From Clippers.com:

The Los Angeles Clippers today acquired guard Steve Blake, forward Travis Outlaw and cash considerations from the Portland Trailblazers in exchange for Marcus Camby.

Blake, 29, is in his seventh NBA season and is averaging 7.6 points, 4.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds in 51 games in 2009-10. In his career, the former University of Maryland star has appeared in 470 NBA games, making 289 starts with career averages of 7.6 points, 4.2 assists and 2.6 rebounds. Originally drafted in the second round (38th overall pick) of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards, Blake is a career 39 percent three-point shooter and has played for a total of five teams, spending time with the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets as well as the Wizards and Trailblazers.

Outlaw, 25, was drafted by Portland with the 23rd overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft and has been limited to 11 games this season after undergoing surgery to repair a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his left foot on Nov. 18, 2009. Currently fourth on the Blazers in scoring in 2009-10 averaging 9.9 points per game, the six-foot-nine forward has appeared in 377 career NBA games, starting 26 with career averages of 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists.

Camby leaves the Clippers in the midst of his second season with the club after coming to Los Angeles in a trade with Denver on July 15, 2008. A 13-year NBA veteran and former NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Camby has appeared and started in 51 games for L.A. this season, averaging 7.7 points and 12.1 rebounds – the second highest total in the league.

In a related roster move, the Clippers also waived combo guard Ricky Davis.

Davis, 30, in his 12th NBA season is averaging 4.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 36 games in 2009-10.

The acquisition of Outlaw and Blake required the Clippers to waive one of their 16 players to get below the roster size limit of 15. Veteran swingman Ricky Davis was the odd man out, and will now look to catch on with a playoff contender down the stretch run.

The cash considerations in the trade are reported to be around 3 million dollars, but that has yet to be confirmed. We’ll have updates on that as soon as possible.

The expected stylistic change brought on by interim head coach Kim Hughes raises an all-important question: Can the Clippers function effectively as a running team? I took the opportunity to watch a ton of game tape to get a better sense of the Clippers’ tendencies, strengths and weaknesses when they push the ball in transition. Let’s take a look and see who is fit for the running game.

The Wings: Gordon, Butler, Thornton, R. Davis

• Eric Gordon – Gordon might possess the least complex game of any guard in the league. The simpleness of Gordon’s game is particularly evident in transition. When filling the wing on the break, Gordon either spots up on the arc or makes a b-line straight for the rim. There’s no in between. Think about this: When was the last time you saw Gordon attempt a reverse? A floater? A shifty hop step and opposite hand finish? Gordon’s main tactic on the break is to go a million miles per hour towards the rim and attempt a right handed layup, contact and defenders be damned. In a way, Gordon reminds me of a top-end speedy sports car with bad tires in the snow: There’s a lot of power there, but it easily slips out of control. Gordon’s main problem is that he absolutely pounds the ball into the hardwood, almost as if he were playing with a flat ball on a dirt court. Gordon has a ton of time to progress towards harnessing his explosiveness and staying under control, but for right now he’s far from a polished ballhandler and playmaker on the wing. Verdict: Despite the likely increase in turnovers, Gordon’s increased free throw attempts and added scoring should make up for it.

• Rasual Butler - As the proverbial “3 and D” guy for the Clippers, Butler is essentially a specialist who does a few things very, very well. However, outside of perimeter shooting and on-ball defense, Butler doesn’t bring a whole lot to the table. As the wing man on the fast break he often shies away from filling the lane completely, and instead opts to back off and spot up for short to mid range jumpers, of which he shoots a pretty bad percentage (36% from 10-15 feet). The same aspect of Rasual’s game that can allow him to go off for 30 points will also likely keep him from being a great wing player in transition: Butler rarely ever passes up his shot, even if he’s gone cold. There’s a selflessness and playmaking ability necessary to consistently run a successful fast break , and I’m not sure Butler has that. When Butler avoids his natural tendency to spot up and fills the lane completely, he’s a subpar finisher unless the dunk is readily available. Verdict: An increased tempo means Butler will have the ball in his hands more often…which also means he’ll be liable to shoot some frightening PUJIT’s. He’s much better suited for the halfcourt.

• Al Thornton – Thornton’s role has diminished quite a bit this year, yet he’s still one of the better finishers at the rim on the roster. In theory, an uptempo game  should better showcase his talents and athletic ability. There’s a problem here though. Most 2 on 1, 3 on 1, or 3 on 2 fast breaks happen from blocked shots and steals. Rarely will you see a defensive rebound result in a mismatched fast break. The strong majority of transition opportunities actually come from your secondary break. The resulting looks from those secondary breaks? Spot-up jumpers. Ask yourself this: Do you really want Al Thornton shooting more jumpers? I’d be more inclined to predict success for Thornton in an uptempo game if: A. The Clippers actually caused turnovers and B. The Clippers secured long defensive rebounds more frequently. Verdict: Is a 20 foot Thornton jumper a better look than what the halfcourt offense could produce? Probably not.

