Blake Griffin Is Ready To Go

I went to the Clippers practice facility earlier this week to do a 1-on-1 interview with Blake Griffin--a.k.a the #1 question mark going into the Clippers upcoming season.

Griffin's road to recovery from mid-season knee surgery has been pretty much right on-course since he woke up from the anesthesia.  He's been running for months.  He took part in the team's Summer League practices, although he did not play in any of the games.  Basically, everything pointed to him being 100% in time for the start of training camp at the end of this month.

Well, I have news for you after witnessing some pickup games the other day.  If Blake Griffin is not 100% recovered from that knee injury right now, then I don't know what 100% looks like.

Not only was he running with a limp or a brace, but the explosion we all witnessed during his two years at Oklahoma and in those handful of preseason games last year seems to be the same as it was before the surgery.  I didn't see all of the pickup games, but he had at least 4 rim-shattering dunks while I was there, including one that started as face-up post on DeAndre Jordan and ended with a face-at-rim-level, one-handed punch.  DeAndre may still be looking for Blake after getting shook with that spin move.

During my interview with Griffin after the pickup games, we discussed a number of topics relative to him personally and the team as a whole.  You can watch parts of that interview in the video section on foxsportswest.com.

One of the subjects I was most interested in was what Griffin thought of his new head coach.  He told me that he actually knew more about Vinny Del Negro as a player rather than a coach--makes sense considering Del Negro played 12 NBA seasons while coaching for only two years in Chicago.

Griffin said that three early impressions of Del Negro stand out to him before training camp has even started.  1) He puts a high priority on player development.  2) He wants the team to get out and run.  3) He doesn't "over coach" (in other words, Del Negro may be the complete opposite of Mike Dunleavy).

So with Griffin fully healthy and Del Negro making quite the first impression on the franchise player, everything points towards a good start to training camp--something the team hasn't had since 2005 (Sam Cassell's first year with the team).  However, even with that being said, the Clippers still have several other question marks to answer as training camp and the season progress, including but not limited to, 1) How will Baron Davis fit in with the new coach and system?  2) How did the Team USA experience affect Eric Gordon?  3)  Can Chris Kaman back up his All-Star season with another one?

We should start to find out some of those answers when training camp opens September 28th.

Kaman Let The Clippers Down In Phoenix

A certain amount of responsibility comes to a player when his talent and hard work produce a certain level of consistent production.  When you become one of the main reasons a team wins or loses, your coaches and teammates depend on you each and every game.  If a player does something to unnecessarily take himself out of a game, he is essentially letting everyone down.

That's exactly what Chris Kaman did to his Clippers coaches and teammates Friday in Phoenix.  He let them down.

After scoring 12 points in the first half, Kaman got whistled for two technical fouls just 20 seconds into the 3rd quarter after mouthing off at the officials.

"Chris has to keep his cool, especially being an All-Star center," said Baron Davis. "He knows we need him. It was just an unfortunate situation."

foxsportswest.com: Coach Says Kaman Let Team Down

Chris Kaman Named To All-Star Team

Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman has been named by NBA Commissioner David Stern to the Western Conference Team for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. Kaman will replace injured West all-star guard Brandon Roy (right hamstring strain) of the Portland Trailblazers in the game on Feb. 14 in Dallas and be making his first All-Star appearance. 

Kaman, 27, is enjoying his strongest season, averaging a career-high 20.2 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 49.7 percent from the field (370-745). Kaman is just one of three players in the NBA currently averaging at least 20 points and nine rebounds per game, and ranks 16th in the NBA in scoring and 19th in rebounding. 


Clippers.com:  Kaman Named All-Star

Chris Kaman Left Off NBA All-Star Ballot

The NBA unveiled its official ballot for this year's NBA All-Star game Tuesday, and I know exactly what some Clippers fans are thinking: Where's Chris Kaman?

I mean, you've seen him play and you've seen his stats, both of which, are definitely All-Star caliber this season. How could he be left off the ballot?

I can just hear Clipper Nation asking all the obvious questions.

The reigning Western Conference Player of the Week is not listed on the official All-Star ballot, but Spencer Hawes is?

A player ranked in the top 15 in scoring, the top 20 in minutes played and the top 25 in rebounds, is not worthy of being listed among the leading candidates for the All-Star game, but Andrew Bogut is?

Trust me, all your questions are valid. However, you need to understand the process before getting yourself all worked up.

