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Found Objects: Kenyon and the Clippers

Feb 06, 2012
by D.J. Foster




A few quick bullets before tonight’s game:

  • John Raffo at ClipsNation.com brings up an interesting point: Why haven’t the Clippers cut bait on any of their “failed” experiments so far? Outside of Willie Warren, the Clippers have kept everyone they’ve signed or drafted, for better or worse. I know we’re a little too hard on him, but ask yourself this: Is there any other contender that would have Brian Cook and his negative PER rating occupying a roster spot at this point?  I think the blame goes a little higher than Neil Olshey on this one.

 

D.J. Foster

Latest posts by D.J. Foster (see all)

  • Metal Matty

    #2 I hate this false gotcha question. There is no reason to believe Griffin’s at the rim percentage is super high. He often goes for dunks others don’t and draws fouls, but occasionally they end in a missed dunk or wild heave. He also attempts an abnormal amount of ally-oops which count as missed shots if you grab and guide, even if you miss.

    #4 My answer is yes, I can def see another contender keeping Cook as a 12th man. He’s that dangerous when he gets going and he’s got enough size to be a last man on the bench big anyway. Is Solomon Jones really worth a spot more than Cook. No. …he may be at the moment. But overall, not even close.

    • http://www.clipperblog.com D.J. Foster

      You don’t like my “gotcha” question? Aww. I have nothing left if I can’t juke the stats.

    • Metal Matty

      No worries, DJ. Every stroke of the pen can’t be genious. In this case, It just reminds me of some of Mike Smith’s brain dead observations where he tries to rummage up an OMG from obvious or in some cases falsified evidence. So I had to ding you on that one.

  • http://fullyloadedclips.com FullyLoadedClips

    I’m not going to go and change my handle to “Banish Brian”, but his play has been unacceptable. Cookie seems to be a good guy and has been the consummate pro in his time on the Clips, but he’s turned into a dead spot on the bench. His veteran status is the only thing keeping him on the Clippers (possibly the NBA). Dallas has actually had to consider benching Lamar Odom because of his poor play. Dirk even got a little time out for “conditioning” because he was killing the team so badly. Luckily for the Clips, Cook is a complementary piece that could provide a few quality minutes off the bench and possibly a clutch shot or two. But as it stands right now, he’s just another 6 fouls to give. Cook has always had a very flat shot, but in his career it’s been fairly effective. I’m just concerned that with an arc with such a small margin of error, that the magic could just be gone with his longball. The bright side is that the Clippers have put together a team so good that we can bitch about the merits of super sub Brian Cook.

    • Metal Matty

      Cookie’s been a zero but then again so has 4 or 5 spots on the roster. We can’t crucify guys that aren’t playing.

      If Cookie were picking up 10 – 15 min per game and no change, playing the way he has been, missing everything …. then I agree he’s gone. But a sporatic minute or two. Come on now. This guy has barely hurt the club at all. He struggled early, was removed from the rotation and basically hasn’t made it back into the ro. In garbage time with a minute here or there he has looked horrible. But I still think that’s worlds different than for example Gomes last year, playing and playing and playing and even starting…. and just plain not looking like an NBA player.

    • Metal Matty

      We don’t want to panic, trade or cut anyone who struggles. If we do that we are no better than the Knicks.

  • OG PROMOTE DEANDRE

    No need to release Cook. He doesn’t eat up much salary (1 million?), and I’m sure he’s a decent locker room guy. If anything, he could become our Steve Novak if he focuses on it.

    • Metal Matty

      Totally agree. The salary and the locker room points are valid. And not many bigs that we could get in his place are potential rotation guys so a roll player with upside like Cook is still better than just grab bagging on a D-Leaguer. Of course, at some point, he’s gotta get going at least enough to trust him as a stand still shooter.

  • brad

    JR smith to the clips makes sense….he would take all of Gomes minutes for sure and we could shave a few off of Butlers to keep him fresh for the post-season. I think CP3 and Billups, two former teammates should be consulted before any decision is made. Hope Vinny can handle the ego’s….

