In only his second year, Eric Gordon has emerged as possibly the most dynamic guard in Clippers history, and his absence in the lineup will come at great expense. It already has.
The Clippers are now 0-6 without Gordon since he suited up on opening night in October 2008. Looking ahead at the next 10 days or so, the team will probably lose more than they’ll win while Gordon is sidelined with a strained right groin. Some of these losses are likely to be ugly, given the dropoff in production and lack of depth at the shooting guard position behind him.
It’s difficult for a basketball team to run its stuff when its most potent offensive piece is in street clothes. Both Monday and Wednesday nights, we observed how restrained the Clips are in the half-court without EJ.
So what do you do when your best player is sidelined? It’s nearly impossible to operate the team’s standard offense. It’s kind of like playing a game of chess with a couple of crucial pieces missing.
What you can do is work on some smaller goals by using the conditions of Eric’s absence to make strides. Chris Kaman is a prime candidate for this endeavor.
After earning the Western Conference Player of the Week, Chris has struggled since Eric went out. We’ve seen over the past two games that Kaman has begun to draw double-teams on a regular basis. Some of that can be attributed to advanced scouts reporting back to their respective teams that Kaman is for real. But the added attention to him by the defense is also due in large part due to the absence of Gordon.
When Gordon was healthy, he was routinely situated on the ball side of the court with Kaman. Since leaving Gordon is that situation is defensive suicide, opponents were forced to send help from elsewhere. With Kaman attacking quickly off the entry pass, defenders arriving from that distance were often late, giving Kaman a good one-on-one look from close-range. With Gordon out of the lineup, Kaman no longer has that luxury, and the double-teams have started to come early and often.
Kaman has turned the ball over four times in each of his past two games, a direct result of those aggressive double-teams. Although he’s improved his passing and reduced his turnovers overall since last season, he still appears besieged when presented with multiple defenders. Those double-teams are starting to affect his decision-making. Even when Kaman is able to act before the double-team arrives, his moves are more nervous and less measured, a consequence that’s producing poorer shot opportunities.
The difference between an elite center and one who is merely very good is the ability to handle double-teams on the block, to know instinctively the best counter if and when the defense pressures him. Without Gordon on the wing, Kaman will have at least five games to measure himself against that lofty standard.
Chris should approach this task with confidence. He’s a big man with multiple go-to moves. He’s shooting the ball exceptionally well, Wednesday night notwithstanding. With sharp concentration, but not too much thinking (Don’t think, Meat. Just pitch), Chris has the capacity to graduate to that class of center. The next couple of weeks will give us some indication if he can.
35 Responses
STOP THE PRESSES!!!
The Hornet just fired BYRON SCOTT!!!!
I say we move Dunleavy to the single role of GM and Bring in BYRON SCOTT!!!!!
D.J. Foster Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Mentioned it in another thread, but the Baron – Byron pairing didn’t end so well in New Orleans. No way this will happen.
Clipper Derrick Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Lol… U got a point. Totally forgot about the history between Byron and Baron
RL Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
But oh so tempting to talk about. Byron is a good coach who is capable of bringing the most out of his players, he took NO deep into the playoffs with only two and a half stars (Chandler is always injured, so he’s only half), and a bunch of no-namers on their bench. Maybe Baron has matured enough to know his role. The old Baron would have already wanted out of the Clips after last season and his inability to see eye to eye with Dunleavy. Plus, Baron is DESPERATE to win… you see his face after each loss? Full on beard + angry scowl = destitute madman.
And on a much more serious note, Baron does need to shave – imagine all the food crumbs that got stuck inside his beard. That is just unsanitary.
FireDunleavy .com Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
It’s funny Barron’s twitter says, ‘B. Scott got fired…Sad to see that happen! Good Coach!’
Didn’t he force him out? What’s the real story on that?
Gordon for President Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 11:14 am
I saw this, 2. Doesn’t look like any other player commented, but I don’t follow every player. There’s a chance it could be Baron attempting to bury the hatchet publicly, and it might be a subtle message to management. I wouldn’t complain, Byron is better than MDSr.
