CLIPPERS NOTEBOOK : CLIPPERS' SHOES TURN BACK THE CLOCK.Byline: Gary Washburn Daily News Staff Writer Only Loy Vaught Loy Stephen Vaught (born February 27, 1968 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a retired American basketball player who spent ten seasons in the NBA, primarily with the Los Angeles Clippers. remains from the last Clippers playoff team. But that didn't stop the team from bringing back some flavor from that period. For the second time since the 1992-93 season, the Clippers wore black shoes in their loss to the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center on Thursday night. The Clippers sported black shoes for two games during the 1993-94 season but wore them almost exclusively the season before. They lost to Houston in five games in the first round. Brent Barry Brent Robert Barry (born December 31, 1971 in Hempstead, New York) is an American professional basketball player currently with the NBA's San Antonio Spurs. He is known by his nickname, "Bones", and stands 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m). came up with the idea and told some teammates a few days ago. On Monday, the campaign began to get every player into black shoes. ``I didn't know anything,'' Clippers forward Lamond Murray Lamond Maurice Murray (April 20 1973 in Pasadena, California, U.S.) is an American former professional basketball player who last played with the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets. said. ``All of a sudden I look up and someone gave me some black shoes. I don't have black shoes that I usually wear so I had to get new ones.'' The toughest assignment was for Vaught. His shoe company doesn't make black shoes in his style. So the FILA fila /fi·la/ (fi´lah) [L.] plural of filum. fila [L.] plural of filum. company specially made a black pair on Wednesday and the Clippers received them on Thursday. He wore them during the shootaround to break them in. Other players had black shoes but had never worn them. The black shoes are sported by many NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= teams as a sign of team unity. ``I think it's something to get us going,'' Murray said. ``It's a change of pace and I hope it works.'' By game time, every Clipper had black shoes. What odds? Clippers coach Bill Fitch William Fitch (born May 19 1934 in Davenport, Iowa) is a former NBA coach who has been successful in making teams playoff contenders throughout his coaching career. Before entering the professional ranks he coached college ball at the University of Minnesota, Bowling Green State has been flooded with questions about the chances to win the series. USA Today USA Today National U.S. daily general-interest newspaper, the first of its kind. Launched in 1982 by Allen Neuharth, head of the Gannett newspaper chain, it reached a circulation of one million within a year and surpassed two million in the 1990s. printed odds on the Clippers winning the series and the NBA championship. The listed odds are 50-1 to beat Utah and one million to one to win the championship. ``Now that just shows you what they know,'' Fitch said. ``If we win this series, I would think the odds would be lower to beat the teams with worse records than Utah. Those guys are superstitious anyway.'' The consensus around Utah is this is the Jazz's year. There is an urgent feeling in the organization to get John Stockton This article is about the professional basketball player. For the U.S. Senator from New Jersey, see John P. Stockton. John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is a retired American professional basketball player who spent his entire career (1984–2003) as a and Karl Malone ``Jerry (Sloan) is not going to have those guys look past us and they're the only team that wouldn't,'' Fitch said. ``It would be great to get those guys a championship, but the nature of sports is to compete. I don't feel like the Grinch.'' Keeping focus: The Clippers loss was not fatal. The goal is to win one of the two games in Salt Lake City. ``The first game is important,'' shooting guard The Shooting guard (SG), also known as the two or off guard,[1] is one of five traditional positions on a basketball team. Players of the position are often shorter, leaner, and quicker than forwards. Malik Sealy said. ``But we've got two chances. We have to concentrate on the next game. We can't take a loss too hard.'' The team arrived in Salt Lake City on Tuesday to get accustomed to the altitude. It practiced on Wednesday and became anxious to play at Thursday's shootaround. The Clippers have lost 17 straight games in Salt Lake City. ``I think it's tough for a lot of teams, not just us,'' Murray said. Team player: Kevin Duckworth, given up on months ago after failing to get in shape, practiced with the team and sat on the bench for Thursday night's game. His Clippers career is likely over. Dwayne Schintzius and Stanley Roberts did not make the trip. Roberts had hoped to make the playoff roster after having back surgery in February, but Rich Manning was chosen instead. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: The Clippers' Darrick Martin heads for the basket after eluding Utah's Greg Ostertag in the first quarter of the Jazz win at Salt Lake City. |
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