The game between the Clippers and Warriors in Oakland wasn’t televised in Los Angeles or on the web. I wasn’t able to listen to the game on radio, and can only glean so much from the box score of the Clips’ 108-101 loss to GSW.
The Red Flags
- 16 offensive rebounds for Golden State. That means the Clippers Defensive Rebound Rate was in the 63% range. That said, neither Blake Griffin (left knee) nor Marcus Camby (also left knee) logged minutes, and the Clippers went very, very small with a starting lineup of Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Rasual Butler, Al Thornton and Chris Kaman. On the other hand, Butler, Gordon, and Ricky Davis combined for seven rebounds in 97 minutes. It’s worth saying again: If the Clippers’ wings don’t improve their rebounding rate, the Clippers are going to be giving up a ton of possessions and will have a hard time winning basketball games. Al Thornton’s seven rebounds in 20 minutes was the only silver lining here.
- 26 turnovers. Baron Davis (7), Eric Gordon (5), DeAndre Jordan (5) were the main culprits. 26 turns in any competitive game is bewildering, but it’s hard to parse what went wrong without the benefit of video.
- 23 FTAs against 75 FGAs (and 26 TOs). A FTA rate of 20.7 ain’t gonna cut it in the regular season. Again, this isn’t something that can be easily critiqued without video. For those who were at the game, were the Clippers not aggressive off the dribble? Only DeAndre Jordan had an above-average effort in this department. He led the team in FTAs with 9 (making 6).
The Positives
- DeAndre Jordan was perfect from the field. In 12 possessions, DeAndre racked up 22 points — great, great stuff. Jordan has been working on his post game tirelessly this summer and it will be fun to see whether these numbers can be attributed to that effort, or whether he’s just using his athleticism to slam home loose balls and offensive rebounds … not that there’s anything wrong with that.
- Eric Gordon, 7-11 from the field. Eric was fourth last year among shooting guards in true shooting percentage, and last night he picked up where he left off, compiling a TS clip of 72 percent.
- 10-23 from beyond the arc. Even with Steve Novak on the bench and Rasual Butler converting only one of seven attempts, the Clips filled it up from long distance. Ricky Davis (3-4), Kareem Rush (2-2) and Gordon (2-4) were the heavy hitters.
22 Responses
I listened to it a little on 980 AM and DeAndre was really on his game last night. The Clips led most of the game but they were facing the full prowess of GSW without Camby and Griffin. Needless to say it’s hard to troubleshoot the first game of the pre-season. Last year the Clips looked great in pre-season and we know how that ended.
Still the rebounding rate is a concern from the guards. What’s Kareem Rush all about? I thought he was done in the NBA.
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Posted on October 5th, 2009 at 11:42 am
I know he is not on the Clips, but Morrow has been looking great. If he can get some consistent time on the shaky Warriors, he could turn into something special.
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Posted on October 5th, 2009 at 11:44 am
I managed to listen to the second half. From what I heard, it seemed like ( especially in the 3rd) LA would play great defense , get a stop, steal or create a turn over, come back the other way and (Whistle!) . Kaman offensive , Smith offensive,Baron offensive.
Warriors get the ball go to their court And (Whistle!!) one of their guys was going to the free throw line. The game was back n fourth until early in the 4th when Baron went to the bench and Collins came in at PG. Thats when the offense went sour for LA.
Golden state won the game but it could have gone either way . The calls did not favor LA ; not saying it was rigged or anything. The Warriors were at 95% health only missing Brandon Wright. LA missing 3 key players were not as complete.
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Posted on October 5th, 2009 at 11:44 am
I think with Blake and Camby in the game we would be just fine. If blake can give 70% of what i think he will be able to at his best, we will be fine
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Posted on October 5th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Our need for wings who can rebound was an issue last year and we knew it, unfortunately we had some bigger fish to fry and that may have been an overlooked issue that bites us in the end, but hopefully we can work with what we have and teach them how to rebound better. That our when we go big with Kaman & Camby up front let’s try and see if Blake can play SF then we will outrebound every team including the dream team.
Nice to see Ricky Davis 3-4 beyond the arc, as a person i hope he’s able to bounce back and shine one last year, that’d be unexpected fuel to add to the fire.
****** On a side not with all the fouls in all nba pre-season games thus far I think these replacement refs need a long preseason of their own to get out their kinks in calling a million fouls. Sadly, they are probably calling all the real fouls cuz we all know that real nba refs just let them play and don’t call fouls we sometimes want called.
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bongstradamus Reply:
October 5th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Haha yea I was thinking about that too. The new refs probably want to do such a good job that they are calling everything they see instead of letting things go.
