“Can we hope for a single digit loss? Is that asking entirely too much?”
– A modest pre-game request from commenter Slax.
For over three quarters, it looked probable, didn’t it? But a 22-0 Lakers run in the fourth quarter made the final score of this game indistinguishable from the other recent blowouts.
Do you really want to dissect the anatomy of a 22-0 run? I don’t. Instead, let’s take a more general look at what was working early, and what went awry late.
The starting unit [first Marcus Camby at the PF, then Tim Thomas who subbed in after Camby picked up his second foul] put up big numbers early – 18 points before the 6:00 mark in the first quarter, and 29 for the quarter.
- [1st, 8:24] This is a basic drive-and-kick, which Baron likes to run in transition. It’s pretty simple: Baron Davis gets a high screen from Thomas. Thornton is on the left wing; Cat is on the right. Baron drives left to draw Vlad Radmanovic from Thornton. It works. Davis kicks it out to Thornton, who pump-fakes, almost takes the shot from 25, but then realizes he has the space to dribble closer in. He opts for the latter option, pulls up to 18 and nails the shot. Well-designed and smart use of personnel, good execution, a mature decision from Thornton to take a higher-percentage shot, and – of course, the shot falls.
- [1st, 8:18] The Clippers set up early off a Lakers’ make. The ball goes to Thornton atop the right arc. He’s being covered by Kobe Bryant. Thornton tries to back Bryant in, but it’s apparent early on that this isn’t going to be the shot. Instead, Thornton dishes it left to Thomas at the top of the arc. The ball continues around the perimeter to Davis, who’s to Thomas’ left. If the ball were to continue its full revolution around the arc, Mobley – who’s situated in the right corner – would be next. But Mobley recognizes that Radmanovic is cheating high. This affords Mobley the opportunity to make a baseline cut across the court. Mobley lands all by himself in the right corner. Davis makes a brilliant skip pass over to Mobley, who nails the 3PA.Even against the better teams, there’s almost always one defensive lapse like that per possession, but they usually last only a nanosecond. The challenge is being able to exploit it. Good teams do. Lesser teams – less so.
Kaman doesn’t get many shots tonight, but the ones he attempts are, once again, decisive – including a nice turnaround jump shot without putting the ball on the floor against Gasol in the mid-post.
So what doesn’t work [apart from, like, a missed wide-open dunk underneath the basket] during the blackout in the 4th?
- [4th, 7:42] A lousy backdoor pass from Ricky Davis that’s intercepted by Lamar Odom.
- [4th: 7:07] Off the baseline inbound, the ball goes into Tim Thomas. TT then lobs a lazy pass up top to Baron Davis – only it never gets there. As careless a play as you’ll see in pro ball.
- [4th, 6:51] It goes into Al Thornton, who tries to post Ariza out on the wing. Thornton attempts a couple of shot fakes, but he can’t work much here against Ariza…but he launches the contested shot anyway with :13 still on the clock.
After this stretch, the Clips actually get some good looks – wide open 3PAs, a couple of botched layups by TT. But, down double-digits, they press. And that’s never good.
Whatever his shortcomings defending the S/R, Camby’s defensive presence down low is paying dividends for the Clips. The Lakers shoot less than 39% from the field – and Camby is responsible for changing a bunch of those attempts – and blocking four others.
It’s doubtful the Clippers can stage the turnaround that Baron Davis’ GSW achieved after starting 0-6 last season. But the Clippers’ core is certainly capable of playing .500 ball in this league going forward – when healthy. That’s always the caveat.
20 Responses
All in all, for the first time this year, the clippers looked like one of the better teams in the league tonight. If we can put an even more complete game together on Friday maybe we can get this thing pointed in the right direction.
Posted on November 6th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Hmmmm…last year 5-0 but we all knew that was a mirage b/c we looked like crap out there. We were heavily relying on godlike performances from TT and Cassell.
Today, we are 0-5 and look like a better team. I want a better team but I still want to win.
Is time to trade for lazy VC???
Posted on November 6th, 2008 at 7:40 am
WHERE THE HELL IS GORDON!!!?????
taylor Reply:
November 6th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Everytime Gordon is in he looks lost. I realize it is usually junk minutes, but it doesnt look like he has adapted to the pro game yet. Give him some time and i am sure by the all star break he will be in the regualar rotation.
In the meantime – when are they going to start selling Mike Taylor jersey’s?
Posted on November 6th, 2008 at 8:17 am
That 4th quarter was very difficult to watch. It frustrates me to watch the Lakers (in particular Kobe) take the ball to the hoop every play and either get an easy dunk/lay-up or foul shots. The NBA treats the Clippers like 2nd class citizens. There were numerous times when the Lakers went for a dunk/lay-up and the whistle would come in late because the shot was missed. Very blatant!!! I’m starting to think that this whole NBA thing is a joke…
Posted on November 6th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Anyone notice after Gordon took a shot Dunleavy didn’t like, he got benched for the rest of the game. I think when Gordon went in, Dunleavy told him not to take a shot, just pass.
Posted on November 6th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Why couldn’t the Clippers stage a comeback like GS did last year?
