Even with all the highlight plays and their hot first quarter start, the Clippers still fell to the Lakers tonight 114-108 in the championship game of the Lakers Preseason Shootout Tournament. There were a lot of promising signs for the Clippers early, but the general effort and level of play tailed off dramatically as the game progressed, even with 4 of the Clippers starters playing over 30 minutes. Here are 5 things to take from this preseason tilt:
- Defensive Rebounding- The Clippers let up 11 offensive rebounds, 8 of them going to Andrew Bynum. We’ve spoken at length about the lack of rebounding from the wings (zero boards tonight from Gordon in 34 minutes), but it’s absolutely baffling when this front line gets outworked. Chris Kaman, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan were no match for the energy level Bynum brought in the third quarter, where Bynum pulled in 4 of his 8 offensive boards. Yes, Bynum is a beast and he’s going to get his, but 8 offensive boards from one guy is borderline absurd. Griffin needs to put people on his backside, Kaman needs to put in a little more effort, and DeAndre needs to work on his positioning when the shot goes up. Craig Smith, all 6’7 of him, hit the boards the hardest of the Clipper big men tonight.
- Forcing The Issue – The Clippers are playing at a much quicker pace this year, to mixed results. A lot of points can be scored through a secondary fast break offense, but sometimes the quick hitter just isn’t going to be there. Outside of the first quarter, where Baron and Gordon were carving up the Lakers interior defense, and Craig Smith’s ridiculous 2nd quarter (15 points!), the offensive sets were either non-existent or very sloppily ran. Kaman in particular was more or less a black hole in the fourth quarter, forcing multiple turnaround fadeaways against Mbenga. It’s no coincidence that the offensive production started to fall off as soon as the ball stopped moving.
- Craig Smith – Game high 26 points, 12-14 from the free throw line, and 7 rebounds. Rhino is brutally effective in the paint offensively, but he’s no slouch on the other end either. Smith isn’t going to contest shots, but he occupies a whole lot of space and does a great job clearing out other bigs. Smith plays hard, hits people hard, and should prove to be a great unconventional scorer for the 2nd unit this season. He won himself some extra minutes in the rotation with his play tonight.
- Pick and Roll – The Clippers used the pick and roll very rarely compared to other NBA teams last year, and when they did use it they were one of the league’s worst at getting points off it. Consider the following though: Baron Davis has had no issue with penetrating and getting into the paint this preseason. His backcourt partner Eric Gordon is very dangerous when he gets momentum and his shoulders square to the rim. Rasual Butler stretches the defense and demands constant attention. DeAndre Jordan is Tyson Chandler-esque off the roll and lob. Chris Kaman can knock down a 17 footer with consistency. Blake Griffin can run and jump to the rim and create all kinds of havoc. The only person not particularly cut out for pick and roll offense is Marcus Camby, but it’s not like he’s incapable of doing it. Quick pick and rolls on the secondary break this year could result in a lot of easy buckets, and if nothing else the pick and roll gets the defense moving and promotes ball movement. A good portion of the Clippers first quarter scoring explosion tonight came off the high pick and roll.
- Clutch Plays – Contrary to what you were led to believe from watching last year’s squad, most NBA games are close in the fourth quarter and are usually decided by 2-3 possessions on average. Tonight, when the Clippers were down and needed a bucket to stay in the game, they looked flat and indecisive on offense. Every team needs a closer, and it has not yet become evident who that person is for the Clippers. Zach Randolph, to his credit, was the Clippers most productive player in the clutch last year, but now that he’s gone who fills that role? Ideally it’s Gordon, but it remains to be seen if Gordon is assertive enough to be that guy.
18 Responses
After reviewing the boxscore, it looks like the lakers’ advantage came from behind the arc. Clippers out rebounded the other team, shot a higher field percentage and freethrows.
I was hoping for a win, this one stung a little bit.
Why where the lakers getting so many open 3′s during the second half ? Rotations were not as crisp and energy dropped some it seemed. 4-2 pre season record and counting.
Newtybar Reply:
October 19th, 2009 at 8:59 am
AMMO came out firing in the 3rd and 4th. Helped the Lakers rally.
D.han Reply:
October 19th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Kaman=blackhole, like dj said and farmar kept attacking and kicking it out. I think Morrison had a few long range buckets in the fourth.
Re: pick and roll with camby
he has a decent midrange shot (as ugly as it looks). He’ll be able to hit that after setting the screen.
