If you thought that Blake Griffin was going to solve all Clippers’ problems, well, that’s obviously not the case. In the second game of the season, the Clippers lost to the Warriors by 18 and the second half of the game didn’t even feel that close.

The game’s first possessions started out ugly, as Clippers went to Chris Kaman to get them started and all he did was continue his cold shooting from Portland and go 0 for his first 4 shots. Most of his shots were ones he would normally make, he even missed a little bunny shot under the basket. Not surprisingly, the Clippers found themselves in an early hole that was compounded by the hot shooting of the Warriors.

The Clippers admirably fought back against the Warriors, playing tough defense for about a quarter (second half of the first quarter and first half of the second) that led to a large crop of turnovers by the Warriors and a Clippers first quarter lead, 28-27. If they weren’t going to slow them down shooting, the Clippers had to do it by stopping the Warriors from even taking shots.

In a stretch of the second quarter Baron did most of his damage but he still had some worrying trends. He did finish with 16 points and 8 assists but there were frequent times when he had a Blake Griffin screen which he used poorly, either by trying to be too clever and going away from the screen or by taking the screen too cavalierly thus allowing for the defender to go over the screen with him, and then he drove to the basket without a plan.

There was one time I clearly remember that, even though he beat his man, he found himself in the air tangled up in the long limbs of Warriors defenders and he tried to shovel pass to Eric Gordon and BD missed the pass by at least 6 feet. The Clippers did, magically, get the ball back on that possession but it was endemic of the Clips night. They frequently looked discombobulated out there.

The Warriors are a team that isn’t going to be great defensively, but they play offensively very, very well. Monta Ellis, to make up for not scoring 46 like the first game, dished out 11 assists. That almost matched his shot total (12). Every one of their starters shot over 50 percent from the field. The team looked cohesive, if only on one side of the ball.

The same can’t be said for the Clippers on either side of the ball. They haven’t found their rhythm, probably because the dynamic of the team has changed so drastically. Last year, it was simple: Baron the creator, Gordon slasher wing and Kaman is the post man. Simple. This year they have to integrate Blake and, judging from last night, the team is too aware of it. They haven’t had enough reps for their unity to become second nature yet. This team will need some time to cohere, one side of the ball at a time, before they start winning games.

What should be encouraging is how hard Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin are playing, even in the midst of a strong Warriors run, the two looked for the ball and tried to be aggressive (so aggressive that Gordon crossed over Steph Curry so bad that Curry turned an ankle)

Talent and effort haven’t always been things that they Clippers have had and in the long run it will pay off. But for right now they need to focus on the team chemistry, finding a rhythm on offense and talking to each other on defense, so that they can start winning some games.

Looking forward to tonight’s game against the Golden State Warriors (I’ll be live chatting at Daily Dime Live during the game). Never the most defensive minded team, this year’s Warriors team looks especially incapable of slowing the score down. Evidence: Wednesday’s 132-128 victory over the Houston Rockets. I’m guessing that there are going to be a lot more scores like this from the Warriors team, except the Ws might be less frequent than the Ls. That’s just what happens when you build around Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry and David Lee. None of them are known for their defense, just their highly efficient game at the offensive end. Check that score again. 132 points. Unbelievable. True, the Rockets have replaced Trevor Ariza with Kevin Martin, but they still have Shane Battier and Chuck Hayes to help. And I don’t care what team you’re playing, 132 points is a lot of points scored.

128 points is also a lot of points to give up.

Much of that is determined by the pace that the Warriors like to play and it will be interesting to see how VDN and Baron handle the issue. While I do like the aesthetic aspect of fast paced play (I mean who doesn’t like to see fast break dunks, alley-oops, dagger threes?), I don’t think that this Clippers team is well suited for a game as fast as the Warriors want to play. It becomes a matter of efficiency and with the Clippers knack for turning the ball over, the pace will compound that problem.

