Clippers Set A Bear Trap: 22 Point 4th Quarter Comeback

Yes, it's true. On Sunday, the Los Angeles Clippers played defense. So good a defense in fact that the Memphis Grizzlies didn't score in the final 5 minutes of the game. The Grizzlies only scored 7 points the entire quarter. I'm pretty sure Smokey the Bear is a Grizzly bear because the Memphis Grizzlies did everything in their power to help the Clippers put-out whatever offensive fire they had going coming into the 4th (try a 22 point lead). Well, good job, Grizzlies - another forest fire prevented. Either that or the whole team just decided to hibernate for the entire 4th. I could go on forever with the bear references, but check out this 6 minute video of how the Clippers kept the Memphis Grizzlies at 88 for what seemed like...forever:


(Credit to thecalminsanity for this calmly insane video recap. The 4:31 mark is a gem, with Sebastian Telfair awkwardly being held up by Deandre Jordan while looking like a constipated baby...or something. )

The New Jersey Nets could have used a comeback like this against the Lakers last night because just hours after the Clippers made their exciting 4th quarter run on Sunday afternoon, the Nets took to the same court and became the third team to start 0-17. The last team to go 0-17? Why yes, your Comeback Clips. How poetic indeed. News just in: The Nets hate poetry.

Steve Nash: You Need to Wear A Batman Mask!!

Remember how, as kids, we used to take both our left and right hands, shape them into the 'a-ok' symbols, and then flip them upside down around our eyes to make a Batman-like face mask?

Well, Steve Nash wants all to know that such a gesture is now the new symbolic stand-in for saying: "ARE YOU BLIND?! YOU NEED TO WEAR A BATMAN MASK!...er, GLASSES!"



I love how completely normal and natural Steve Nash acts as he proceeds to bust out such a complicated hand gesture as this in the middle of such a heated moment...and how unfunny and purely serious he finds himself amidst it all. You think this is funny? You need to get yourself some glasses.

Well, on this night, you didn't need Batman glasses to know that the Phoenix Suns were simply no match for their Pacific Division rivals - your Los Angeles Lakers.

The NBA is funnier during in-season than out,
Jonathan Hernandez (Chick's Fridge)

3-Year Old Kid Knows the Lakers Better Than Your Mom Does

I'm not even going to add some idiotic, witless intro to this like I usually do, so... just watch this whiz kid:



I bet the Celtic kid can't do that. This little guy is amazing. I'm pretty sure he's the main reason why Lamar Odom decided to stay in LA. Ironic that he had to spend like 24 seconds, the longest out of any player, to decipher Kobe Bryant's number, but only 0.5 seconds to cutely shout out 'Mbenga'. All I know is - impressive. How old are you? And did you even know that Kurt Rambis' jersey number was 31? I only knew he was white. I just hope the cute kid knows his ABC's and 123's just as well though, cus...knowing that #18 is Sasha 'the Machine' Vujacic will never get you very far in life. Neither will actually being Sasha Vujacic the person...

The Fridge Loves Educational Laker Learning,
Jonathan Hernandez (Chick's Fridge)

Elton Brand Could Never Hit a Trey Like Z-Bo!: Los Angeles Clippers Trade Zach Randolph

I remember shouting out loud with my section that EB could never hit a three like that! (Here's Zach Randolph doing exactly that. Amazing JUST Happened.)

Chatting with Chick's Fridge and Lawler's Law on the recent Zach Randolph trade to the Memphis Grizzlies:

Lawler’s Law (Mike): I was actually a big time Zach Randolph fan.

Chick’s Fridge (Jon): My condolences.

The kind of guy you'd bring home to your mother.

Lawler’s Law: I was at his first few games at staples center. Clipper nation was still bitter over Elton Brand. And Z-Bo helped us get over EB.

Chick’s Fridge: I feel some awkward reminiscin’ coming on. Cue the Korean drama music…

LL: Z-Bo was exciting, especially when he knocked down some big time threes. I remember shouting out loud with my section that EB could never hit a three like that!

CF: Hahah…I guess you gotta hold on to something…I find it hilarious when guys like Z-Bo take random threes like that.

LL: If there was one small portion of gladness that came out of the Clipper ‘s season last year – it was definitely Z-Bo’s first few games. I think they won three straight. We were in euphoria.

CF: I don’t think the Lakers have even lost three straight in two years. I guess you gotta hold on to something.

