brown's tutelage. If only Isiah Thomas could demote Marbury and Francis to the And 1 Tour and get their salaries off the books.

2) Picking Detroit to fall in the standings

I expected Detroit to fall in the standings after Flip Saunders replaced Larry Brown, but they won the Central Division and will finish with the best record in the NBA. The Pistons have a lot of strong personalities on their roster and Saunders' inability to keep the Minnesota Timberwolves going in the right direction after they tasted a little playoff success suggested to me that he might not be the right man to control Detroit's locker room. To this point he has proven me wrong, although recently there have been some discordant rumbles emanating from Detroit; Ben Wallace responded angrily when Saunders removed him from a recent game and refused to return to action when Saunders later asked him to go back in the game. This could be nothing or it could be the start of trouble. I would heartily endorse Saunders as Coach of the Year based on what the Pistons have done in the regular season but I am still skeptical that the Pistons will return to the Finals. Let's see how this team reacts when they face some adversity in the postseason. Meanwhile, I offer a hardy mea culpa and congratulations to the Pistons for their success during the regular season.

3) Leaving the Clippers and the Grizzlies out of the playoff picture

I thought that Sam Cassell had run out of gas but he proved that he still has something left in the tank. He means as much to the Clippers as the more celebrated Elton Brand does and if you don't believe that just wait and see what happens in the playoffs if Cassell gets in foul trouble or suffers an injury. I admitted in my preseason article that Memphis puzzled me; they made several moves and I wasn't sure if they got any better or not. Obviously, they remained good enough to earn a playoff spot.

PARTIAL CREDIT

A lot of observers were impressed by the performances of Chicago, Seattle and Golden State last year but I expected all three teams to regress this season. I had Chicago falling out of the playoffs, Seattle dropping to eighth in the West and Golden State not making the playoffs in spite of their high expectations. I was completely right about Golden State--the fashionable "sleeper pick" after running off a string of late season wins last year--but Seattle fell even more than I expected, dropping out of the playoffs, and the Bulls rallied recently to return to the playoffs after being on the outside looking in for most of the year. I had the right general idea about Chicago and Seattle, but the weakness of the East (particularly Philadelphia's collapse down the stretch) and the strength of the West (the eighth seed in the West will have a better record than the fifth seed in the East) enabled Chicago to sneak in and kept Seattle out of contention.

I had high expectations for Houston but I'm going to take a mulligan on that one. Injuries to Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming wrecked the Rockets, who played well on the rare occasions that McGrady and Yao were on the court at the same time. Yao had a breakout year and the Rockets could have been a monster in the second half of the season if McGrady would have been playing alongside him.

"You Gotta Love It": Clippers Force a Seventh Game Versus the Suns

2006-07-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

The Phoenix Suns will need to win a seventh game for the second series in a row in order to advance to the Western Conference Finals. The L.A. Clippers defeated the Suns 118-106 on Thursday night in the Staples Center. Elton Brand led the Clippers with 30 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots but, as Phoenix Coach Mike D'Antoni pointed out in his postgame remarks, what killed the Suns were the numbers put up by Corey Maggette (25 points, eight rebounds, 7-8 field goal shooting, 9-9 free throw shooting) and Quinton Ross (career high 18 points on 9-14 field goal shooting). Shawn Marion had another strong game for the Suns (34 points, nine rebounds, six steals), Leandro Barbosa came off the bench to score 25 points and Steve Nash had 17 points and 11 assists.

Sam Cassell contributed 15 points and eight assists and is thrilled to have the opportunity to play in a seventh game. "You gotta love it," he repeatedly told ESPN's Mark Jones after the game, adding that the Clippers have figured out how to beat Phoenix and are confident about their chances to win the seventh game. We'll see about that because, as I've mentioned here more than once, game sevens on the road in the NBA are usually death.

Steve Nash has struggled in the past few games. His shooting has been off target and he has had difficulties on defense as well. ESPN's Scottie Pippen declared after game six that Nash has been exposed for not being worthy of his two MVP awards. I would not have voted for Nash for MVP last year or this year but I am reluctant to place too much emphasis on these recent games, either. Nash is legitimately an All-NBA caliber player and such players have a tendency to bounce back strongly after subpar performances. Don't forget that Tim Duncan struggled in the middle of last year's Finals and received a lot of criticism before coming through in game seven and winning his third Finals MVP. It is important to not write the final analysis of a series before the series is over. This reminds me of the classic Bjorn Borg-John McEnroe showdown in the 1980 Wimbledon. McEnroe won a thrilling fourth set tiebreaker 18-16 but Borg recovered from that setback to play an almost flawless fifth set and win the match. Years later Borg was interviewed about that match and the epic tiebreaker; he calmly noted that the fifth set--the one that actually decided the match--was the real story, not the fourth set tiebreaker. Game seven, which will decide the Suns-Clippers series, is the real story and only after that game is over can we fairly evaluate the performance of Nash--or any other player--in this series.