• Ricky Davis – In Mike Dunleavy’s offense, Ricky Davis provided one key service: He stretched the floor. Ricky has actually been a pretty solid player in his limited time –he ranks favorably among the league’s other wings in field goal percentage and three point field goal percentage. Ricky’s transition opportunities have been limited, but he’s been less than impressive in his chances. Not surprisingly for a man with the nickname “buckets”, Ricky Davis is first and foremost a shooter. Nearly every one of his field goal attempts this year have been jumpers. Similar to Rasual Butler, if he gets an open look, he’s firing. Verdict: Ricky Davis can be useful in an uptempo setting, but his real value is in the halfcourt.

We’ve long discussed how the Clippers wingmen are terrible on the defensive glass, but this year they’ve taken it to a whole new level. Out of players who log at least 25 minutes a game, only four wing players in the entire league average lower defensive rebounding numbers than Rasual Butler, Eric Gordon and Al Thornton. Andre Iguodala (5.9 DRB per game) nearly averages more defensive rebounds a game than Butler, Gordon and Thornton combined (6.7 DRB per game).

What’s one solution for wings that don’t box out and usually don’t even come within 10 feet of available rebounds? Release. Close out on outside shooters, and then fly by and leak out. Camby and Kaman may not be Wes Unseld and Kevin Love, but they can deliver some decent outlet passes.  What’s the risk if the wings aren’t doing anything on the glass as is? Might as well try and get some easy buckets, right?

Even with all that said, the reality here is that the Clippers’ wings are shaky ballhandlers and even shakier decision makers. Since three of the four wings are jump shooters, speeding up the tempo will create them more open jump shot opportunities, just without Kaman or Camby underneath in prime offensive rebounding position. The mid to long range two-point jumper is the most inefficient shot in all of basketball, yet the Clippers’ wings (primarily Butler and R. Davis) use that as their main calling card on the fast break.

The goal of an increased tempo is to create easy looks. However with the Clippers’ current personnel on the wings, a running style might not accomplish that.

The first two 3-pointers in Cleveland’s record-setting first quarter, during which they drained 11 of 13 from beyond the arc, come in identical fashion:

Shaquille O’Neal has DeAndre Jordan posted up on the left block. The Clippers send help in the form of one of their guards — Eric Gordon on the first (1st, 8:05), Baron Davis on the second (1st, 7:36). Once the double-team arrives, O’Neal kicks the ball out — to Anthony Parker on the first, then to Boobie Gibson on the second. These shooters have found some open space along the arc behind the stretched Clippers’ defense. In both instances, better communication between Gordon and Davis might have given the Clippers a chance to close out more aggressively.

The Cavs drain 3s on their next five possessions:

• (1st, 6:59) LeBron James chases a loose ball all the way to the right corner. In one motion, collects the rock, turns and launches an off-balanced shot with :14 still remaining on the shot clock.
• (1st, 6:37) Gibson gets a feed in a transition from James on a draw-and-kick for a PU3IT. It’s hard to fault the Clippers’ defense on the break too much. With James driving down the gut of the court, DeAndre Jordan assume his spot in the lane, while Gordon backpedals to stay in front of James and Rasual Butler picks up J.J. Hickson, who’s running toward the rim. In motion, James snaps the pass with his right hand. It hits Gibson directly in the hands just as he steps up to the line — perfect spot and perfect timing. James’ assist numbers and unselfishness are widely (and rightly) praised. What’s less spoken of is the uncanny precision of his passes.
• (1st, 5:48) A contested 27-foot hurl by James with Butler contesting. To give you an idea, I was watching the game with a Cavs partisan who, prior to the attempt, yelled at the screen, “Don’t take that!”
• (1st, 5:30) James PU3IT from 26 feet.
• (1st, 4:48) Hickson dishes the ball over to James, who’s about 30 feet from the basket. Butler defends James precisely where he should — his front foot straddling the arc. Butler offers James enough room to shoot at 30, but plays far enough off him to challenge him off the dribble (or at least try) or close quickly on any jumper from 25-28 feet. James opts for a 30-foot attempts and it falls.

That’s 21 points on seven 3-pointers on consecutive possessions. The Cavs lead 30-11, and it gets worse from there. A few minutes later, Cleveland strings together 14 points on its five final possessions of the period — four of them resulting in 3-pointers:

• (1st, 2:26) Ricky Davis gets caught drifting in no-man’s land — a place he finds himself all too often. With plenty of room, Jawad Williams gets into the act, nailing his first shot of the game.
• (1st, 1:47) Ricky strikes again. He never follows Jamario Moon to the right corner, which sets up Moon for an easy look.
• (1st, 0:47) Al Thornton is considerably more attentive than Ricky Davis was. Moon is a 32 percent shooter from 3-point range, and Thornton gives him just enough room, but remains in close enough proximity to challenge the shot. Doesn’t matter. Moon drains the Cavs’ 10th 3-pointer of the first quarter.
• (1st, 0:05) Final possession of the quarter for Cleveland. Cavs go 1-4 flat, and James waves off any potential high screens from teammates. Faced up against Baron Davis, who confronts James in prime defensive position, James steps back from 30 feet and knocks down a bomb that ties the NBA record for most 3-pointers in a quarter.

After that outlandish 3 by James to cap off the period, the Cavs lead 46-20.  The Clippers, who enter the game the 4th-ranked defense in the League guarding the line, get absolutely blitzed. 11-for-13 is astounding and you won’t find that kind of accuracy in most shootaround settings.

