Comments on: The 2021-22 Clippers are Unique But Possess Qualities of Past Squads.

By: mlslaw1

mlslaw1 — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 22:27:36 +0000

Avoid the play in? At this rate, I'm fine with just making the play in.

By: lying dog-faced pony soldier

lying dog-faced pony soldier — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 10:22:47 +0000

Cole, you are such a good writer. Re: "we may have been a little too optimistic coming into the year": I certainly was. But I think the team has underachieved and that they may improve somewhat the rest of the way. Don't see a title on the horizon even when Kawhi returns barring roster moves.

By: Oodypkt

Oodypkt — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 08:48:02 +0000

Also, from my opinion, Keon will be really good soon.

By: Oodypkt

Oodypkt — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 08:41:34 +0000

We can turn this around, even if we lose the to lakers next game.
I think we do the right thing about the young guys, alternating their time between the the main squad and the g-league. Let them play the most minutes they can.
We are 11-11 now, let’s just say we need to win around 60% of the total games to avoid the play-in. That’s 49-50 win pace.
So we have to win 38-39 games for the next 60. (63 to 65%)
It’s not easy but it’s doable. Ty has proved that just from the last playoffs.
When Batum is back and we have almost the full team, let’s see how we do.

By: mlslaw1

mlslaw1 — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 04:12:56 +0000

Hate being “cornered.” It sux.

By: John Maclean

John Maclean — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 22:36:13 +0000

Time for a take on the larger abstract picture:

Phoenix is better this season and the Warriors are back. Utah, Dallas and Denver aren’t going anywhere and Memphis is coming on now too. NOLA will be better next year too one way or another.

So getting Kawhi back next year doesn’t necessarily guarantee us a shot at the chip and we have to improve our roster too but how?

We don’t have a first rounder this year so there’s no currency in tanking.

There are limited star UFAs next summer and we haven’t the assets to clear the books to sign one of them anyway.

Seems to me there are only two paths forward: One of our young guys blossoms into our third star (Boston) or we roll the dice on a trade and get lucky.

Only available impactful star talents are Simmons who we don’t likely have the assets to get or JohnWall who would be very high risk/reward.

https://clutchpoints.com/clippers-must-pull-the-trigger-on-blockbuster-trade-for-unhappy-john-wall/

Yes his contract is huge but if it works we are set for not only this season but next season as well. If it’s a disaster then it’s onto the new arena the following season and the sun is still shining.

I don’t “love” this but we are cornered.

By: chogokin

chogokin — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 22:10:13 +0000

While fans were hoping the team would ride the high of last postseason and witness a repeat of last season’s “Canoes,” “Cockroach Clippers,” or whatever beloved version of the 2020-21 Clippers

I'm actually advocating for some full-time Canoes games. Given how horrible our schedule is this season, the veterans are going to need some nights off. So instead of trying to haphazardly throw together a gameplan at the last minute for a mix of a couple of vets and a bunch of the youngsters, just go full youth and let the results fall where they may. So for example I'd be totally fine w/ resting PG13, MM, Ibaka, and some combo of Reggie/Bledsoe (if they need it) against the Kings on Saturday (2nd game of B2B), and then just tossing out a lineup of like Bledsoe or Reggie/Luke/Coffey/Winslow/Zu, w/ Mann, Scrubb, Boston, KJ, and Hartenstein off the bench. If we aren't going to be contenders (and w/o Kawhi we definitely aren't) and/or at the very least good enough to clearly stay outta the play-in spots (like we were earlier this season), we might as well spend some time developing/preparing our young guys, instead of further wearing down the vets for games where they're clearly running on empty anyways.