GAME #67: ATL (29-37) @ LAC (42-24) SUN 3/17 6:30PM, CHANNEL 5 & NBA-TV

[Sofia]

At least when the Lakers peaked early before crashing, they got a mid season trophy.

It’s a shame they don’t hand those out in Feb.

[Captain Ballmer]

Despite the posters that actually love when the Clippers lose because of their shtick. The team got absolutely nothing from the others. Kawhi and PG were basically out there alone. And this game should win Norm 6th man of the year.

Just hope Russ is back before the playoffs because the Clippers miss his energy, play making and defense.

This is also the 5th game in 7 nights coming off the road. The NBA seems like they intentionally F the Clippers with the scheduling.

Contrary, I think this stretch should win Russ 6th man of the year award even thoug the minimum game requirement is missing.

[Clemenza]

I would start booing if I am at the game.

I was at the game. The team is cooked and nobody gave a sh*t. They're now in a "flip the switch" position for the playoffs, but they're not a "flip the switch" type team. They looked washed and disinterested. This is the reason I want to see the youngsters play on nights like this because the 213 Era has never competed throughout a 82 game season. Not once. We're an old azz team with mediocre bigs, no athleticism, and a smidgen of player development, etc. We might crawl into our new arena next season.

[KingCrimzzon]

I would start booing if I am at the game.

I was at the game. The team is cooked and nobody gave a sh*t. They're now in a "flip the switch" position for the playoffs, but they're not a "flip the switch" type team at all. They looked washed and disinterested. This is the reason I want to see the youngsters play on nights like this because the 213 Era has never competed throughout a 82 game season. Not once. We're an old team with mediocre bigs, no athleticism, and a smidgen of player development, etc. We might crawl into our new arena next season.

Please tell me you booed that horrible excuse for an effort. As for 213, they were flawed the moment they thought they had the two best 2 way players ever. They are now too old to play 2 way. The rest of the team can only shoot 3s and they have no system, even though they got a system.

[madmaxmedia]

I don't know that we can say, oh the team just doesn't care or is waiting to try hard in the playoffs. These are still NBA players who were really enjoying themselves before ASB and playing with energy, and no one wants to lose games like last night. And while this team's roster is by no means perfect, it was more than good enough for a pretty long stretch of games. But obviously there is something very wrong with the team. There's a wiretap story right now where PG says the team lacks an identity, I think that's perhaps true as a symptom but doesn't explain the actual problem.

I think the talent level is still there to at least win 50 games and be a pretty good team (we might limp across that 50-win line even now), far better than we are playing now, but we have no one who takes charge as a leader when things aren't going our way- that's where a team's identity comes out. In crunch time when sometimes despite our hustle the other team ends up with a lucky loose ball and scores, that kind of thing deflates us- you can see it clearly in our body language. That's not a great response, but if they didn't care they wouldn't have any reaction at all. We need someone to set the tone and say who cares, let's get it back now and then shut them down next time down the floor. The rest of the team absolutely will follow that lead.

Kawhi is a pretty strong introvert and is just not that guy personality-wise, and Paul George forever wants to be a leader and talks about it but isn't strong enough mentally to actually do it. As much as I've liked James as a point guard he doesn't give me those strong vibes either, and while his personality has not been a negative it probably hasn't been a big positive either. I think for all his faults, Russ is the biggest alpha on the team and perhaps that's why he has generally had such a positive effect on the team. When he's on the floor you know he's never going to be on his heels (even when he's chucking bricks.)

Since there's no one else you are the team's identity Paul, and you recognize there's a hole but cannot actually fill it. There may not be a solution with our starting core as is, which means it will simply be up to luck whether we can string together some success that will get us in the right frame of mind again. If not this we could be a meek 1st round exit no matter what our seed is or who we play.

[og15]

I would start booing if I am at the game.

I was at the game. The team is cooked and nobody gave a sh*t. They're now in a "flip the switch" position for the playoffs, but they're not a "flip the switch" type team. They looked washed and disinterested. This is the reason I want to see the youngsters play on nights like this because the 213 Era has never competed throughout a 82 game season. Not once. We're an old azz team with mediocre bigs, no athleticism, and a smidgen of player development, etc. We might crawl into our new arena next season.

