Game 39: Clippers (17-21) vs. Cavaliers (30-11)

[Benedict_Boozer]

Good game Clip fans. You guys played us tough. Good luck the rest of the season.

[mkwest]

I think that you have 3 options in a situation like that. Baron drives or you dish it to Gordon or Butler. Davis was 3 for 9 before that shot. Both Butler and Gordon were shooting lights out. I was expecting a foul around the 3 second mark, but you can be a bit more patient if its Baron out on the perimeter as opposed to the other 2. The team played too hard to let the game slip away like this. It's a nice bounce back from last night, but it's still a loss.

[manohman]

At least it was fun to watch and the Clippers put up a great performance. We should have had a better look at the end though.

[cavsfan_osiris]

We had the chance to win and we just couldn't win it. Now this is our fourth straight loss. I really think that Baron should have took it to the basket. We had many chances to win this game. We had a lot of missed free throws earlier in this game too. I don't like that injuries are starting to mount up a little bit. Gordon and Butler played well and I'm just disappointed that we lost.

We almost beat the Cavs last season and Staples Center and also lost. We got to get Kaman back and string some more wins together.

Actually you need to trade Kaman and Thornton....fire Dunleavy and play quicker pace basketball. Until this happens the team is going nowhere.

trade Kaman? huh? Are Clipper fans down on Kaman or this just some random thought? I'd love to have Kaman on the Cavs. I know the Pistons would love to have Kaman also.

[mkwest]

We had the chance to win and we just couldn't win it. Now this is our fourth straight loss. I really think that Baron should have took it to the basket. We had many chances to win this game. We had a lot of missed free throws earlier in this game too. I don't like that injuries are starting to mount up a little bit. Gordon and Butler played well and I'm just disappointed that we lost.

We almost beat the Cavs last season and Staples Center and also lost. We got to get Kaman back and string some more wins together.

Actually you need to trade Kaman and Thornton....fire Dunleavy and play quicker pace basketball. Until this happens the team is going nowhere.

trade Kaman? huh? Are Clipper fans down on Kaman or this just some random thought? I'd love to have Kaman on the Cavs. I know the Pistons would love to have Kaman also.

TheBluest is a Knick fan. Clipper fans are not down on Kaman. We wouldn't want to see him being traded unless it's for a significant roster upgrade.

[SportsFan215]

I really thought we were going to pull that one out. Really good game for EJ and Rasual, who carried the team for most of the game. Again we play well in the first half, but we just can't finish.

[TheNewEra]

I think that you have 3 options in a situation like that. Baron drives or you dish it to Gordon or Butler. Davis was 3 for 9 before that shot. Both Butler and Gordon were shooting lights out. I was expecting a foul around the 3 second mark, but you can be a bit more patient if its Baron out on the perimeter as opposed to the other 2. The team played too hard to let the game slip away like this. It's a nice bounce back from last night, but it's still a loss.

Agreed.

We are about to hit a soft patch this team needs to make up for their losses in the coming games

[BoomFizzle]

I didn't watch the game but there is one thing I always say. If a basketball team is outshooting their opposition and losing it is a terrible sign.

Shooting 60% and 53% from 3 compared to 48% and 30% is absurd. People were hot (not going to happen often) and we still lost. Nice to see EG hitting 3s finally.

[cinnamon]

Heartbreaker at the end.
Makes me feel somewhat better about not staying up long enough to see it.
And it does seem to highlight the old theme of coaching that doesn't allow the team to successfully close out games, hopeless as it seems to even raise this issue any more.

[TheBluest]

Actually you need to trade Kaman and Thornton....fire Dunleavy and play quicker pace basketball. Until this happens the team is going nowhere.

trade Kaman? huh? Are Clipper fans down on Kaman or this just some random thought? I'd love to have Kaman on the Cavs. I know the Pistons would love to have Kaman also.

TheBluest is a Knick fan. Clipper fans are not down on Kaman. We wouldn't want to see him being traded unless it's for a significant roster upgrade.

You guys are truly overrating his 20/9 play. Kaman is good for Kaman. I won't deny he's a productive center but running the system through him stunts the growth of the team. Think about it for a second. Gordon/Jordan/Griffin are suited for uptempo play neither of them will reach their max potential unless you remove the hold Kaman has on the team. Nor would any of them supplant Kaman in Dunleavy's system because he calls ISOs as mainstays.

