CLIPPERS POLISH, THEN PASS TALENT ON.Byline: KAREN CROUSE The NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= has a developmental league. Sure, it does. The American Basketball Association
Year after year Donald's diversion has been in a league of its own when it comes to polishing basketball players so they can shine at Verb 1. shine at - be good at; "She shines at math" excel at excel, surpass, stand out - distinguish oneself; "She excelled in math" the sport's next level. Adrian Dantley Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 28, 1956 in Washington, D.C.) is a former basketball small forward who played 15 seasons in the NBA, many of which were played as a member of the Utah Jazz where he amassed the bulk of his legendary numbers. , Danny Manning, Maurice Taylor, Terry Cummings, Loy Vaught; the Clippers have cultivated nearly as many talented youngsters as hockey's Canadian major juniors programs, football's Division I college teams or baseball's Triple-A leagues. The Donald's latest youth brigade is not that much more mature than Steve Lavin's UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX squad. At times Thursday night in their 2000-2001 home-opening loss to Vancouver, the Clippers had three 20-year-olds on the floor. The Bruins' starting five for their exhibition opener Wednesday night, by comparison, averaged 20.6 years. The good news is these Clippers are too young to assimilate all of the franchise's sorry history. The bad news is these Clippers are too young to appreciate that New York's Times Square wasn't sanitized san·i·tize tr.v. san·i·tized, san·i·tiz·ing, san·i·tiz·es 1. To make sanitary, as by cleaning or disinfecting. 2. in a day. Lamar Odom is the team leader by proxy - after all, on Monday he will reach the advanced age of 21 - and he personifies the passion of youth. That's good news when you are trying to infuse in·fuse v. 1. To steep or soak without boiling in order to extract soluble elements or active principles. 2. To introduce a solution into the body through a vein for therapeutic purposes. life into a moribund organization. It's bad news when you are trying to steal wins from more senior squads (which is to say every other NBA team save for Chicago). In Utah on Tuesday, the Clippers' youthful exuberance crossed the line into youthful indiscretion in·dis·cre·tion n. 1. Lack of discretion; injudiciousness. 2. An indiscreet act or remark. indiscretion Noun 1. the lack of discretion 2. . They were whistled for five technical fouls in a 13-point loss. Goodness knows, parents inside the Delta Center would have nodded sympathetically had first-year Clippers coach Alvin Gentry sent the players who had acted out to their locker room for a timeout. Already in this young season Gentry could be forgiven for wondering why he toiled 10 years as an NBA assistant just so he could follow his first full-time NBA head-coaching position, in Detroit, with a glorified glo·ri·fy tr.v. glo·ri·fied, glo·ri·fy·ing, glo·ri·fies 1. To give glory, honor, or high praise to; exalt. 2. college job in L.A. If that's progress, who needs setbacks? The good news is Gentry appears no more jaded about the Clippers than 19-year-old rookie Darius Miles. The bad news is he's too good a man to be sent down Sterling's plank. Goodness knows, Gentry sounded sincere before Thursday's game when he talked as though the franchise finally, firmly turned a corner this year on draft day when it acquired Keyon Dooling, the 10th overall pick, Corey Maggette and Derek Strong in a trade with Orlando and used its first-round draft picks to select Miles (at No. 3) and Quentin Richardson (at No. 18). ``What they did on draft day, I thought the future was real bright,'' Gentry said by way of explaining his decision to fill the most unattractive opening in L.A. sports this side of Jim Tracy's Dodgers gig. The Clippers don't have many friends in high places in the league but the NBA's collective bargaining agreement The contractual agreement between an employer and a Labor Union that governs wages, hours, and working conditions for employees and which can be enforced against both the employer and the union for failure to comply with its terms. is decidedly on their side. Miles, Richardson and Dooling are bound to the Clippers for the next four years, in sickness and in health, in bad times and worse. Of course, Gentry views that as good news, a chance to build continuity where there has been mostly chaos. ``I think we've got a good bunch of players,'' Gentry said. Of course Manning, a member of the Utah Jazz now, views that as bad news waiting to happen. Manning, a one-time No. 1 draft choice, spent his first six seasons as a Clipper. He led the team to the playoffs in 1992 and again in 1993. The future looked real bright, then, too, until Sterling's spreadsheets caused a total eclipse of the sun "Total Eclipse Of The Sun" is an EP of a German music band Einstürzende Neubauten released in 1999. It is a first release recorded entirely with the new line-up featuring Jochen Arbeit and Rudi Moser and without FM Einheit. This became a long-time line-up of the band. . We'd call Sterling the Jack Benny of the NBA, only that would be dishonoring Benny's memory. Manning, who realized his bottom line and Sterling's would never intersect, demanded to be traded and was shipped to Atlanta in 1994. After getting a close-up look at the latest youth incarnation in the Jazz' season opener, Manning said, ``The kids the Clippers have are very talented. It's always a cycle they go through. They get a lot of young talent and groom it for the league. The players eventually move on to other places and prosper.'' The good news for Miles, Dooling and Richardson, said Manning, is ``a young player who goes there can play right away.'' The bad news for Miles, Dooling and Richardson, said Manning, is ``You're going to swim or drown.'' Welcome, kids, to Clipperland, where treading water is considered forward progress. |
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