It’s hard to sugarcoat this loss, but there are some positive morsels to collect from the final three quarters of a game whose degree of difficulty (at Cleveland) is arguably the highest on the schedule.

Some things to feel okay-to-good about headed to Chicago

• The Clippers put up a fight, even when they’re down 30. Although this road trip has offered some nightmarish flashbacks to last season (11.27.10 at New Jersey; first half, 11.29.10 at Minnesota), the Clippers grit their teeth on Sunday and show a lot of life, particularly coming out of the locker room to begin the second half. They tighten the perimeter defense and are far more careful deploying double-team on O’Neal, keeping a watchful eye on potential recipients of kickouts. As a result, the Clips get stops on seven consecutive possessions, allowing them to build a 12-0 run to start the half.
• The false debate in the Clippers’ camp between set and free-flowing offenses aside (more on this tomorrow at ESPN Los Angeles), both camps gets precisely what they want offensively during this stretch. The Clippers score on six of seven possessions before Cleveland calls a timeout to regroup. On each of those six scores, the Clippers use no more than 11 seconds of the shot clock. And each of the buckets occur either in transition or in early offense situations. How come?  Defensive stops (see above).
• The Clippers are now 0-6 without Chris Kaman. NBA teams should be able to compensate for injuries (see Portland, Houston), but the Clippers have a particular problem that compounds Kaman’s absence. Neither Gordon, Butler or Camby have serious post games. Only Davis and Craig Smith can do much of anything down on the block, which limits the Clippers’ options in the halfcourt. If Kaman can’t go Tuesday night against Chicago, I’d take my chances with Smith against Taj Gibson at the 4. Their rebounding rates are comparable, and Smith would give the Clips a strong one-on-one option down low to challenge the Bulls.
• Baron Davis has asserted himself in an active leadership position that’s every bit as perceptible during these losses as it was during the feel-good wins earlier in the month. Whatever reputation for disinterest he’s acquired over the course of his career, you couldn’t find any trace of that in a game where the Clips were running huge deficits of 25-30 points for long stretches. A guy with a $65 million contract doesn’t deserve wholesale praise for that, but we can acknowledge it just the same.
• Gordon won’t put Sunday’s box score in his scrapbook, but he looks appreciably better, even with the 5-for-16 line from the field. There’s an especially encouraging sequence at the beginning of the fourth quarter. In transition, he spots up on the right side just behind the arc where he gets the dish from Mardy Collins (4th, 9:54). Gordon’s 3-ball hits off the back iron, and now Cleveland has an opportunity to run out on a 2-on-1 break. Gibson races the ball up the far sideline, but Gordon has quickly backpedaled to get himself between Gibson and James, who’s filling the near lane. As Gibson brings the ball up from his dribble to sling a cross-court pass to James, Gordon stuffs him. The ball kicks off Gibson and lands out of bounce, killing what seems like an easy Cleveland break. Rather than pout after a missed shot (something we saw a bit of in Minnesota), Gordon makes up the points on the defensive end. Although he hasn’t returned to pre-toe form, Gordon looks much more like himself Sunday — in control, smarter shot selection (once he abandons that floater he went to early on a couple of occasions), energized defense (even when he’s overmatched against James 1-on-1).
• Another notch for DeAndre Jordan. Ideally, the turnover rate should come in below 20, and headed to 15 (it’s 22.9 on Sunday), but he bodies up respectably against one the game’s iconic big men. His 13 boards help the Clippers keep the rebounding battle essentially even (advantage Clippers when you consider the disparity in missed shots on the respective ends of the floor), and stays out of foul trouble. These are important games for Jordan. Though I’d prefer to have seen Smith out there against Hickson, the investment in DJ probably has some long-term value that starting Rhino wouldn’t offer.

There isn’t a game on the schedule where Eric Gordon doesn’t come in handy, but against Boston’s ball pressure in the halfcourt, EJ’s absence is especially costly. The Celtics’ defense focuses on cutting off large swaths of the floor with hard traps. The best way to alleviate that pressure? Perimeter spacing, something that can be achieved with a couple of lethal perimeter threats. Without a shooter like Gordon keeping the defense honest, the Celtics’ tighten their vise even further.

Chris Kaman doesn’t get so much as a touch until the fourth possession, as Boston’s big men deny him the simplest entry pass. He knocks down that first touch (1st, 9:45), but not before Perkins pushes him back with that big left hand, forcing Chris into an awkward fall-away. Kaman hits his second attempt as well (1st, 8:13) when Perkins absently blitzes Baron, with no one rotating on Chris.

After that, it’s a tough go. Kaman converts only three of his final 16 attempts and never sees the stripe.

Kendrick Perkins might be best known for his brawn, but he’s very cerebral with that physicality. Perk pushes his defensive assignment off his preferred spot, but more than anything, he wants that man to feel uncomfortable. He wants him to know that what little space he’s afforded comes at a premium and can be taken away without notice. When Baron and Kaman flirt with the pick-and-roll in the first quarter, Perkins dances between Kaman and Rondo, making sure that Chris isn’t able to initiate the action. At the same time, he’s watching for the slip, making sure that Kaman doesn’t pop out to open space for a quick dish and a clean look. When Chris has the ball one-on-one, it’s all pokes and hips from Perkins. Kevin Garnett picks up Kaman in transition (1st, 5:27), and stays in front of him throughout the possession, even after Davis slows it up to look for offense.

