Game #27 Clippers @ HEAT Thursday 12/8 4:30pm [NOTE TIME]

[madmaxmedia]

While I love the young guys playing well in the G-League, I think there needs to be a bit of relaxation in thinking that directly translates to the big leagues. But, maybe it does, we'll see.

Generally it translates to, hey maybe this guy can play spot minutes for us, and then you see if they actually can.

I am very hopeful for Diabate though, and think he will start getting more time with us. Although I guess at this point I'm not expecting him to be a huge upgrade yet over Moses Brown. Is anyone else surprise that Brown is listed at 7'1"? He seems under 7 ft. for sure on the floor. For sure Diabate will prove out to be a really good 2nd round pick IMO (if not Terance Man level...)

I like the way Preston plays but fear his (lack of) athleticism will really hold him back in the NBA.

[og15]

While I love the young guys playing well in the G-League, I think there needs to be a bit of relaxation in thinking that directly translates to the big leagues. But, maybe it does, we'll see.

Generally it translates to, hey maybe this guy can play spot minutes for us, and then you see if they actually can.

I am very hopeful for Diabate though, and think he will start getting more time with us. Although I guess at this point I'm not expecting him to be a huge upgrade yet over Moses Brown. Is anyone else surprise that Brown is listed at 7'1"? He seems under 7 ft. for sure on the floor. For sure Diabate will prove out to be a really good 2nd round pick IMO (if not Terance Man level...)

I like the way Preston plays but fear his (lack of) athleticism will really hold him back in the NBA.

certainly possible, some guys are able to have other attributes that make up, but not always

[madmaxmedia]

I'm not satisfied with different aspects of our play, but I guess I think our play and health is simply a reflection of our age and roster composition.

Every year our 2 stars get another year older, and a little slower and a little creakier. They are still high level players, but when we traded for them I'd say we would have all agreed their first 3 years here would be our best shot at a title, vs. the 3 or 4 years after that. Guys over 30 just don't have the juice that younger studs do. Look at Jayson Tatum, he is a star who I feel has been around a long time, and he's only 24 for goodness sake. It's hard for Kawhi or PG now to keep up with guys like that, and guys like that are who you have to beat in multiple playoff rounds to win a title.

Unfortunately, that run-in with Joe Ingles not only doomed a really good run in Year 2, but ended any title hopes for Year 3 as well. And there go the 3 best years for this Clipper era.

Our FO has done a great job of pursuing favorable trades and acquisitions to try to round out the roster, but given our salary cap and draft pick limitations they're basically trying to squeeze water out of a rock. Many of our core rotation players were acquired for very little (Zubac, Powell, Mann) and others were former castoffs who found a home here (Batum, Jackson, Wall.) Beyond that, Boston and Diabate look like nice prospects. That's absolutely tremendous work around the edges! Maybe there are potential deals or signings we missed out on, but I'm not aware of any. The only bigger trade we read about recently was Mike Conley, and not sure how much better we get with another old vet.

I still enjoy watching this team play and will continue to root for them (and I just really like a lot of the players as people), but I don't consider them a high level title contender any more. It's not to say we can't make a Finals appearance or even win, but it will take luck and events beyond our control.

[wakelaunch1]

i have watched over half the games. its the construction of the team. late game collapses with poor decision making. the players that played tonight still are a 135 million dollar team which is still over the salary cap. Ballmer paid the bread for depth.

Let us get this straight, newbie---You've watched HALF of our 27 games? And Kawhi played in only 7 of the 27? Which is 3 or 4? And we were still missing key players? And your expert opinion is??

Zu and Reggie are putting up minutes until their tongues hang out. Reggie put up 20 tonight and hit 4 of 6 from three, several of them with the clock running out.

So with all due respect, just don't EVEN. We lost by 5 to a very good NBA team. On a back-to-back. On the road. A bounce here, a call there, and the usual board vultures don't even show their face here tonight.

I have watched around 50-60 games a year for the last 13 years. I worked for the Clippers 13 years ago. I have a great feel to what's going on with this team. So, I may be new to this board, I have great understanding of Clippers basketball. I know when I see fundamental flaws in execution and decision making. Sure, teams lose games. PG makes consistently bad decisions at the end of games. I didnt know his game before the Clippers so I won't really comment before that but with the Clippers he has. Hes a good player but he needs to be put in positions to be successful. Him consistently taking the ball up the court, dribbling for half the clock and the doing a step back 3 doesnt win a lot of games. He also had an unforced turnover and a missed 3 on the plays right before that.

