Game 34: Los Angeles (20-13) @ New Orleans (10-21)

[og15]

You're so right with Jamal, but sometimes you just see the possibility, but you know deep down that it is fools gold, sigh..

Yes, Luc has done a very good job, didn't know this type of defense was still in him post injuries. Clippers should get him working with Thate to improve the shooting further, not too late for him.

If his shot can get quicker, it would do wonders for him.

[nickhx2]

yeah if anyone thinks jamal's gonna change his stripes, they're gonna keep being disappointed lol. i agree, he's pretty awful off the screen many times, but i was thinking if he's more downhill more often it might entice him to try less contested pull ups. i mean, if you lead a horse to water enough times eventually he'll drink, right?

i think luc right now is serviceable. he's not the ideal guy and honestly you could stick almost any dude in that spot and the starters would do well. but i do think his aggression needs to come around: not necessarily him being able to make shots or even average 10 points a game, but he needs to at least attack when presented the opportunity so he can be a threat. i think he's been working on that though and you can see him a little more comfortable and driving/shooting a little more each game, which is a good development.

btw was it me or was thate with the team on the road? i thought i saw him hi five cp3 either in NOLA or the previous game.

[og15]

I remember Doc tried making him an off screen guy when he first got here, and he was struggling, so he told him to "be himself". We see him many times run floppy, then if he doesn't get the shot he wants, he doesn't really reset, he just pulls the ball out and then isolates, so yea, I suppose we should know what to expect.


3 games / 33 minutes so far, and Austin has been hot, so take it with a grain of salt, but the lineup of:

Pablo / Rivers / Crawford / Johnson / Aldrich
107.3 Ortg / 92.8 Drtg

That's at least promising, won't expet them to have such a large efficieny differential, but even if they can be neutral or slightly positive it will be a nice boost to the team

[nickhx2]

neutral or slightly + would be great. but i fear that once blake comes back that lineup will turn into a nightmare.

we're gonna have pierce/crawford/prigioni as three incapable or aging defenders, i'm 99.9% sure that wes johnson will be phased out, and having pierce/crawford on the floor alone is like spotting the other side 15 points. no one can save that lineup on defense and as long as austin is austin, crawford is crawford, and prigioni continues to pass up wide open shots they're unlikely to outscore other bench units.

[og15]

I'm certainly concerned about how the lineups will shake out when Blake returns, for sure. Hopefully there will be a bit of a shake-up in the lineup by then via trade.

[QRich3]

i think luc right now is serviceable. he's not the ideal guy and honestly you could stick almost any dude in that spot and the starters would do well. but i do think his aggression needs to come around: not necessarily him being able to make shots or even average 10 points a game, but he needs to at least attack when presented the opportunity so he can be a threat. i think he's been working on that though and you can see him a little more comfortable and driving/shooting a little more each game, which is a good development.

His offensive skills are obviously not ideal but I think you're dismissing what he brings to the table, when it's something important we haven't ever had. Having a good starting line up is important, but having him opens the opportunity for different line ups that weren't working before, either mixed with the starters or with the bench. He can get stops at specific moments, either down the stretch or when a guy is hot, that can swing the momentum of games. And our offense will still be pretty good when he's there. With other guys, it was always the same, the long term numbers will be good because the other 4 guys will generate elite offense, but when you need to get a few stops in a row there was no way to make that happen.

Numbers wise, our best line up this season, net-rtg wise, is the current starting 5 with Pierce instead of Blake and Luc at the 3. We have the 4th best defense and the 7th best offense since he was inserted into the starting 5 more than a month ago. And more defense, less offense is something we've been hoping for years. I'm just crossing my fingers for it to be a sustained thing more than a temporary trend, but maybe he can be a somewhat decent version of the wing defender we've needed for half a decade.

Obviously it'd be better if he also was a lights-out shooter, but that'd be a max contract guy and we never had the means to get someone like that. So all in all, I think finding him was one of the best things to happen to this team lately.

[nickhx2]

i think luc right now is serviceable. he's not the ideal guy and honestly you could stick almost any dude in that spot and the starters would do well. but i do think his aggression needs to come around: not necessarily him being able to make shots or even average 10 points a game, but he needs to at least attack when presented the opportunity so he can be a threat. i think he's been working on that though and you can see him a little more comfortable and driving/shooting a little more each game, which is a good development.

His offensive skills are obviously not ideal but I think you're dismissing what he brings to the table, when it's something important we haven't ever had. Having a good starting line up is important, but having him opens the opportunity for different line ups that weren't working before, either mixed with the starters or with the bench. He can get stops at specific moments, either down the stretch or when a guy is hot, that can swing the momentum of games. And our offense will still be pretty good when he's there. With other guys, it was always the same, the long term numbers will be good because the other 4 guys will generate elite offense, but when you need to get a few stops in a row there was no way to make that happen.

Numbers wise, our best line up this season, net-rtg wise, is the current starting 5 with Pierce instead of Blake and Luc at the 3. We have the 4th best defense and the 7th best offense since he was inserted into the starting 5 more than a month ago. And more defense, less offense is something we've been hoping for years. I'm just crossing my fingers for it to be a sustained thing more than a temporary trend, but maybe he can be a somewhat decent version of the wing defender we've needed for half a decade.

Obviously it'd be better if he also was a lights-out shooter, but that'd be a max contract guy and we never had the means to get someone like that. So all in all, I think finding him was one of the best things to happen to this team lately.

i hear what you're saying, but don't worry, i'm not dismissing his contributions. i thought from the first time i saw him in the starting lineup that he was doing some really cool non-box score stuff that we almost never get. and yeah there is some lineup flexibility we gain with him now, which means a lot considering that doc was formerly willing to put jamal on the floor in crunch time defense moments.

but i'm also cautiously trying not to overvalue his defense while at the same time very worried that his offensive passiveness will hurt us at a critical juncture against the smartest of teams. like literally if he just shot when open and attacked the basket a bit more i'd be happy as a clam.

[QRich3]

but i'm also cautiously trying not to overvalue his defense while at the same time very worried that his offensive passiveness will hurt us at a critical juncture against the smartest of teams. like literally if he just shot when open and attacked the basket a bit more i'd be happy as a clam.

Yeah, he has some work to do to further adapt to the team, but this I'm quoting has been happening to us for years. Good teams ignored Barnes in the playoffs and that hurt us a lot. They did the same with Lance at the beginning of the year, and with Dudley a couple years back. But none of those guys did anything close to the things Luc does on the other end. So yeah, they'll help off him and he'll need to learn how and when to attack off those situations, but if he keeps his play up, the benefits of having him will largely exceed the problems he causes, which we already had anyway.