In late August, The National Research Council predicted much of California's’ coastline would be consumed in the coming years by the rising seas caused by global warming. It’s a long-term projection, but California has alread lost one city. Lob City is no more after the Clippers’ busy offseason. According to Blake Griffin, Lob City has gone the way of the lost Roanoke colony. Archaeologists discover the ruins of lost cities all the time. Who knows if one day, some nostalgic head coach digs up the Clippers blueprint? It just won’t happen as long as Doc Rivers is head coach. Lob City is a lost city.
Via ESPN:
"Lob City doesn't exist anymore. Lob City is done," Griffin told ESPN's Shelley Smith in an interview this week. "We're moving on and we're going to find our identity during training camp and that will be our new city. No more Lob City."
Griffin stressed that new coach Doc Rivers has been instilling a defensive-minded culture, and said his offensive game will change noticeably this season. The up-tempo, exciting style of play the Clippers have become known for since point guard Chris Paul joined Griffin and fellow high-flyer DeAndre Jordan in 2011 has already been de-emphasized.
"Our offense is going to have a totally different look this year," said Griffin, who added that he'd done a lot of work in the offseason on his face-up game from 10 to 15 feet. "Our offense is going to have a lot of movement and floor spacing. I'm looking forward to it."
"People will still wear T-shirts," Griffin said. "I can't really go to people's houses and take their T-shirts and cut them up. But we [will] have a new identity as a team and that's going to be what we work out during training camp.
Recently, ESPN The Magazine’s Sam Alipour accompanied Blake Griffin on a tour of Alcatraz. If Doc Rivers can transform the Clippers into a formidable defensive unit then Alcatraz Island doesn’t sound like a bad alternative to Lob City.
