It took less than a day for Artest to start something. Yao expressed his concerns about chemistry in an interview while in China, and Artest, without thinking (as if he ever does) went ahead and responded saying that he's "ghetto" and is the same Ron Artest he's always been and will never change. Nice. Again, I'm relieved he's someone else's headache.
In other news, the Clippers signed PF/C Brian Skinner, bringing him back to the fold, after drafting him in the first round 10 years ago. Skinner is yet another nice little edition. He's a bit undersized for a center, but he does a good job as a power forward. He'll never be anything spectacular, but he could play nicely alongside Kaman or Camby and can fill in adequately if either get injured (we're talking minor injuries here). He's a hustle guy who can get physical and at 265 can bang with some bigs adding more defensive depth to a team that has suddenly become very, very defensive-minded. He's a decent rebounder, and last year with Phoenix he showed he can shoot from 15-17 feet out at a pretty decent clip.
There are two little extra bonuses with the Skinner signing. The first, the Clips took him away from conference rival Phoenix. The Suns, already lacking any semblance of depth, just got thinner. The second bonus is Skinner's goatee. Clippers fans always love quirk, and Skinner's goatee could be a rallying, energizing source of cheering.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Clippers front office has done a swell job of making a legit team. They could've just thrown in the towel when EB left, but they got smart (or desperate) and have been, in this blogger's humble opinion, assembling a very good team.
Keywords: Brian Skinner, Los Angeles Clippers