The Clippers can’t find much of it all night, and when there are rare opportunities to get easy scores, the Clippers’ shpilkes get the better of them. Desperate to get anything in transition — because nothing is working in the halfcourt — the Clips overthrow an outlet pass on a potential break on four separate occasions. These aren’t instances of random carelessness; they’re the direct result of the Celtics’ defense. For a while, it looks like the Clips might go to that old standby: Baron Davis in the post against a smaller opposing point guard. Tonight, the Celtics are ready and send quick help when Baron begins his assault on Rajon Rondo.

Somehow, despite the poor shooting, the Clippers are able to build a lead in the second quarter and hang around until the bitter end. Again, it’s the second unit led by Mardy Collins, Ricky Davis and Craig Smith that empowers the Clippers. You see it on their first defensive possession of the second quarter (2nd, 11:05). They buzz around the halfcourt, talking to one another and pointing to primary defensive assignments who are being vacated for double-teams. They contest every pass and shot. It certainly helps that Rasheed Wallace takes all the 3-point attempts he can eat and that Boston has not one legitimate passer in their reserve unit, but the Clippers’ activity is unmatched and it ignites a 16-7 run to give the Clippers an eight-point lead (nine was their largest). When the Celtics appear like they might run away with the game in the fourth, the backups come through again. Smith bullies Perkins one-on-one on the offensive end and the unit again communicates well on the defensive end. You see it at (4th, 9:07) when an early, high screen from Wallace yields a mismatch for Rondo in DeAndre Jordan. As Rondo lures DJ out to the perimeter to prepare to carve him off the dribble, Ricky Davis dashes over to help while the rest of the defense rotates. It’s a high-quality brand of basketball from some very improbable sources.

The defining stretch of the game, though, is the outset of the second half, when the Clippers are stifled by the Celtics’ energized halfcourt defense. The Celtics do more than just push the Clippers out. You’ll see Paul Pierce double Kaman off the ball underneath on the weak side (3rd, 11:08). You’ll see the Celtics send Garnett to pick up Chris on a Baron-Kaman screen (3rd, 8:05), with Perkins staying on Baron and Rondo free to rove passing lanes. As the ball works its way over to one side of the floor, the Celtics follow it, strangling the Clippers and inducing flaming bag (3rd, 7:51) after flaming bag (3rd, 7:05) at the shot clock buzzer. Pressure like this can be combated by quick reversals to good shooters, but the Clippers don’t establish any semblance of an outside game until the interminable closing minute when, in desperation, they drain three 3-pointers. Even with the late heroics, it’s never more than a two-possession game.

Though the contest never gets out of the Clippers’ reach, it’s never in their grasp either. Somehow, that 4-to-10 point lead the Celtics nurse most of the second half seems insurmountable.

When you consider the Clippers’ shot selection, early foul trouble and that they’re woefully undermanned, the first half goes about as well it can. The wrong guys take the wrong shots for much of the half, and Denver amasses a trove of free throw attempts. Yet the Clips protect the basketball and force the Nuggets into enough bad shots of their own to go into the half with a one-point lead. Offensively, Chris Kaman takes advantage of Denver’s decision to confront him with man-to-man coverage. He goes 6-for-10 from the floor, though the Nuggets keep him off the line. Apart from that, the Clippers get lucky that a few of their long 2-pointers fall.

Defensively, the Clips do alright. They’re the recipient of some bad decisions by Denver and some wide open misses (i.e. J.R. Smith’s 3PA at 2nd, 11:20), but there are also a sprinkling of good defensive possessions. Mardy Collins does some decent work on Carmelo Anthony during the possession that follows the blown rotation on Smith. A minute or so later, Collins plugs the passing lane on a Denver break and flips the transition opportunity in the Clippers’ favor. The sequence ends with Smith taking Chris Andersen off the dribble for an easy layup:

A commenter in the ESPN Live Daily Dime pleaded with me to table my Rhino Praise-athon (his language not mine), but there’s no denying that Smith has given the Clippers something they haven’t had in a very long time — a big man who can come off the bench and score one-on-one. He’s not perfect. To wit, there were a couple of times Nene’s superior length gave Smith trouble defensively, but Smith has been crucial to the improved play by the second unit. Tonight, despite everything else, the backups do fine.

The carnage begins in the third quarter, as Denver scores on 10 of its first 11 possessions, racking up 23 points over the first 5:21 of the period. Chauncey Billups accounts for 10 of those 23 points:

• A pair of free throws when he beats Baron Davis off a high screen, then seals a recovering Baron off along the baseline.
• Two pull-up 3PMs in transition.
• Another trip to the line when he gets a pindown courtesy of Arron Afflalo and draws contact on Marcus Camby on the switch.

But things truly begin to unravel when Ricky Davis floats aimlessly into the middle of the floor to do whatever it is Ricky Davis allegedly does when he decides to straddle the help line, as if his presence beneath the hoop is going to deter Denver from continuing to attack the Clippers inside:

Ricky does very little to help the Clippers tonight. His catalog of shot attempts is atrocious — a bevy of long jumpers many of the them early in the shot clock without even a glance to see if the Clippers have anything else on the floor. Is Ricky Davis under the impression that the Denver Nuggets won’t yield him 18-footers later in the shot clock cycle? Does he believe that Chris Kaman down low isn’t a better place to initiate the offense on a given possession — a strategy that might still afford him his precious shot attempts two feet inside the arc and, in fact, offer him an even better look if he fades to a spot behind Kaman for a kickout, a la Eric Gordon?

