<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Another Clipper off-season is progressing in a way that can only be called Clipperesque. That can mean a variety of things, but in this instance it means frustrating. Sometimes it feels as if the other NBA teams are out on the track while the Clippers are on a treadmill. An NBA source said Tuesday that the Clippers were close to an agreement with free agent Cuttino Mobley. This the week after Bobby Simmons said he would leave for the Milwaukee Bucks. Let's see: Mobley averaged 17.2 points a game for the Orlando Magic and Sacramento Kings last season, Simmons 16.4 a game, giving the Clippers a net gain of 0.8 of a point. Well, technically that's progress. It's just not very inspiring. The Clippers: Movin' toward the playoffs, tenth by tenth. Mobley would provide outside shooting and defense at the shooting guard position and give the Clippers a solid starting lineup along with Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Chris Kaman and Shaun Livingston. All of those guys can play, but not one of them demands a double-team. None gives the Clippers an automatic matchup edge, game in and game out. This makes two consecutive summers that the Clippers actually did things the right way, came correct with the cash ? and came away with little to show for it. Last year, they threw money at the feet of Kobe Bryant, but he stayed with the Lakers. This year they tried for Seattle's Ray Allen (the best player on the market) and Michael Redd (the best shooter), but both took the most money they could get and re-signed with their teams at prices beyond what the collective bargaining agreement would allow the Clippers to offer. And Simmons left for a surprising $9 million a year, a figure the Clippers never imagined they'd hear and weren't prepared to spend on a borderline starter. It seems as if every imaginable force works against the Clippers. There's the inertia of their losing ways ? one winning season since 1979 ? that prevents them from signing a veteran looking to play for a winner at a discount.</div> Source
I believe Shaun Livingston's game will demand a double-team this year. Dude has talent and deceptively long arms. He didn't shoot too bad(20 footers) either when I watched him in Atlanta towards the end of the season. I keep hoping the Clips make the playoffs or at least contend for it. Being on the "treadmill" while other teams are on the track can't be sitting too well with the players and Mike Dunleavy.