With that said, they need a legit PG or Jokic type that creates an atmosphere of passing, and unselfish play. Let PG come off of screens funneling him to the basket or creating a set 3 point shot. We need a lot of easier baskets in the half court offense.

[esqtvd]

i have watched over half the games. its the construction of the team. late game collapses with poor decision making. the players that played tonight still are a 135 million dollar team which is still over the salary cap. Ballmer paid the bread for depth.

Let us get this straight, newbie---You've watched HALF of our 27 games? And Kawhi played in only 7 of the 27? Which is 3 or 4? And we were still missing key players? And your expert opinion is??

Zu and Reggie are putting up minutes until their tongues hang out. Reggie put up 20 tonight and hit 4 of 6 from three, several of them with the clock running out.

So with all due respect, just don't EVEN. We lost by 5 to a very good NBA team. On a back-to-back. On the road. A bounce here, a call there, and the usual board vultures don't even show their face here tonight.

I have watched around 50-60 games a year for the last 13 years. I worked for the Clippers 13 years ago. I have a great feel to what's going on with this team. So, I may be new to this board, I have great understanding of Clippers basketball. I know when I see fundamental flaws in execution and decision making. Sure, teams lose games. PG makes consistently bad decisions at the end of games. I didnt know his game before the Clippers so I won't really comment before that but with the Clippers he has. Hes a good player but he needs to be put in positions to be successful. Him consistently taking the ball up the court, dribbling for half the clock and the doing a step back 3 doesnt win a lot of games. He also had an unforced turnover and a missed 3 on the plays right before that.

With that said, they need a legit PG or Jokic type that creates an atmosphere of passing, and unselfish play. Let PG come off of screens funneling him to the basket or creating a set 3 point shot. We need a lot of easier baskets in the half court offense.

Until we field lineup combinations with real familiarity with each other, you're going to see these flusterclucks. It's December. People find themselves in roles that will not even exist once we're at full strength.

We had 15 assists and 17 turnovers in the horrible Sacramento loss but 30 assists and only 12 TOs the next night in Kawhi and PG's return to action.



https://www.clipsnation.com/2022/12/9/23502164/los-angeles-clippers-schedule-orlando-magic-miami-heat-injuries-paul-george-kawhi-leonard

The form of specific players has come into question, with usually-reliable guys like Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris Sr. suffering from big peaks and troughs this season, but even the fiercest critic would have to concede that both have been asked far too much of at times. The constant upgrading and downgrading of roles can’t help them when trying to establish a rhythm.

Of course, that comes back to the injured stars, and Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and even John Wall have all been accused of being too cautious with their bodies throughout this process. However, in recent times, all three have increasingly expressed their desire to play and subsequent frustrations with their timetables, likely being managed by a combination of the Clippers’ medical staff and front office.

The losses stacking up definitely doesn’t help, and perhaps wins that were secured solely by role players stepping up has increased the expectations of fans in the ability of those guys to carry the load while the stars are sitting. It’s clear that both Jackson and Morris in particular have struggled with this at times, while Ivica Zubac is cutting an increasingly tired figure since his record night.

On the flip side, it’s hard to continue to preach patience to fans of a team that should be contending for a championship, but instead find themselves a hair above .500 a third of the way through the season. However, fans looking for sweeping changes are likely to be disappointed. Injuries will happen and form will fluctuate, the organization won’t want information that potentially undermines their processes to leak out, and the players will want to play basketball.

It is all adding to a feeling of discontent during this bad run, but as George’s back-to-back starts this week showed, at some point common sense will prevail.

[nickhx2]

I'm not satisfied with different aspects of our play, but I guess I think our play and health is simply a reflection of our age and roster composition.

Every year our 2 stars get another year older, and a little slower and a little creakier. They are still high level players, but when we traded for them I'd say we would have all agreed their first 3 years here would be our best shot at a title, vs. the 3 or 4 years after that. Guys over 30 just don't have the juice that younger studs do. Look at Jayson Tatum, he is a star who I feel has been around a long time, and he's only 24 for goodness sake. It's hard for Kawhi or PG now to keep up with guys like that, and guys like that are who you have to beat in multiple playoff rounds to win a title.

