The Clippers’ non-starting units are a collective -56 for the young season, but reserve forward Craig Smith has had a couple of productive outings, particularly opening night against the Lakers.
Rhino bangs inside with impunity but he’s also been effective in pick-and-roll situations, particularly with Sebastian Telfair, whom Smith played alongside in Minnesota. As you can see from the video below, the two operate the scheme well:
Though transition opportunities tend to be Telfair’s strong suit, the Clips can capitalize on his vision in the half-court by running more sets like this.
Telfair would certainly like to.
3 Responses
Thanks Kevin.
The year we selected LIVINGSTON 4th overall in the draft, as I remember the events Dunleavy considered TELFAIR as second choice in case Livingston was not available.
Also I’d like you to analyze the trade merits involving QRich-Telfair-Smith.
Now QRich is playing for Miami as a solid starter. . Playing almost 40 min.per game.
Given our poor perimeter shooting woes and Craig Smith’s usability, do you think, that Clippers actually benefited from this trade?
[Reply]
Posted on November 6th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Let’s get the 2nd team +/- raised with the Pick and Roll! I like what I hear!
[Reply]
Posted on November 6th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
the second unit has ZERO ballhandling / passing ability other than telfair on the floor. we are essentially playing a guard, 3 forwards and a center. when you look at butler, thornton, r davis, rush, smith, d jordan – these are players strengths, but none of them can handle the ball (smith decent for a 4) or pass the ball well. a good ball handler/passer can read the defense, make the correct pass, and get the ball to people in positions to score.
blake will help the second unit immensely with this as he is a better ballhandler/passer than all of the aforementioned players.
agree with the pick and roll. it seems as though when the clips have gone into their lulls offensively, they have gone away from it.
the other thing that kills me is how often we have our passes to the wing stolen when running our motion, or more specifically, gordon off of the down screen. when he flares to the corner he has been getting open threes. when we try and force it in to the wing the last few games, teams have been getting big steals. time to hit the BACKDOOR.
overall though, i am not worried about the second unit or the team as a whole. i would like to see a little more DJ and a lot less turnovers. butler will start knocking down shots, baron is playing hard, thornton will find a groove, and the team will gel. playoffs will be tough, but lets talk after we hit a 5 or 6 game win streak.
[Reply]
Posted on November 6th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
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