News From Around The League:
Pacman Jonesin’ pictures Brian Scalabrine as l’il orphan Annie.  Also, due to the “massive” controversy of their Top 25 TV Characters In History, it’s been expanded to the Top 100.  Here is part II and III.   It seems like every character from Arrested Development, The Wire & Seinfeld will be on the list.  Lastly, they’ve also got a nice report on the brouhaha that’s brewing about Jailboy ref Tim Donaghy’s proposed book.  Note: It turns out that it was a false report that Tim Donaghy is the illegitimate half-brother of Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock.
A Royal [...]

I thought I was at the Clippers’ opening game & what I saw showed promise, but I guess I must’ve dreamed it in my desperate hope for something good to happen.  It turns out the Onion has the story as to what truly happened.  And as my great-grandpappy used to say: “If it’s in the news, it must be true.”
Fatal Staples Center Collapse Brings Merciful Early End To Clippers Game

Two games.  Two loses.  Two different showings.
Game #1 against the Lakers:
Even missing Pau Gasol, the defending champs looked pretty darn good.  Kobe drove fearlessly & hit outside shots.  Artest was non-stop on defense & didn’t force things on offense: he only took wide open kick out threes or posted up players.  Bynum was the force he’s been the last two years when healthy.  Odom filled up his stat sheet everywhere.  Honestly, no one on the Lakers looked bad.
In contrast, on the Clippers Baron Davis was awful, turning the ball over a ton & jacking up ill-advised shots.  Al Thornton kept [...]

This second part got delayed, so some of the initial thoughts I wrote below have already changed, so in brackets I have my revised thoughts also for The Trailblazers & The Wizards.  If you missed the first part, check here.
Milwaukee – Everyone’s talked about how awful this team will be after they gave away Richard Jefferson, Charlie Villanueva & Ramon Sessions, but we all forgot one thing.  Scott Skiles is a damn good defensive coach.  Yes, eventually his players grow tired of him, but before that happens he’s great at making his guys give it all on every single defensive [...]

Just when we were allowing ourselves to finally feel some hope here in Clipperville, it gets announced that Blake Griffin broke his kneecap, pushing back his NBA debut indefinitely.  Initial estimates have been placed at six weeks.  I can’t believe this — the only people I’ve heard of who break their kneecaps are those who reneg on paying back the mob.  Hell, I’d rather believe Blake didn’t pay out his bookie than that there’s a Clippers’ curse.  ‘Cuz not only has Camby been out, but word is that now Baron Davis is a bit banged up and iffy for the [...]

Atlanta – Their D wasn’t quite up to snuff in the pre-season.  Jamal Crawford needs to find his way.  And I’m not sure this team has the drive to take it to the next level.
Boston – ‘Sheed’s crazy to think they could win 72+ games.  No way Doc would be dumb enough to run his starters that hard.  He’s realized it’s a marathon & not a sprint, so I expect Doc to rest his old guys as much as possible.  Still not convinced that KG will be his old self rather than his elderly self.  With that and lingering tension [...]

Funny LA Times article not about Blake Griffin learning his role on the court, but rather  off it.  He’s had to learn which seats he can use, which yoga mats, and yup, which showers.  Ahhh, rookie hazin’.
ClipperBlog talks about the Hopes & Fears For Chris Kaman.
ClipsNation has a nice post A Good Problem To Have – Who Starts? This is gonna be a 2-parter, and in this first one they look at the SF battle between Rasual Butler & Al Thornton.  As we’ve said here, they think Rasual will/should start with Al Thornton coming off the bench as instant offense.  [...]

To my surprise, the Clippers decided to hang on to Kareem Rush.  Now even though I dumped on Kareem’s D the other day, I’m actually not upset with this decision.  Truth is that after Steve Novak, Rush probably has the best 3-pt shot on the team.  And we need good outside shooters to space out the floor so Baron, Telfair, Gordon & Thornton can slash, while Kaman & (eventually) Griffin can go to work down low.  Kareem’s a much better defender than Novak, so it should be easier to get him out there on the floor.  Also, since he’s a [...]

Today ESPN posted the Western Conference picks from its’ panel of 10 “experts.” The Clippers got votes as high as 7th, and as low as 12th, with the average of them all being 9.3.  If they’re right, then to get into the playoffs we’ll need to get better than one more team and one-third of another one.
I gotta say I was surprised by the people who went for the two extremes.  J.A. Adande put the Clips at 7th, which I think is probably a bit generous (I’ve predicted 8th).  Interestingly, everyone on the panel who put us in the playoffs, [...]

Anthony Roberson and Jerel McNeal were waived by the Clippers today. That leaves Kareem Rush as the only non-guaranteed contract player left. In the past, Mike Dunleavy Sr. has preferred to go into the season with just 14 players on the roster so he can add someone during the year if need be. Is Rush good enough to make Dun change his mind? I doubt it. Particularly with Robeson and Mardy Collins looking uninspired as backup PGs, that means if either Baron or Telfair go down we’re in a bit of a hole.
Kevin Arnovitz actually [...]