Here’s an example of the Clippers’ lackluster halfcourt strategy in the third quarter. Denver has decided to become more aggressive on Kaman. On this possession with Denver leading by 13 at the 5:21 mark of the third quarter, the Nuggets trap him off the right block. Does any Clipper come to Kaman’s aid to alleviate the pressure?

That the answer is no is ironic, given how eager the Clippers are to shoot jump shots from the perimeter. Here’s a catch-and-shoot opportunity for someone — anyone — who’s willing to dart back over to the ball side. Kaman shares some culpability, but to abandon your big man in that situation demonstrates a complete disengagement from what’s happening on the court. Billups PU3IT off the turnover stretches the Denver lead to 16 and effectively buries the Clippers.

The Clippers are 9-1 with the Baron-Gordon-Butler-Camby-Kaman starting lineup, but 10-22 when that unit isn’t intact, and 3-7 without EJ. The Clippers’ perimeter of Baron Davis, Ricky Davis, Butler and Thornton combine to shoot 8 of 36 from the floor. Many of those selfish attempts are ill-advised, early in the shot clock and without an awareness of what’s available on the floor. Gordon’s absence certainly makes the halfcourt game tougher, but the Clippers never give themselves a chance.

Juwan Howard may typify this current incarnation of the Blazers perfectly. While most everyone expected the Blazers to fall apart long ago, they simply haven’t. Tonight the 36 year old Howard throws down a devastating jam on Chris Kaman at the end of the first half that defies all logic, but logic just doesn’t seem to apply to these Blazers. After all, this was a Portland team who had won six of their last seven games coming into tonight despite having eight regular rotation players injured. There’s a certain level of confidence a rogue unit like this develops and carries, and when it goes unchecked it can lead to results similar to what we saw five days ago.

Tonight it’s Eric Gordon who does most of the heavy lifting in the second half (16 third quarter points, 19 total), but it’s Rasual Butler who really crushes the Blazers spirit at the 8:57 mark of the fourth quarter. Down only three out of the timeout, it’s likely Portland had quite a bit of confidence going forward. Brandon Roy had yet to make his impact felt on the game whatsoever (3 for 12, 6 points total) and the Clippers were turning the ball over with such high frequency that a big run was very possible. Let’s take a look at the series that dramatically shifted the momentum in the Clippers favor:

[8:57, 4th Quarter] – Coming out of the timeout, the Clippers set deteriorates into Rasual Butler being isolated on the right wing in a late shot clock situation. Rasual typically takes poor, off balanced shots in these situations, but he’s fortunate enough to be slightly closer to the paint than usual. After a soft attempt to drive, Rasual picks up his dribble and launches a 19 foot step back jumper. It’s good.

[8:36, 4th Quarter] – The ensuing defensive possession is solid team defense all the way around. It takes the Blazers most of the shot clock to foray into the paint, but when Jerryd Bayless gets there he’s surrounded by shot blockers like Camby and a smartly collapsed Clipper defense. A smart wrap-around, baseline skip from Bayless to the corner finds the sweet shooting Martell Webster with some space, but Rasual Butler quickly rushes to close on Webster and executes a perfect “Bruce Bowen” closeout. With both hands raised, Rasual invades Webster’s shooting pocket and landing zone. The shot misses, and Butler is off to the races on the other end.

[8:26, 4th Quarter] – A long shot attempt results in a long rebound, which results in a transition opportunity. Often times it’s the secondary break that yields points, and here Rasual Butler fills the lane on the left wing and eventually positions himself in the corner where he’s most dangerous. A good kick to the corner from Sebastian Telfair against a scrambling Portland defense finds Rasual Butler all alone. With all day to set his feet, Rasual knocks down the open three.

It’s a frantic 5 point swing that seems even quicker live. The ensuing defensive possession is a Marcus Camby blocked shot, which leads to a quirky flip from Craig Smith on the other end to push the run to 7-0 in less than a minute of playing time. With the lead to double digits and momentum on their side, the Clippers never look back.

Game Notes:

• Shot Selection: Portland executes a zone defense for a good portion of the game, and once the Clippers settle down in the second half they begin to truly exploit it. When they weren’t turning the ball over (20 TO’s) the Clippers were very selective in their shot selection and it paid off: The team shot an incredible 57.8% from the field, as well as hitting 8 for 13 from behind the arc. The 63.4 eFG% is one of the better marks of the season.

• Bench Contributions: Craig Smith had a rough December. After being weeded out of the rotation on occasion and ineffective on many nights, it looked like Smith’s days of contributing were over. But tonight in a juicy matchup against the depleted Portland front line, Smith returned to his productive ways. Rhino did a nice job in matching the energy of the Portland bigs and put up 8 points and 4 boards in 11 minutes of play. Also resurrected tonight was Ricky Davis, who was called upon to fill in for an ailing Al Thornton. Ricky responded nicely with 10 points on 4 for 6 shooting in a season high 25 minutes of play.