This is a team full of vets, that just wouldn't make sense. You RAMP IT UP in the last 15-20 games, there's no player experienced in the NBA who thinks, "ah, we're 20 games to the playoffs, time to start chilling and waiting to turn it up when the playoffs start". This isn't the #1 seed with a large lead on everyone else. They are the #4 seed with the #5 about to overtake them.

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They played bad basketball. Their problem isn't lack of effort, their problem is lack of consistent effort for the whole game. You can't coach effort though, that's the problem. If they go into the playoffs with this inconsistency, they'll be lucky to even get to the 2nd round.

[Bobbymcgee]

Despite what George says, the team's identity right now is old, slow, doesn't play defense, and too small to contend against the best teams in the West.

The team needs to make some major moves in the off-season to find an identity worth having. That means building a team around Leonard with players who want to play defense and show up to play a full game of basketball.

[KingCrimzzon]

Despite what George says, the team's identity right now is old, slow, doesn't play defense, and too small to contend against the best teams in the West.

The team needs to make some major moves in the off-season to find an identity worth having. That means building a team around Leonard with players who want to play defense and show up to play a full game of basketball.

I think George's identity crisis should begin with looking in the mirror. He's 6'8 and 220 and should be a matchup nightmare for anyone in the 2/3 position in the league. The identity is very simple: defense, rebounding and points in the paint. He is a problem in this area since he has the body to affect the change here. Instead he pulls his Carmelo Anthony impression and shoots nothing but jumpers and feigns going to the basket all the time. Rather than play physical he plays soft, maybe it's because of all the injuries in his career. But whatever the reason, it's the pot calling the kettle black. As for the major changes, they aren't likely happen and they are going to have to find some role players on the margins or attempt to develop the ones they have on the team. It may be a second round draft choice turn style here, but at least they'd be trying.

[NickP]

Despite what George says, the team's identity right now is old, slow, doesn't play defense, and too small to contend against the best teams in the West.

The team needs to make some major moves in the off-season to find an identity worth having. That means building a team around Leonard with players who want to play defense and show up to play a full game of basketball.

I think George's identity crisis should begin with looking in the mirror. He's 6'8 and 220 and should be a matchup nightmare for anyone in the 2/3 position in the league. The identity is very simple: defense, rebounding and points in the paint. He is a problem in this area since he has the body to affect the change here. Instead he pulls his Carmelo Anthony impression and shoots nothing but jumpers and feigns going to the basket all the time. Rather than play physical he plays soft, maybe it's because of all the injuries in his career. But whatever the reason, it's the pot calling the kettle black. As for the major changes, they aren't likely happen and they are going to have to find some role players on the margins or attempt to develop the ones they have on the team. It may be a second round draft choice turn style here, but at least they'd be trying.

THIS!!!!

[esqtvd]

Despite what George says, the team's identity right now is old, slow, doesn't play defense, and too small to contend against the best teams in the West.

The team needs to make some major moves in the off-season to find an identity worth having. That means building a team around Leonard with players who want to play defense and show up to play a full game of basketball.

I think George's identity crisis should begin with looking in the mirror. He's 6'8 and 220 and should be a matchup nightmare for anyone in the 2/3 position in the league. The identity is very simple: defense, rebounding and points in the paint. He is a problem in this area since he has the body to affect the change here. Instead he pulls his Carmelo Anthony impression and shoots nothing but jumpers and feigns going to the basket all the time. Rather than play physical he plays soft, maybe it's because of all the injuries in his career. But whatever the reason, it's the pot calling the kettle black. As for the major changes, they aren't likely happen and they are going to have to find some role players on the margins or attempt to develop the ones they have on the team. It may be a second round draft choice turn style here, but at least they'd be trying.

Bored, afraid of getting hurt AGAIN...and a little bit lazy. We don't have an identity because we don't have a leader.

These guys don't really love balling. Beard has never been a grinder OR a leader or a playoff magician. He was horrendous last night.

