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Archive for February, 2009
Game Thread: Clippers at Portland
On February - 22 - 2009
Baron: World-Beater
On February - 20 - 2009
Baron Davis nails 18 3PAs in a minute, beating Steve Nash’s record of 16. [Hat tip: Skeets via Stern Warning]
If you’re scoring at home, that’s 18 for 23 in one minute on ibeatyou.com, and 63 for 224 in 1,425 minutes as a Clipper this season.
Makes sense:
Baron on catch-and-shoot jumpers: 1.07 PPP
Baron as a jump shooter off the dribble: 0.70 PPP
Trade Deadline Postmortem
On February - 20 - 2009
When asked Wednesday night if he was being asked to make personnel decisions with a mind toward the economic downturn, Dunleavy responded that he’d spoken to ownership and was told “to make basketball decisions.” Other than a vague report from Johnny Ludden about a deal between the Spurs and Clips for Marcus Camby that was “all but done,” there’s been little word that the Clippers were close to moving anyone.
The takeaway?
From Chad Ford’s team-by-team report:
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Positive Spin: I give up.
Phoenix 142, Clippers 119
On February - 19 - 2009
Want to achieve posterity at the Elias Sports Bureau? Here’s a formula for you:
Schedule back-to-back games against a team whose frontcourt consists of Shaquille O’Neal and Amare Stoudemire. Suit up only one big man — a 20-year-old rookie drafted in the second round.
Go.
Whatever overarching philosophy the Phoenix Suns are employing during their Gentry Reboot, it runs second tonight to a single offensive goal — abuse the Stoudemire-Thornton mismatch unmercifully.
In the game’s first six minutes, Stoudemire beats an undersized Thornton…
- In the left post with a running right-handed hook over his left shoulder [1st, 10:24]
- On a pretty S/R with Steve Nash, where Amare slips the screen, splits the defenders, then catches a pinpoint bounce pass from Nash en route to the hole, before going up for the slam [1st, 9:42]
- Again in the left post — this time with a baseline spin and nifty seal for a layup attempt that misses. Amare collects the ball and throws in the hook. [1st, 9:02]
- On a deep pick and roll — this time with Grant Hill — where Amare gets under the defenders, catches the easy lob pass from Hill, then slams it home. [1st, 8:35]
- Working off the dribble from left elbow, aided by a solid screen from Steve Nash [1st, 6:33]
You can’t really fault Al, or the help, or the coaching even. This is a cosmic loss. Al does the only thing he can do — try to cancel out Stoudemire on the other end. Thornton leads all scores in the first quarter with 14 on a whopping 13 shots and a pair of FTs. Most of the jump shots are fairly clean looks.
In fact, the Clippers have one of their better offensive games of the year, even before temps d’ordures. They turn the ball over only seven times. Eric Gordon works his way to the line for 13 attempts, turning a 5-12 night from the field into an efficient outing [64.9% TS]. The six dimes, five boards, and only one turnover are nice to see.
Ultimately, the Clippers allow that Stoudemire-Thornton mismatch — and their size disadvantage in general — to bleed into every facet of their defensive game. They’re so worried about Stoudemire at every moment that they begin to slough off the perimeter out of fear of getting beat inside, or they intuitively cheat a step toward Amare, even with Steve Nash coming down the lane at full speed. The Clippers are completely outmatched in the paint, even when they exert 100% effort. DeAndre Jordan deserves an attendance award just for showing up.
At least it won’t be forgotten.
[Image courtesy of ESPN.com]
Game Thread: Phoenix at Clippers
On February - 18 - 2009
