Comments on: Clippers vs. Jazz Game Preview

By: lying dog-faced pony soldier

lying dog-faced pony soldier — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 05:35:02 +0000

Nope!

By: khyber jones

khyber jones — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 04:47:17 +0000

Watched most of this game. I generally liked the energy and pace the Clippers played with. They just couldn’t play any meaningful defense against Markannen and other 3 pt shooters, and that made the margin of error low. When the Clips missed a wide open 3, or a potential fast break layup, it was magnified at the other end by a made basket.

On the plus side, I liked the way Reggie looked at both ends. He even made an off the dribble 3, which could be a good sign going forward. Powell seems to play well in a wide open game. But that doesn’t translate when Kawhi/PG are on the court. Zu is very solid but misses his share of opportunities. The 31/29 version of Zu could actually be a reality if he had a scorer’s mentality every game. Diabate had a lot of energy. Boston Jr has a nice offensive bag.

On the minus side, this game had a wistful ‘what might have been’ feel to it. Guys played with a lot of energy and pace, but they made so many mistakes b/c they just haven’t played a lot on the floor. What would the Clips look like if Coffey, Diabate and Boston played more minutes throughout the season? Could they be defensive stoppers against a hot shooter? Energy guys who win possessions and help create separation?

Another thing on the minus side is that the NBA has pretty much decimated switching defenses, and the Clips play too much switching D. I don’t know how many times Markannen got switched on to a smaller player where he could just ignore them and take his shots. I mean, what’s 6’2″ Reggie Jackson supposed to do when he’s in the spot to meet Markannen at the 3 pt line, but Markannen doesn’t even need to look his way because he has 10″ on Reggie and can just shoot over him. A box and one would’ve been ideal on Markannen. We might have won the game if we made him take only 10 shots vs 20.

Clips have 7 games left in Jan. I think they’re going to have to go 5-2 to stay in a decent position for the play in or a #6 seed. I don’t know if this team has it in them.

By: chogokin

chogokin — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 04:33:40 +0000

I’ve progressed through the stages of grief to acceptance. I accept that this team as presently constructed is nothing more than a borderline playoff/play-in team. Ty isn’t the coach we thought he was, and in retrospect we should’ve seen these struggles coming given the imbalance of the roster. Reggie, Wall, Norm, Luke, and MM all “core” guys we’re relying on for heavy minutes are all terrible to (at best) average defenders and not good rebounders. Mann is doing his best at PG but he’s only there because Reggie and Wall have been bad. We’re old, unathletic, and outside of Kawhi nobody on the team is playing up to expectations. Anyone outside of Kawhi and PG13 should be available for trade, and I’m only not including them because I know we aren’t getting anything close to full value for them and we don’t control our own picks.

It’s been mostly fun, but this iteration of the team just isn’t it. If we don’t make a big move before the deadline we’ve got nothing worth watching unless we play our rookies – we know all we need to know about the vets on this team.

By: lying dog-faced pony soldier

lying dog-faced pony soldier — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 04:24:08 +0000

This game: LOL

By: chogokin

chogokin — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 04:00:36 +0000

If we don’t make a blockbuster trade at the deadline and jettison off some poorly fitting pieces (*cough Wall cough MM cough Norm cough cough) we might as well just shut down Kawhi and PG13 the rest of the way. We aren’t going anywhere as presently constructed.

By: lying dog-faced pony soldier

lying dog-faced pony soldier — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 03:57:27 +0000

Drive, kick, miss a three, opponent runs down court and makes a three.

By: Oodypkt

Oodypkt — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 03:52:31 +0000

Or this is actually the showcase game for Norm?
This is a bit like Tobias game except it looks like we will lose this one.

By: lying dog-faced pony soldier

lying dog-faced pony soldier — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 03:45:41 +0000

"Bad team, man. Bad (expletive) team." -- Charles Barkley, via the late, great Jim Healy. It's not a bad team necessarily, just boringly ineffective at this point. Drive, kick, miss a three, watch the opponent score. Always injured and load managing doesn't help.

By: chogokin

chogokin — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 03:13:06 +0000

On the bright side, maybe Norm can convince some other teams he has positive trade value tonight.

By: chogokin

chogokin — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 02:41:22 +0000

I’ve just resigned myself to the fact that we aren’t beating any good teams the rest of the way. Even w/ Kawhi and PG13 playing this would be a tough game. If I were a Jazz fan I’d be upset if they lost to this Clippers squad.