There’s little to say about this one other than it’s very apparent that the Clippers’ starters hit a wall early in the first quarter. Coming into tonight, the Clipper starters have averaged almost 43 minutes per game each over their past six games. Add that eye-popping number to the final game of a four-in-five-nights stretch; throw in the fact that Milwaukee has played quite well since Michael Redd’s return, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Missing easy and open shots — particularly from the perimeter — is often a sign of tired legs as much as it is carelessness. The Clippers fall behind 8-0 coming out of the gate, as they miss their first six from the floor. What’s strange is that none of the first five shots are all that horrible: Randolph, Gordon, and Davis all get fairly open looks from beyond 20. Al Thronton misses an easy layup after beating Richard Jefferson off the dribble from the top of the key for a clean dribble-drive to the hole. Camby airballs an easy 10-foot jumper off an offensive board. Zach Randolph doesn’t score until [3rd, 9:22] when he muscles his way inside against Luc Richard Mbah a Moute for a 5-foot hook shot. Zach finishes with 4 points on 2-11 shooting in 24 minutes.
Early in the 4th quarter, Mike Dunleavy retires his starters and inserts DeAndre Jordan and Steve Novak, along with the other reserves. Jordan suffers a great indignity on an attempted dunk at [4th, 5:05], when Joe Alexander administers a spectacular stuff job that sends DeAndre crumpling to the floor.
The rebounding problems continue for the Clippers perimeter players. Davis, Gordon, and Thornton combine for five rebounds in 82 collective minutes. Baron Davis ranks 43rd out of 66 eligible PGs in rebounding rate; Eric Gordon ranks 69th out of 74 SGs; Al Thornton ranks 49th out of 58 at the small forward. Overall, the Clippers rank 21st, which gives you an impression of the load Camby and Randolph are carrying on the glass.
UPDATE: From The Canadian Press:
Los Angeles Clippers rookie guard Mike Taylor was expected to miss six weeks after fracturing his right thumb Friday night against the Chicago Bulls, coach Mike Dunleavy said Saturday night.
26 Responses
Yeah, they looked tired.
4 games in 5 days, Double OTs, Bench being useless.
Yeah, they loocked bad
Any news on Taylor’s injury
Stealth5 Reply:
December 21st, 2008 at 7:53 am
First time in the Clipper history they played 3 consecutive OT games.
Posted on December 20th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
If we had remotely decent backup PGs, I would bench Baron against the Raptors on Monday. This would be akin to baseball managers giving a slumping hitter a day off in order to get his mind right. Granted this is much easier to do when your team plays 162 games, but it’s not like the Clips are playing for anything so if they lose it just gets them that much closer to the Blake Griffin (Ricky Rubio?) Sweepstakes. At the very worst, the Clippers would lose the game and Baron would continue his horrific shooting upon his return, but isn’t that what we’ve come to expect anyway?
Posted on December 20th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Just on rebounding, would you figure BD & EJ to rebound well playing alongside two of the leading rebounders in the league? I guess team rebounding is the best measuring stick, which hadn’t been decent until Randolph was acquired.
Posted on December 20th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
OK guys, let’s be realistic once in a while.
Lakers are in trouble. Their fans are worried. Suddenly their team looks mediocre. What can we do about it?
Clippers can do a lot. They can give them BARON DAVIS & get Jordan Farmar & Center DJ MBenga. Problem solved! They need a star player who can take them to the NBA finals. We need to free-up Baron & get some help from the bench.
Farmar is a matured Mike Taylor. His style is ati-MDSr. but he can come off the bench & lead our bench.
Let Mardy Collins start at PG.
Matt G Reply:
December 21st, 2008 at 1:43 pm
That could be one of the most asinine ideas I have ever heard. Perhaps we should give them Al Thornton and Eric Gordon for Radmonvic and Walton while we’re at it, as we need more intelligent, system based players? Camby for Mihm to free up cap space?