Unfortunately, that run-in with Joe Ingles not only doomed a really good run in Year 2, but ended any title hopes for Year 3 as well. And there go the 3 best years for this Clipper era.

Our FO has done a great job of pursuing favorable trades and acquisitions to try to round out the roster, but given our salary cap and draft pick limitations they're basically trying to squeeze water out of a rock. Many of our core rotation players were acquired for very little (Zubac, Powell, Mann) and others were former castoffs who found a home here (Batum, Jackson, Wall.) Beyond that, Boston and Diabate look like nice prospects. That's absolutely tremendous work around the edges! Maybe there are potential deals or signings we missed out on, but I'm not aware of any. The only bigger trade we read about recently was Mike Conley, and not sure how much better we get with another old vet.

I still enjoy watching this team play and will continue to root for them (and I just really like a lot of the players as people), but I don't consider them a high level title contender any more. It's not to say we can't make a Finals appearance or even win, but it will take luck and events beyond our control.

i'm in some agreement there about our window. our best shot so far was, well, shot down by joe ingles. we maybe coulda jerry rigged a run last year but imo lue did some incredibly wacky things by overplaying an exhausted reggie/decrepit morris and letting powell/covington hang out on the bench. i think probably most of us would admit that this or next year is gonna be the best we have and moving forward it's gonna be a decline in our ability field a peak level team - barring any major moves. IMO next year is kind of our last, best shot because that's when i would expect kawhi to be fully recovered from the ACL, and we're mostly getting older, with scant options for a young star to emerge.

i will say, though, the young guys we do have are constantly improving and impressing me (namely zubac/kennard/mann), so i mean if zubac somehow finds a 3 point shot or continues to increase his post game/defense/etc, or kennard studies up on how to be an alpha scorer (while maintaining his defense), or mann finds that ONE signature skill he can be a star at, the team still has a little bit of upward mobility. and that's not to mention MD or boston potentially becoming players. there are still some potential surprises left, i would think.

so yeah, i think we're still in really good shape, health permitting, and with a move or two to tweak things up. this team doesn't need all that much. the question is really just whether or not we will get that extra bump of fortunate health and roster improvement that we need. so agree with pretty much all you said, i think.

[madmaxmedia]

i'm in some agreement there about our window. our best shot so far was, well, shot down by joe ingles. we maybe coulda jerry rigged a run last year but imo lue did some incredibly wacky things by overplaying an exhausted reggie/decrepit morris and letting powell/covington hang out on the bench. i think probably most of us would admit that this or next year is gonna be the best we have and moving forward it's gonna be a decline in our ability field a peak level team - barring any major moves. IMO next year is kind of our last, best shot because that's when i would expect kawhi to be fully recovered from the ACL, and we're mostly getting older, with scant options for a young star to emerge.

i will say, though, the young guys we do have are constantly improving and impressing me (namely zubac/kennard/mann), so i mean if zubac somehow finds a 3 point shot or continues to increase his post game/defense/etc, or kennard studies up on how to be an alpha scorer (while maintaining his defense), or mann finds that ONE signature skill he can be a star at, the team still has a little bit of upward mobility. and that's not to mention MD or boston potentially becoming players. there are still some potential surprises left, i would think.

so yeah, i think we're still in really good shape, health permitting, and with a move or two to tweak things up. this team doesn't need all that much. the question is really just whether or not we will get that extra bump of fortunate health and roster improvement that we need. so agree with pretty much all you said, i think.

Yeah 100% it is not over, as you say we do have some good young players and who knows what else our FO can pull off this trade deadline or in the offseason.

We can also definitely get that bump of fortunate health and maybe a trade deadline move too. I guess I'll just be more grateful if it happens, than necessarily expecting it- which I'm okay with since that's the story for any team that's not a conference or title favorite.

It's also possible that the extra abundance of caution right now will pay off in the playoffs, when there is no room for rest games. We just somehow got to balance that with playoff seeding going in.

[PeteyPablo]

As a fan ( fandom ), I expect the team I root for to come out and play with all their might ( which they do ) but it is starting to become frustrating when we see 4th QTR lapses in offense, rebounding, and defense as seen these past two games on the road.

I am hopeful that Kawhi will get back to form as the season goes on and there will be more chemistry and all of these turnovers and miscues will be reduced by the new year.