The Clippers one big advantage against this Warriors team is strength. Look at every position: Baron is stronger than Monta, Eric Gordon is stronger than Stephen Curry, Blake Griffin is stronger than David Lee. Kaman and Gomes are probably stronger than Biedrins and Wright, it’s at least closer there, but it’s clear that at no point will the Clippers be worried about being pushed around. This isn’t the Lakers or the Mavericks. So they might want to focus on applying that strength to their advantage.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that will happen. The team is young and ready to run, even Baron prefers this style, so I think the odds of the Clippers getting sucked into a high octane game is pretty likely. Not that it means the Clippers will lose, I just don’t see a team this newly formed being disciplined enough to stick to their own nascent identity.

What will be curious is whether the Clippers bring the same defensive intensity that I read about on Wednesday night (I go into a school-induced cave setting on Wednesdays and Thursdays), because, frankly, I need to see this for my own eyes. If they do bring that intensity, combined with a correction in their defensive rebounding, it should be enough to take down this Warriors team.

Griffin Link:

Since I didn’t mention Blake, there’s a whole lot of Blake love in this analysis from Wednesday’s game:

While he’s not yet a finished product, Griffin is by no means raw. He did almost all of his work around the basket tonight, finishing 6-10 on layups and dunks, while shooting 2-4 from outside the immediate basket area. There’s a pro and a con to those numbers. The upside? He’s attacking the basket relentlessly, both off the dribble and while crashing the offensive boards (he had nine offensive rebounds, and it felt like 29). The downside? Defenses will adjust quickly, daring him to shoot the mid-range jumper, a shot that is in his toolbox but that he didn’t look particularly eager to shoot tonight.

Pardon the coachspeak, but you always learn more from losses than you do from wins. Out of all the teams the NBA has to offer, losing to the Warriors may provide the biggest learning experience possible. Sunday night the Warriors play only eight guys in total, five of which were never even drafted. But it isn’t “who” does it, it’s “what” does it that truly matters.

Under Don Nelson the names and numbers change, but the game remains the same. The Warriors want to get out and run against you, they want you to take long quick shots, and they want to turn you over. No matter who they toss out on the floor, that’s the Warriors agenda.

Why does the Warriors’ scheme give the Clippers so much trouble? Let’s take a look.

Turnovers:

• The Clippers own the third worst turnover rate in all the league, while the Warriors are the number one team in the league at causing turnovers. Obviously, this presents some issues. The Warriors are tricky because they allow you opportunities to get up and down the floor, but for the most part it’s fools gold. Running up and down with the Warriors is exactly what they want to happen. It’s hard for a lot of teams not to get sucked into this type of battle, and tonight the Clippers don’t really show much restraint. The Clippers get outscored 40-14 (!) in the second quarter and turn the ball over eight times during that period alone. The Warriors take advantage of the Clippers’ multiple mistakes in the first half by scoring 24 points off turnovers.

Smallball:

• On paper, the Clippers should absolutely punish the Warriors on the block. Chris Kaman is head and shoulders above his opponents in terms of both talent and height, but it’s rendered meaningless unless properly utilized. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the problem lies with Kaman’s mindset. The best example of Kaman’s lack of aggressiveness is witnessed through his free throw totals for the month of March. Kaman has shot just 33 free throws this month, compared to the 73 he shot in October or even the 52 he shot in November when he was playing his best basketball. It’s become routine for Kaman to face the basket immediately upon every post entry, regardless of who is defending him. Because he’s not fighting for deep position and rarely playing with his back to the basket, Kaman has been unable to take advantage of any size mismatch. Instead of punishing smaller defenders and drawing fouls, Kaman instead has tried to take guys off the dribble from 18-feet out or launch long jumpers. Only going to the line once against the Warriors tiny frontcourt is downright criminal. Smallball looks genius if no one is punishing you for going small, and tonight the Clippers have no legitimate back to the basket presence in reality, even if they do on paper. Despite their immense advantages down low, the Clippers get outscored in the paint 56-40.