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 7:28 am
This gamed showed the glaring weakness of our pg’s. after BD we do not have anyone at this time. Collins was a turn over machine and Ricky Davis was terrible on both ends of the court. Wasn’t his man Morrison when he lit up the 3′s? i hope that Collins and Ricky Davis do not get any playing time in the reg season!!!
James Reply:
October 19th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Remeber Telfair was out with an injury, in a real big game this season I doubt Collins or Ricky Davis gets meaningful minutes unless someone is hurt.
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 9:41 am
If we’re going to play at this faster pace, there are certain things we’re going to have to accept. Guys are encouraged to take quick open looks and sometimes they’re going to have off nights. Kaman took mostly good shots and shots he’ll usually make.
I agree with the above comments., The biggest problem was the defense. The team did a very poor job getting to the 3-point shooters. That was the difference. The Lakers have 5 guys who are dangerous out there and with Bynum playing well and demanding double teams the way Gasol often does, they are just a very tough team to defend against. A good start to defending them would be leaving Ricky on the bench.
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 9:57 am
I cannot believe the highlight package showed a bunch of Lakers 3′s but ZERO Griffin dunks…not even the one where he posterized Mbenga!!!
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 10:57 am
First of all, listening to those 2 Laker suck-up announcers is brutal. I mean these 2 would volunteer to lick Kobe’s ass dry every night after his shower if they could. It’s sickening. Speaking of disease and infection, how about that Ricky Davis! Man, this guy can suck the life out a party faster than a hooker from Haiti with the swine flu. Why is this walking turd even in uniform! You can’t change the culture with a jerk-off like this suiting up every night. Bring back Mike Taylor and cut this loser. Seriously, do you want this thug, low-life anywhere near Blake Griffin? I don’t think so.
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 11:34 am
TNT57 haha that is some sick visualization… Now I must go on a pilgrimage to a holy site and drink holy water for a day to purge my mind. Sad but true however and I was getting annoyed last night due the A$$ licking Stu and Joel were putting on.
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Ricky honestly wasn’t that bad until he let Morrison open with the 3′S. I don’t know why we didn’t use EG and Butler to close out the game. Anyway we need to suck up this loss and destory in our next game. this team needs a blowout type fashion win before we face the lakers again.
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
the blake dunk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHtqR2hW0hk
phenomenal… check out the lakers on the bench almost jumping out of their seats with amazement… then covering up their faces to hide their grins/laughs
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Blake Griffin is a Beast. Bynum was a beast as well . Kaman did a great job on him early but got owned in the second half . I too noticed and had to tune out the disgusting verbal assault that is stu lance and the other guy. Geeze , to an extent, yes they are the Champs and I understand that But Damn! They were a lil too cocky.
This game should help fuel the fire thats has been burning in the Clippers engine thus far.
Lets not forget that these Lakers are the camps and naturally they feel great and superior to the league. I cant deny them that. San Antonio , Utah, Portland and Golden State fans were silcenced through out the pre season by Clipper victories, now Lakers’ fans remain.
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Just realized this isn’t the highlight of Griffin’s dunk that I meant to post. Oy. I guess it’s preseason for everyone.
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
deciding who our “clutch player” will be is my biggest concern…..
im tired of the plays where we need a hoop either to break the either teams momentum…take a lead…tie a game or eve win a game late at the buzzer and we just get off a horrible shot or worse off turn the ball over ….the security we had with sam cassell was great we needed a hoop we went to him….we needed a shot towards the end of the game we went to him……
who will we go to now?
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
I know it’s pre-season, but the weaknesses are still the weaknesses. Gordon got very few shots after the first quarter, I’m not sure you can credit the Lakers defense for that, but the team seemed to stop looking for him. More of a concern is that after one or two attempts in the first quarter I don’t remember the team running one specific play for Blake. All his scoring attempts were put backs or random cuts to the basket. That is an issue. Also, why no pick and roll with Baron and Blake? I didn’t see it once. Considering how quick Blake is that could be a regular scoring opportunity. Odd.
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
jgroove I thought the same thing and marked it up to Dunleavy not wanting to tip his hand for the first regular season game coming up next week.
Posted on October 19th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Sorry about the visuals but I’m gettin’ pumped for the new season. I got a 12 game ticket package which includes 2 Laker games, Boston, Cleveland and the Sun on opening night. 2 prime seats for 1900 bucks ain’t too bad. I really hope these guys can let go of the pain of last year and support each other. I just want them to cover 10 point leads with 5 minutes to go. And not give up when they’re down by 5 with 2 minutes on the clock. I predict 47 wins which may or may not get us into the playoffs but will be a great rebound from last season.
Posted on October 21st, 2009 at 12:35 pm
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