NCN SPORTS BLOG

Elton Brand and the Los Angeles Clippers were in town this past weekend to play the New Jersey Nets at Continental Airlines Arena. Head sports editor Jim MacLean and photographer Andy Jacobs were both in attendance at the game. Jim was able to sit down and get an interview with Brand, while Andy wrote up a brief story and shot pictures.

The interview is quite timely, seeing that Peekskill had just wrapped up their fifth state title earlier that day. Jim offers a candid view into Brand’s thoughts and feelings on the infamous Red Devils basketball tradition and more … CHECK THIS OUT ON THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.

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Brand, Clippers Struggling To Meet Expectations

By Andy Jacobs

Until last year, there had been three certainties in life: death, taxes and the annual appearance each spring of Los Angeles Clipper general manager Elgin Baylor in Secaucus, New Jersey for the NBA draft lottery.
But with Elton Brand, the pride of Peekskill, emerging as one of the league’s elite players and the arrival of veteran sharp shooter Sam Cassell, the Clippers established themselves as one of the best teams in the Western Conference. They finished 47-35 to supplant the Lakers as the preeminent team in Tinseltown, made the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade and came within one game of reaching the conference finals.
 With their newfound success came added expectations. The Clippers were supposed to continue their ascension this season, a challenge they haven’t been able to meet. They arrived at the Meadowlands on Sunday in the middle of a grueling six-game road trip to face the New Jersey Nets in a matchup of underachieving teams struggling mightily to secure a place in the rapidly approaching playoffs.
Though they had plenty of chances, the Clippers fell 101-95 to the Nets, their sixth loss in seven games. With 16 games left in the regular season, Brand and the Clippers find themselves one game behind in the race with Golden State for the final playoff spot.
“We need to win ballgames,” Brand said after his 17-point, nine-rebound, foul-plagued performance against the Nets. “Right now, we’re trying to get any (playoff) seed we can. We’ve gotta fight harder and finish this road trip up strong to do it.”
Los Angeles began the 2006-07 season by winning five of its first six games, all at home. But any chance the Clippers had of building on last year’s improvement quickly disappeared as injuries ravaged their backcourt. Cassell, now 37, has been in and out of the lineup all season with an assortment of ailments, missing 15 games so far. Shaun Livingston, the neophyte point guard who could have replaced Cassell, was lost for the season with a dislocated knee in late February.
“A big part of what we were last year was how good we were at the point, being able to finish games,” said coach Mike Dunleavy. “Any team that loses two players at a position, it’s really hard to replace that. We were thinking we were going to be OK with Livingston being able to take over. He was getting better and better all the time. Shaun’s going down is kind of like a little bit of a double whammy.”
That double whammy was echoed by a frustrated Brand. “We’ve got some injury problems we need to get over,” he said. “Sam Cassell’s not at full strength, hasn’t been at full strength. We’ve got J (Jason) Hart coming in, doing a good job. But he’s only been here a week and a half. So when you’ve got your point guard position like that, it’s tough. It’s tough.”
Brand, who just turned 28 last week, spent the first six years of his NBA career watching the playoffs on television before the Clippers’ breakout season a year ago. He knows what’s needed if he wants a chance at another postseason like last spring when the Clippers eliminated Denver four games to one before losing to Phoenix in a classic seven-game series that tipped in the Suns’ favor with their double-overtime win in the pivotal fifth game.
“With our full complement, I think we would’ve been a good team,” he said. “We still have a chance to be. We’ve gotta play hard. We gotta get to loose balls, little small things, and we can win the games.”
But with 14 losses in their last 20 games, the Clippers are quickly running out of time. Their latest defeat came against a New Jersey team as desperate for wins as they are.
“We have times when teams aren’t helping us right now,” said Brand. “Teams are trying to make their runs to the playoffs. Earlier, teams were helping us, losing every time we lose. It’s not that way any more, so we need to step it up.”