Category — Clip Joint

With yesterday’s committment by Shabazz Muhammad and the recent one by Kyle Anderson, UCLA and its fans have high hopes of returning to the high life in college basketball. As much as we’d like to share in their enthusiasm, and we do to a certain extent, we’re still bummed Ben Howland is the Bruins coach. But blame Dan Guerrero for that 1 since both should have been shown the door after this past season’s fiasco and the circus-like atmosphere surrounding the program.
The good news, though, is the pressure is on Howland to produce next season despite the pass he has received from the L.A. media. Obviously, if he doesn’t, you can bet the farm he’s history and maybe someone at UCLA will have the balls to boot Guerrero, too. Howland, who apparently went to the same school for offensive strategy as Mike Brown, has even promised to open up the offense. We’ll believe it when we see it. But for the players sake, let’s hope the Bruins are as fun to watch as the talent they have stockpiled. Maybe even Howland can’t screw that up.
College Basketball Talk
Jackie Robinson Day: Major League Baseball will celebrate the icon on Sunday.
MLB.com
The day after: Fans (writers and broadcasters, too) are still stunned by the way the Lakers hammered the Spurs Wednesday night without Kobe.
ESPN LA
Money in the bank: With a big assist from David Stern, the Clippers deal for Chris Paul is paying off as well as any investment. Ask the Thunder.
NBA.com
Will the NFL ever return to L.A.?: As fans, we could care less.
O.C. Register

Clippers 100, Thunder 98.
Underdogs paid big time tonight. At least the Lakers and Clippers did. The Clip Joint was an 8 1/2 point dog to the Thunder, but went into OKC and stole 1. Fortunately for the Thunder, the Lakers hammered the Spurs, leaving them atop of the Western Conference by a slim margin.
NewsOK.com

Bouncing around the sports world as we play a little hard ball.
Police State: Opening Day at Dodger Stadium is usually a thing of beauty. It will be again today, but the festivities will be a bit tamer this year. Unfortunately, a heavy presence by the popo, much of it in response to the tragic beating of Giants’ fan Bryan Stow last year, will take some of the fun out of going to the old ballpark. Still, fans will be able to enjoy the beauty of Clayton Kershaw, who will receive his Cy Young award on Wednesday, opens on the mound for the Dodgers against the Pirates.
L.A. Times
Vin Scully to miss Opening Day: Even worst, the Dodger legend and Hall of Fame broadcaster won’t be in the lineup today because he’s home nursing a severe cold. Get well soon, Vinny.
ESPN LA
“Pop” goes the Spurs’ run: Are you reading this Mike Brown? Maybe 1 day you could take another page out your daddy Gregg Popovich’s playbook. The San Antonio coach gave Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker the night off as the Jazz ended the club’s 11-game winning streak in Utah last night. The Spurs dropped a game back of the Thunder, who hammered the Bucks. The Lakers visit the well-rested Spurs in the season’s 1st meeting between the 2 club on Wednesday.
San Antonio Express-News
Sorry doesn’t cut it: The Marlins show a little backbone by suspending Manager Ozzie Guillen for 5 games.
Miami Herald

Football players smoking weed and engaging in bad behavior at Florida under Urban Meyer?: This is news? Last time we checked, Florida, Miami and Florida State (see a pattern here?) have all been among the country’s top renegade programs. When Randy Shannon tried to clean up Miami, he got fired. So…
Sporting News
Can Derrick Rose stay healthy?: Word out of Chicago is the Bulls point guard tweaked an ankle in Sunday’s loss to the Knicks and will be a game-time decision when the 2 clubs meet again tonight.
Chicago Tribune
What do the Cards need with Albert Pujols when they have Mr. Freese?: The St. Louis third baseman and World Series hero continues to rake it as the club is off to a strong start.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Speaking of the real deal…: Oakland’s Yoenis Cespedes appears to be all of that.
San Jose Mercury News
It’s still Tiger’s world: Bubba Watson won the Masters, but the neighbors are still talking about the temper tantrums of Tiger Woods.
N.Y. Daily News

Andrew Bynum’s hot line tonight in the Lakers’ 113-108 victory over the Clip Joint: 36 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks, and Lord knows how many more he altered. We also got a kick out of Bynum, who returned after spraining an ankle against the Warriors, frequently going out to challenge Chris Paul. Once, he blocked Paul’s shot and on another occasion he made the Clippers point guard put so much arc on it, he barely touched the rim.
But Bynum’s best move had to be jumping in the face of Tommy Griffin’s son Blake after the Clipper forward, who seems to revel more and more in his status as resident thug, shoved Mr. Softy (Pau Gasol), who was driving for a layup.
Just like a like of folks (we see you OKC) who are hoping for Thunder-Heat NBA final, there are plenty in L.A. praying for a Laker-Clipper bout in the opening round. We 2nd that emotion.
NBA.com

Reports of Vinny Del Negro’s demise might not be exaggerated. Word on the street is the Clippers head coach has lost his club and is a major reason it has dropped 11 of its past 18 games. The latter is inaccurate. The Clippers have been getting knocked around lately because their schedule is much tougher than the cupcakes they were playing early on. They also aren’t 1 of the strongest clubs defensively in the NBA.
Del Negro deserves much blame for his inconsistency on rotations. But the Clippers GM, who believes more is more by continuing to bring in new players (Nick Young is the latest flavor of choice) each week, also deserves blame for the club’s woes. You just can’t continue to mix and match in a short season like this.
But if Del Negro has lost his team…sounds like that Clippers curse might be emerging again.
ESPN LA

Did we mention Blake Griffin had a forgettable night back home? Didn’t think so.
Derek Fisher is from Arkansas, so Oklahoma City is a major step up, no? Fisher made his debut with the Thunder on Wednesday night in a win over the Clip Joint.
NewsOK.com

Rick: “Hold me back Al before I kill ‘em all.” How about that jacket? Looks like something out of Anthony Thornton’s closet, no?
Last night Rick Barry called Warrior fans classless for booing owner Joe Lacob for trading Monta Ellis. Seemed like open season to us. Today Barry is the focus of a piece about all that’s wrong with the NBA and its players, a story we’re guessing was probably written before Slick Rick told Warrior fans to take a flying funk. Bitter? C’mon Rick. This generation, Mr. Barry, will say similar things about the next and the next 1 after that. This shit runs in cycles.
Pittsburgh Live

I can’t recall watching an NBA player shoot consecutive air balls on free throws until Blake Griffin did so tonight against the Hawks.

Our 5-team parlay for the Association tonight ($10 to win $200): Wolves (-1) over Lakers; Thunder (-13) over Cavaliers; Bucks (-1 1/2) over Knicks; Spurs (-5 1/2) over Clippers; Nuggets (-10 1/2) over Hornets. Notice a pattern?

Kevin Love is playing as well as any NBA star, averaging 25 points and 13 rebounds per game. He’s also turned into a stud behind the 3-point line. Monday, he popped Blake Griffin and the Clip Joint for 39 points, including 5 of 10 on 3-pointers, and 17 boards as the T-Wolves won their 3rd straight this season over the L.A. crew.
StarTribune