I picked the Suns to win this series and I still believe that they will prevail in game seven. The Lakers battled the Suns for six games but could not find the wherewithal to even be competitive in game seven. Brand and Cassell will not allow the Clippers to melt down in game seven like the Lakers did but the Suns will resume running and gunning when they return to Phoenix and they will win an exciting, high scoring and close game seven.

Bryant Accomplishes Scoring Feat

2006-07-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

Kobe Bryant is setting records. Over the last few games his high scoring has resulted in wins for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Bryant's 45 points Monday night gave Los Angeles the victory over Indiana and made him the first player since Wilt Chamberlain with at least that many points in four straight games.

The Lakers are in the playoff hunt but only two games over .500. They are just a half game behind the the L.A. Clippers, a team they beat on Bryant's 50 points a few days ago.

It's possible that only one of those two teams will reach the playoffs, and their head-to-head records could be the difference.

LAKERS ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO CLIPPERS

2006-07-10T18:06:00.000-07:00

As only this franchise of failure could, the Clippers turned what should have been a weekend of celebration into sheer misery for their fans. After needing another team to lose to clinch their first playoff berth in almost a decade, the Clippers sent their faithful home unhappy not once but twice, giving away a rivalry game they had firmly in hand Friday, then not showing up for another last night. The Lakers claimed city bragging rights for the summer with a complete 100-83 domination of a Clippers squad that looked every bit the part of a Staples Center subtenant.

It seemed as though the Clippers physically shrank following their incredible loss to the Kings. Elton Brand posted another double-double, but had to work much harder for his 24 and 10 -- and shoot from farther out -- than Lamar Odom did for his 23 and 15. After witnessing E.B.'s involvement in at least half a dozen failed fast breaks last night, I split the blame equally between Elton and the teammates who kept putting him in situations where he clearly does not excel.

Chris Kaman fared far worse, picking up a foul in the first minute of play and two more by the midway point of the second quarter. Chris ended with 8 and 11, while his Laker counterpart Kwame Brown posted 9 and 8. Vis-a-vis what each was asked and expected to bring, Kwame won the battle at center. To borrow from an old PSA, this is Kaman's brain off drugs -- any questions?

Sam Cassell scored 24 points on 10-20 shooting but had no more assists (four) than Brand. Sam's looking for his shot way too much and not getting his teammates involved enough. He's also taking too many threes, going 2-8 last night. Vladimir Radmanovic went 1-5 from downtown (2-9 overall) and Cuttino Mobley 0-3. In the words of Stu Lantz, 18.8% 3FGs "will not get it done."

The Clippers signed Cat to that fat $42 million contract with visions of bingos in April and May. They traded Chris Wilcox for Vladi for the express purpose of stretching opposing defenses. But until some of these halftime heroes who can't miss in practice start translating it to game time, the Clippers will remain easy to play against in the absence of a legitimate outside threat.

Quinton Ross defended Kobe Bryant beautifully, but was limited to 27 minutes; mostly in the other 21, Bryant (who played all but 39 seconds) struck for 38 points, four below his season average against the Clippers. Odom's breakout game and another impressive performance by Luke Walton (13 and 7 on 6-10 FGs) provided all the support he needed.

The Lakers outscored the Clippers everywhere -- in the paint, at the arc, on the fastbreak, at the charity stripe where they took half again as many free throws. The Lakers were more active and aggressive, pressuring the ball upcourt, jumping into passing lanes, clogging the post, generating 17 Clipper turnovers. At times the Clippers appeared literally to hand the ball over. Shaun Livingston in particular looked like he'd mistakenly sat down at the grown folks' table for Thanksgiving dinner.

Call me Cassandra if you wish. I understand that these two losses (the Mavericks are favored to make it three tonight) aren't the end of the world. The Clippers remain .5 games ahead of Memphis and 1.5 up on Denver for home court in a prospective first-round series. But yet again in games their fans wanted desperately to win, the Clippers wilted. Like Jack Lemmon's clients the Nyborgs in Glengarry Glen Ross, they "kind of imperceptibly slumped."

