12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

[turty11]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

im not saying its not the refs, because anyone who watches harden knows hes getting FT's if his own teammate hits him probably....

im just pointing out tony allen has been a bad defender this year and that plays into it

[OkayC]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

We going to overtime in PORTLAND!!!

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

So, the Clippers are still depending on Chris Paul to do everything. Nothing's changed with Doc Rivers, one of the biggest criticisms of Del Negro is that he expected and depended on Paul to do everything.

Well Paul's averaging 14 shots per game compared to 12 last year.

Griffin has improved, despite what someone said in the other thread. Jordan is rebounding like crazy.

Other than that they look like the same exact team as last year, if not worse.

It'll be interesting to see what people have to say if the Clippers don't make it out of the first round again. Blame Rivers this time? I doubt it.

[23]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

Its not all of the same players as last year and they're without Reddick as well.

The Clippers rely on Chris Paul but that's okay since he's one of their best clutch players. The problem under Del Negro is that he pretty much relied on that all of the time.

We've seen Blake look better, Jordan look better, and their offense no longer looks like a fake Erik Spolestra offense when Lebron first showed up in Miami.

They do need to keep out of foul trouble and im not sure what happened to that play drawn up for a Jamal Crawford 3. With that and the fake off that Blake took for the dunk is something that would've never happened under Del Negro.

I personally don't like Dudley and Reddick is a questionable signing because they need another scorer. Of Reddick, Barnes, Dudley and S Jax somebody is redundant and a trade probably needs to happen.

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

Definitely not the same team as last year, they're better than last year on paper. With Reddick or not. As you said, Blake and Jordan have improved and they got Collison and Dudley to replace Bledsoe and Butler. They certainly aren't worse than last year.

As far as the offense goes, it looks pretty darn similar to the past two years. Iso Crawford, CP3 pick and roll, lob city, etc. etc. Defensively, looks pretty similar. The Clippers overall aren't any more "scary" than they were last season.

Paul is depended upon just as much as he was the past two years. He's working just as hard. Playing two more minutes than he was last year. A significantly higher usage rate than last year. Attempting two more shots per game.

The fact is he is relied upon the same this year, in fact more so, than he has been under Del Negro.

[23]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

Definitely not the same team as last year, they're better than last year on paper. With Reddick or not. As you said, Blake and Jordan have improved and they got Collison and Dudley to replace Bledsoe and Butler. They certainly aren't worse than last year.

As far as the offense goes, it looks pretty darn similar to the past two years. Iso Crawford, CP3 pick and roll, lob city, etc. etc. Defensively, looks pretty similar. The Clippers overall aren't any more "scary" than they were last season.

Paul is depended upon just as much as he was the past two years. He's working just as hard. Playing two more minutes than he was last year. A significantly higher usage rate than last year. Attempting two more shots per game.

The fact is he is relied upon the same this year, in fact more so, than he has been under Del Negro.

Doc is notorious for overplaying his guys too. He almost killed Ray Allen's legs and probably did kill the little bit Pierce had.

I think Butler and Bledsoe were better than Reddick and Dudley IMO. They don't need 5000 shooters that can't create for themselves off the dribble.

Tonight Blake and Paul had 30+ a piece but nobody else did. Jordan had 2 points and a ton of boards or something of that nature but nothing to offset that ala a 3rd scorer.

Having Reddick, Barnes, Jackson, Dudley and Green, they need a guy who can put pressure on the defense and drive at the wing that can score. Not as easy as getting one, but just because they moved a couple of guys doesn't mean they've stepped it up a notch. None of those guys are really someone you look to for consistent offense on a nightly basis as a 1st 2nd 3rd and probably not even a 4th guy.

..and even with that good riddance to Del Negro from the NBA for good.

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

He may not be a great coach, but del negro was a scapegoat. He deserved blame but the players deserved much more. A lot of folks wrote their shortcomings and failures mostly on del negro, oversimplifying the problems to one individual.

We're seeing virtually the same team as last year, I just looked at the defensive stats and they are identical to last year in terms of defensive efficiency. Similar in points allowed and not too far off opponent field goal percentage. Blake is still floating around the perimeter and Paul is still depended upon to make every play (god bless him, he still makes it look easy). There's nothing wrong with relying on Paul at all, he's built for it and that's when he thrives. Just want to point out he's being used even more so than the del negro era.

Coaching was a problem last year for sure, and so was a bunch of other things with the players themselves. Hopefully the finger gets pointed in the correct direction this time should the clippers not advance further than they did last year. When you boil down their team, it's still really iffy due to their half court offense. They had better pray reddick comes through to spread the floor once the games actually mean something because as much as griffin has improved, I wouldn't blame anyone for not having faith in his post game quite yet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[King_B_Mack]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

As someone that had to sit through Vinny coaching, I can tell you he's not just a scapegoat and the players certainly didn't deserve more blame than him. This is the same dude that couldn't make any use of Luol Deng and couldn't understand why he needed to actually have Derrick Rose on the floor in the last seconds of close games instead of sitting on the bench.

[OkayC]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

Chris paul doing too much is still a problem. We've seen what the clippers look like when Chris isn't playing well or at all. I agree that they need more shot creators, Jared dudley and redick don't fix their problems, at best it sorta covers them up a little because they demand so much attention by being good shooters. But in the playoffs good teams will figure out how to over work paul pretty much crippling the clippers on offense, we've seen thespurs do this a few times whether you realize it or not. I have no doubt the clippers will be a 3 or 4 seed and then take a second round exit. I wish I could say their success relies on griffin, but it doesn't. Griffin will always play well because he has paul to set him up perfectly,. This teams success will rely on just that, the team.

[23]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

Reddick has been injured and Dudley aint a good anything this year. Like I said, some of those guys are redundant and need to be traded.

The biggest issue is the Clippers need to not consider Paul Blake and Jordan their big 3 because they aren't. They really need another big time scorer....

If Jorand fouls out of a game then he needs to get better at it, but Del Negro would just sit the guy out and leave it at that and on top of it when they needed something or anything at all the guy was clueless. He was last years Jason Kidd

[OkayC]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

I still don't see what reddick is exactly supposed to fix other than making Crawford go to the bench where he belongs. But tbh I've kinda liked Crawford starting. It did wonders for my fantasy team lol. In all seriousness though, why are people acting like the clips problems go away once redick comes back. He's a spot up shooter with good positional defensive skills. Its not like he's Iggy and can handle the ball and rebound and be a defensive stopper or nothing.

[23]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

I don't think Reddick fixes anything IMO


Also -

@TimBontemps

Sign of the apocalypse: on Jan. 8, Lakers-Rockets will no longer be on ESPN. Instead? Suns-Wolves.

[Vni]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

There's a reason he's the first in NBA History.. Im sorry but its hard to respect refs and what the nba is doing with that kinda stuff.

OMG I MISSED THAT. 2 of 9 shooting 27 ****ing points 22 of 25 from the line. Is this a joke seriously?

[The 24th Letter]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

Glad the league spoke out against the Griffin ejection, they don't usually do that...

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: 12/26 - 12/31 Games Discussion Thread

All I know is the excuses for CP3 have run out. They got him what he wants and even though I still give him at least another year, if they don't make it past the 1st round and their team is still relatively healthy going in, Coaching should be the last thing pointed at.