Comments on: Clippers vs Grizzlies Recap: Ugly 101-95 Win in Memphis

By: Oodypkt

Oodypkt — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 14:10:38 +0000

Yep, I believe in him.

By: lying dog-faced pony soldier

lying dog-faced pony soldier — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 04:56:21 +0000

Agree that Russ, given his Hall of Fame career, presents Lue with a coaching challenge. I’ve become a Russ fan this season, but it seems as if his ego still sometimes takes over. We’ve seen Good Russ and Bad Russ, and will only have a chance with more of Russ on his best behavior. It would help if Lue could figure things out, because occasional Bad Russ is not the main problem.

By: lying dog-faced pony soldier

lying dog-faced pony soldier — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 04:39:31 +0000

It was great to see the Invisible Man (no pun intended) finally materialize again. Hope he keeps it up! We could really use the version of him on display in this game, rather than the gun-shy character weirdly passing up open looks and acting like the ball is radioactive. He still gets stuffed half the time on irrationally confident assaults on the basket against two or more taller defenders, but whatever. Rather than relying solely on his signature swoop-de-loop move to the left, which it sure seems that other teams have come to expect, he could work on another shot? I do like his energy and how he goes downhill, something this plodding team needs more of. All I want is a title this year, and if Mann contributes to that, I'll be a fan for life.

By: dhpat

dhpat — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 04:28:35 +0000

Russ is too inconsistent as a former MVP. Tough job for Coach to manage. If Russ just sucked, it would be easier to lower his minutes, but Russ give us these Jeckyl/Hyde performances.

Unlike a company with thousands of employees and cutting 500 to 10000 is made by some executive, who doesn’t know your name or face, the coaches and players spend more time together in a season than with their families.

If Coach embarrassed Russ publicly, it wouldn’t sit well with the players. So, Coach is left with in game adjustments.

I’m glad that T. Mann shined last game, we need him and Coffey to pick up the slack when one of the stars goes AWOL.

Miss Norm. Hope his ankle heals fast.

By: dhpat

dhpat — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 04:23:23 +0000

Amir will be ready. He is a productive NBA player on a very good team.

By: WhyNotTyler

WhyNotTyler — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 03:16:59 +0000

So, Kings upcoming. Lots of ball movement, speedy and athletic guards. If we continue to play as we did for the past month, Harden is gonna cost us on defense and the futile offensive rebounding of Plumlee and Russ isn’t gonna help our transition defense. Playing Plumlee vs the Kings of all teams would be as insane as running him out there vs OKC’s small ball unit. So I can’t wait to see Ty use a Russ-PJ-Plumlee lineup off the bench – or our starters give up lots of open 3s

Wouldn’t mind to see PJ at the 5 get another shot because we played with energy in the second half and I think that lineup sparked it. Norm being back would certainly help

By: Oodypkt

Oodypkt — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 03:03:22 +0000

A win is a win.
Only downside of this lineup is the lack of playoffs experiences from Coffey but I think Harden/PG/Coffey/T-Mann/Kawhi will be so lethal in crucial moments in the postseason.
Being (considerably) healthy and just keep the game close and we will always have a chance.

By: WhyNotTyler

WhyNotTyler — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 01:56:01 +0000

This

By: WhyNotTyler

WhyNotTyler — Sun, 25 Feb 2024 01:48:56 +0000

Agreed. OKC is playing like a real team and outside of SGA the talent isn’t nearly maxed out yet. Coached so well, can shoot from everywhere, got depth, do everything as a team and stay humble and focused. They have played through their toughest stretches already, got zero games vs the top4 in the West left. They’re my bet for the #1 seed as well. Just hope they don’t get cheated by the refs when they face the Lakers or Warriors.

By: chogokin

chogokin — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 22:24:44 +0000

Like, for all the bluster about how gracious he was in accepting a bench role, and all the noise about his “haters” and whatnot, really, at the end of the day, the Russ problem in general boils down to this:

Russ is a role player.

He isn’t the MVP-level supernova that he used to be – at the very least not on this team. I’m sure he could put up gaudy numbers if we just completely let him cut loose, but 1. we would lose, and 2. A LOT of NBA guys could put up empty stats in a loss.

So Ty just needs to realize that he needs to put in work scheming to maximize Russ rather than just tossing him out there and thinking he’ll fit no matter who else is on the floor and regardless of the situation. At this point in Russ’ career he’s not a top-tier Swiss-Army knife that has a wide range of utility – he’s a very sharp steak knife that works great for steaks, but you probably shouldn’t use it to open bottles with.