Click on Clipper Talk and join the discussion. -- Jordan

LAKERS ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO CLIPPERS

2006-07-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

LAKERS ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO CLIPPERS

2006-07-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

LAKERS ARE FAR SUPERIOR TO CLIPPERS

2006-07-10T18:02:00.000-07:00

CLIPPERS CAN'T GET PAST VELVET ROPE

2006-07-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

Again the Clippers crashed an A-list party, and again they got bounced. Last night at Staples Center, the defending champion San Antonio Spurs gave the Clippers a clinic in defense, shotmaking and playoff intensity, turning a fair fight into an instructional video midway through the third quarter en route to a 98-87 rout.

Viewed objectively, the Clippers have had a nice little year. But to reach elite status, they must make quantum leaps in two categories: overall consistency and games against top teams. Any 82-game season will have its vicissitudes, but the up-and-down Clippers have had no winning streak longer than their longest losing streak (five). Elite teams put together stretches of seven, eight, nine wins in a row.

Similarly, the Clippers have shown an inability to compete with the premier teams in the NBA. Against the four Western Conference opponents with the best records, the Clippers have gone a woeful 3-8. Against the five best teams in the league, they're a pitiful 3-9 with exactly one win since early December. Obviously, most teams struggle with the Spurs and Mavericks and Suns of the world, but the Clippers don't view themselves as most teams.

Last night, the Clips hung with the Spurs for a few minutes before Gregg Popovich implemented a zone defense that discombobulated L.A. When you lateral the ball more than you pass it, you know your offense is in trouble, and the Clips promptly fell behind 18-10. But Pop took out the zone and the Clips, after trailing 48-42 at halftime, went ahead 51-50 on the kind of aggressive move we need more of from Chris Kaman, picking the ball up in traffic and laying it in quickly with the right hand.

Right after that, though, San Antonio went on a 13-0 run that put them up 63-51 and effectively ended the ballgame, the Clippers starting the fourth quarter down ten and never coming closer. By then, the Spurs had imposed a lockdown worthy of Pelican Bay, holding the Clippers to 37.8% FGs and 1-10 3FGs while hitting 49.3% and 10-25. The Clippers double-teamed Tim Duncan and the Spurs' bigs too much, leaving wide open perimeter shooters who made them pay again and again and again.

Elton Brand had 20 and 10, but Brand as a 20-and-10 man is so last season. This year, that's a bad game for Elton, and indeed it was, as he missed 11 of 18 attempts. At times, EB gets the ball in scoring position and almost waits for the defender or double-team to come; I'd like to see him assert himself more down the stretch.

Corey Maggette got to the line 12 times, leading the Clippers to one of their few statistical advantages, but shot 3-11 from the field, and many of the misses were who-opened-the-door head-scratchers that turned Coach Dunleavy eight shades of red.
Sam Cassell took too few shots and made too few at 3-8, while Cuttino Mobley missed all six of his looks, most of them uncontested.

I did see a lot of positives:
-- Kaman did not shrink from the challenge, posting 18 and 8 on 6-10 FGs and 6-7 FTs. He's showing flashes of the quickness and aggressiveness that can make him one of the best bona fide centers in the game.
-- While Vladimir Radmanovic remained ice-cold from downtown, he added some moves to his repertoire, driving to the basket once for a dunk and again for a layup. I'd love to see more of the same from Vlad Rad even when he rediscovers his stroke.
-- It's great to see Zeljko Rebraca healthy and suited up. He contributed three points, three rebounds and two blocks in 12 high-energy, high-quality minutes. I just love having his presence on the court.
-- Q Ross did his job in limited minutes, helping hold the Spurs' starting backcourt to 12 points.
-- Most important, the first half may have been Shaun Livingston's best half of basketball as a pro. That highlight-reel dunk in Portland must have loosened him up, because he showed no fear, driving in for a layup, hitting turnaround jumpers, canning free throws, and closing the scoring with a slam dunk off a Kaman feed. Keep it up, Kid!

The Clips have a chance to close out March 10-6 with a getaway win Friday night over the Utah Jazz at Staples. The Jazz are healthy, highly motivated, and just spanked the Nuggets in Denver. The Clips had better find their shooting touch -- oh yeah, and an answer for the pick-and-roll.

Click on Clipper Talk and join the discussion. -- Jordan

la clippers

2006-02-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

In 1984 the Clippers moved to Los Angeles, California, playing in the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena while the Lakers, with a better reputation, continued to play at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, a few miles south. The Clippers were completely overshadowed by their cross-town counterparts, who were in the midst of a championship run with future Hall of Famers, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy. The Clippers, under head coach Jim Lynam (and later Don Chaney) and new acquisitions Marques Johnson, Junior Bridgeman, and Harvey Catchings (all acquired via trade from the Milwaukee Bucks), finished with a disappointing 31-51 record in the first season in the City of Angels.