Posted on November 6th, 2008 at 10:48 am
i’ve noticed that often kaman is lazy under the boards. he rarely gets a rebound that doesn’t fall right into his hands. but i can’t fault just him, nobody boxes on this team. whenever s hot goes up, they just stand around watching, or head back down the court. can somebody please put some effort in here? the only people who hussle on a regular basis is baron, cutino, thornton (offensive only), and mike taylor. camby just got back, so he has a buffer time. lead-footed kaman too often just reached for a ball as if his feet are bolted to the floor. move your legs!!
tim thomas is a hack. no effort at all on defense. we all saw how he got used time and time again by millsap the other night. yet dunleavy keeps his ass in the game. i can’t wait till his contract it up so we can get rid of him. but knowing him, next year he’ll actually try because his wants another contract. dunleavy better not re-sign him.
and what hell is up with ricky davis aka omarion’s twin brother? he’s been beyond horrible! i was excited when they announced his signing in the summer to see his offensive impact off the bench (pts, assists, 3pts). but he hasn’t done ANYTHING.
it’s so frustrating to watch them just blow every game like this and seeing how lazy these guys are playing right now. baron, cutino, and marcus….please be the leaders of this team and get in the faces of the other guys to get off their ass and earn their paychecks!
Posted on November 6th, 2008 at 11:39 am
It looks like LA’s starting line up can compete but the bench is hurting us. Why the hell doesnt Gordon get more minutes? why didnt Novak suit up. The Lakers had fresh legs and went on that 22-0 run.
Posted on November 6th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I don’t understand why Gordon is not getting minutes. I see guys like Mayo and Rose playing 30 plus minutes a game and it really frustrates me. Gordon played toe to toe with these guys throughout his career. If he doesnt break his wrist last year the second half of his college year he would have been a top three or four pick.
Posted on November 6th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
2 things
1.Why is kaman as blind as a bat. every time he spins in the post he gets stripped
2.We never get 2nd chance points, while we always give up 2nd chance points to the opponent
Posted on November 6th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Did anyone read the Phil Jackson quote before the game when asked about the Clippers?
“They should get it. They’ll get it. Unfortunately the season started a little early for them. It takes a month of playing basically to get in shape. Two or three weeks, at least.”
Posted on November 7th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Here’s the problem
- No Monta Ellis once his suspension is over I hope he wants out from Golden State and comes to LA to help the Clippers.
- And the second unit on the bench is inexperienced and inconsistent. We are making strides though.
- We have a hard time keeping people on the team.
- We need another head coach which is Jeff Van Gundy or Avery Johnson
Weaknesses:
The team lacks star power in the absolute sense. The Clippers don’t have a single all star caliber player on the roster which is going to force the team to use its depth and diversity to find success.
While the team does have some talent, most of its depth is underdeveloped and inexperienced.
Plus Ricky Davis is a ball hog and no one has coached him good enough to change his game he really needs to tighten up on defense and on offense by moving without the ball then he can score. Ricky has helped us lose every game because he is our 6th man so far.
BoomDizzleisaClipp Reply:
November 7th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
umm have you not heard of Baron Davis…Boom Dizzle is a star!
Posted on November 7th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Please, please, PLEASE … let’s get a win tonight.
Posted on November 7th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I hope so it’s all goin to come down to if we got gas left in the tank in the last half of the game and focus that’s been our biggest problem so far.
Posted on November 7th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
the clippers shouldnt even be a team. they are the most embarrassing franchise in all of sports and they are second class citizens
Posted on November 8th, 2008 at 12:26 am
Avery apparently drove the Dallas players nuts, they begged Cuban to fire him or said they wouldnt re-sign. Thats why he got fired after going to the playoffs each season. JVG would be the best choice, but i think he cant coach anymore because his heart will explode from the stress so thats why hes still an analyst.
I wonder how that Forbes report will end up after this season now that Elton is gone. Theres no doubt attendance boomed when he was here, and from what i’ve seen, its a little thin in Staples lately.
I want to see more DeAndre. Make Camby and DeAndre the tandem bigs, and Eric and Baron the wings. Keep Camby and Kaman off the floor at the same time, it hasnt worked. Keep Marcus, Baron and the kids as a unit. Skinner’s hustling, and is great off the bench for starter breaths, but the future of this team is in DJ, Eric, Baron and Al. They need the minutes and at an 0-6 start, its better to look like youre trying to tank in order to develop players than to play this frankenstein mashup and lose.
On the trade front, NY and GS are screaming to make a deal.
A random trade that works on the calculator:
LAC trades Marcus Camby and rights to Sofoklis Schortsanitis to GSW for Al Harrington and Marcus Williams.
Getting Al Harrington and Marcus Williams addresses 2 of our needs. A dynamic 4 and a big natural 1. It makes a whole ton of sense to do this. You can also swap out Camby for Kaman as their contracts are only 500k different. Its probably better for the opposing team to get Camby though because of the expiring contract and his bonafides. Kaman has 4 more years and is still sporadic. His youth is appealling, but does the other GM wanna bite off on $40m over 4 years? And do we want to give up on him?
Posted on November 8th, 2008 at 9:16 am
“LAC trades Marcus Camby and rights to Sofoklis Schortsanitis to GSW for Al Harrington and Marcus Williams.”
LOL @! Bongstradamus (perfect handle, btw!). Camby is worth more than Harrington and Williams combined. Harrington is an undersized PF with a bad attitude. Mike Taylor is better than Marcus Williams. We have ZERO need for either. Sofo is worthless – unless Baron can get him a discount at Jenny Craig and he loses about 150 lbs.
Posted on November 10th, 2008 at 12:20 am
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Posted on November 12th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
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