We’ll know for sure when the Heat play if D-Wade gets 12 TO’s from his infamous palm action.
And we also saw why DeAndre was considered a lottery pick at one point. What a great game he had.
Is Kareem Rush on a guaranteed deal or was he an invite? I’ve seen him do some pretty interesting things in his career but he never seemed to find a place he belonged. We need good shooters and last night he looked like he fit in.
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Posted on October 5th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Saw this game in Oakland last night and DeAndre Jordan looked GREAT. Scored on a lot of garbage plays, but also showed off a number of baby hooks and some nice spin moves for dunks. Showed a lot of confidence in the post, and didn’t try to rush things.
He was also impressive on defense, fast on his feet and on one play even chased down Stephen Curry before the defense recovered. On an and1 attempt Jordan swatted a shot after the whistle into the stands and got a bunch of oooh’s from the crowd. He also got a lot of “who the heck is this dude?!?” comments from the Warriors fans we sat by. Curry’s one to watch for too, he played a great game.
Kaman didn’t look bad, it’s clear he’s been practicing his jumper looks quicker with the lost weight. He also didn’t get dribble happy and made some nice passes out of the double team. Overall, the Clips looked confident shooting the ball from range with good ball movement for open 3’s.
The scab refs sucked and made some pretty bad calls going both ways. Overall though, probably the best I’ve seen the Clips play in Oakland the last couple of years.
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D.J. Foster Reply:
October 5th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Good stuff Timmy – thanks for the breakdown.
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Kevin Arnovitz Reply:
October 6th, 2009 at 7:35 am
Thank you, Tim. Our first eyewitness account — and a fine one.
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Timmy Reply:
October 6th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Love this site, keep it up! -tl
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Posted on October 5th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Eric was okay but could have been better with his ability to take care of the ball. It was a interesting game but again the 4th quarter bites us. Clipps should try to get everyone suited for the Blazers.
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Posted on October 5th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the 3 is a big weakness for us. Al Thorton is what Al Thorton is. He ain’t getting better. I’d package Kaman and Thorton for a better 3. Probably just a dream, I know…
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Posted on October 5th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
hmmmm it really ticked me off that this was no where to be found i couldnt even listen to it on the radio but…..judging by Als shooting percentage …we really need to get someone to work with him or something….he can be really really special….but if something doesnt happen with him quickly he will soon turn into the next corey maggette……and i mean that in a bad way…
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Posted on October 5th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Kev, I look forward to your recap after every Clipper game.
It makes me proud to be a Clipper Fan, that we have intelligible and rational fans such as yourself. I wrote a blog about you after I discovered you were gay. Your post on Brendan Haywood really shook my stereotypes of the homosexual community.
You posted my video on your website last year just before the clippers got a verbal commitment from Baron Davis.
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Kevin Arnovitz Reply:
October 6th, 2009 at 7:36 am
Thanks, Mike. Sincerely appreciate the support.
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Posted on October 5th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
As much as I hated Maggs when he was with the Clippers, he at least gave us another dimension with this team with his ability to get to the free throw line and put the opposing team in foul trouble. Al doesn’t seem to do anything great. He’s just an athletic guy, but lacks the fundamentals and I.Q. to be a great player in this league. Not that it’s a bad thing with Al. Personally, I feel that he’s best suited for a 6th man role with his scoring. We really need to find a way to upgrade our starting SF spot. Hopefully, Rasual is up for the challenge because it’s right there for the taking.
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Posted on October 5th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Numbers wise, the Clippers had a nice little game. Shot a fair percentage from 2 and 3 points.
They lost the game due to turn overs and at the free throw line. Don’t wana bash the team too much . It was the game and I can not wait for the next one.+
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Posted on October 6th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Wait, I have a Q. If Al got about 5 rebounds per game last year, why is his rebound rate such and issue. Butler, for instance, got around 3.
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Kevin Arnovitz Reply:
October 7th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Ian:
There’s some bad news and some bad news: http://tinyurl.com/y9ddl4j
Given the large number of possessions he played, Al’s 5 rpg is unimpressive and actually quite low.
Butler, for everything he offers as a corner sniper and lanky defender, is equally ineffective as a rebounder.
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Posted on October 6th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
KA,
is there a reason why you’re responding alot more on the comments than before? Is it the mobile format that allows you to do so? Don’t get me wrong, I love your thoughts/comments on OUR comments. It’s great!
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Kevin Arnovitz Reply:
October 7th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Y’all make me a better man.
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Posted on October 7th, 2009 at 9:18 am
I just looked at the season schedule and none of the games are televised on any over the air stations. And I don’t have cable! Oh well….
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Posted on October 8th, 2009 at 11:01 am
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