The NBA All-Star ballot lists 120 players – 60 each from the Eastern and Western conferences – with 24 guards, 24 forwards, and 12 centers from each conference comprising the list. Voters select two guards, two forwards and one center from each conference. The 120 players on the ballot were selected by a panel of media who regularly cover the NBA: Mike Breen (ABC/ESPN), Eddie Sefko (Dallas Morning News), Doug Smith (The Toronto Star and President, Pro Basketball Writers Association) Marc Spears (Yahoo! Sports), Marc Stein (ESPN.com) and Ian Thomsen (Sports Illustrated).

After I first saw the ballot this morning, I called my good friend Marc Spears and asked him how Kaman could be left off the list of viable candidates. Marc informed me of two very interesting aspects of the process: 1) Every team must have at least three players represented on the official ballot. 2) The media panel must submit its selections during the first week of the preseason.

So based on that criteria, you can see why players such as Hawes and Lopez are listed as All-Star candidates and Kaman is not. And with the Clippers having four players on the official ballot (Baron Davis, Al Thornton, Marcus Camby, and Blake Griffin--the only rookie listed), it would be hard to include a fifth considering the season not only the Clippers had last season, but also, Kaman himself.

Spears readily admitted that if the ballots would have not been due until a few weeks into the regular season, then Kaman would undoubtedly be listed on the official ballot.

So if you want to point any of your displeasure with Kaman being left off the ballot, don't direct it at those responsible for selecting the candidates, but rather the NBA, itself, for demanding that the ballots come out so soon.

But even though Kaman (and Eric Gordon, for that matter) isn't listed on the official ballot, Clippers fans can still vote him into the All-Star game. Write-in votes are always accepted and tabulated.

There are several ways fans can cast their votes, including: at each NBA arena; in 20 languages on NBA.com; and through mobile phones by texting the player’s last name to 6-9-6-2-2 (“MYNBA”), via Web2Go® on T-Mobile phones or wap.nba.com for any wireless carrier. A T-Mobile-branded All-Star Balloting widget will also be available on NBA.com so that fans can “grab” the widget and place it on their blogs, social network pages, or personal Web sites allowing others to vote directly from the widget. Paper balloting will continue through Jan. 10, while wireless balloting and voting on NBA.com will conclude Jan. 18. Starters will be announced live on TNT on Thursday, January 21, 2010.

The 2010 NBA All-Star Game will be played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, before an expected crowd of more than 80,000 – the largest group ever to witness a live basketball game, on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010.

Azubuike Almost A Lock To Be A Clipper

In the wake of what possibly could have turned into the worst off-season in the history of the team, the Clippers seem to be responding quite well. First, they basically robbed Denver for Marcus Camby, and now it appears that Kelenna Azubuike will wear red, white and blue next season.

My friend Brad Turner of the Riverside Press-Enterprise is reporting that two NBA sources believe the Warriors will not match the 3-year, $9.3 million dollar offer sheet Azubuike signed with the Clippers. It seems as though the price is too high now that Golden State has signed Corey Maggette, Ronny Turiaf and Maurice Evans, not to mention the trade for Marcus Williams from the Nets.

So with a potential starting lineup of Baron Davis, Cuttino Mobley, Al Thornton, Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman and a bench consisting of Tim Thomas, Brevin Knight, Eric Gordon and Azubuike, the Clippers might not be as bad as first believed.

Kaman Hoping To Lead Germany To Beijing

Chris Kaman had planned to play for Germany for quite sometime, but during the NBA season the opportunity came into question after a series of injuries. He has since fully recovered, and this experience should only help his development, which took a giant leap forward last season.

The Clippers, however, see this opportunity slightly differently. Since they have about $50 million invested in their starting center, they'd much rather he didn't play. They are concerned he might get hurt and affect his season back in LA. But if I recall, Elton Brand got hurt working out with Kaman 1-on-1 last summer. Injuries happen wherever and whenever. You can't really prevent them, and worrying about them doesn't help either.

But from a pure comedy standpoint, it might not get any better than Kaman in Beijing. It's a reality show waiting to happen.

(AP) FRANKFURT, Germany -- Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman has received German citizenship and will team up with Dirk Nowitzki for Germany at an Olympic qualifying tournament later this month.

Kaman, whose great-grandparents were German, averaged 15.7 points and 12.7 rebounds last season with the Clippers.

The 7-foot Kaman will add size to a German team seeking to qualify for its first Olympics since the 1992 Barcelona Games.

"We'll be stronger under the baskets with Chris," Nowitzki said Thursday.

The German team is practicing at home for a warmup tournament before it travels to Greece for the July 14-20 qualifying event in Athens.

"Chris is a significant addition and we'll now have to integrate him in time for the Athens tournament," coach Dirk Bauermann said.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press