The LA Clippers

The Clippers won the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night, and today word comes that they will in fact select Oklahoma star and NCAA Player of the Year Blake Griffin. That had to be a relief to Frankie Munez, Penny Marshall, and the other two Clippers fans. I know Elgin Baylor is gone, but it's still the Clippers, LA's bastard second team.

Let's not forget, the last time the Clippers had the #1 pick in the NBA Draft, they went with this guy, just 11 years ago.



Kinda thrown together quickly by whoever did it, but you get the point. Not sure I would have gone "Should have picked Vince Carter." The Clip had plenty of options there at number 1. Vince Carter, certainly among the choices along with Antawn Jamison, Paul Pierce, and Dirk Nowitzki. No big deal, you figured a 7 footer out of Pacific was the safe choice, I get it.

They won't screw up the pick on June 25th, but will they screw up the player? Blake joins a front line that already has Marcus Camby, Chris Kamen, and Zach Randolph. Goodluck with all that...

-Keefe

2009 NBA All-Stars: Closer Look

The reserves were announced last night for the 2009 NBA All-Star game which will be played Valentine's day weekend out in Phoenix. Let's take a look at the squads. Who has a beef? Who lucked out?

Eastern Conference:

Dwayne Wade, Heat
Allen Iverson, Pistons
LeBron James, Cavs
Kevin Garnett, Celtics
Dwight Howard, Magic

Reserves:

Paul Pierce, Celtics
Chris Bosh, Raptors
Joe Johnson, Hawks
Danny Granger, Pacers
Jameer Nelson, Magic
Rashard Lewis, Magic
Devin Harris, Nets

Western Conference:

Chris Paul, Hornets
Kobe Bryant, Lakers
Tim Duncan, Spurs
Amare Stoudemire, Suns
Yao Ming, Rockets

Reserves:

Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks
Pau Gasol, Lakers
Brandon Roy, Blazers
Chauncey Billups, Nuggets
Tony Parker, Spurs
Shaquille O'Neal, Suns
David West, Hornets

Earlier in the week I successfully picked 12 out of the 14 reserves. The two I didn't? Rashard Lewis and David West. And I stick by that.

Lucky to be an All-Star:

David West: Yeah he's averaging 20 points per game, but his 7.1 rebounds ties him with Marc Gasol and Anderson Varejao for 31st in the NBA. He's a power forward. Nene, Dampier, Kendrick Perkins, Scola, and LeBron are some of the names pulling down more boards than West. Although some of the catergories are close, West has seen a decline in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and FG% from last year.

Allen Iverson: West is 31st in rebounding, AI is 31st in scoring. Do you know that Billups is averaging more points than the Answer this year? Chalk this one up to the fans who vote AI in, and kept more deserving guards from the East out.

Rashard Lewis: I just don't see it. 19.3 points and 6 rebounds is good, but do the Orlando Magic really need 3 All-Stars? Put him in the 3 point contest, that's fine, but he's not one of the best 12 players in the East this year.

Biggest beef:

Al Jefferson: His team is bad, but they're the hottest team in January. Big Al is a 20-10 guy and much more deserving than say David West. 8th in the league in scoring, 7th in rebounding, but playing on the T-Wolves kept him out. Should have been in.

Vince Carter: Vince vs. Rashard Lewis? Vince scores more, has more assists, and is only 0.9 rebounds worse than Lewis. Carter is 11th in the league in scoring, and makes up the highest scoring backcourt in the NBA for a surprising Nets team. Like him or not he should be in Phoenix.

Other cases can be made for Carmelo Anthony (despite missing time with injury Melo is putting up more points and rebounds per game than David West, and is on a team with a better record. Figure that one out.) Mo Williams, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo. However Celtics fans should not freak out about Allen or Rondo. They just weren't good enough in the first half, plain and simple.

-Keefe

Scroll down to see Besse's account of the Price is Right from today as well as why he thinks B.J. Penn can beat Georges St. Pierre... I have no idea who will win that one.