    • NRM

      I dont think JR played with CP3

      • Clips4

        JR played with CP3 in New Orleans for a couple years

    • Metal Matty

      Talent wise, Smith is solid. Nobody is questioning that but it seems to me we can’t have it both ways. Either we are San Antionio, preaching and backing up the preaching of character…. or we are just another team who likes character but is willing to take chances on the BD’s and JR’s of the world.

      Seems to me, with our core, the former would make the most sense. Let the desperate teams woo J.R. while we fry bigger fish.

      I’m not a Kenyon fan by any means but he plays hard all the time and although his temperment and immaturity can be questioned, he’s not a “cancer” guy if you know what I mean. He’s not selfish and his teammates like playing with him.

      • Clips4

        Nobody likes Rudy Fernandez? Trade Bledsoe (he won’t get any minutes at this rate) for Fernandez which fills the need of a wing defender who can slash and spot up shoot

        • bongstradamus

          We give up a lot of potential with that and our backup point. I like Rudy, but I dont know if hes worth that price. He’s also on the fence about continuing his career in the NBA, so a lot of risk in making a trade like this. When Chauncey retires, and Mo’s contract expires, we’re going to need another point to back up CP3.

          • Clips4

            I think finding a backup pg shouldn’t be a problem anymore because players want to play for the Clips now.

  • DeMote DeAndre

    The most important thing in tonight’s game is to show Dwight Howard that the Clippers are the best team for him to play with . . . not just in the near term but for many years to come.

    Griffin and Paul are the key, of course. They are both young, and with Howard they can be the dominate team in the NBA for the next ten years. They can be like the legendary Celtics with Bill Russell.

    He can’t get that with the Nets or Lakers.

    The difference between the Nets and the Clippers is Griffin. Deron Williams and Chris Paul are basically equals at point guard but the Nets have nothing else, certainly nothing comparable to Griffin. They have one of the worst records in the NBA whereas the Clippers have one of the best. There’s no good argument for Howard to choose the Nets over the Clippers, none at all.

    The difference between the Lakers and the Clippers is mostly age, with Bryant having no more than another two or three good seasons in him, and then it’s rebuilding time. And even over those two or so good years me-me-me Bryant has left, the Lakers are going to be all about what he wants to do, and Howard isn’t going to want any part of that.

    The Mavs are in the mix, but Dirk is getting older and they are not in a major media market.

    The Knicks are a basket case, and aren’t really even in the mix.

    So tonight the Clippers have to play well enough to impress Howard into realizing this is this is the team he should join.

    • Metal Matty

      Hopefully Howard goes to N.J. as rumor has it. That way we can put post like this to rest and focus on the team we have.

  • DeMote DeAndre

    The second most important thing in tonight’s game is for DeAndre to play well enough so that Orlando will take him in a trade.

    Many people here want to think Jordan is almost as good as Howard so maybe Orlando will too. Here’s a comparison on three major stats:

    Howard Jordan
    Rebounds: #1 – 15.1 #19 – 9.0

    Points: #11 – 20.4 #119 – 8.5

    PER #8 – 24.52 #81 – 17.4

    • bongstradamus

      DeAndre:

      #1 in Blocks per game
      #2 in Blocks for league
      #7 in O-Boards/48 min
      #16 in D-Boards/48 min
      #34 in Efficiency Ranking

      Those are pretty dang good. Obviously you can’t compare DeAndre to the best center in the entire NBA, but he puts up some pretty good numbers that show he takes his role on this team seriously. He is not the focal point of the offense like D-12 is, so to compare offensive production when he’s a defensive player is a tad dishonest. DJ doesnt even get plays called for him. Dwight gets the majority of plays called for him in Orlando (and anywhere else he might go).

  • sreppilcal

    M smith YOU ARE NOT THE COACH! stop coaching and just announce game!!

    Hard to listen

    • brad

      I agree man…he over analyzes everything…in other news…blake wont miss another freethrow this year with his new rhythm dribbles

  • sreppilcal

    NO!! Billups please get up!

  • ClipsFan

    With Billups getting hurt in the second half, JR Smith is starting to look like a great option. However, I do not know if JR would work the best with the Clippers. He undoubtedly has talent, but he sure does fire shots like a loose cannon at times.


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