When you examine the anatomy of Al Thornton’s offense, the numbers are pretty dramatic.  As an overall jump shooter, Thornton is a 36.7% shooter and generates 0.88 points per possession.  When Al finishes at the basket, he’s a 57.2% shooter, and chalks up 1.2 points per possession.  Take[...]

For about five halves of basketball — the Detroit game, Dallas game, and the first 24 minutes in San Antonio — the surprising, scrappy Clippers played an appealing brand of hustling, aspirational basketball. At some point in the third quarter of the Spurs game, that label expired. Tonigh[...]

Realizing the Clippers don’t have a lot to work with, I’m not sure that a zone is a viable defensive option against San Antonio.  With all their firepower from beyond the arc, the Spurs can stretch a zone silly, which is exactly what they do to begin the second half down one to the Clipp[...]

If you want to do some scouting on the Spurs today, you should head over to 48 Minutes of Hell, the dynamite Spurs blog run by Graydon Gordian and Timothy Varner.  How good is 48MoH?  Their powers of persuasion are almost enough to make you appreciate Bruce Bowen. Prior to Spurs games, 48MoH likes t[...]

We’re inside the final three minutes of the game.  By all logic, the Clippers should be down 15-20 points.  But they’re up five, despite having only eight guys dressed, one of whom is Cheikh Samb.  This defies explanation…but it doesn’t really, because the Clippers have the guy on the floor, i[...]

How bad are the Clippers down the stretch? Al Thornton ties the game at 86-86 with a couple of free throws at the 3:31 mark of the fourth quarter.  On the next Sixers possession, they go into Thaddeus Young on the right block against Al Thornton.  Both Thornton and Young are natural 3s, but both pla[...]

Any Baron Davis-Paul Davis high screen/roll with :18.3 remaining and the Clippers trailing by two will invariably draw a double-team to Baron.  That much is certain.  Paul Davis is not a threat outside of 15 feet and, besides, it’s safe to assume that Baron will take the final shot even if Pau[...]

Today’s game tickets feature the likeness of  Jason Williams, who retired before ever playing a game for the franchise.  Despite the cognitive dissonance, the Clippers’ current state of affairs has a familiar air.  Key players have suffered injuries with no certain timetables for their returns[...]