Contesting Jumpers:

• Since the trade deadline, the Clippers have posted the worst defensive efficiency number in the league. Some of it can be attributed to individual effort, but for the most part the problem lies in a general lack of continuity on the defensive end. No one exploits this better than Golden State. Outside of Corey Maggette, the Warriors suit up no one who can regularly penetrate and finish at the rim. A smart defensive club would recognize this and force a team without the services of Monta Ellis to beat them at the tin. Instead, the Clippers spend the night staring at jump shooters, giving space out on the perimeter, and practicing their patented zombie closeouts. Want to know how Reggie Williams goes for 25 points and Anthony Tolliver goes for 19? It’s almost exclusively on mid-range jumpers that weren’t contested well enough.

This was only the Warriors fifth road win of the season, and they’ve only defeated five playoff teams all year long. Clearly, the Golden State Warriors are not a good basketball team. But this game just goes to show that if you don’t make adjustments and at least attempt to knock teams off their track, they’ll run you right over.

Game 6

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• Plaschke’s Wednesday column strongly suggested that Mike Dunleavy and Baron Davis are locking horns over the weight of the Clippers’ playbook.  Now there’s word that the two held a summit at Playa del Rey yesterday to clear the air:

  “Davis had been quoted in Plaschke’s column as saying there was a “disconnect” and that he had never seen so many plays in his “entire career,” having come from the opposite end of the spectrum, at Golden State. (The Warriors are in town to play the Clippers today.) On Friday, Davis said that communication was improving between him and Dunleavy, and the new Clippers point guard volunteered the information that they had a meeting. “It’s hard when you first start off in any situation, and you want to be perfect,” Davis said. “Me kind of being a perfectionist, I want to do everything out there possible to give coach what he wants and what he sees.”

• Baron gives the Contra Costa Times a postmortem on his previous disconnect — the aborted contract extension with Golden State:
  
  “I thought that I was going to be one of those players who got their jersey retired. It grew to be a great relationship and home for me. After we beat Dallas, promises were made and never followed through. Then they wanted to see if I could play a full season, and promises were made and never followed through. It wasn’t the fact that I wanted more money. I opted out of more money to come (to Los Angeles). It was more that I didn’t feel like I was wanted, like my welcome wore out. They had gotten enough. They had gotten what they needed. That’s how I felt, and it kind of forced me to look elsewhere.”
• Ramona Shelburne has a nice profile of Al Thornton learning to ball on Georgia Red Clay.  The piece includes some testimonial from Alford Thornton, Al’s father.
• Someone the Clippers probably won’t see much today?  Marco Belinelli, who has gone from “sensational” to doghouse in 16 months.  There seems to be a detectable strain of Youth v. Experience in Oakland, with some fans wanting to see more of Brandan Wright, Anthony Randolph, and Belinelli from a team that’s unlikely to do much in April and May with its vets.
• BrandWatch: More rebounds in Philadelphia…less of everything else.
• Saturday’s pre-game meal…since 1947.

I harbor no real regrets that the Clippers and Corey Maggette parted ways, but for better or worse, there’s no other player in the Association whose development as a pro we’ve watched more closely over the past decade.  Corey’s game is flawed – and those shortcomings have been documented extensively here and elsewhere – but he’s still an interesting player from an observational standpoint. I’ve always been ambivalent about Corey.  His game has this comforting efficiency that I really admire,  but in the end, I guess I instinctively prefer players who are a little more cerebral.  That’s probably unfair.  And even though I think the Clippers are better longterm without him, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss him a little.

Since we’re playing the Warriors tomorrow afternoon, I thought it might be interesting to see how Corey is fitting in up in Oakland.  Has Don Nelson asked him to adjust his settings?  How has the system up there influenced his game?  Just a little curious, that’s all.

