WTF is Kennard playing the last 3 minutes???

[StreakyJ]

Got ripped again defensively by DMitchell again in game 2. What planet are we on that he's playing crunch time defense over TMann?
Beverly's blowing coverages left and right last night as well.

PUT F"ING TERRANCE MANN in for 15 minutes a game and his activity changes the complexion of the game for the better. Happened all year long. Is it that difficult to acknowledge the terribly obvious? I don't know what channel are we watching, but it ain't the efficient or smart basketball channel.

If Reggie Jackson isn't vastly outperforming, LAC isn't in either of those games. And those just aren't the odds I'm betting on.

LAC down 0-2 two series in a row. Championship basketball ... hell no. And sadly, QUITE preventable.

[Catchall]

Because the Clippers were down by 10 pts with 3 mins remaining and needed to hit some 3s to have a chance.

[StreakyJ]

I heard the announcer tonight say that Mann's minutes got bumped up to 14/game in the final 4 games against Dallas, which they won. Tonight he plays 22 minutes and they win by 25+. Duh. I was proven exactly correct tonight. And thank god as a basketball fan generally, as we fans are too loyal to the NBA product to watch LAC cough up bad losses. We want the best product possible regadless who wins. THAT is what brings fans to games, not watching Kennard get smoked 3-4 times final 4 minutes by DMitchell last game, that was garbage basketball. Who cares if you need to score ... doesn't matter one bit if you can't stop the other team from scoring.

You could see it early on before half time LAC was up 15, but it was the WAY they were up ... constant, steady, not letting Utah get 6-8-10 point runs, making them earn buckets ... Mann made DMitchell's 1-on-1 drives to the hole much tougher on the finish (Kawhi got a steal on one and a block on the other in quick succession as opposed to Mitchell looking for Kennard every time he's on the floor ... Mann also guarding Clarkson hella well and forcing tougher shots ... Utah just does not get the same open looks and easy baskets when TMann is on the floor as he also rotates incredibly well ... the overall effect is not allowing Utah to build momentum, which keeps the psychological edge in LAC's favor.

Not sure how many of you play enough on a stage to know what it feels like when a team just has your number 3, 4, 5 times in a row and it starts to feel like you can't stop them ... Mann is such an effective deterrent to that, which LAC has suffered from in the early Dallas games this post season and also last year's post season. And Mann's rotations are a BIG part of that, LAC just does not blow nearly as many assignments. The announcers actually addressed it tonight as due to his Florida State pedigree where defense is especially stressed.

Another small thing he does very well for the basketball newbs ... watch him set picks ... he has a little bunny hop at the last second to throw a little extra momentum into the defensive player and create more space ... Kawhi got a wide open three tonight on a basic screen up to because of it. I watch players in the NBA who know this trick and Kelly Olynyk comes to mind ... yeah that's exactly why he was a very effective pick'n'roll guy (and Miami missed him in the playoffs this year ... they didn't necessarily fill his gap well)

Little things by TMann that don't show up in individual stats but do show up in his and LAC's +/- and are very important in playoff basketball when it comes down to who wins the littany of small battles, to include pick'n'roll offense/defense and solid defensive rotations. TMann is an absolute glue guy that allows everyone else to fit into their role more efficiently. He did it all season and he well deserves 20+ minutes a game. Thank god the coaching staff came to their senses.

Clips looked like a real team tonight. PG finally took **** seriously ... only took him 2 years.

My only concern now is Conley returning ... the very winnable game 1 in Utah may well come back to haunt LAC if Conley comes back full strength. Otherwise LAC is a clear favorite to win this series, as Utah needs 75+pts from Clarkson/Mitchell/Bogdan with Conley out and they're not going to get it if LAC plays TMann solid minutes.

[Captain Ballmer]

I heard the announcer tonight say that Mann's minutes got bumped up to 14/game in the final 4 games against Dallas, which they won. Tonight he plays 22 minutes and they win by 25+. Duh. I was proven exactly correct tonight. And thank god as a basketball fan generally, as we fans are too loyal to the NBA product to watch LAC cough up bad losses. We want the best product possible regadless who wins. THAT is what brings fans to games, not watching Kennard get smoked 3-4 times final 4 minutes by DMitchell last game, that was garbage basketball. Who cares if you need to score ... doesn't matter one bit if you can't stop the other team from scoring.

You could see it early on before half time LAC was up 15, but it was the WAY they were up ... constant, steady, not letting Utah get 6-8-10 point runs, making them earn buckets ... Mann made DMitchell's 1-on-1 drives to the hole much tougher on the finish (Kawhi got a steal on one and a block on the other in quick succession as opposed to Mitchell looking for Kennard every time he's on the floor ... Mann also guarding Clarkson hella well and forcing tougher shots ... Utah just does not get the same open looks and easy baskets when TMann is on the floor as he also rotates incredibly well ... the overall effect is not allowing Utah to build momentum, which keeps the psychological edge in LAC's favor.