Zu and Mann are really overachievers, sticking closely to their roles but also afraid to make a mistake. Powell is a classic 6th man, instant offense but a turnstile on D. They is what they is. Theis and Coffey are getting significant minutes and are in way over their heads in an NBA playoff 8-man rotation. Bones is way up and down. There is nowhere to look for improvement.

The only guy besides KL (who CAN turn it on and off) who checks all the boxes is 35 years old and injured at the moment. His skills are eroded but he LOVES ballin'.

Read on Twitter

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Read on Twitter

[clipperlover]

Despite what George says, the team's identity right now is old, slow, doesn't play defense, and too small to contend against the best teams in the West.

The team needs to make some major moves in the off-season to find an identity worth having. That means building a team around Leonard with players who want to play defense and show up to play a full game of basketball.

I think George's identity crisis should begin with looking in the mirror. He's 6'8 and 220 and should be a matchup nightmare for anyone in the 2/3 position in the league. The identity is very simple: defense, rebounding and points in the paint. He is a problem in this area since he has the body to affect the change here. Instead he pulls his Carmelo Anthony impression and shoots nothing but jumpers and feigns going to the basket all the time. Rather than play physical he plays soft, maybe it's because of all the injuries in his career. But whatever the reason, it's the pot calling the kettle black. As for the major changes, they aren't likely happen and they are going to have to find some role players on the margins or attempt to develop the ones they have on the team. It may be a second round draft choice turn style here, but at least they'd be trying.

Bored, afraid of getting hurt AGAIN...and a little bit lazy. We don't have an identity because we don't have a leader.

These guys don't really love balling. Beard has never been a grinder OR a leader or a playoff magician. He was horrendous last night.

Zu and Mann are really overachievers, sticking closely to their roles but also afraid to make a mistake. Powell is a classic 6th man, instant offense but a turnstile on D. They is what they is. Theis and Coffey are getting significant minutes and are in way over their heads in an NBA playoff 8-man rotation. Bones is way up and down. There is nowhere to look for improvement.

The only guy besides KL (who CAN turn it on and off) who checks all the boxes is 35 years old and injured at the moment. His skills are eroded but he LOVES ballin'.

Read on Twitter

In his press conference last night, Ty talked about not doing the right thing for 48 minutes. He also insinuated if they can't figure it out, then he will. I think he is hinting at a line-up change. Maybe that change will be just to shake some things up. My guess is that it will involve moving P.J. into the starting line-up to help set the defensive tone early. One thing P.J. has shown is the willingness to hustle and get up into people. Would rather have him alongside Kawhi, PG and Zu at this point. So, Mann could be the guy moved to the 2nd unit. Kawhi and PG take the 3 and 2 spots.

P.J experiment will probably be tested vs Portland.

[esqtvd]

I think George's identity crisis should begin with looking in the mirror. He's 6'8 and 220 and should be a matchup nightmare for anyone in the 2/3 position in the league. The identity is very simple: defense, rebounding and points in the paint. He is a problem in this area since he has the body to affect the change here. Instead he pulls his Carmelo Anthony impression and shoots nothing but jumpers and feigns going to the basket all the time. Rather than play physical he plays soft, maybe it's because of all the injuries in his career. But whatever the reason, it's the pot calling the kettle black. As for the major changes, they aren't likely happen and they are going to have to find some role players on the margins or attempt to develop the ones they have on the team. It may be a second round draft choice turn style here, but at least they'd be trying.

Bored, afraid of getting hurt AGAIN...and a little bit lazy. We don't have an identity because we don't have a leader.

These guys don't really love balling. Beard has never been a grinder OR a leader or a playoff magician. He was horrendous last night.

Zu and Mann are really overachievers, sticking closely to their roles but also afraid to make a mistake. Powell is a classic 6th man, instant offense but a turnstile on D. They is what they is. Theis and Coffey are getting significant minutes and are in way over their heads in an NBA playoff 8-man rotation. Bones is way up and down. There is nowhere to look for improvement.

The only guy besides KL (who CAN turn it on and off) who checks all the boxes is 35 years old and injured at the moment. His skills are eroded but he LOVES ballin'.

