Comments on: Clippers vs Mavericks Preview: Them Again

By: Dave Rosa

Dave Rosa — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:46:07 +0000

I continue to like this team.

Not having TMann available shows us how valuable he is.

KPJ is growing on me. He is still learning how to play with better players.

Bamba looks lost.

Bones isn’t really a point guard. He is more like Lou Williams. That is who he should be patterning his career after.

Will Leonard be back next week?

By: John Maclean

John Maclean — Mon, 23 Dec 2024 11:23:06 +0000

I may address this again on the preview for the Memphis game but I just watched the Clips and Dip pods and also Ausland Sunday who are now apoplectic about how undersized we are heading into this game after mocking all of us for weeks who have been clamoring for a power forward. You all have been telling us how in today’s league size doesn’t matter so let’s see how DJJ out slicks the Grizzlies with his three ball and hops. LOL. I’m actually glad we are at this crossroads because we needed the truth serum. The smart move would be to rest all key players and take the L but Ty will try to prove something and we’ll get our asses kicked anyway. I just hope no one gets injured in this beat down. 2 game above .500 and Kawhi returns for the next appraisal.

By: mlslaw1

mlslaw1 — Sun, 22 Dec 2024 20:43:49 +0000

I think you and others, including me, may have to re-evaluate KPJ. He’s got good size, can create his own shot, will pass and is a very willing shooter. I think you could easily say that he’s a better player than JMiller and I’d bet the coaches feel the same way. They have to cringe, though, when he effs up, but they obviously think the good far outweighs the bad. It’s kind of ironic how we groused about PGs TOs, carelessness and how he took off plays on D. Ironic in that KPJs TOs are very reminiscent of PG without the elite outside shooting. In short, I understand the leash and hope that KPJ has enough self awareness and work ethic to show some improvement.

By: zhiv

zhiv — Sun, 22 Dec 2024 18:50:34 +0000

Good points. Tough game. Harden not locked in, turnovers and missing shots, Norm not sharp until it was just a smidge too late. And yes, the “vaunted defense” wasn’t so good. Kind of saw it coming, but it’s still somewhat upsetting. Just have to move on.
I wouldn’t give up on Bamba–we knew he was going to be flawed in a number of ways. It’s about expectation management. He needs to rebound and provide rim protection and be available for lobs and layups (it shows KPJ’s weak playmaking that he never finds him), but he’s not going to be a finisher like Zu or some others. His 3 ball will go in from time to time, and his percentage will go up a little, but it’s a very limited weapon–he doesn’t need to take more than one or two a game. It’s mostly about length and rebounding, low expectations, and limited minutes.
I spent some time yesterday trying to figure out the KPJ long leash conundrum. The game and his line was a good sample: he was 8-12, 2-4 from deep, 19 pts in 27 min., 3 ast, 2 rebounds and -16. There’s an idea that the Clips are missing scorers with PG gone, and Norm and Zu have filled in and made up the difference in the starting lineup. But that takes Norm out of the bench unit, and KPJ can be both a scorer and a playmaker. He’s aggressive hunting baskets, and showed in Houston that he can generate volume and per game points. So in theory he could be a good and valuable player, and make steady progress towards reaching his (inflated, bad, losing team) ’22-’23 scoring. The 19pts/27min/-16 vs. JMiller 1min and Bones DNP shows that this is a dumb, dark, losing strategy in the best-case scenario. Both of those players could put up those numbers without the downside, if given those minutes. Will this be a Marcus Morris 65 starts/1825 minutes situation, where Ty Lue hangs on to an obviously detrimental player for way too long? It’s very possible. We’ll see.

By: mlslaw1

mlslaw1 — Sun, 22 Dec 2024 17:57:21 +0000

Couple things
–Live by the 3, die by the 3 (us 27%, them 40)
–James played like he didn’t really care after winning game one (7 TOs–team had 17 to their 11); missed a lot of shots he usually makes to keep us connected; we were disconnected most of the time
–Mavs bloggers say DJJ good but not great; not good in this game; my eye test tells me he needs to be more aggressive
–Great to see Dunn’s shots fall; really, really good addition
—Bench was bad other than KPJ–but he needs to value the ball a bit more (4 TOs); 4 guys got minutes but other than KPJ, they didn’t shoot the ball; they gotta put it up; or is their excuse that KPJ is a ball hog? Maybe a combo
–the one bench guy that did put up shots, Bamba, missed all but an easy lay in; I’m done with that guy; pretty bad player; just does not seem to add much value; not sayin Kai Jones is the answer either but that’s a spot where we should surely look to upgrade
–We let 3 guys have xlnt 3 pt shooting nites; looks like our vaunted D took the nite off as it was back to the “hope they miss that open look” D

Hoping for some sort of bounce back vs Griz but that’s probly gonna be an even tougher test. The guys better not be looking ahead to a Kawhi sighting thinking this losing will be forgotten if and when he appears. Vamos a ver.

By: dhpat

dhpat — Sun, 22 Dec 2024 14:54:55 +0000

If CP3 came back to the Clippers, what a full circle indeed!

By: John Maclean

John Maclean — Sun, 22 Dec 2024 03:19:31 +0000

So much for being hot from three. What makes this all the more agonizing is that if we were only half this bad it would be a W. Ugh maybe we catch fire in the 4th.

By: Douglas Coull

Douglas Coull — Sun, 22 Dec 2024 02:41:17 +0000

Unreal that Porter continues to get minutes. He is terrible, his specialties, turnovers, missed shots, dumb fouls.

By: John Maclean

John Maclean — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 22:49:31 +0000

Spurs looking to trade for Fox. They have limited options salary-matching so CP3 might have to be part of any deal. If so he would likely be waived. What an ideal backup for Harden if we could woo him back for one last hurrah. They obviously played well together in Houston too….

By: John Maclean

John Maclean — Sat, 21 Dec 2024 22:04:04 +0000

I’ve never really liked these baseball series because it allows the visiting team to “warm up” on the rims in game 1 so they are much hotter from deep in game 2. I hate it when we are the victims of this but it could play in our favor tonight. No guarantees obviously but I won’t be surprised if we get hot and pull off another W.