• Chemistry: It’s a tough thing to pin down, but the Clippers did seem a little more fraternal with each other tonight. Both K.A. and Don MacLean pointed out how the players were celebrating more, rushing to pick each other up off the floor, and generally enjoying themselves more than usual. Maybe the recent winning is making us all imagine things, but it appears as if this team is starting to come together.

The Clippers are now without their most efficient offensive and defensive players, and the consequences of those absences are on full display tonight at the Pyramid. The Grizzlies finish the game with 106 points in their 93 possessions (114.0/100) and they do it by brutalizing the Clippers within 15 feet of the basket and by luring the Clippers into a series of bad defensive decisions.

Memphis scores on its first seven trips, during which the Clippers establish some horrible patterns that plague them all night. On the game’s first possession, the Clippers choose to send help low to Zach Randolph off O.J. Mayo. That’s a silly decision by Rasual Butler, particularly with Mike Conley cutting through to the weak side. Baron Davis offers some help, fully recognizing that Conley is harmless from the weak side corner, particularly if Randolph is the guy who has to make the play. Mayo? Not only is he…well…O.J. Mayo, but he’s also the only pass Randolph can reasonably make out of the post.  He does, and Mayo records the game’s first bucket.

Memphis runs the Clips in circles all night — even when the stuff isn’t all that well-executed. Take the game’s third possession, where the Grizz run a couple of stagger screens off which Mayo curls a la Ray Allen. Mayo gets a modicum of separation, but nothing extraordinary. But it doesn’t matter, because as Mayo approaches the elbow to collect the pass from the perimeter (Randolph), both the trailer (Butler) and Gasol’s man (Kaman) run at him. The second Kaman reacts, Gasol breaks for the hole. Mayo hits his big man with a bounce pass en route, and Gasol has an uncontested driving slam.

Gasol beats the Clippers in every conceivable way a big man can dominate a game down low, and we see the full portfolio before the first stoppage. In isolation against Kaman on the left block, Gasol uses a baseline pivot to get some room to launch a little left-handed hook. Twenty seconds later, the Clippers botch a basic pick-and-roll coverage on a Conley-Gasol S/R.  Conley draws Thornton courtesy of an early screen from Rudy Gay before anyone gets set that bumps Baron off the Grizz point guard. It’s an ugly mismatch for Memphis, but the Grizz give the Clips a reprieve and go with the initial call — the aforementioned Conley/Gasol S/R.¹ What do the Clips do? They look a gift horse in the mouth. Thornton and Kaman trap Conley on the action, thereby allowing Gasol to roll to the hoop unfettered. Credit the Grizzlies for spacing the floor beautifully with Mayo, Gay and Randolph, making any defensive rotation virtually impossible. Personally, I’d have Camby sag on Randolph, not only because Marcus is among the best weak side helpers in basketball (bad back notwithstanding), but because Randolph is the least dangerous of those three Grizzlies from that distance, especially from the left side of the floor, where Zach is set up.

While this mass hemorrhage is occurring, Baron Davis keeps the Clippers in the game on the other end of the floor. He finishes the first quarter with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field and sinks 3 of 5 attempts from the stripe.  He does it the smart way — bullying Mike Conley, then a rusty Jamaal Tinsley with his back to the basket. If you’re a strong guard like Baron, a matchup against these two is gold, but the fact that the Memphis bigs don’t provide much in the way of help compounds the advantage even more. Baron takes full advantage, and the result is his finest offensive quarter of the season.

Unfortunately, Baron gives it back in the third quarter when he falls into Alpha Dog mode. With the game teetering on the edge for the Clippers in the third quarter, Davis commits three bad plays. The first comes in transition, where Baron opts for the unsteady 26-foot PUJIT with that scissors kick that accompanies his shot when he’s not set. Over the next couple of minutes, Baron makes two uncharacteristically lazy passes — one a sloppy entry to Craig Smith, the other an errant dish along the perimeter to Steve Novak.

The Clippers’ second unit vaults them back into the game, but then another defensive lapse reverses that momentum. On a Conley-Gasol pick-and-roll, Conley is barely able to nudge his way inside the arc. Gasol rolls, but Rhino diligently stays with him. Meanwhile, Ricky Davis is assigned to Mayo in the right corner.  Given everything that we’ve just laid out – a Conley-Gasol pick-and-roll well in check, why in (enter deity here)’s name would Ricky Davis leave Mayo for an instant? For whatever reason, Davis decides to step toward the action, leaving an unmanned Mayo to perform a baseline sprint and flush a lob from Conley for a fierce alley-oop.

Ricky Davis is a respectable on-ball defender, but there aren’t fifteen guys in the league who offer more unwarranted help off their perimeter defensive assignments than Ricky.

Meanwhile, Rasual Butler is pressing and it’s starting to hurt the team. You can’t deny Butler the wide open looks. It’s safe to assume that those will eventually start falling again at a decent clip. But in recent days, Butler has been trying to raise his shooting percentage five points with every shot, launching all kinds of contested, off-balanced, ill-advised stuff off the dribble. The numbers say that he’s doing an above average job on the wing defensively, but his offensive presence is killing the Clippers right now. He simply can’t fill Eric Gordon’s role as the featured ball-side threat on the perimeter, and Rasual desperately needs to return to the weak side corner, where he’s been most successful over the course of his career. Of course, this can’t happen until Eric returns.

