Game 49: Cleveland Cavaliers (29-19) @ Detroit Pistons (22-26) - 8:00 PM EST

[El Chivo]

very important win to fuel enthusiasm and introduce Blake Griffin's era.

[Laimbeer]

A Minny fan was saying a star player like Butler really helps your young players. We'll see how this team responds to Blake. I did have a Clips fan tell me this -

You just got one of the hardest-working players in the league. The way his game has expanded between his rookie year and now says it all. Blake is also an excellent teammate.

Blake's so-called "character concerns" are blown way out of proportion based on one stupid off-court incident a couple years ago. Guys like Cousins, ZBo, etc. have done way more and gotten a free pass for it from fans and the media.

[vege]

If SJ stop shooting 3's and starts being aggressive on offense, he is a really good player. 2nd time this year he had a game like this, this time he played more minutes and had big numbers. I'm happy for him.

Kennard was a huge disapointment this game, he was flat out terrible.

Best thing was to see SVG's face after the game was over, and Dre after the game was over as well, that was priceless. I hope this is the start of a winning streak and we regain our lost confidence.

[Kilo]

A Minny fan was saying a star player like Butler really helps your young players. We'll see how this team responds to Blake. I did have a Clips fan tell me this -

You just got one of the hardest-working players in the league. The way his game has expanded between his rookie year and now says it all. Blake is also an excellent teammate.

Blake's so-called "character concerns" are blown way out of proportion based on one stupid off-court incident a couple years ago. Guys like Cousins, ZBo, etc. have done way more and gotten a free pass for it from fans and the media.

I think Blake Griffin could be really good for Stanley Johnson and Drummond. Griffin is a legit superstar who plays with intensity but has fun while he plays. I think SVG sucks the fun out for players - you just gotta let them play sometimes. It's not human chess with the players just your chess emotionless chess pieces. Fans love the showtime - it gets them excited and loud and then the players further feed off that energy.

[Kilo]

TNT just showed Tobias/Bradley/Boban arriving to the arena together in LA. So their physicals might take place tonight, maybe tomorrow.

The deal should get finalized before Thursday's game vs Memphis

chance boban fails the phsyical and trade rescinded?

lol

Still can't believe this is real life

Lucky for us I think Boban was actually a separate deal - he was traded for a TPE LAC already had. I believe it was something like three separate trades actually -

Harris/Bradley for Griffin/Johnson - LAC get a TPE created here on the salary difference
Boban for TPE
Willie Reed minimum player traded to us creates TPE for LAC

[Kilo]

BTW's Ellenson's lack of aggressiveness hurts our team. HE too many times isn't looking to make a play.

He should be sent to the G-League immediately. His feel and confidence is shot. He's a young kid who hasn't played much at all in the last two years after being a one-and-done in college. If Leuer was healthy he probably would have been in Grand Rapids for most of the season - but with Jon out we needed Henry on the bench as an emergency depth PF behind Harris and Tolly. Now that we have Griffin-Tolliver-Brice Johnson we can afford to send Henry to the Drive.

Drive play 1st, 3rd and 7th - three games before the trade deadline. If he shows something that gets teams interested than even better. He has no future here after the Griffin trade, with Leuer back next season and we probably should keep Tolly as well.

On an aside Leuer can play PF beside both Dre and Blake now - end the Jon as small ball center experiment. Have him lean out and maybe that will help him find his shot. He seemed to bulk up this past off-season (probably to prepare for center minutes) and I wonder if that hurt his stroke.

[Laimbeer]

A Minny fan was saying a star player like Butler really helps your young players. We'll see how this team responds to Blake. I did have a Clips fan tell me this -

You just got one of the hardest-working players in the league. The way his game has expanded between his rookie year and now says it all. Blake is also an excellent teammate.

Blake's so-called "character concerns" are blown way out of proportion based on one stupid off-court incident a couple years ago. Guys like Cousins, ZBo, etc. have done way more and gotten a free pass for it from fans and the media.

I think Blake Griffin could be really good for Stanley Johnson and Drummond. Griffin is a legit superstar who plays with intensity but has fun while he plays. I think SVG sucks the fun out for players - you just gotta let them play sometimes. It's not human chess with the players just your chess emotionless chess pieces. Fans love the showtime - it gets them excited and loud and then the players further feed off that energy.

This is a good point. Dre has really turned it around, but Blake could take him to another level. It will be interesting to see how they work together.

At least I now I have a reason to watch this team.

[Kilo]

On an aside - I love those jerseys. I wouldn't even mind if they became our regular ones. Just have Detroit across the front instead of Motor City and swap out that D logo for the Piston one and go with it.

As for the home whites, I'd hate they ugly ass light gray ones we also use. I'd go off white/cream for that aged look, with the same dark gray and blue of these "Motor City" ones.

I do hate our font for both letters and numbers. I dig this new Harris jersey lettering -

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[Kilo]

Ish
Bullock
Stanley
Blake
Dre

as soon as we traded for blake i thought that's what our starters would be. buycks is the backup PG, luke backs up the 2/3, tolliver backs up the 4 and reed backs up the 5. solid nine-man rotation with galloway playing spot minutes.

can't wait for reggie to come back healthy.

Looked good tonight. Bullock and Stanley can flip flop roles as well with Stanley playing the 2-guard offensively while guarding SF, and Bullock who is more comfortable as the 3&D wing/corner shooter can play SF offensively while guarding the opposing 2-guard. Stanley is a flow player - he's not going to play well if you have him standing out of the way as the 5th option on a low shot clock. If SVG wants that out of him he's better off trading for a player who excels in such a role.

[hoophabit]

If SJ stop shooting 3's and starts being aggressive on offense, he is a really good player. 2nd time this year he had a game like this, this time he played more minutes and had big numbers. I'm happy for him.

Kennard was a huge disapointment this game, he was flat out terrible.

Best thing was to see SVG's face after the game was over, and Dre after the game was over as well, that was priceless. I hope this is the start of a winning streak and we regain our lost confidence.

I agree with you about SJ.

You're overstating Kennard's struggles. His deep shot wasn't falling, but he was still 2 for 5? Luke was the only bench player that didn't have a negative +/-. He tied for 3rd most rebounds with Tolliver with 4, although Luke played 22 minutes and Tolliver 37. Kennard didn't have a great night, but he wasn't "flat out terrible."

Yes, let's hope the new team dynamic is an improvement.

[MrBigShot]

Super bummed about missing this one. Will prob catch a re-run on DVR.