Pacific Division

Los Angeles Clippers Power Rankings - 2011-12

Power Ranking
WEEKRECORDRANKCOMMENT
Week 1740-245Blake's FT woes, Caron's hip and limited playoff experience sans Chauncey are all big concerns. Just don't forget the Clips also have a closer in CP3 with eight game-winning buckets in the last 10 seconds of the fourth quarter or OT over the last four seasons, tying Melo and Kobe for most in the NBA in that span.
Week 1637-234Had 'em ranked too high two weeks ago, then too low last Monday. As punishment, perhaps, had to hear about five times in the past week from ESPN Stats & Info how this franchise has never won a division title. Which obviously started with eight seasons of Buffalo Braves basketball that meant so much to me.
Week 1534-228You can forgive a loss to the Lakers when it's the only loss in a span of nine games in the wake of my man Chris Broussard's report that Vinny Del Negro had lost his locker room. You can also start to look at the Clips as a real playoff factor if Randy Foye keeps making shots like he has for the past 10 or so games.
Week 1431-215Give it up to Vinny Del Negro. If it was all his fault that the Clips cratered to 26-21 with a humbling loss to the overmatched Hornets in Chris Paul's New Orleans homecoming, VDN has to get a healthy share of the credit after L.A. went 5-0 on a save-the-coach's-job homestand against mostly hungry opposition.
Week 1327-2112As bad as things have been lately, lowlighted by nine straight games under 100 points and CP3's humbling New Orleans homecoming, check this out: Elias says this is only the third time since Donald Sterling moved them to L.A. in 1984 that the Clips have been more than five games over .500 this late in the season.
Week 1226-189The Clips have managed to grind out narrow wins over the Rockets and Pistons after that humbling loss to the Nash-less and Grant Hill-less Suns that prompted an hourlong players-only meeting. Yet concern persists over the load CP3 and Blake are shouldering and how much they'll have left for the playoffs at this rate.
Week 1123-168You're inclined to pardon the Clips for some bad losses lately (Wolves, Nets, Dubs) because of what happened Friday night in San Antonio. Despite CP3 suffering a broken nose, Lob City won in the Alamo City for the first time in 18 tries ... back when the Spurs were still playing in the Alamodome and Blake Griffin was 12.
Week 1022-137The Clippers lead the Pacific Division! Remember how often you heard that line throughout the first half of the season? Without Sunday's overtime win over Houston, CP3 and Blake suddenly would have been looking up at the Lakers, thanks to a pretty pedestrian 7-6 record since Chauncey Billups went down.
Week 920-115Latest example that this is a new day in Clipperland? There was Blake Griffin on TNT, taking questions before the first All-Star Game in history with two Clippers in the starting lineup when you throw in CP3, talking about his team's playoff outlook with half of the regular season to go. And pulling it off easily.
Week 819-104The Knicks were the heavy favorites all along to land J.R. Smith, but I gotta be honest: When CP3 expressed as much confidence as he did last week, as close as he is to J.R., I really thought that the Clips might sneak in there and steal him. L.A.'s hottest team faces far bigger letdowns, though, if Blake's FT woes deepen.
Week 717-84The Clips would be taking a 5-0 record into the sixth and final game of their Grammys Road Trip in Dallas on Monday night if they could have beaten the Kyrie-less Cavs on Wednesday night. Yet this is still the best 25-game start for the franchise since it moved from San Diego to L.A. in 1984-85.
Week 614-76K-Mart choosing them to address the biggest weakness (frontcourt depth) this team had? CP3 and Blake starting for the West for a franchise that hadn't had one All-Star starter since World B. Free repped the San Diego Clips for the opening tip in 1980's ASG? Years after the slogan was unveiled, it's truly Hip To Clip.
Week 511-66With the schedule finally about to stiffen, Sunday's W in Denver was notable for CP3, Blake & Co. for a few reasons: 1) It was these Clips' first victory when allowing 100 points after starting 0-5; 2) It killed any hope the Nuggets had of sneaking into the top spot of these rankings; 3) It was in Denver.
Week 49-511CP3 had the good sense to deliver difference-making performances in victories over the Heat and Lakers before pulling that hammy. And short-term survival without him is feasible, remember, because PG is the one area that the Clips have some depth with Chauncey and Mo Williams.
Week 36-36With four quality wins already in a 5-1 start to January and no grave concern (yet) about CP3's hammy, my big question is this: How can the Clips have already turned cold on the Lob City nickname? Especially when Blake is the one who conceived it?
Week 24-210If there's any shot at squeezing in a mention of World B. Free in this space, you know by now we're jumping at it. So here goes: Blake is the first Clipper to score 20 or more in the season's first six games since World did so in the first nine games of 1979-80.
Week 12-210Can the Clips possibly live up to expectations? The early returns suggest that some of us are getting carried away, but entertaining us hasn't been an issue. Not with the gaudy numbers CP3, Blake and DeAndre -- nearly four blocks per game -- are putting up.
Preseason32-505After such a big bump, really hope my fears are misplaced. But I can't forget that the Clips HAVE been here before, with Larry Brown and Danny Manning as the best twosome in town and the Lakers in the lottery. I beg thee, Donald: Don't pollute Lob City.
Training Camp19-100The Knicks were the heavy favorites all along to land J.R. Smith, but I gotta be honest: When CP3 expressed as much confidence as he did last week, as close as he is to J.R., I really thought that the Clips might sneak in there and steal him. L.A.'s hottest team faces far bigger letdowns, though, if Blake's FT woes deepen.

Los Angeles Clippers