Posted on November 12th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
its pretty telling when the team that beat us by 30 two nights before fires their coach and our coach still has his job. Says a lot about the expectations of a good franchise vs those of a shit franchise.
Chris. Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 10:25 am
I agree with everything you said. I hate Dunleavy more than I should say but Byron Scott had a horrible record & no major injuries to the team. BUT…. we are already without Blake who we made trades to support more playing time for him. Now we are without our best outside scorer too and one of the the other players our team is and was built around. If NOH was without Paul & West would they have fired Byron? Probably not. I want Dunleavy fired from every Clippers position, not just the Coach but the GM too cause I hate what he has done to this franchise. Unfortunately my memory goes back a few years and I’m glad what he did to our franchise even if it was for 1 year and that is gave us hope when we NEVER had it. The situation’s aren’t the same at all. Dunleavy should not be fired for this season when things played out how we thought they would with Gordon in the line-up, without him in there then it’s probably not gonna happen, sorry.
Posted on November 12th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Ankle Brace has it nailed. Sterling couldn’t care less if the team wins or loses, he’s not in it for glory…just money. He’s a racist slumlord, not a basketball lover. Dunleavy will leave when he’s good and ready and not one humiliating loss sooner. I still think we need young blood, like Mark Jackson or Sam Cassell. Experience isn’t what we need, enthusiasm and a connection to these young athletes is the ticket.
Posted on November 12th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Byron Scott has been a winner wherever he’s coached,he’s out-tcoached our dunce in every game over the years including the blow-out this week, he’s from L.A & the Hornets are probably on the hook for this years salary or more, so he’s the perfect guy for the team & for our skinflint owner. Who cares what BD thinks. His career is just about in the toilet. Alas, Scott is rumored to be next in line to coach the Lakers so why would he want to come into our mess.
Posted on November 12th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
dump Butler already he is worthless….. lets see Novak make a start and Thornton come off the bench that would be pretty interesting
Posted on November 12th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Every week with Dunleavy as coach is a bad week… oh, and I still would love to see S Jackson suit up for us. Can he possibly be worse in the locker room than Ricky D… Cassell would be an interesting coach figure for sure…
kirbs Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Are you that bloke from LA Times who bagged Ricky?
Kevin M Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
T.J. Simers? That guy is pants. I stopped reading him years ago because all he does is trash his article subjects.
tb Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 9:27 am
nope, but I can’t say I wish… TJ Simers is total cancer… Simply stating that I doubt S Jackson is worse in the locker room than some of the guys we have. In fact I think he is a pretty loyal team mate, though clearly not too loyal to a franchise.
bongstradamus Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 11:34 am
He wants to play for a winner. I think we should be making a move for Rudy Gay since Memphis doesnt want to extend him and they are hurting for cash. If we took on one of their bad contracts (Jaric for instance) and Rudy, we might be able to ship out Kaman or Camby and get a piece for the future that fits right in with Blake and Eric.
Posted on November 12th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
It sucks that the Clipper offense only consists of Gordon and Kaman – nobody else is worth a damn. Nobody can hit a shot to save their lives with any consistency.
Even if Kaman passed out of a double team he’d have to pass to Baron, Butler, Thornton, Telfair et al who have an estimated collective perimeter/3-pt shooting % of below 30%. The only proven shooter is Novak who can’t get a minute of PT unless the game is already out of reach.
And if that’s not bad enough you can always count on Dunleavy to field an insane line-up that has no business being on the court together as he did with Telfair, Baron, Collins, DeAndre and Smith at the start of the 4th last night.
This team will not win another game until Gordon is back in uni.
Book it.
Kevin M Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
I don’t have a problem with Butler doing a catch-and-shoot as long as it’s a good, clean look. He’s usually not bad then. He gets into trouble when he tries to create a triple off the dribble with 20 seconds left on the shot clock.
