<p class="wp-caption-text">The Clippers have struggled since Chauncey Billups was injured. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)</p><p>, The Clippers dropped to 9-11 since Chauncey Billups injury after gagging a double-digit fourth-quarter lead Thursday against a Phoenix team sitting both Steve Nash and Grant Hill. Afterward, the players held a very long meeting to hash out whatever is going wrong with the Clips.air max storeonce again shouted into the ear of an opposing shooter, Mickael Pietrus, as he attempted a three near Del Negro along the sideline. Del Negro, as he likes to do, added a nicely timed foot-stomp to his shouting distraction. I will miss Del Negro s embarrassing sideline antics when the Clippers inevitably fire him.Air max shoes</p><p>, Alvin Gentry, on that Phoenix win (via the Suns-themed blog Valley of the Suns):</p>
<p>“It was a great win for us because obviously we didn’t have our two best players on the floor, and we didn’t have the guy who is the engine to our whole team. </p><p>Given the dearth of wing talent and above-average defenders in Phoenix, Grant Hill may well be the Suns second-most valuable player. But isn t Marcin Gortat Phoenix s second-best player,Nike Air Max Shoes</p><p>, Ben Golliver, proprietor of BlazersEdge and full-time NBA writer for CBSSports.com, writes about the demise of the Trail Blazers with a composed, cogent rage. A beautiful piece.</p><p>, The Hornets and the state of Louisiana announced a new lease deal that will keep the Hornets in New Orleans through 2024,,with no so-called escape clauses linked to attendance benchmarks or any other standards. The state will issue $50 million in bonds to fund improvements to the Hornets arena, but the overall deal appears to cut the state s obligation to the team/arena. Also, New Orleans will be guaranteed to host another All-Star game before 2024.</p><p>Next on the docket: Having someone other than the NBA own the team.cheap nike air max</p><p>, A Spurs fan talking himself through the Stephen Jackson/Richard Jefferson deal. And here s a really good analysis of what the deal means for San Antonio in terms of dollars and Xs-and-Os.</p><p>, Remember Jeffrey Kessler, the fire-breathing attorney for the players union during the lockout, The New York Times has a story on Kessler s law firm, Dewey LeBoeuf, in which Kessler compares the pay disparity between star partners and regular partners to the pay gap between similar tiers of NBA players. A good read for law firm buffs.</p><p>, There is much guffawing and tisk-tisking going on over the Trail Blazers instant tear-down much of it justified, particularly when it comes to the issue of tanking. But I m with Mark Deeks, who writes at The Score, that the Blazers aren t really in a bad spot after Thursday s fire sale.air max 90</p><p>, At the Wizards-themed blog Truth About It, Beckley Mason says goodbye to JaVale McGee in part by remembering the time McGee showed up to one of Mason s pick-up games.</p><p>, Zach Randolph returns Friday night for the Grizzlies game against Toronto. Set your DVRs, because if Randolph can eventually reach anywhere near the level of play he showed in the playoffs last season, the Grizzlies become a legit contender to win the Western Conference.</p><p>, In other Randolph news: Remember over the summer, when police investigated a drug-related beating at Randolph s huge estate in the Portland area, Police never made any arrests linked to the incident, in part because the victim changed his story at least once, making prosecutors worried about whether they could sell the case to a jury. But police did write up copious reports, and the Oregonian reported about the contents of those documents. They are not flattering to Randolph. It s always important to remember police reports represent only the combination of narratives various witnesses choose to provide police, in addition to observations officers make on the scene. They are not gospel.</p><p>, Andrew Bogut is pretty sure the Warriors will tell him to rest up for the remainder of the season.</p><p>, Things will change in New York now that Mike Woodson has taken over for Mike D Antoni, and folks are worried that Woodson s tendency to call isolation plays for his stars will mark the end of the Lin craze. It s even possible, the story goes, that Woodson will feel more comfortable with the veteran know-how of Baron Davis at point guard.</p><p>Perhaps. But Lin was playing 40-plus minutes a night during the height of the Lin madness, and in this compressed season, that was too much for a point guard who had spent so little time playing against NBA-level competition. If Lin keeps his starting job and plays something like 28 minutes per game, that is still a great outcome for all involved. And if Baron Davis continues to shoot 32 percent, he s going to make it hard for Woodson to play him much.</p><p>, Should the Raptors take a flier on Greg Oden, Fans of almost every rebuilding team are going to have this discussion, and as they do, it s important to remember Oden won t be ready to play until 2013-14, and that no professional basketball player has ever come back from three microfracture surgeries.</p><p>, At ESPNLosAngeles.com, Dave McMenamin writes about how close the Lakers came to acquiring Michael Beasley on Thursday in a three-team deal. McMenamin reveals that, contrary to several reports, the Lakers were never in serious talks to trade Steve Blake.</p><p>, Tyreke Evans has hired a shooting coach.</p><p>, Three ClipperBlog writers unanimously agree: Nick Young should start immediately.</p><p>, Free Vernon Macklin!</p>