If Kaman was more of a defending/passing Big Man like Dwight Howard I could see the reasons. They way things are headed..... Clippers will have yet another lottery pick. Let's say Kaman is still around next yr, logically explain how Clipper Fans expect the youth to grow together(accelerate/reach their max potential) unless you remove certain players? As I see it now Jordan/Blake(via Injury) are already way behind in the development process. Kaman simply commands too many touches and plays too little of D to be looked at as some cornerstone player.

You need to bring in players to complement your future not be concerned with who complements the now... because honestly you aren't going anywhere anytime soon... unless you make a trade. Kaman's value will never be higher than it is now. As if he deserves his preferential treatment by the coach and organization after he totally milked and mailed in his injury last yr knowing he could potentially get traded(Gerald Wallace rumors). Not to mention if you make the right trade you become that much more a threat in Free Agency come 2010.

Keep thinking with small minds... it's probably the same mentality upstairs in the front office that has the team in the worst spot it can be in Mediocre to Garbage....Something a KNICKS FAN has a doctor's degree in...

[mkwest]

You guys are truly overrating his 20/9 play. Kaman is good for Kaman. I won't deny he's a productive center but running the system through him stunts the growth of the team. Think about it for a second. Gordon/Jordan/Griffin are suited for uptempo play neither of them will reach their max potential unless you remove the hold Kaman has on the team. Nor would any of them supplant Kaman in Dunleavy's system because he calls ISOs as mainstays.

If Kaman was more of a defending/passing Big Man like Dwight Howard I could see the reasons. They way things are headed..... Clippers will have yet another lottery pick. Let's say Kaman is still around next yr, logically explain how Clipper Fans expect the youth to grow together(accelerate/reach their max potential) unless you remove certain players? As I see it now Jordan/Blake(via Injury) are already way behind in the development process. Kaman simply commands too many touches and plays too little of D to be looked at as some cornerstone player.

You need to bring in players to complement your future not be concerned with who complements the now... because honestly you aren't going anywhere anytime soon... unless you make a trade. Kaman's value will never be higher than it is now. As if he deserves his preferential treatment by the coach and organization after he totally milked and mailed in his injury last yr knowing he could potentially get traded(Gerald Wallace rumors). Not to mention if you make the right trade you become that much more a threat in Free Agency come 2010.

Keep thinking with small minds... it's probably the same mentality upstairs in the front office that has the team in the worst spot it can be in Mediocre to Garbage....Something a KNICKS FAN has a doctor's degree in...

Firstly, if you took offense to the "Knicks fan" comment, I was just stating the truth. The other poster asked if "Clipper fans" were down on Kaman, if so he would gladly have him for his team. So it's not a diss on being a Knick fan. I'm very well aware that you pay attention to the Clippers and even make mention of them quite often on the Knicks board.

You say that we're truly overrating Kaman's play. All I stated is that we're (most of us) are not down on him at the moment, which is true. I also said that we wouldn't want to trade him unless we were going to upgrade the team, which is what you want to do if you make a trade. There's nothing small minded about that. Last year people were ready to give away both Kaman and Baron for a bag of chips. This year they have both stepped up their commitment to effort. Has it totally paid off? No, it's a still a work in progress, but things have definitely improved. The difference in performance of both players between this year and last year is night and day. Kaman now has confidence in himself and his teammates, which is something that was obviously lacking in previous years.

We do have guys that can get up and down the floor. Griffin is definitely one of those guys. DeAndre is player that I'm very fond of, but he's exceptionally raw at this time. It would not be wise to put all of our eggs into one basket of hoping that he pans out. He's got a ways to go before a team should consider moving a better center (one of the better centers in the league) out of the way for him. Kaman is by no means perfect, but he is versatile and an offense is able to be ran through him. You can't count or Jordan for offense and you surely can't count on him for defense. He's also a huge liability at the free-throw line. Some nights he in tune to what is going on and he is completely lost in others. I'm glad that he gets an opportunity to get more minutes with Blake being out (that's really the only positive with his injury), and he will have another offseason to improve his game as well.

As far as trading Kaman, if there were a deal on the table where the benefit outweighs the cost, then yes he is very much tradeable. There are teams that trade for talent and there are teams that seem to be willing to give it away. We've often been accused of letting it get away, which I don't necessarily agree with. I would say that most teams would like a guy like Kaman and wouldn't be so eager to get rid of him.