Posted on November 12th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
I like TNT’s comments about Sterling. “He’s only in it for the Money” – I guess that’s why he’s paying MD $4M per year and paying Baron $14M per year. I also like the comment that “Sterling is a racist” – I guess that’s why over 80% of the roster is black. All those poor little black athletes making millions of dollars per year. That racist Sterling, banging on and beating on poor old Elgin for over 20 years – a black GM that any other owner would have fired long ago. Tell me, TNT, which is greater, Sterling’s love of money or hatred toward black people? LOL!!!!!!!!!!
Kevin M Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Haysoos H. Cristo on a popsicle stick.
Gabby Reply:
November 12th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Baron actualy twitted that Scott was a good coach
bpr Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Jerdog:
It’s not just TNT who thinks it; the federal government thinks Donald T. Sterling is the worst slumlord in the history of the nation. Sterling just had to pay the largest settlement ever with the Department of Justice for refusing to rent to blacks and Hispanics, because he thinks they’re “dirty” and “bad for the neighborhood.”
Pez Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Sterling has changed his tune since signing Brand and Maggette. He’s at least somewhere in the middle of the pack.
He has more of a commitment than the Hornet’s owners (George Shinn and Gary Chouest) who tried to dump Chandler last season strictly for financial reasons.
The Hornets have a lot of talent and have been underperforming…or at the very least, if they were overperforming ever Scott is no longer capable of making them do so. They certainly have their issues, but I don’t think Scott’s resumé is that of an elite coach.
Posted on November 12th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
I don’t know about anyone else but when we got baron almost two years ago I was expecting a 20 pt 10 ast energetic point guard instead we’ve gotten a 13 pt 7 ast guy I mean if he gets those extra 7 pts and 3 asts that’s equal to an extra 13 pts we’d be more like 7-2 this year. And please let’s retire Sam cassels jersey cuz he has been the only pg capable of making us a good team Andre miller failed jeff mcinnis failed Marco jaric failed Shaun Livingston failed Keyon fooling failed Baron Davis FAILED let’s trade him and I remember telling everyone Ramon sessions wasn’t the answer and have u seen his no.’s?? Guess I was right we need an energetic young guy someone like Rodney Stuckey or Rondo.
Chris. Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Andre Miller was supposed to be THE guy, leading the EAST in assists I think when we got him from Cleveland? was it and look how bad that turned out. We’ve had a problem with point forever… I miss Ron Harper & Mark Jackson & Gary Grant.
Posted on November 13th, 2009 at 9:32 am
KA,
I like the idea of taking this as a learning process for Kaman to work on being THE guy but my concern is how he seems almost scared and unsure & usually makes a play that makes him look dumb when he’s in trouble. He needs to figure this out & adjust to it otherwise I agree he won’t be an elite center. This is his time to shine since Baron & Butler & everybody else don’t seem to have stepped up their games in the past two without Gordon.
Basically it seems right now that the 1 player we couldn’t lose because we have no back-up plan was Eric Gordon.
On a sorta side note I always liked Kirk Hinrich, he can play 3 spots & isn’t a star but a glue guy, like Battier. I think the ‘glue guy’ is somebody who can calm things down & play many positions & help out everywhere. Right now Butler is trying to fit the role with SF/SG but hopefully Griffin can help out at the SF spot as well as killing the PF spot.
On that note I love Joe Johnson & think he’d be perfect for the Clippers next year, he’s a SG/SF combo that will give us so much I can’t stop thinking about it and he’ll be a free agent. With Kaman & Griffin up front & Baron passing to Gordon & Johnson on the wings we would kill all.
Clipper Derrick Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 11:33 am
The thought of Johnson as our SF just gave me goose bumps. I’d love to see this starting line-up
PG: Baron Davis
SG: Eric Gordon
SF: Joe Johnson
PF: Blake Griffin
C: Chris Kaman
That line-up looks bad ass.
Posted on November 13th, 2009 at 10:53 am
i’m guessing Cassell would take the job for a minimum deal.