Some positives:

• It won’t make any Top 10 highlight reels, but Craig Smith’s 94-foot solo break at (2nd, 9:30) was like watching the big boy in Pop Warner ball rumble to the end zone against kids who are powerless in size and strength to stop him.
• DeAndre Jordan assumes Marcy Camby’s role on the glass, and collects five rebounds during the third quarter while the Clippers are trying to hang on. He collects seven total rebounds in 18 minutes — crucial in helping the Clippers win the rebounding rate battle against the league’s 2nd best glass squad. Jordan needs to go back to basics — worry about nothing but the glass, protecting the hoop, and being decisive defending the pick and roll.
• Ricky Buckets performs well during temps d’ordures.  Davis plays the entire fourth quarter and scores 10 points on 5-8 shooting from the floor. Given that Denver starts Aaron Afflalo at the 2, maybe Mike Dunleavy should give Ricky a more extended look as a starter.

From Clippers.com:

Los Angeles Clippers today waived guards Jerel McNeal and Anthony RobersonIn two preseason games played with the Clippers, McNeal averaged 3.5 points in 4.5 minutes per game. Roberson tallied 1.3 points and 5.3 minutes in three preseason games played.

The Clippers’ training camp roster currently stands at 15 players.

Kareem Rush is the lone training camp invitee still standing. It’s been mentioned before that Dunleavy typically carries a 14 man roster into the season, so it will be interesting to see if Rush can stick. Ricky Davis isn’t exactly what you would call “dependable,” so there’s a good chance Dunleavy will keep Rush around for added insurance as a perimeter shooter.

Dave Berri has a new post up at The Wages of Wins Journals prognosticating the Clippers as a vastly improved team in 2009-10.

Berri’s optimism is based on a number of factors:

• Blake Griffin’s monster collegiate numbers translate well to the pro game. Assume — and it’s quite an assumption — Griffin puts up numbers commensurate to Tim Duncan’s rookie season (19.5 wins produced), when you subtract that from Zach Randolph’s 3.5 wins produced in 2008-09, that would still leave the Clippers short of .500.
• Baron Davis (for various reasons discussed ad nauseam) and Chris Kaman (due to injury) had historically bad seasons — essentially outlier years. If Davis and Kaman can restore their games to anywhere close to their 2007-08 campaigns, the Clippers stand to pick up a not insignificant number of wins: “In 2007-08, Baron Davis produced 11.8 wins while Chris Kaman’s Wins Produced stood at 10.1.  B. Davis never really produced for the Clippers.  But after 481 minutes in 2008-09, Kaman’s WP48 [Wins Produced per 48 minutes] stood at 0.200.  Kaman, though, was soon hurt and his production plummeted. If Kaman is healthy in 2008-09, and B. Davis returns from whatever caused his production to drop-off last season, the Clippers could have four players – Camby, Griffin, B. Davis, and Kaman – capable of producing more than ten wins.”
• If the Clippers can limit either the playing time or the lousiness of their unproductive players — both reasonable goals when you consider their offseason acquisitions — they can pick up a few more wins. According to Berri’s measurements, Al Thornton was the NBA’s least productive player last season, with Ricky Davis not far behind. In contrast, the Clippers’ new wing, Rasual Butler, chalked up a respectable 4.2 wins produced for New Orleans. A reduction in playing time for Thornton and Davis in lieu of Butler will logically give the Clippers’ win total a further bump.

Berri’s larger conclusion:

• if the Clippers could somehow get the negative players to be a bit less negative,
• if B. Davis and Kaman to return to form.
• if age doesn’t keep Camby off the floor or substantially reduce his production, and,
• if Griffin can produce as his college numbers suggest…

…then the Clippers might post an efficiency differential in excess of 2.0.  And that means, the 2009-10 Clippers might be the best team in the history of this franchise.

Yes, those are a lot of ifs.

Berri’s numbers — like all metrics — should be taken with a grain of salt. Dan Rosenbaum has taken great issue with Berri’s methodology. If you have half an hour and a passionate interest in this stuff, you can watch a presentation by Rosenbaum from 2007 on some of his beefs. One of Rosenbaum’s primary complaints is that, “Wins Produced likely does a terrible job predicting team wins,” in large part because it fails to take into account shot creation (which might explain why a player like Al Thornton is devalued in Berri’s system).

Nevertheless, Berri has had success predicting team performance over the years, and it’s tough to argue with his general premises about the 2009-10 Clippers.

The Clippers spent a good part of Tuesday’s practice working on defensive rotations. During the team’s 5-on-5 scrimmage, the coaching staff would have one practice squad run a high pick-and-roll, with a direction by Mike Dunleavy to go left or right off the action. The defensive unit was then ordered to trap or “red” the point guard, which means the PG’s primary defender would crowd him directly on his shoulder, with the screener’s defender joining his teammate out on the perimeter.

Basic perimeter trap, but effective only if the back line defenders rotate with quickness and precision.

This coverage scheme is the backbone of most NBA defenses on half-court S/R possessions. The teams that perform this task well (Cleveland, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans) tend to prosper.  Teams that struggle on defensive rotations get shredded, particularly by offenses who can spread the floor with shooters.

