Laugh it up. While you can.

But UNC knocked Griffin's Sooners out of the tournament by building a village of defenders around him and challenging his teammates to beat them from outside. The Sooners made only 2 of 19 3-pointers in a 72-60 loss.

That won't happen next season.

Though not much went right for the Clippers last year, rookie guard Eric Gordon proved he is a legit NBA scorer who can stroke the three. Gordon averaged 16.1 points per game and made 39 percent of his 3-pointers.

With Griffin, 20, Gordon, 20, and slasher Al Thornton, 25, the Clips now challenge the Blazers for the best young nucleus in an increasingly creaky Western Conference.

Kobe Bryant may be only 30 but he will be entering his 14th season in the fall. Chauncey Billups will be 33 at the start of next season. Tim Duncan is 33, Manu Ginobli an old 31. The fragile Yao Ming, 28, gets a little more brittle each season. Dirk Nowitzki is 31, Jason Kidd 36.

In a young man's game, the stars of the Lakers, Spurs and Mavericks (winners of the last 11 Western Conference titles) are all on the plus side of 30. The Kobe-Duncan hammerlock on the conference will eventually release and the Clippers are in a historically strong position to step into that void.

Since the draft lottery was introduced in 1985 there have been seven drafts where there was no doubt, no debate, no dissent about who should be the No. 1 pick. Those picks were Patrick Ewing ('85), David Robinson ('87), Danny Manning ('88), Shaquille O'Neal ('92), Duncan ('97), Yao ('02) and LeBron James ('03).

Blake Griffin goes into that category, with arguably as big a gap between him and No. 2 as anyone.

So in drafts where there was a clear-cut, lock No. 1, how did those teams make out?

Well, they all got better. A lot better. Fast.

In fact, the only team that didn't make the playoffs within three years of having the no-brainer No. 1 was -- wait for it -- the Clippers, who merely improved from 17-65 prior to Manning's arrival to 31-51 by his third season.

Counting Manning's +14, these teams improved by an average of 26 games in the three seasons after landing the consensus no-doubter pick. The Clips were a miserable 19-63 this season, but tack 26 wins onto that total and you're a 45-37 playoff contender.

The last two drafts have sparked debates between which of the first two players should go first (Greg Oden vs. Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose vs. Michael Beasley). But Griffin ended any discussion with his colossal sophomore season at Oklahoma (22.7 ppg, 14.4 rpg, 65.4 field goal percentage). And historically, when there is only one option at No. 1, those teams get better right away.

And, man, is there room for improvement.

For a franchise that has been defined by plumbing ever deeper depths the Clippers may have reached an all-time low over the last calendar year.

Last summer Elton Brand bolted town for Philly in a move perceived in L.A. as a knife in the back of coach and GM Mike Dunleavy. (Clippers fans should now view that departure as a godsend. Who would you rather have, Blake Griffin or Elton Brand?)

Once the Clips started playing they were, of course, their old wretched selves, losing 60-plus games for the 11th time in 39 seasons. They've lost 50-plus 25 times. (They've won 50 exactly never.)

Free agent Baron Davis (5-years, $65M) was supposed to team with Brand to return the Clippers to the playoffs, where they gacked away the 2006 conference semis to the Suns by failing to guard Raja Bell on a game-tying 3-pointer in Game 5. Upon returning to L.A., where he had played high school and college ball, Davis promptly came down with the Clippers Flu, shooting 37 percent from the floor and playing with a listless indifference that even Zach Randolph couldn't match.

Then there was the matter of former GM Elgin Baylor's lawsuit alleging racism by owner Donald Sterling. While the owner's treatment of Baylor -- beyond retaining him long after he had proven not up to the task -- may still be a matter of debate, Baylor's performance over 22 years as a GM is not. The NBA has these things called standings that ordinary folks like you and me can use to gauge the effectiveness of team executives. Baylor was not good. Don't know if you heard.

Dunleavy might not be much good as a GM either, but Blake Griffin fell into his lap. And sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

The Clips were really lucky to get Griffin (17.7 percent chance). And they will be really good within three years.

That's no joke.