MDsr could remain g.m, which I still feel he did pretty good at this past off season.
he’s not the amazing creskin.
who the fuck can see blake and eric going down instantly.
the whole thing about weather byron or cassell or anyone would be better….maybe it’s just time for a change. not a matter of wrong and right so much as….don’t even need to make excuses or point to what could have been or might be….just time for a change.
i’d love to see Cassell get a shot.
Posted on November 13th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Bottom line…Dunleavy needs to go. You could talk about all this other stuff about Gordon or Blake or whoever being injured until your blue in the face, but the true fact remains— the Clips need another direction and I’m at the point where the frustration level is overbearing. I can’t watch whole games anymore…just means more dissappointment. The Clips should’ve been…at least .500 by now with this easy schedule and the players that we have.
Hire Avery Johnson. He is an overacheiver that will get shit done right! None of this low expectation, excuse making crap. Time to start kicking ass and throwing the ball down peoples throats!!!
tb Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
you guys seen the header on Hoopshype? chatter about the Dunce getting the boot and Lucas taking over… Hope it happens!!!
Posted on November 13th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
-Nice article on HoopsHype
The first coach fired in the NBA this season — New Orleans’ Byron Scott — was dismissed 10 days earlier than the first coach fired last season: Oklahoma City’s P.J. Carlesimo on Nov. 22, 2008.
That immediately prompted one top executive I know to ask the question surely being asked all over the league today: “Will Byron’s firing start an avalanche the way P.J.’s did last year?”
Another avalanche of that magnitude is unlikely. A record six coaching changes were made before Christmas last season.
But there will be more this season. Maybe soon, too. One source plugged in to Clipperland insists owner Donald Sterling has already flirted seriously with the idea of dismissing Mike Dunleavy immediately, even though prized rookie Blake Griffin’s debut has been put on hold because of his recent knee injury, and despite the fact that Dunleavy still is owed $5 million next season on top of this season’s $5 million.
Doubts persist about Sterling’s willingness to let Dunleavy go with that much money left on his contract, but attendance is flagging, and the offseason addition of John Lucas as an assistant coach appears to give Sterling an easy and inexpensive option for an interim replacement with NBA head-coaching experience.
You’ll note that the Clippers began the week by losing by 28 points at home to the same New Orleans team whose consistent lack of competitive zeal so far this season — Chris Paul aside — helped get Scott canned so quickly.
One trusted source I consulted this week suggests Dunleavy could leave the bench and still retain his front-office gig, given that several of his recent roster moves — drafting Eric Gordon, foisting Zach Randolph on Memphis for a nice chunk of cap space next summer and stealing Rasual Butler from the salary-dumping Hornets — have been excellent. Instead of paying Dunleavy to leave, Sterling appears to have the option of keeping him as personnel chief, since Dunleavy and Lucas are longtime pals and presumably could coexist in a GM-coach relationship.
Yet another trusted source, however, says Dunleavy wouldn’t accept serving as GM only, which further muddies the picture.
-Dunce is a punk.
Posted on November 13th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
If Dumblooney decides he won’t take the GM job, than that would mean he’s quitting and his salary would become null and void.
Posted on November 13th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
DUMBleavy would make a better personal chef than personnel chief. The man drafted Yari Korolev over Danny Granger for God’s sake! His only GOOD years were when he was working with Pat Riley’s team. He was crap in Milwaukee, crap in Portland, crap with the Clippers. Somebody needs to do another cover story saying the Clippers are the worst professional franchise to shame Sterling into another experiment. Elgin might not have been the best, but he sure as shucks wasn’t that much worse than Dumby. That’s why we pray.
Posted on November 13th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Paulette, Elgin Baylor is THE worst GM in the history of the NBA.
Bar none!
Dunleavy, as bad as he is as a coach, has been a pretty good GM outside of the Korolev blunder and Livingston breaking in two like twig.
Posted on November 14th, 2009 at 12:28 am
,..] clipperblog.com is one another must read source of tips on this subject,..]
Posted on November 19th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Trackbacks