It’s important to note that Corey has been suffering from a bad hammie.  Last night is his first game since November 3, and he plays only 28 minutes.   Because Don Nelson recruits his roster from a carnival job fair, Corey is assigned to guard Rasheed Wallace at the outset, even though he gives up five inches to the Detroit big man:

• [1st, 11:42]  The Pistons don’t waste any time exploiting the Sheed-Corey mismatch.  Wallace gets good position just off the left block.   He backs Corey in, spins baseline and elevates an easy jumper over Corey.
• [1st, 11:07]  Corey tries valiantly to get between Wallace and the ball, but ends up fouling Wallace.  No shots.
• [1st, 10:05]  The Warriors push the ball up after a Detroit bucket.  CJ Watson gets it ahead to Corey in the open court.  As Corey races upcourt, Wallace gambles unsuccessfully, and now Corey barrels straight to the basket — but he loses the handle as he crosses into the paint.  Turnover.
• [1st, 9:07]  Corey is doing yeoman’s work on Wallace.  It isn’t easy.  But he’s doing a good enough job to force Rip Hamilton to overthrow the entry pass into Wallace.  Andris Biedrins steals the ball.  Give Corey a defensive assist.
• [1st, 8:40] On a Hamilton/Wallace S/R, Corey does a very nice job showing off the screen.  It forces Hamilton to step back and fire an off-balanced jumper.

On most of Golden State’s halfcourt possessions, you’ll find Corey Maggette in a very familar spot — loitering along the arc out on the wing.   With no real post threat other than Biedrins, there’s a lot to space to work with, but Corey — as he often did in Los Angeles — doesn’t do much to fill it.

• [1st, 8:02]  In a slow-it-down halfcourt set, Corey gets the ball up high against Rasheed Wallace.  He holds the ball.  Iverson is cheating over just a little and has his eye on Corey, knowing that Corey prefers to go right.   That’s exactly what Corey does.  Iverson sticks his hand in for a strip.  Wallace isn’t as quick as Corey, but does an effective job at funneling Corey toward the help — Tayshaun Prince.  Prince challenges Corey at the rim, forcing him to throw up a wild layup attempt that isn’t close.

That’s where Detroit is so effective defensively.  In recent years, they’ve never been that quick of a team; it’s just that they know exactly how to manipulate the action so that the help always arrives where and when it should.  The Spurs also do this well.

• [1st, 6:40]  Wallace wants the ball again against Corey.  He gets it.  Corey bodies up nicely. Wallace spins baseline, gets the look he wants — he towers over Corey — but Biedrins is there to help, and Wallace misses the shot.   The Pistons retain possession, and on the reset, Iverson gets Corey on a defensive switch.  Corey has been an adequate on-ball defender most of his career.  Here, he manages to stay in front of Iverson, who takes a 15-foot jumper that’s a little bit long.
• [1st, 5:37]  Detroit’s rotation falls apart, and Corey is left with a wide, wide open 3PA up top, but misses the shot.
• [1st, 5:16]  A baseline drive by Iverson scrambles the Golden State defense.  Wallace has drifted high, where he sets up at the top of the arc.  Corey is distracted by all the action in the left corner, where Hamilton has the ball.  Rip sees this and fires a pass to Wallace.  Corey is too late and Wallace drains the 3PA.
• [1st, 4:36]  The Prince/Wallace S/R on the left side leaves Maggette on Prince off the switch.  Stephen Jackson picks up Wallace, whose 13-footer is no good.  This is probably the smarter defensive matchup for GSW, and I’m not sure why Nelson chooses otherwise.
• [1st, 3:24]  Corey gets the ball on the right side against Wallace in an iso set.  He puts his head down, and drives right along the baseline.  Tayshaun Prince had been covering Jackson at the top of the circle.  When Corey begins his drive, Prince slides down.  This leaves Jackson free to dive through the lane toward the hoop.  Corey makes a pretty pass around Wallace that finds Jackson at the basket for the slam.   Beautiful look from Corey.  How many times in Los Angeles did he hit a cutter off his drive?  Nice work.

In general, Corey plays Wallace much tighter away from the basket as the quarter progresses.  Wallace never sees another shot in the period.  When Corey returns with about 3:00 in the 2nd quarter, he mistakenly doubles Hamilton at 20 feet off a screen, leaving Wallace alone for a 21-footer that falls.  Corey gets his first FTAs of the night at [2nd, 0:42] when Detroit gets crossed up on their S/R defense, allowing Corey a path through the lane.   Amir Johnson steps in, and Corey throws his body into Johnson’s, earning a trip to the line.

