Let's get some perspective!

[JASPINDLER@aol.com]

Admittedly, I have been a lurker for the past few months, but I would like to
throw my 2 cents in.  There seems to be a lot of RP bashing lately, and the
vast majority of list members seem to be negative toward the trade for VP.
Let's put into perspective where we have come from.  When Pitino arrived here,
less than 2 years ago, this franchise was in worse shape than the Clippers are
in today.  Hard to accept, but that's the way it was.  We are now in a
position of fielding a decidely more talented, but incredibly young team.  The
first five players off the bench of this team has more talent than the team
that we started 2 years ago.  

On today's Big Show, Glenn Ordway pointed out that there are NO young teams in
the history of the NBA that have won consistently on the road.  Think about
that.  Can anyone point out a "young" talented team in the last 20 years that
had  the ability to win on the road in the NBA.  This fact becomes even more
important when we recognize that a "young" team today is probably on average
3-4 years younger than a "young" team from the eighties or the seventies, due
to all of the underclassmen coming out.  Look at the playoffs from the last
15-20 years.  When was the last time a "young" team went to the finals?  My
point to all of this is that we need to have some PATIENCE!!   You can't turn
the Clippers into the Utah Jazz in two years, but Pitino and Wallace have done
a pretty good job putting a team in place that at least has some future.  I
submit that the least tradeable commodities remaining on this roster are none
other than Ellison, Minor and Barros in that order, co-incidently the only
remaining guys outside of Walker that Pitino inherited.

 If you have been watching the starting unit carefully for the past month, you
realize that their defense sucks.  This is because they have not had anyone in
the middle that could guard their own shadow, so everyone else has to scramble
around like mad, doubling the low post.  This stuff will stop when VP gets in
the middle.  He may not block a lot of shots or get a lot more rebounds than
Andrew did, but his presence should allow the other athletes to block shots,
rebound and run a transition more effectively.  This is a good trade for the
C's.  The Cavs had to make this deal because they would have lost VP and got
nothing for him in return.  Those are the trades you make, out of strength not
weakness.  Value for value and a win for both sides.  Prior to the new CBA,
this would not have been possible because VP's market value would be even
higher than the 45-50M$ he will get from the Celtics. 

Pitino has stated that come July 1 there will be more changes.  I think that
he is in an excellent position to make deals this summer.  First off, he can
take the position that he has the materials he needs and just needs time to
grow and develop.  Therefore he should not have to make any desperation deals.
Secondly, the last thing we need is another 20 year old rookie first rounder
from a weak draft.   We will not be in position to draft in the top few picks,
and there are no Tim Duncans out there.  There isn't even an Olowokandi out
there, and he is not exactly burning up the league in Clipperland.  As far as
a young point guard, maybe they would have gotten lucky in the draft, but you
still would have to find a center somehere. Finally, Pitino/Wallace can be
dealing from a position of strength.  Let's say for example that the Bulls
really want Walker but have little to offer but their draft pick. The Bulls
will have lots of cap room to buy players. If they are in position to draft a
player that Boston wants, they could package that player with a sign and trade
FA in return for Antoine and one of Boston's undesirables.  Kenny Anderson is
also a very tradeable commodity.  Suppose the Lakers or Spurs crash and burn
in the playoffs because they don't have a "true point guard" to orchestrate
all that talent.  KA becomes a very desirable commodity. These teams want
veteran players at the point position, not kids.  Also, there are a few teams
that have multiple first round picks.  How many rookies does one team need
each year? They always trade them to either move up or pass on to another
year.  I find it hard to believe that a team with multiple first rounders
might not consider trading a mid to late round pick for say a Greg Minor, if
they had a need at that position.   

Let's give Rick Pitino, Vitaly P and the rest of the team a chance to grow and
develop.