CLIPPERS NOTEBOOK : ROBERTS WON'T BE PART OF PLAYOFFS.Byline: Gary Washburn Daily News Staff Writer As expected, there will be no big Clipper addition for the playoffs. 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 counted out 300-pound Stanley Roberts Stanley Corvet Roberts (born February 7 1970, in Hopkins, South Carolina) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Orlando Magic in the 1st round (23rd overall) of the 1991 NBA Draft. , who has missed the past 2-1/2 months after back surgery, for the season before the Clippers' 99-93 victory over the Dallas Mavericks  The introduction of this article is too short.To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, it should be expanded. . Roberts underwent surgery on Feb. 17 to repair a ruptured disc and his expected rehabilitation time was six weeks. It's been two months and Fitch didn't expect his troubled center to return. ``The only way is to get Oral Roberts Noun 1. Oral Roberts - United States evangelist (born 1918) Roberts to bring him back,'' Fitch said. ``He's not going to play in the playoffs.'' Roberts wanted to make an impact after an injury-riddled past three seasons. However, he was thrown out of training camp by Fitch for an expletive-filled tirade and began the season on the injured list because of weight problems. After 15 productive games, he was sidelined again after a hard fall at San Antonio San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. caused back problems. Roberts averaged 9.5 points in 18 games, the third consecutive season he's missed at least 30 games. Typical: The Dallas game was the easiest it will get for the remainder of the season. The Clippers end the year with Houston tonight, the Lakers on Friday and Seattle on Saturday. All three teams are vying for second place in the Western Conference. ``I hope we can beat them all and not get anybody mad,'' Fitch said. ``But it goes to show what I said before: Whoever made the schedule had it out for us.'' CLIPPERS vs. HOUSTON Tipoff: 5:30 p.m., The Summit. TV/Radio: Channel 9; KGIL-AM (540, 1260), XTRA-AM (1150). Clippers (36-43) update: The hard part's over. The Clippers have clinched a playoff spot and now can play the remaining three games pressure-free. However, the Clippers end the season with Houston, the Lakers and Seattle, all vying for that second seed in the Western Conference. All need to beat the Clippers. Houston (54-25) update: Houston has the tiebreaker tie·break·er n. An additional contest or period of play designed to establish a winner among tied contestants. Also called tiebreak. tie advantage over both Seattle and the Lakers. Houston beat the Clippers 127-117 last week at the Sports Arena with a healthy lineup that included Charles Barkley This article is about the basketball player. For the politican, see Charles E. Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. , Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Houston holds a 29-8 mark when all three have started together. CAPTION(S): Box Box: CLIPPERS vs. HOUSTON (see text) |
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