Page 6 May 28, 2015 TORRANCE TRIBUNE Clippers Are Still the Clippers By Adam Serrao Los Angeles has always seemed to be a Lakers town. One of the greatest franchises in NBA history, the Lakers have always had the glitz, glamour, and high-profile fans that a franchise like the Clippers typically has not. One of those fans is former Laker great Magic Johnson. Magic said it best when speaking of the Clippers recent epic meltdown in the conference semifinals versus the Houston Rockets: “I thought the Spurs taught the Clippers how to win after a tough 7 game series,” he said. “I was wrong. The Clippers are still the Clippers.” A team that in its history has never been to the Western Conference Finals or beyond, the Clippers were so close and were even picked by many to win the title this season. Yet, another meltdown has not only ended their season prematurely, but has also inserted a number of question marks into the team’s extremely grim-looking future as well. Answering the question of what happened to Clippers isn’t an easy thing to do. When dealing with a loss, everyone needs someone or something to blame. For the Clippers, however, the blame is multi-layered. Go back, if you will, to when Donald Sterling was ousted from the team. Sterling has nothing to do with how the Clippers lost this year, but in his place, newly appointed Clippers owner Steve Ballmer does. Ballmer, a former Microsoft CEO, doesn’t know much about basketball, so when Doc Rivers wanted both head coaching and GM duties, he simply gave him both responsibilities. That was the Clippers first problem. Rivers is a really good coach. If you give him good players, he knows how to motivate his team to get the job done. He has never, however, been a great GM and outside of the Clippers best three players, the roster, that Rivers helped put together, is clearly not a championship type roster. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan are all great players and are all deserving of highly lucrative contracts. Unfortunately, those three players simply can’t get the job done all by themselves. That’s precisely what Doc asked them to do. After a long and tiring seven game series against last year’s world champs, the San Antonio Spurs, it became clear that the core of Doc’s team quite simply tired out. You can actually even locate a specific point in time when they did. Game 6 against the Rockets, up by 19 points in the third-quarter, the Clippers simply needed to hold the ball and watch time run off of the clock. They couldn’t do it. Paul, Griffin, Jordan and the rest of the team were just too tired. James Harden and his Houston Rockets squad turned on the jets and never looked back. The Rockets wound up winning Game 6 by a final score of 119-107. Game 7 wasn’t any better. A game where the Clippers lost by a total of 13 points (113-100) saw the tired team trail by as many as 20 in the fourth quarter to become only the ninth team in NBA history to blow a 3-1 advantage in an NBA playoff series. “I want to fix it,” Rivers told USA TODAY Sports after his team’s Game 7 and seriesending loss. “I want to win. That’s why I came here.” The Clippers have won, they just haven’t won enough and this season may have been the team’s last and greatest chance at it. Jordan is an unrestricted free agent this July. Rumors of a feud between the Houston-born Jordan and point guard Paul, combined with the center’s ability to receive max money from a team like the Dallas Mavericks, can put a serious dent in any future playoff aspirations for the Clippers if Jordan decides to take his talents elsewhere. It will also put a dent in Doc’s dream of creating a more balanced roster. The Clippers already have no bench. That much we know has lost them a series. If Paul pushes Jordan out of town though, good luck finding any other max-players or role-players who will choose to play for the Clippers instead of a team like say, the Lakers who are suddenly Home. Cooked. GOODNESS. ORDER NOW & SAVE 69% Plus get 4 more burgers FREE PERFECT FOR FATHER’S DAY! The Favorite Gift 2 (5 oz.) Filet Mignons 2 (5 oz.) Top Sirloins 4 (4 oz.) Boneless Pork Chops 4 (4 oz.) Omaha Steaks Burgers 4 Stuffed Baked Potatoes 4 Caramel Apple Tartlets 49377GSN | Reg. $164.00 Now Only $4999 1-800-680-1807 ask for 49377GSN www.OmahaSteaks.com/mbdad35 Limit 2 pkgs. Your 4 free burgers will be sent to each shipping address that includes The Favorite Gift 49377. Limit of 1 free box of 4 (4 oz.) Omaha Steaks Burgers per shipment. Standard S&H will be added per address. Not valid with other o— ers. Expires 6/30/15. ©2015 OCG | 505B120 | Omaha Steaks, Inc. Warriors Recapture Fire By Adam Serrao After a disastrous end to the regular season in which West High lost its final four games after being swept by both South and Torrance High, it seems as if the Warriors have suddenly found new life within themselves. Head coach Juan Cueva saw his Warriors baseball team drop