10 Reasons Why The Clippers were the best in the west through 10 games

1. Blake Griffin. Four years ago the Clippers decided the make Blake Griffin the center of the franchise so number one has to be his continued all-star play this season. Griffin's stats such as points and rebounds per game are slightly down, but that is mostly due to not needing to play as much. His field goal and free throw percentages are both up which has made his play more efficient and as his jump shot keeps improving his numbers will continue to increase.
2. Deandre Jordan. I have bashed Deandre Jordan a lot the last couple of years, but he is finally starting to show some actual skill. His confidence and shooting game have improved greatly. His improvement has been a great help to the Clippers, not only on offense, but his blocked shots and rebounding has improved as well. However, I will keep criticizing Jordan until he learns how to make a free throw.
3. Jamal Crawford. The best signing the Clippers made this offseason was bringing in Jamal Crawford. He has energized the Clippers and been a scoring machine. He not only leads them in points per game, but he has taken the burden off of Paul and Griffin. His high field goal percentage may not remain throughout the season, but if he continues averaging nearly as many points as he has so far, the Clippers will go far.
4. Matt Barnes. Another energy guy off the bench for the Clippers has been Matt Barnes. I have always thought he was a big jerk and was not sure how to feel when the Clippers brought him back, but so far I am happy they did. He has continued what he was doing for the Lakers, by providing tough defense and seeming to always be in the right place at the right time. There is no way he loses major playing time as the season progresses even when Grant Hill returns to the court.
5. Eric Bledsoe is said by many to be the most underrated point guard in the league. His quickness, jumping and ball handling has improved this season. He could easily be a starter on many other teams right now (lakers perhaps?) and has shown that he could very well be an all star in this league. It probably did not hurt that he has had Chris Paul and Chauncy Billups to help him develop the last year and a half.
6. Chris Paul. That's about all I need to say. Not only does the guy know how to rack up assists, but he is one of the best at making big shots at the end of games. Already won a couple this year because of that and should have won the Warriors game, but due to a bad call it's one of the Clippers' two losses.
7. The big back ups. I'm talking about Ryan Hollins, Lamar Odom and Ronny Turiaf. They have done pretty well so far this year, but that's not the biggest reason the Clippers are the best. After all Reggie Evans and Kenyon Martin did a pretty good job last year. The potential for this year's backup bigs though is much larger considering Lamar Odom could return to sixth man form. If that happens Clippers will clinch the west. I would bet on that if Odom averages more than 10 points in the second half of the season the Clippers will win the west.
8. Vinny Del Negro. His improved coaching is possibly due to not worrying about getting fired, but more likely due to the familiarity of being with Griffin and Paul. The Clippers have looked much better this year and it would be wrong to not give some credit to the coach. He might not be hall of fame coach material, but his coaching is more than sufficient.
9. Chauncy Billups hasnt even played yet this season, but he has acted as another coach to the Clippers. Every game you can see him on the sideline giving direction to the team and has been a big cheerleader from the bench. Once he returns, the Clippers become the best team in the NBA. His return will benefit just about everyone around him on the court as well. (except Willie Green, who probably will become a benchwarmer).
10. Clipper fans!!  To those of us who have not given up hope over the years, it is hard to believe there is finally a Clippers team that we can believe in. Every game is sold out and the hope has never been higher. If what they say is true, the Clippers try to win every game for their fans and if so the fans have helped the Clippers win many games this year already. The home court advantage has helped the Clippers greatly this year.

What Happened to America?

I guess The View, The Late Show, and The Daily Show were not enough for Obama. he was a guest on each of these shows within the last few weeks, (as well as many others). Last night, he appeared on the Tonight Show which helped me confirm my thoughts about what this election has turned into. Not only was Obama on the show three times as long as any other guest usually gets, but Jay Leno kept feeding him easy questions in which he could use to make himself and his record look better. There were two questions particularly which stick to my mind. Sadly these two questions were probably the toughest Obama had to answer. The first tough question Leno asked was who does Obama think will win the World Series. After mentioning multiple times how both teams are so great and deserve to be there (since Obama does not want to offend any fans), he said that the Tigers are his favorite to win it all, considering they beat his White Sox (for the pennant?, thats what he said, but they beat the White Sox in the Division). However, seconds later he revealed while he really picked them when he said that he has to go with the Tigers, considering he saved Detroit from bankruptcy. This made it obvious he picked Detroit only because he wanted to say he saved the entire city, (cocky much?/ and he really didnt even save them). I guess the Giants didn't stand much of a chance to be picked considering the Tigers play in a state in which is not certain Obama will win, while California is easily going to go in his favor. Obama is very lucky the Miami Marlins were not playing the Cleveland Indians in the World Series because Obama needs those two states and he would not be able choose one of those teams knowing it could lose some votes in the state in which the other team plays.
A few minutes later Leno asked Obama what is going on with him and Donald Trump. Trump made an announcement earlier that day that if Obama released his college transcripts and applications, as well as his passport records then Trump would give a 5 million dollar check to a charity of Obama's choice, immediately. Leno didn't ask him however if he would take the deal and didn't even mention the offer Trump put out there, probably because that would put Obama on the spot and make him look bad any way he answered it. Anways Obama answered the question comically saying that they grew up together in Kenya and Obama was better at soccer then Trump.
Overall, this interview made me realize that a major part of this presidential race has turned into who can resemble a celebrity better. Obama wins that and it was easy to tell last night. He made sure to say things to get the audience to applaud, brag about stuff that he has not even really done, and act like he is coming out with a new movie. If Obama likes the spotlight so much why doesn't he just become an actor. The president's job is not supposed to be taking spotlight, it is supposed to be making sure the country is on the right track and he ain't doing that real well. So an actor would be he best option for Obama at this point; oh wait I forgot. He already is.

What is Success?

It was made public news today that Facebook CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg got married to his longtime girlfriend he met while at Harvard. It sounds pretty prestigious for a billionaire to get married and it seems like he now has everything he could ever want. However, I would not consider him a success. He made a big mistake in my mind and it was because of who he married, not because I think she is a bad person of any sort, but because she is not Jewish. This is an example of the terrible problem of intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews in America. Zuckerberg's children will not be Jewish possibly ending the Jewish line his family has been a part of since perhaps the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, which we reenact this upcoming weekend. So no matter how much money he ends up making or how he helps save the world; to me, a Jew that marriages a fellow Jew, and tries to keep the traditions our people have been following for thousands of years is more successful. Success is not measured by wealth, but rather by observance of the Torah and love of G-d.