So much going on, so little commentary by moi on said eventage. I’d hang myself from the nearest saloon alcove railing if 1) I lived in the old west 2) saloons actually had alcove railings (actually maybe they do) and 3) I actually had a good excuse, ie, I just became a father for the 2nd time, so cut me some damn slack mr. bernenstein, you and your damn bears, the pressure (cries.)

Soooo. Yup. Well, yaroslav korolev is back, for a bargain price. Okey doke. The 2nd guy we grabbed in the draft is muy interesante to say the least (jared Jordan outta Marist) could solve a lot of problems for us or skitter out to the fritters of short white guy European space time continuum. The guy led NCAA in assists at least 1 (maybe 2? Bueller?) years running, and we desperately need good passers on this team, sad state of affairs that our ball movement is. (yes, our, I’m out there, not in spirit, in form, I enter the phantom zone and then interact with the players on the court. I think I was a bit more of a distraction this year. Apologies.)

And of course the ongoing drama, will we or won’t we sign Stevie Franchise, he of the $30 million new dollars in his pocket and the wherewithal to go wherever he wants and ponder imponderables. If he & cat mobley are as bosom of buddies as the media would have you think, it would seem we have it sewed up, but do we want this particular patch on the knee of our admittedly raggedy jeans?

I still remember when Francis was tearing up the league his first couple years, and yeah, he’s never been accused of being the most unselfish player in the world, but those early Yao/Stevie teams were pretty exciting, and Francis did I think add to the development of Yao, rather than detract, and stranger things have happened (and YES I know you’ve heard this one before, the jaded and faded glory former superstar makes good in order to show the world that he actually has some skills and should be taken seriously) but, even with all the stars aligned, with Cat (best friend) in the mix, with an interesting and talented young team, with his star significantly tarnished, you just have to wonder, does Francis give half a schnitzel? This is the same guy that told Vancouver to eff itself, who’d been oft times pouty and has seemingly not been overly concerned with his media portrayal, scattered with moments where he does care.

In other words it’s a complete crap shoot. It could either catapult the clippers to greatness or drag them down the barrel of inebriated inequity as Francis becomes a locker room cancer. The key component is can Francis sublimate his game within the clips’ system? Can he put up with not being the man, and let Elton get his, Maggs get his, let Sam be the leader and he come in and mop shit up on occasion or get Kaman or Elton the ball, or run the show and demonstrate some modicum of passing skills or become a kind and genteel mentor to Jared Jordan, or even visit his local dairy & see how milk is made followed by a group trip to the local library. This is the Steve Francis that in my dreams arrives at the clippers practice facility with about 30 strippers in tow and 8 bottles of crystal. Gracias and condolences.