Game 35: Los Angeles Clippers (20-14) @ Los Angeles Lakers (20-15) - 7:30 PM PT

[esqtvd]

Got in late from Vegas, watched the DVR.

great coaching by Doc
let them do whatever they wanted
tried all kinds of new combinations


starters all finished in the minus, a meh effort
scatterass

whoever humped on D got minutes

and even when Sindarius and Ty started blowing the lead, Doc left them out there
which was cool
esp after blowing it so bad the other night vs the Sacs


mostly plus and minus was dictated by whoever was lucky enough to be on the floor with Lou [+18] and Trezz [+19]

said to Mrs. TVD very early on--Lou's like, I don't know what's up with you guys but
I feel like winning tonight, even if I have to score 30

and so it went

that's what it's like to have a Bron or a Steph

and on some nights, Lou Williams
we are not worthy
6MOY x 3

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LATE ADD [says it all]:

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[Ranma]

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[Wammy Giveaway]

A few takeaways:

1. 71 POINTS! The Clipper bench scored this much alone. And since the entire roster is full of role players anyway, you could make a case that the Clipper bench scored EVERY SINGLE POINT against the Lakers. That has to be an NBA record if you think about it that way.

2. Bradley The Cutter: Avery has to give up shooting 3s, permanently. Every time he touches the ball, he wants to make a jump shot. This is the closest thing to a ball hog the Clippers are having with Bradley, and Bradley is no Kobe Bryant. I have to find the very game that made him have this false sense of confidence in the first place. Bradley should be relegated to cutting (pure shots at the rim) and defending, and if he just sticks to those two things, he'll be better off for the Clippers sake. If I were to do a possession success rate for Bradley as part of my Preventions metric, I'd predict that 75% in possessions where he touched the ball at least once would end in a fail, the majority of that arising from scoring attempts.

3. The Return Of Masquerade: We are this close to having the Clippers guards and forwards pretending to be center. Boban Marjanovic was started because of size for tradition's sake, and it blew up in Doc's face. After Harrell got into foul trouble early, Clippers had to improvise with a four guard-one big lineup, and the Lakers promptly exploited the matchup. Boban is best used as an emergency element of surprise kind of guy, an intimidation player to help the team get out of an ugly losing situation. Take that aspect of strength away by playing Marjanovic right away, and the Clippers become easily beatable. The last thing you want to see is Patrick Beverley, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Avery Bradley taking turns at the 5 spot.

Doc Rivers really has to teach the Clippers how to play zone defense. Has he ever?

[Slipse]

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[/quote]

My sentiments exactly. I remember having Lou Will in Toronto and he was the same dose of death for opponents, but Casey didn't like his defensive frailties so had to ship him out.

Anyone that can score buckets like that at will, you need to work around and do whatever to assist them. His offensive game is off the chain.

Full game highlights.

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[Galloisdaman]

I fell asleep early. Looks like Lou was the man last night. Another big win.

[TheNewEra]

Love getting Boban in games but it’s clear he’s better off against second units. Gortat won’t get us double points scoring on a given night but his presence being more mobile than Boban and taller than Harrell works. Not to mention he sets the best screens of the three big men so getting SGA, Harris and Galllo some great looks helps the unit. He is also finding his stride as a playmaker getting Bradley and others on cuts.


If Doc really wants to change the starting unit he needs to start Beverly over Bradley. Bradley having the second most shot attempts is what the defense wants and we are playing right into their hands. Let Beverly come in a scrap for some points like Bradley should and let our SGA, Harris, Gallo and Gortat do what they do.

[TheNewEra]

We need to get Beverly starting ASAP.

[esqtvd]

2. Bradley The Cutter: Avery has to give up shooting 3s, permanently. Every time he touches the ball, he wants to make a jump shot. This is the closest thing to a ball hog the Clippers are having with Bradley, and Bradley is no Kobe Bryant. I have to find the very game that made him have this false sense of confidence in the first place. Bradley should be relegated to cutting (pure shots at the rim) and defending, and if he just sticks to those two things, he'll be better off for the Clippers sake. If I were to do a possession success rate for Bradley as part of my Preventions metric, I'd predict that 75% in possessions where he touched the ball at least once would end in a fail, the majority of that arising from scoring attempts.

If you saw the recently posted defense of Avery [you obviously didn't]

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teams are still guarding his outside shot. He hits just enough of 'em. This is why you don't start Ty, whom you can safely ignore because he can't shoot a lick.

Avery is taking shots required by the offense. If he passes them up, they'll stop guarding him and pull back and pack the paint. Don't fall into the trap of using his season averages or jaundiced "eye tests." Over the last 5 games, Avery is averaging 9.3 ppg, shooting 46.3% from the field and 31.3% from distance, just enough to remain a threat that has to be respected.


http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4240/avery-bradley


Doc's faith in Avery is slowly being rewarded. We could move Pat Bev to the starting lineup, but Pat is just getting on his feet after a lousy start himself. Why mess with what's finally working?

[esqtvd]

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My sentiments exactly. I remember having Lou Will in Toronto and he was the same dose of death for opponents, but Casey didn't like his defensive frailties so had to ship him out.

Anyone that can score buckets like that at will, you need to work around and do whatever to assist them. His offensive game is off the chain.

The irony is that during our golden age, the CP-BG era, neither one--not even the HOFer!--was ever like, 'relax guys, I got this' and took over a game like Lou does. [In fact we'd lean on Jamal, who year after year was always our leading 4th quarter scorer.]

In fact, all-star Blake was never the terror that Trezz is when he takes over for a quarter or so. That era had such a strange dynamic. We were comfortably winning 50+ games but it was always either a blowout or a struggle. Our all-stars always got their numbers but seldom put the team on their back when the going got tough.