Los Angeles Clippers right back where they started last season – NBA Update
The Los Angeles Clippers would have liked Chris Paul and Blake Griffin to take the Lob City phenomenon to the next level this season.
Both these players were expected to take the next step as their relationship developed both on and off the court in the last one. They started off with only a handful of practices before diving into the short spanned season which
was capped off by only the third ever playoff appearance in franchise history.
As much as they promised, their ambitious season came to an end by the hands of the experienced team, the San Antonio Spurs, who have got their three best players in form of Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan playing together
for the past decade.
In the end, it all came down to the lack of experience which the Clippers fell to – a fact highlighted by their coach Vinny Del Negro who constantly talks about how a team cannot cheat the process of developing.
Considering everything that went through last season, the Clippers would have wanted the experience of making it to the playoffs to go with Griffin and Paul into the Olympics. However all their ambitions came down tumbling in Griffins’
case as the forward went down injured in Las Vegas.
Paul also suffered a thumb injury but decided to take part in the London Olympics and won a second consecutive gold medal with team USA. He did go through surgery in order to repair the torn ligament in his right thumb just recently
and is expected to not return by the end of training camp.
The developments have put a dent in the Clippers aspirations for the coming season. They will surely have Griffin back from knee injury but will have to monitor the minutes he plays at least in the early part of the season. The
burden automatically will fall on CP3.
If having two of your best players not being able to contribute much at the start of the season was not enough, the Clippers will also have to make do without veteran point guard, Chauncey Billups until November while Lamar Odom
is still trying to get back into basketball shape after having one of the most lacklustre season with Dallas Mavericks.
In a nutshell, what was expected to be a break out year for the Clippers might turn out to be the one in which they will stand right where they started.
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