Read on Twitter

In his press conference last night, Ty talked about not doing the right thing for 48 minutes. He also insinuated if they can't figure it out, then he will. I think he is hinting at a line-up change. Maybe that change will be just to shake some things up. My guess is that it will involve moving P.J. into the starting line-up to help set the defensive tone early. One thing P.J. has shown is the willingness to hustle and get up into people. Would rather have him alongside Kawhi, PG and Zu at this point. So, Mann could be the guy moved to the 2nd unit. Kawhi and PG take the 3 and 2 spots.

P.J experiment will probably be tested vs Portland.

PJ could survive some matchups but not most.

Good discussion here [follow link]. PG and KL are the best attacking defenders but they can't do it all. It's exhausting.

Read on Twitter

[madmaxmedia]

I would start booing if I am at the game.

I was at the game. The team is cooked and nobody gave a sh*t. They're now in a "flip the switch" position for the playoffs, but they're not a "flip the switch" type team. They looked washed and disinterested. This is the reason I want to see the youngsters play on nights like this because the 213 Era has never competed throughout a 82 game season. Not once. We're an old azz team with mediocre bigs, no athleticism, and a smidgen of player development, etc. We might crawl into our new arena next season.

This is a team full of vets, that just wouldn't make sense. You RAMP IT UP in the last 15-20 games, there's no player experienced in the NBA who thinks, "ah, we're 20 games to the playoffs, time to start chilling and waiting to turn it up when the playoffs start". This isn't the #1 seed with a large lead on everyone else. They are the #4 seed with the #5 about to overtake them.

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They played bad basketball. Their problem isn't lack of effort, their problem is lack of consistent effort for the whole game. You can't coach effort though, that's the problem. If they go into the playoffs with this inconsistency, they'll be lucky to even get to the 2nd round.

The other thought that comes to mind is that often it seems like we are at our best when all expectations/reputation are off the table, and the team is then able dig deep and just grind their way to success. Then, the talent they do have (and there's still a lot) comes through as well. But when we're not in that mode and we get pushed, we get deflated and are not able to really come together. They've got to want that adversity, and I don't think PG always does.

We've been doing a lot of finger-pointing at Paul this thread but I think it is justified. Since Kawhi is not a leader type, it's up to Paul to set the identity for the team. Underdog Paul actually plays the right way and says the right things, but his other personalities generally don't LOL. He's not a cancer or anything, not every player is a natural leader (neither is Kawhi). But he's what we got.

[MartinToVaught]

And while this team's roster is by no means perfect, it was more than good enough for a pretty long stretch of games.

The roster was never "more than good enough." It was always as old, slow and undersized as it is now. They just had an unsustainable hot shooting streak against an easy schedule for a couple months. Kawhi even said at the time that it wasn't sustainable because they weren't winning with fundamentals.

I'm getting the sinking feeling that the streak will be used as justification to run it back with no changes even after the first-round exit. I don't believe the current iteration of the roster has another run like that in them.

[madmaxmedia]

And while this team's roster is by no means perfect, it was more than good enough for a pretty long stretch of games.

The roster was never "more than good enough." It was always as old, slow and undersized as it is now. They just had an unsustainable hot shooting streak against an easy schedule for a couple months. Kawhi even said at the time that it wasn't sustainable because they weren't winning with fundamentals.

I'm getting the sinking feeling that the streak will be used as justification to run it back with no changes even after the first-round exit. I don't believe the current iteration of the roster has another run like that in them.

Kawhi didn't say though that their winning stretch was unsustainable or only due to a hot shooting streak. He said they were winning on talent alone and had areas to improve on.

Leonard has been saying recently that the Clippers have been winning on sheer talent, and that they’re still falling short of their maximum potential in many areas. He said it again Monday, and pointedly so, after the Minnesota Timberwolves took the Clippers apart in the third quarter of the visitors’ 121-100 victory at Crypto.com Arena.
...
By then, the Clippers must play like they know their talent alone, deep though it is, isn't enough to get them where they want to go.

“We’re right there,” Leonard said when asked if the Clippers are a championship-caliber team. “We’ve been winning games, as everybody has seen. And like I said before, there’s ways for us to get better, and we know that — and that’s what’s scary.

“We started jelling a little late and now is the time to kind of turn it around.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/elliott-kawhi-leonard-says-clippers-144437439.html