The second half will look a lot more familiar to Clipper fans.  Of Golden State’s first nine possessions of the second half, Corey gets FTAs on five of them, and another transition possession yields a Corey 15-foot jumper.  Here are the possessions that yield Corey’s five trips to the stripe:

• [3rd, 11:46]  You know it well — Corey curls from the left corner, receives the ball from Watson, and slashes through the lane, drawing contact from Kwame Brown.   He sinks both FTAs.
• [3rd, 9:29] Corey likes his matchup: It’s Walter Herrmann, and you can see Corey licking his chops as he holds the ball on the left wing.  He takes a hard dribble with his left, gets a good first step on Herrmann, who doesn’t stand a chance.  As Herrmann hacks Corey 12 feet out, Corey hurls the ball toward the hoop, earning two FTAs.  He hits both and GSW, who led by seven at the half, extends its lead to 12.
• [3rd, 7:58] Classic transition Corey:  He skies for the rebound at the defensive end, weaves his way upcourt, finds the most vulnerable defender — Herrmann again — barrels into him, heaves the ball at the basket, and earns two more FTAs.  He sinks both.
• [3rd, 7:35]  The Warriors might be reckless, but they aren’t stupid.  The ball goes back into Corey against Herrmann just off the right elbow.  Corey backs him in, then kicks the ball back out to Watson, who promptly returns it to Corey a few feet deeper.  Herrmann hacks him.  It’s the 4th team foul at 7:31, and Herrmann’s 3rd personal.  Michael Curry has seen enough, and yanks Herrmann.   Off the inbound, it goes back to Corey on the right side, this time against Rip Hamilton.   Corey backs him in, spins baseline, and draws the shooting foul against Hamilton.  Corey sinks 1 of 2.
• [3rd, 6:56] Right back to Maggette, who has been the focal point of the offense.  This time he’s up against Arron Afflalo.  Corey backs him in, turns, draws contact, and sinks one of two from the line.

Afflalo gets his revenge on Corey about a minute later, when Corey fails to box him out off a Detroit miss.  Afflalo collects the OR, steps back and nails a 3PM.  For whatever reason, the Warriors go away from the Maggette toward the end of the period, though it’s not like Detroit makes a profound adjustment or anything.  Corey carelessly coughs up the ball at [3rd, 2:53], which lets Afflalo loose on a fast break for an easy two and the foul.

Corey enters the game at [4th, 5:50] with his team leading by one.   He takes two shots down the stretch, missing both:

• [4th, 2:47]  Corey brings the ball up and holds it, as all four of his Warrior teammates clear the right side for him.  Corey is being covered by Tayshaun Prince.  Corey lowers his head and takes a hard dribble with his right.  Prince stands his ground, forcing Corey against the baseline.  Corey spins back left, elevates for an awkward running 5-footer, hoping to draw contact.   In Corey’s defense, he doesn’t have a lot of options.  Azebuke is immediately picked up by Hamilton as he dives for the basket.
• [4th, 1:55]  The Warriors are down by three.  The ball goes into Corey at the same spot on the right wing against Prince.  Again, the Warriors clear out, and again Corey drives right, and again Prince holds his ground.  Corey elevates — this time about 10 feet out — launches an awkward jumper on the way down that misses badly.    A better decision: Drive left, draw Jackson’s man [Afflalo] low, and hit Jackson on the perimeter for an open shot.

Corey finishes with 13 points in 28 minutes on 2-7 FG, 9-12 FT.  His function in the Warriors’ offense is remarkably similar to his role in Los Angeles.  Because Nelson likes to run, Corey will get a few more transition opportunities than he did as a Clipper.  And because Nelson likes to field a small lineup, Corey will often be saddled with the added responsibility of having to defend post sets against guys much taller than him.

Tomorrow should be interesting.