Seriously, come on!
cliptakular Reply:
December 21st, 2008 at 5:51 pm
lol… are you a laker fan? Farmar sucks and he has worst defense than BD. Who are we gonna start, Farmar? Even the coaching staff laughed at the idea starting Farmar instead of Fisher when they were asked by a reporter.
and MBenga? lol…
clipperfan Reply:
December 23rd, 2008 at 11:25 am
Yea, STFU and go away Laker ASSHOLE.
Wade Reply:
December 22nd, 2008 at 8:16 am
Go away Laker ASSHOLE.
Posted on December 21st, 2008 at 7:51 am
Thornton & Eric Gordon might benefit from Jordan Farmar running the team.
Posted on December 21st, 2008 at 8:48 am
I would never make that trade!
Baron for a system scrub!
I would never help the lakers, if the lakers needed Paul Davis …. I wouldn’t give them crap
Posted on December 21st, 2008 at 8:55 am
Shhhhh… don’t spill it. Do you really think Baron is going to help Laker?
Posted on December 21st, 2008 at 9:06 am
you guys are insane.
Posted on December 21st, 2008 at 11:46 am
And once again here comes waughtang saying WE NEED A FUCKING BENCH…. time to move kaveman and see if we get ourselves a useful sixth man and a big back up so that we dont have to play this group 43 minutes a night with no one to sub in.
Matt G Reply:
December 21st, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Ostensibly, what you are asking for is exactly what Chris Kaman and Ricky Davis should be once they return from injury. Let’s hold off on the trades until we see how this team, when fully healthy, functions as a unit. We’ll be bringing a career 16 point scorer and a center who would start for at least 22 of the league’s teams in as our sixth and seventh guys. Moreover, Chris has a 50% off tag on his jersey thanks to the Randolph trade (which I am not knocking in the least, but a log jam of starter caliber big men was a byproduct of the move), which means we probably won’t get full value for him.
Posted on December 21st, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I am willing to trade Kaman for 3 descent players that could come off the bench and produce. This dude is never on the floor anyways.
I’ll trade Kaman for Morrison and two other players. Yes Morrison!!! This dude is playing pretty good right now off the bench even with limited minutes.
I also think that Steve Novak needs more playing time and Mardy Collins to stop trying to act like Kobe.
Posted on December 21st, 2008 at 5:55 pm
whoa nvm about morrison… he WAS playing welll earlier this year. lol
Stian Reply:
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:48 pm
We have Steve Novak who is a better shooter than Morrison. Why would we need Adam? We need to find a way to exploit Novak – not bring in another shooter.
Posted on December 21st, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Guess DeAndre is a looooong ways away. It’s crazy how far his stock dropped- he went from a consensus top 5 pick coming out of high school, to a 2nd rounder. One can only wonder if Kwame Brown would have suffered the same fate had he gone to college.
Posted on December 22nd, 2008 at 5:02 am
This is a good example of why we need a freakin bench.
bench on the bench Reply:
December 22nd, 2008 at 8:44 am
That’s exactly what we’ve got. A Freakin Bench!
pete mack Reply:
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:31 am
Even if you’re not going to propose a logical trade idea, please at least look at players salaries before you throw out an idea. How exactly do you trade Baron’s contract for 2 guys who make next to nothing? Did the Lakers stumble upon $15mm in cap space recently?
Lacklustre Lakers Reply:
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:36 am
Lakers don’t have a player we want. We won’t trade Baron even for KOBE. Period.
Posted on December 22nd, 2008 at 8:19 am
Shut up with the trades already. Why would we trade kaman for a bench when he’s is part of the bench. Ricky (the one who scores 15 ppg) and kaman should be given a chance before any knee jerk reactions (although the last knee jerk landed zach)
Posted on December 22nd, 2008 at 9:54 am
I’ll believe it when i see it. kaman should be a starter and having him coming off the bench isn’t going to work. period. ricky davis sucks. forget about his 12ppg days… his game was garbage this year. kaman should be a starter and he’s too valuable not to move.
Posted on December 22nd, 2008 at 11:44 am
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