Even for a season that quickly spiraled into familiar misery, the pitiful moments continue to pile up for the Los Angeles Clippers. The 118-88 Saturday loss to the San Antonio Spurs marked the seventh straight loss for LA, and the 30 point margin was also the seventh time this season that they lost by more than 25 points. That, by the way, is the worst such mark in the NBA.
Surprise, surprise.
I’ve had a hard time finding the motivation to keep following the team sometimes, so I’m sure there are some guys in the Clippers locker room who might feel the same, especially with the embarrassing numbers they’re putting up on a regular basis. Just because I might understand that doesn’t mean I sympathize with them too much though, since you know, they are being paid a lot more than the rest of us.
The huge salaries, fame, pride and immense talent on the roster alone should be more than enough for the Clippers to contend, and if not, at least compete. Look I know the owner is a disgrace, that the former coach (Mike Dunleavy) stuck around four seasons longer than he should have and that the drastic changes made by (and in) the front office are a distraction, but come on guys, you’re professional freakin’ athletes.
Take a look at the point differentials for the last seven games, all of which LA has lost.
26, 17, 22, 26, 11, 8 and 30.
That works out to being outscored by 140 points, an average losing margin of 20 points per game. The turning point this year was the January 12 game against the Memphis Grizzlies, which the Clippers entered with a four-game winning streak and a chance to hit the .500 mark. The game infamously involved a broken water main, a 20-minute postponement and a blown double digit lead for LA, who was 17-18 at the time. Since then, they’ve changed a handful of players, fired their coach/GM and won only eight of the last 32 games.
Jeez. Coming into the year we fans wanted consistency, just not in that form.
The rallying cry around the Clippers organization and some foolish hopeful fans is one that speaks of a ton of salary cap space for next year and points out the positives in new GM Neil Olshey , but I think I speak for a majority of Clips fans when we say that we can’t always just be sold a better tomorrow, we want to see some on-the-court results now.
A win tonight against the New Orleans Hornets would be a good start, and at press time the Clippers are still in it, trailing 32-27 midway through the second quarter. That sounds good, let’s just hope there’s no patented second half collapse in store. Heck, while we’re asking for miracles, we might as well put in a word or two for world peace.
-Will.
“Diary of a Clippers Fan” will be published Mondays and Thursdays during the regular season.