Remember these guys? Defense was their middle name. (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE)

Will the Clippers be a solid halfcourt defensive team this season?

Hope: Crisp as 2005-06
In some sense, defensive rotations are a lot like officiating in basketball. When your team’s defense is rotating effectively, you hardly notice it.  When they blow it, it’s painfully obvious and aggravating.

Let’s rewind to 2005-06, when the Clippers were the 7th most efficient defense in the league. One of the bedrock strengths of that team was the alacrity of their half-court defense. On a 1-5 pick-and-roll, Cassell and Kaman would blitz the ballhandler, and the backline trio of Elton Brand, Cuttino Mobley and Quinton Ross would pick up the screener and still get to their respective spots along the perimeter. That season, the Clips played 3-on-4 defense in those situations as well as any team in the league, which is why, despite being a below-average offensive squad, they were a Raja Bell hail mary away from a conference final berth.

“A lot of what you do defensively is keyed by the guys on the back line,” Dunleavy said. “They have a chance to see the play and read the play. They see everybody out there.”

That 2005-06 team knew how to read half-court defenses even though, with the possible exception of Ross, none of the other four players in that lineup were All-NBA defenders. But Brand and Mobley had acute court awareness and were tough as nails. That season, you could watch 40 defensive possessions before seeing a blown rotation. Though many Clippers fans might be loath to admit it, Mike Dunleavy had a lot to do with that.

For this year’s Clippers, getting from chaos to fluency is going to take a little time.

“It’s all about repetitions,” Dunleavy said. “For us, the first component is getting to the right spots, make the right reads, and then you continue to build on that.”

Will this team have the personnel and collective smarts to replicate that 2005-06 defense? It’s certainly possible. If you swap out Al Thornton for Rasual Butler, the Clippers’ “three man rotation” defending a 1-5 pick-and-roll would be composed of Eric Gordon, Rasual Butler, and Blake Griffin/Marcus Camby/Chris Kaman.

Aside from the beastliness, explosiveness, athleticism, balance, and general immortality Griffin displayed at Summer League, Dunleavy was most impressed with the rookie’s reads on defense. “He really got the rotations,” Dunleavy has said … three times in interviews over the past eight weeks. He’s telling the truth. Not only was Griffin routinely at the right spot, he reacted with ease to nearly every offensive counter. On top of that, he was a vocal traffic cop on D. In short, he got it.

Rasual Butler has the length and wherewithal to bounce from a cutter back to the perimeter effectively. The upgrade over Thornton in this department is almost inestimable.

The wild card here is Eric Gordon. Though EJ has the strength to body up as a man defender against many opposing shooting guards, he has yet to master team defense and has a long way to go before he’s Cat Mobley. But there’s tremendous upside here. Gordon played with dozens of lineups last season and it’s unreasonable to expect a young rookie to grasp the nuances of NBA rotations — particularly when there was a different defensive unit out there each time he took the floor … and that unit often included the likes of Thornton and Zach Randolph. When you consider that collection of players last season, it’s no wonder the Clips finished 27th in defensive efficiency.

This season, Butler will take tremendous pressure off  Gordon on the wing.  If Griffin is as quick a study defensively as he’s demonstrated early, the Clippers could be a dramatically different, and vastly improved, defensive unit.

The Fear: Opponents Exploit the Clips’ Inexperience
Compliment Griffin and Gordon all you want, but can you find any precedent for an elite defensive unit that depends on the instincts of a couple of 20 year olds?  I’ve been asked/forced to go on record with a prediction of the Clippers’ win total this season, and the optimistic number I’ve come up with is 36-38. And it’s this dynamic — along with the rebounding on the wings — that’s kept that number in check.

This fear isn’t without a disclaimer — it’s early. Although some believe that the ability of a player to understand half-court defense is a hard-wired intuition, there’s plenty of evidence that a player can cultivate that defensive readiness.

“These are skills that can be taught,” Dunleavy said. “When you get it right, it will be really good.”

Note the future progressive tense here.  It will be really good.  But that could take some time and there are several rotation players on the squad for whom that time could be an eternity: Thornton, Steve Novak, DeAndre Jordan, Ricky Davis (at times). Gordon still has a ways to go.  Chris Kaman is a sold interior defender, but becomes less capable the farther away from the basket. At this juncture, only Marcus Camby and Butler can be depended on for crisp possession in-possession out rotations.

Another uncertain piece here: Baron Davis’ ability to contain the ballhandler. For all his defensive failings — and they were many — Cassell knew he’d be beaten off most S/Rs, but he was very good about funneling the opposing PG to the right spot. Baron has been a very, very good defender in the past. Last year? Well, you watched the games. You tell me. Will Baron recommit himself this season?

There are a lot of uncertainties and the prospect of this collection of players replicating the air-tight 2005-06 squad defensively are very, very remote.  If this season’s Clippers can finish in the high-teens in defensive efficiency, that would be a vast improvement — but still leave them as a 30-ish win team.

The Hope: Gordon and Griffin become quick studies under the tutelage of a coach whose specialty is this kind of instruction.

The Fear: That learning process takes far longer than anticipated. Thornton continues to get the bulk of the minutes at the 3, and the base pick-and-roll defense up top will leak like a sieve.