| The Frank Nevarez Show |
| Bandwagon 101 |
| by Frank Nevarez |
| There’s an art to jumping on the bandwagon. It takes careful consideration and a lot of thought. You must think things through before you take that leap |
I was thinking about jumping on the LA Clippers’ bandwagon. However, a loss at home to Detroit and an overtime loss to San Antonio have put it all on hold.
Corey Maggette did not play in either of the two contests so I’ll have to take that into consideration, but in the last two games the Clippers demonstrated some very Clipper-like behavior that has me wondering.
In the game against Detroit, Coach Mike Dunleavy brought in a peculiar strategy. With six minutes to go in the game he instructed his team to go to the hack-a-Shaq defense on Ben Wallace. This was strange since seconds earlier the Clippers had the home crowd roaring following an incredible dunk by Chris Wilcox. This brought the Clippers within eight points.
However, any sense of newfound momentum was lost as the Clippers continuously fouled Wallace and brought the flow to a grinding halt. To make matters worse, while Wallace clanked many free throws the Clippers couldn’t rebound after the misses. Dunleavy’s strategy misfired and the Clips never caught fire again.
Tuesday’s game at San Antonio (who played without Manu Ginobili) showed the Clippers effectively trading punches with the Spurs – except at the end of the game. They had no knock-out punch to put the game away in regulation. The Spurs needed clutch free throws from Tim Duncan (who had missed ten of eleven free throws previously) to take it to overtime. The Clippers completely disappeared in the extra quarter and lost by eight.
Elton Brand is playing MVP-type ball. Maggette is first-rate. Sam Cassell is working out nicely. They are receiving contributions from a lot of different players. But you have to get over the hump and beat the good teams to be bandwagon-worthy.
Should I jump on the Miami Heat bandwagon now that Pat Riley is coaching again? No.
Don’t expect the Heat to get over the top with this move. They brought in too many new egos (Antoine Walker, Jason Williams and Gary Payton) during the off-season. At that time I doubted that this conglomeration would work well together. Now, with Shaq back we’ll see how it does or doesn’t come together.
Also, Riley is a hard-driving coach. I just see him ruffling too many feathers with the personalities he has there. Their only hope is to re-tool after the season and build around O’Neal and Wade with role players who compliment their talents, not with ones that want to be the shining stars.
Yes! Do jump off the bandwagon of any team that Ron Artest catches on with. He may not be the Terrell Owens of basketball, but listen closely. Do you hear the ticking sound that accompanies him?
Don’t jump on the Indianapolis Colts bandwagon. They may very well take the regular season without a loss, but the play-offs are a different animal. True, they seem to be running on all cylinders these days. Yes, it will take the best game of the year from any of the AFC opponents for the Colts to get beaten in the play-offs.
Can New England, the Colts’ chief nemesis, possibly continue to rehabilitate and peak right at play-off time? Is Denver for real with their best team since the John Elway-Terrell Davis days? Can Jake Plummer get over the hump?
You may be surprised by this, but I think Cincinnati has the best chance to beat the Colts. Cincy may be young, but they played Indy close earlier this year. They also may be that rare first-year-contender team that just jumps over everyone. They’ll be newbies to the play-offs and may not know from play-off pressure. Meanwhile, the weight of the perfect season, everyone’s expectations and the haunting of past failures will hang over Indy.
Yep, the Bengals are a team to consider for future bandwagon purposes. Watch out for those Chad Johnson TD celebrations, though. Remember the Icky Shuffle? It was basically one-and-done with that one. Folks jumped off that bandwagon like it was the Titanic. Also, it’s too bad the Bengal uniforms are so damn ugly. It’s always easier to be a bandwagoner when your new team’s colors are cool.
What?! You calling me fickle? |
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