T.J. SIMERS

Are the Clippers fool's gold or the real thing?

Charles Barkley calls the Clippers 'softer than tissue paper' and not NBA championship-quality. Will the team find playoff toughness it needs?

By T.J. Simers

March 6, 2013, 11:15 p.m.

I worry Charles Barkley might have the Clippers pegged correctly as "fool's gold."

Good to know, though, Barkley has already pronounced the Lakers goners, and here they were Wednesday night pulling a Lazarus while Utah was digging a hole for itself.

Hello, playoffs?

T.J. Simers
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But what about it — goodbye, Clippers, sooner than later?

Barkley told a TNT audience Tuesday night the West has only three NBA championship-quality teams in Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Memphis, while going on to call the Clippers "softer than tissue paper."

I guess he doesn't put much stock in the thug, cheap-shot artist or hard-nosed competitor that is Matt Barnes, who the Clippers consider just plain tough.

I mentioned what Barkley had said to the Clippers' Vinny Del Negro, and I got a coach's response as soft as tissue paper.

"Everyone has their opinions," revealed Del Negro.

Hey, ordinarily I'm a big Clippers honk. And I would quickly come to their defense if they had a half-court offense that was playoff-worthy.

At the very least it would be easy to dismiss Barkley as a clown. You know, someone who talks about having his eyebrows waxed while appearing recently on "The Price Is Right" with NeNe Leakes, Sharon Osbourne and Demi Lovato and playing Plinko.

But I know Barkley as an expert on fool's gold.

I've been with him on the driving range, Barkley hitting sweet shot after sweet shot. His swing looking so promising.

Then the golf tournament begins, and he tries to hit a stationary white ball like it's a mouse on the loose.

Barkley knows what it's like to feel good and then collapse with no idea how to avoid it.

And here we have the Clippers, feeling really good about themselves, but what have they really accomplished?

Do they belong in the same class as Oklahoma City and San Antonio after getting spanked at home by each recently?

Could they beat the Lakers in a No. 3 seed versus No. 6 matchup, the best possible opponent for the Lakers, as Shaq suggested on TNT?

"The Clippers are not legitimate" championship contenders, said Barkley, and so I wonder who Barkley would pick if the soft Clippers met the dead Lakers.

With nothing else to do but watch the Clippers abuse Milwaukee on Wednesday night, why not put the brakes on this joy ride and agree or disagree with Barkley?

Ralph Lawler, the team's long-time broadcaster, said there are things that must go the Clippers' way.

Comments (21)

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FreeJack2k2 at 11:26 AM March 08, 2013

People expect this team to be championship caliber already, when they JUST came out of the basement of the Western Conference? It's a little asinine. This is a young team who has JUST gotten all of its pieces (relatively) healthy. The mighty OKC Thunder took a few years to become the force they now are. To me, the Clippers are still developing and in my opinion, we have some pieces on our roster that still need improving. We need DJ to get a LOT better at the free throw line, so he can play in the fourth quarter. We need backup centers that actually bring some scoring to the table. Actually, we need a lot more scoring off the bench, in general. I personally would like to see Jamal Crawford starting at SG next year, with Billups playing alongside Bledsoe off the bench to mentor him and keep him under control. I think we need to look for a better answer at the small forward spot, Caron Butler is too inconsistent. The team is very young, they have a LOT of room to grow. People need to chill out...Los Angeles media and fans all seem to want the Clippers to fail, simply because they're making the Lakers look so bad right now. It's a joke.

Fluffy7 at 11:16 PM March 07, 2013

Charles just calls it like it is. I bought into the Clipper hype. But then I realized that when it's crunch time, they have no system, and no player who can get a bucket.

It will be Chris Paul high pick and roll, over and over again, with Blake. Blake hesitating, Blake passing to the corner. Shot clock winding down. The ball will end up back in CP3's hands for a last second iso against a taller defender, a forced jumper which CP3 will make his share b/c he is the real deal, a truly great player. But you are never going to win a title on CP3 being Kobe Bryant. Hell Kobe can't win a title that way, and God knows he tried.

Next time, same deal, and finally Blake will awkwardly go into his 9th grade level post up game, brick a shot, and then glare at the ref. If he does get the call, he will choke the free throws. Does this sound vaguely familiar to even the most ardent Clipper apologist?

You will never win a championship this way, just like Lebron never won a championship, holding the ball at the top of the circle every single play down the stretch with the Cavs. Blake or Jordan has to become deadly on the box and at the line. Otherwise it just ain't gonna happen, folks.

Sorry, but this is reality. (Which probably has no place on a local paper message board.)

ARent0261 at 12:59 PM March 07, 2013

The Clippers are at least a Top 4 team. Not fool's gold. The only teams they would have trouble with are the Spurs, the Heat, and the Thunder. While that means they might not win it all, they are a better than most other teams in the league, that's pretty impressive. This is coming from a basketball fan that has seen the majority of the clipper's games this year.

And Chris Paul is a genius point guard, I haven't seen a player like him in a long time. If anyone can get the Clippers to beat those 3 teams, it's Chris Paul.

The only person I have reservations about on the Clippers is the Coach. Odom also needs to start improving, considering Vinny is giving him so many minutes these days.

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