LL: Anyway, I will gladly cheer for him when Memphis comes into town. But I won’t miss him missing his defensive assignments and letting guys blow past him. Nor will the front office miss his ridiculous contract. Holy crap, the Z-Bo trade saved us $24.6 million. Clips can go after some goods next summer! Holy crap, imagine Lebron James and Kobe Bryant sharing Staples Center.

CF: Looks like the Clips are going to be active in the Summer of 10’. Interesting.

LL: Anyway, with Z-Bo gone, we can start anew. I’m excited to see how Blake Griffin progresses this season. It is exciting to have him on the team.

CF: Yeap, you guys got the only ‘sure thing’ in the draft this year. Wonder how Olowakandi’s doing…He’s so irrelevant now that any swagger he had left has all been jacked by the new Candy Man, Lamar Odom.

LL: Although the starting five of Baron, Gordon, Thornton, Griffin, Kaman doesn’t really jump out at anyone, it does give the clipper nation hope. And I’ll be ecstatic if they play .500 ball this upcoming year. I’m also very interested in seeing Deandre Jordan’s development and I think Eric Gordon is still flying way under the radar.

CF: At the very least, hopefully you guys can relive the 2001 days or something, when people had you guys pegged as one of the most exciting, young teams in the NBA – and everyone was doing the D-Miles, QRich head bump. I guess that’s why you guys traded for Q.Rich. Revival.

LL: Yeah, hopefully. They keep saying they’ll play more up-tempo, but I’ll have to see it to believe it.

CF: Yeah, you gotta have more ‘flatulations’ as Lawler said.

Lawler: "Ahead to Lamar - the lob - THE JAM! WHAT A FLATULATION WATCHING THIS ONE! ME OH MY, WHAT A PLAY!"

LL: Odom to D-miles. Classic.

CF: I still think you guys shouldn’t have turned down the Darko deal with Memphis. Even if he wouldn’t have gotten playing time, in the NBA, it’s never too much to have a luxury of bigs. Plus, his contract is up next year as well. And unlike Q, at least he can play D.

LL: Hmm. I think that’s irrelevant. Kaman, Camby, and Deandre cover the 5 spot.

CF: At the very least, he would have been a good practice player to push the other bigs. Just don’t come crying when someone gets injured. *cough* CAMBY *cough*

LL: I don’t think anyone has ever cried for Darko to be their team’s savior. Who is Darko Milicic? I guess he’s an NBA champion, so what do I know.

…

It starts with Z-Bo, and ends with Darko. It only makes perfect sense here at OhMeOhMy,Jello’sJigglin NBA Chat, where two Clipper and Laker minds collide to provide…we’re not really sure ourselves, but we’ll keep hustlin’.

Fridge is closed, Law’s been Laid,

Jonathan(Lakers) & Mike (Clippers)

Abstract Art-est On Display : In-depth Analysis on Ariza and Artest's Game of Musical Chairs

Fresh Out the Fridge (the Laker perspective):

Playing pool at Odom's crib. - Ron Artest's Twitter

Whether or not this was truly an update from the Tru Warier himself is irrelevant now, for right after seeing such a seemingly random tidbit on Artest's Twitter late last night, I instantly became certain that Lamar Odom had this particular 96 ball cornered in just the right pocket. Ok fine, so maybe there isn't any pool ball that's numbered 96, but as of tonight, July 2nd, 2009, there IS a new Laker that's numbered 96 (although knowing Artest, he'll probably choose a new number...like 3.14), and we can all thank Odom, pool, and candy for that! In reality, Buss and Mitch reportedly sat down with Ron Artest for a cup of tea today and prodded him to eventually join the Purple and Gold. The Twitter story just sounded more interesting. Although I'm sure Lamar "The CandyMan" Odom, who Artest played organized ball with in Queens as a kid, played a crucial role in Artest's final decision - his sweet stash and Laker eye candy were probably too much for Artest to say 'No' to. That sounded inappropriate.



In regards to Trevor Ariza, Laker fans can only lament his sad fate and thank him for his hustle, hard work, and overall admirable services in helping the team get its 15th Championship. However, as is so often the case in these sorts of dealings, the business side of things had to come in and ruin all the fun. Enter Agent David Lee, who after hard-balling Buss and Kupchak for the past 24 hours and attempting to squeeze out as much payday from them as he could, now finds himself having to tell his client (who grew up in LA, loves LA, and supposedly "bleeds purple and gold") that he will have to settle for the mid-level offer and continue playing with a Chinese teammate...except this offer was not from the Lakers, and not with the Rising Sun Yue, but from the Houston Rockets, and the Fallen Tower Yao Ming.


