The Clippers are bad

Don Ryan / Associated Press 

As part of my New Year's Resolution to only watch NBA games if I'm on my new elliptical machine (boy can I stand to lose some weight), I watched the Clippers/Blazers game while working my quads last night.

And boy are the Clippers not great.

This doesn't feel like news, considering the Clippers have been terrible for as long as I can remember (save the 2005-06 season where they made the conference semifinals), but with the talent they have this season, it's weird.

Blake Griffin flying around, blocking shots and dunking on people's heads, DeAndre Jordan doing much of the same, with Caron Butler holding it down with shooting and defense and Chris Paul directing the offense? Add in an older Chauncey Billups and you have a pretty decent starting five, if not great.

But instead, they're bad. I can't tell if Paul is just injured, but he recorded only three assists last night. I have no idea how you can play with The Blake Show and get three assists, but wow.

As my Quote of the Week indicates, Simmons believes the problem is with Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro, who has a stellar 46% winning percentage for his career. From my vantage point, it did seem that the Clippers' offense was stagnant and involved poor ball movement, but my understanding was that Paul was the entire offense in New Orleans, so why can't he just run the show now?

It's a conundrum. Of course, with the season being as jam-packed with games as it is, we may already be seeing the effects of fatigue on some players. Combine a short training camp with weeks where you play five games in seven nights, and problems may arise.

It's be something to watch for sure this season.

Retro post: Star Wars: Episode 1

This trailer was a big stinkin' deal in 1998. It's one of the first trailers I ever remember downloading from the interwebz, and I must have watched it 300 times with my brothers. The trailer represented so much promise, so much awesomeness and a whole lotta lightsabers to the 14-year-old me.

The today me sees this film for the pile of rotten that it is. Terrible acting, simplistic plot, Jar Jar Binks, etc. etc. etc.

The 1999 me saw Episode 1 eight or nine times in theaters.

In theaters!

Anyway, watching the trailer today, it's apparent that there are some really good pieces in there. That the execution was so poor is just a huge testament to Lucas' ineptitude as a director.

Anyone else remember watching this as a kid?

BYU vs. Tulsa bowl highlights

BYU vs Tulsa Armed Forces Bowl 2011 from Furious Monkey on Vimeo.

First half was ugly, but a come from behind win is always fun.

Jimmer in the NBA

It looks like he'll stick around. Jimmer definitely struggles defensively, but when he can consistently hit deep shots, and has a quick trigger to go with it, with good handles and passing, he'll be a commodity for most NBA teams.

The NBA is back

Just an amazing video.

Basketball is back! Weekly thoughts on the season to follow.

For now, here are some abbreviated random impressions after two days.

1. The Lakers are done for this season. This predictably makes me happy.

2. The Heat look pretty darn good.

3. I know Rose looks really good, but I can't forget LeBron absolutely shutting him down in the playoffs last summer. And if the Bulls are counting on Boozer to be an integral part in their success, they have another thing coming.

4. Jimmer playing well for the Kings. Hitting more shots than he's missing, dialing in from long range, making some nice passes, etc. He'll stick around.

5. The Celtics are old.

6. If I'm Orlando, I trade Dwight for a collection of good players. This seems to have paid off for Denver, who look great in the aftermath of the Melo trade to the Knicks.

7. Lob City is gonna be fun. Chris Paul tossing it up to two of the most talented dunkers in the league night after night is fantastic.

8. Finally, the Jazz will be good, not great. Looking forward to seeing Favors and Enes and Hayward develop, while hoping Miles and Harris can hold it down.

Good to have the NBA back. The lockout wasn't positive for anyone.

December thoughts

1. Woo the NBA is back! Can't wait for opening day on Christmas, and anticipate the wife will get mad at me for watching so much basketball.

2. BYU lost to TCU, beat Hawaii and are on their way to the Armed Forces Bowl to play the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes later this month. BYU could very well win 10 games this season to add to the list of mediocre seasons that seem great because the team had double-digit wins. Blegh.

3. Jake Heaps is transferring from BYU after it became apparent Riley Nelson will start next season. In my opinion, BYU chose to win now against bad/middling opponents while having no chance against great football teams. Dealing with the growing pains/mental issues of someone with the tools to make all the throws necessary is too hard, too time consuming, too frustrating.

I hope I'm wrong about Nelson, I really do. He looked pretty good against Hawaii, and that play where he ducked the pressure and threw a perfect pass to Hoffman for a touchdown in the third quarter was a thing of beauty. I'm just not convinced he can do it against Boise State in Boise, or Notre Dame in Indiana, or Utah at Rice-Eccles or Georgia Tech in Georgia (all games BYU has in 2012).

But hey, Riley will look great against Washington State, Weber State, Idaho and St. Winifred's School for the Blind in Central Texas. And BYU will get 8-9 wins, all will be well in Zion, hooray.

Then Nelson graduates and BYU is stuck with a starting QB with little to no experience for the 2013 season.

In short, I think it was a bad idea for Heaps to transfer, and I think it was a bad idea for BYU to choose Nelson over him.

4. David Stern blocking the Chris Paul-to-the-Lakers trade is annoying and seems unnecessary. If the Lakers think they can get it done with an aging Kobe and breaking-down Paul, minus Gasol and Odom, so be it. There's no way they were getting a Bynum-for-Dwight Howard trade, so the dream of Kobe/Paul/Howard was never coming true. If I'm Orlando, I look for another superstar trade chip to get in exchange for Dwight, even if it's not a center.

Football in November

Image from www.bloodrunsblue.com

BYU is down four to Utah State with under two minutes to go, backed up nearly to their own endzone. Jake Heaps has struggled mightily against the Aggies tonight, leading to Bronco and Doman to decide to bench Heaps and bring in Riley Nelson to play against his old team.

Riley manages to bring the Cougars 99 yards for the game-winning touchdown, bedlam ensues, and my brother Seth and I look at each other with worried looks on our faces.

We knew one thing: Nelson is fool's gold.

Good enough to beat bad teams, will never, ever be the reason BYU beat a great team, or even a very good team. His throwing ability has improved this season from last, but he still has low arm strength and extremely questionable decision-making skills.

Heaps has not been much better this season, and definitely deserved to be benched. But for the long term, Heaps is the answer.

As evidenced last week, Lark is not going to take this team anywhere, and if he gets playing time over Munns, Munns has got to be even worse.

What a bad quarterback situation we have in 2011.

Then Riley broke a rib against the mighty Vandals and it looks like it's Heaps' show the rest of the way. He looked fine against Idaho, but let's be honest; it's Idaho.

Tonight's game against New Mexico State is actually a bit intriguing. This may be BYU's closest match in an opponent since that Aggie game in September. While these Aggies are only 4-6, they can put up points. They dropped 28 on Minnesota (in a win), 42 on New Mexico and 48 on Fresno State. While none of those may be good teams, it still shows these guys can get the ball in the endzone, and seem to be improving over time.

New Mexico State seems like a passing team, with 23 of their touchdowns coming through the air, but they can also run, with 14 of their scores coming on the ground. I worry most about BYU's pass defense, and firmly believe that if I were an opposing offensive coordinator with a quarterback worth a darn I'd pass 95% of the time against this Cougar team. Idaho, unfortunately, does not have a quarterback worth a darn, and you saw the results.

So on a snowy night in Provo, it's going to come down to whether or not the Aggies can pass well enough to score versus BYU, and whether Heaps can overcome his mental issues.

In trying to think of a prediction for this game, I realized I'm honestly unsure of what to expect, which is kind of nice after a few weeks of pre-determined outcomes.

Go Cougars!