from first place into a tie for third place in the standings, but not once did they waver. With a 10-4 wild-card victory over Santa Fe and a 4-3 victory over Ramona in the CIF Southern Section Division 4 first-round, the Warriors seem to be back on track and playing like the team that started the season off on a tear. Nathan Santiago was the hero of the day for West High in their wild-card matchup against Santa Fe. With two hits and four RBIs, Santiago led his team’s offense to an outburst of 10 runs en route to their six-run victory. “We were probably someone you wanted to bet against going into the playoffs,” Santiago said. “But we have some good momentum now. The bats woke up and now we’re hot.” Extreme optimism from a player on a team that has every right to be optimistic. With one run to open the game in the first inning, it wasn’t long before the Warriors held a 3-0 lead after three innings and a 9-0 lead after six. Teammate Cody Wissler chipped in two RBIs on the day and pitcher Taylor Myers did his part by allowing only three hits over four innings for West. The competition was a bit stiffer in the next round, but the Warriors received help from even more unlikely heroes on the team. West jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning once again, a trend that seems to be helping the ball club immensely. By the middle of the third inning the Warriors led by a score of 4-0 and had to have been feeling good about their chances. That’s when starting pitcher Matt Stearns hit some turbulence. After giving up three runs in the bottom of the third that saw West’s lead shrink to just one run, Stearns was pulled for Josh Hight. Hight stood tall and made all of the difference. In 4 2/3 innings of relief, Hight allowed just three hits and struck out four as the Warriors clung to their 4-3 lead for the win. Trevor Mallett helped the offense, going 2 for 3 with a walk, a run scored and a double. Steven Guillen also had a double and an RBI, going 2 for 2 from the plate. The Warriors (20-10, 10-6) will now look to keep their bats and their pitching hot as they move on to face Anaheim in the second round of the Southern Section Division 4 playoffs. The winner of that game will move on to the tournament quarterfinals. South High The South High Spartans ended their regular season on fire, just like they had been throughout the entirety of the year. Head coach Grady Sain and his team brought that same fire with them to the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs where they faced Montclair. A steady dose of pitching and a large amount of hitting paved the way for the Spartans to easily capture a 13-4 first round victory last Friday night at South High. Whenever you say that the Spartans pitched well in a game, you almost always know that Drake Pingel had something to do with it. This time was no different. Though he only pitched four innings, Pingel didn’t allow one hit and retired the last 11 batters that he faced. Matt Mavrosakis made sure that the team would no longer be in need of the ace’s services. Mavrosakis went 3 for 3 on the day with a home run that led to five RBIs for the catcher. “This is the first time we’ve hit this well,” Mavrosakis explained. “I’m very happy with that. We came out swinging and ready to go.” Not only were the Spartans ready to go, but they led 9-0 after just two innings of play. After the fourth, it was clear to coach Sain that he should remove his starters to keep them fresh. The Spartans (21-8, 9-1), who finished with 12 hits on the day, will move on to face the winner of the Troy vs. Montebello game in the second round. Torrance High The Torrance Tartars’ epic comeback attempt to avenge their CIF title of a year ago has at last come to an end. After winning their last six games of the regular season to streak into second place in the Pioneer League, head coach Ollie Turner and his team fell flat in the opening round of the CIF Southern Section Division 4 playoffs against St. Bonaventure. The Tartars came away with only two hits on the day as the game began as a pitcher’s duel. By the fourth inning, however, St. Bonaventure started scoring. With one run in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the sixth, Torrance found themselves down by a score of 4-0 and never could recoup from there. The Tartars season ends with an 11-20 record, but the way that coach Turner and his young team fought down the stretch should certainly have no problem being carried over into next season. • See Clippers, page 9 Harry’s & McCoy’s Moving Family Owned & Operated for 66 Years Time starts at your door Free use of boxes & wardrobes Short notice moves Home-Office-Apartments Local and Long Distance Licensed & Insured – CAL-T-160-989 Jerry Cohen, CEO with his granddaughter Moving handled with patience and kindness! Free Estimates 310.329.3493
Torrance_052815_FNL_lorez
To see the actual publication please follow the link above