Re: OH NO - not Shira, too

[Kim Malo <kimmalo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 09:14 AM 1/30/2004, William Lee wrote:
> <snip>People put so much stock in making it to the play-offs like it's the 
> end-all and be-all.  It's like we're the Bengals or something.  Shouldn't 
> we strive to be more than merely a team that makes the play-offs?

No, that's just connotations you're putting on it. Setting up a straw man. 
No one has said or thinks it's the end all or be all, especially not now 
that we've actually been back there. You might have gotten a different 
answer from a few people back in the ML/Pitino years, but not from most. 
Nor is there any reason to think anyone thinks just getting there is enough 
and that we shouldn't strive for more.

However, as even Danny pointed out in the conference call yesterday, it 
still IS important to get there vs whatever you think they should be doing 
instead - active tanking or just 'relaxing'. For a number of reasons, with 
probably the most important the one that Danny pointed to - it's a key next 
step part of the development of the younger players (which we are loaded 
with). To start with, it's a reward to keep morale up and encourage them to 
keep working hard by showing them it gets rewarded. While the simple truth 
is that you can't win a championship without getting to the playoffs first, 
and NO ONE wins one their first year in the playoffs in the NBA, making it 
inadvisable to hold back until you're 'ready'. Getting there shows the 
players that they have accomplished something, but even more importantly 
feeds the competative hunger over someone else accomplishing more paired 
with a tangible lesson on why they themselves failed to do so. It also 
gives them experience in dealing with the differing intensity, rules and 
hype that surround playoff basketball, which again helps with their 
maturity, including putting those lessons behind them for when they're good 
in other ways enough to move on. Finally, it emphatically  becomes a factor 
in trying to attract free agents to take the next step in improving - 
haven't seen people falling all over themselves to sign with the Clippers 
for a while, have you?

Kim