(Ron Artest Owning NBA Forward David Lee. On this day, he also owned NBA Agent, David Lee)

Putting it simply, David Lee made a mess out of this entire situation and screwed Ariza over. If there is any similarity between the agent and the Knicks' curly-haired forward (also David Lee), it's that both love to scramble for rebounds. In Agent David Lee's case, the Houston Rockets became his desperate rebound option, and sadly for Trevor, it was his agent, not him, who let the ball slip with the Lakers. David Lee betrayed his client and ironically tried to pull a Trevor Ariza and 'steal' some extra cash from a Laker front office that simply wasn't going to budge. He should have known that the Lakers had an ace in the hole in Ron Artest and that he couldn't win in a bluffing game with Mitch and Jerry, one that he initiated. But who knows, maybe Trevor Ariza will get his chance to shine and see if he can become the cornerstone of a franchise - which is exactly the situation he'll find himself facing on a team with a deteriorating Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady headlining the Rocket Launch (or Failure to Launch, starring Matthew McConaughey).

In the end, I wish him the best and truly hope he can fulfill his utmost potential. Knowing Trevor's focus and strong work ethic, there's no reason to think he won't.

There's also no reason to think that the Lakers won't win their 16th Championship next year either. Provided that the Lakers ink LO7 soon, with the addition of Kobe's new German Shepherd Ron Artest, the Lakers have just gained a little more toughness, offensive power, and...insanity. The wild card. In what was essentially a two-way trade between the Lakers and Rockets for each of their respective forwards, the Lakers came out the glaring victors of this deal for at least the short-term. Artest instantly provides a more polished and reliable three point shot (when he decides to take good shots) and a rough, bull-dog tenacity on defense that will allow Kobe to conserve more energy on the offensive end and prolong his overall productivity for another 3-4 years. He's also just a weird, scary player that others don't really want to rub the wrong way. Translated - the Lakers are now a weird, scary team that hates back rubs (I don't know).

In the end, I'm ecstatic about the trade and ready for another exciting, if not unpredictable, title run in 09-10. For those with doubts about Artest, let's not forget that Phil Jackson was able to reel in a player by the name of Dennis Rodman, who once came to a book signing wearing a wedding dress. Nothing about Dennis Rodman, books, and wedding dresses sound enticing, but he sure did help get Phil some rings. Ron Artest hopes to do the same baby. LAKE TOWN, SHAKE TOWN.

The Fridge Is Closed, The Lights Are Out, The Butter's Getting Hard, and The Jello's Jiggling,
Jonathan Hernandez aka Chick's Fridge


Laying Down The Law (the Clipper perspective):

Imagine playing pick up ball with your buddies. It's point up, win by twos. The game has gone back and forth and the intensity is picking up with each play. Overly zealous players are fighting and shoving for position down on the block, bickering over calls and hard fouls. Finally someone hits the game winner. And just as everyone starts complaining about the shot, you see a friend of yours break off a piece of wood from a bench and shank the guy in the heart.

Such is the background of newest Los Angeles Laker, Ron Artest.

Well known for his hard-nosed play on Defense, Ron's only glaring weakness in recent years is his erroneous assumption that it is to his team's benefit that he should create shots for himself on his own and put up 15-25 FGAs per game. Such assumptions should be put to rest when playing with one who somewhat unerringly feels the same way in Kobe B.

Being on a team where Ron rarely needs to create his own shot, he should benefit greatly on the offensive end over the next few years. It'll be interesting to see how Trevor Ariza does the rest of his career without Kobe creating wide open jumpers for him.

Congrats to the Lakers on not overpaying Ariza, and upgrading to an All Star and former Defensive player of the year in Ron-Ron at the MLE. No doubt about it, they are top dog contenders for the NBA crown over the next 3 years.

This really has no relevance towards the Clippers except that the Lakers have once again stolen the little bit of thunder the Clippers had for a short while just as their fortunes seemed to have turned with Blake Griffin falling into their laps, and desperate enough teams like the Memphis Grizzlies taking on Zach Randolph's $30+ million over the next two years. Just as the Clippers had begun to see glimmers of light at the end of this elongated post-2006 tunnel, the Lakers once again have reminded us all that the Clips are still far off from being an upper-echelon team. But at least the pieces are falling in good places for both teams this offseason.

Lawler's Law Always Prevails,
Mike Whang aka Lawler's Bingo Card