Not sure how many of you play enough on a stage to know what it feels like when a team just has your number 3, 4, 5 times in a row and it starts to feel like you can't stop them ... Mann is such an effective deterrent to that, which LAC has suffered from in the early Dallas games this post season and also last year's post season. And Mann's rotations are a BIG part of that, LAC just does not blow nearly as many assignments. The announcers actually addressed it tonight as due to his Florida State pedigree where defense is especially stressed.

Another small thing he does very well for the basketball newbs ... watch him set picks ... he has a little bunny hop at the last second to throw a little extra momentum into the defensive player and create more space ... Kawhi got a wide open three tonight on a basic screen up to because of it. I watch players in the NBA who know this trick and Kelly Olynyk comes to mind ... yeah that's exactly why he was a very effective pick'n'roll guy (and Miami missed him in the playoffs this year ... they didn't necessarily fill his gap well)

Little things by TMann that don't show up in individual stats but do show up in his and LAC's +/- and are very important in playoff basketball when it comes down to who wins the littany of small battles, to include pick'n'roll offense/defense and solid defensive rotations. TMann is an absolute glue guy that allows everyone else to fit into their role more efficiently. He did it all season and he well deserves 20+ minutes a game. Thank god the coaching staff came to their senses.

Clips looked like a real team tonight. PG finally took **** seriously ... only took him 2 years.

My only concern now is Conley returning ... the very winnable game 1 in Utah may well come back to haunt LAC if Conley comes back full strength. Otherwise LAC is a clear favorite to win this series, as Utah needs 75+pts from Clarkson/Mitchell/Bogdan with Conley out and they're not going to get it if LAC plays TMann solid minutes.

Good analysis. Zubac and Bev took the Hit in Dallas series, now is the time for Rondo and Morris. I can see T.Mann averaging more minutes per game than Mook for the rest of the series. PG-Kawhi should guard Bojan and O'neal to save energy for Offense. Mann-Bev-Reggie did fine against Donovan-Ingles-Clarkson.

[TheNewEra]

Because the Clippers were down by 10 pts with 3 mins remaining and needed to hit some 3s to have a chance.

Also have to love the narrative like the Kennard minutes really hurt us when we were down 10 god damn points before he came in and the game was close to end.

Like Mitchell isn’t cooking every single clipper besides Bev

[esqtvd]

Because the Clippers were down by 10 pts with 3 mins remaining and needed to hit some 3s to have a chance.

Also have to love the narrative like the Kennard minutes really hurt us when we were down 10 god damn points before he came in and the game was close to end.

Like Mitchell isn’t cooking every single clipper besides Bev

Bev did well enough. 16 minutes, plus+9. And after dogging him all year, in my playoff preview, I still said don't count Kennard out. 17 minutes, plus+12--because he spreads the floor.


Me and Playaloc, his only fans after everybody douched him---Reggie 17 points, plus+14. And Marcus still sucks donkey dick. Just sayin'. Always trust content from TVD. And Playa.

[StreakyJ]

Because the Clippers were down by 10 pts with 3 mins remaining and needed to hit some 3s to have a chance.

Also have to love the narrative like the Kennard minutes really hurt us when we were down 10 god damn points before he came in and the game was close to end.

Like Mitchell isn’t cooking every single clipper besides Bev

-- Not hating on Kennard inherently. Just not the guy to close out tight games when he's responsible for guarding DMitchell. Hell no.
Kennard is ZERO threat to DMitchell no defense. He gets him on his hip easily = bucket or foul. Or he just rises up over him. And that efficient manner he's getting buckets on Kennard is consistently allowing Utah to get back into their half court defense. That's a coaching fail. Kennard's good at what he's good for. Guarding DMitchell late game AIN'T it.

-- TMann has an almost linear correlation between minutes played and (positive) LAC point differential
Game1 (TMann 8min); DMitchell 45pts, Clarkson 17pts Result 3pt loss
Game2 (Tmann 1min): DMitchell 37pts, Clarkson 24pts Result 6pt loss
Game3 (TMann 22min): DMitchell 30pts, Clarkson 14pts Result 26pt win

-- "Besides Bev" please bro, Bev is past-prime footspeed, undersized, not 100% gameshape being hurt 1/2 the season, and frequently getting burned making foolish gambles; TMann currently is the better and more consistent on/off ball defender, shot challenger, rotation/help side, charge taker, defensive/offensive rebounder, scorer and at/above the rim finisher (it's really not even close)

-- DMitchell is a hell of a player and one of the best closers in the league. All you can really do is try to contest his shots. And game 3 DMitchell consistently had to make higher degree of difficulty shots, including re-tweaking ankle by contorting and twisting on his leaps because he wasn't clearing the first defender as fully/easily, who more often was TMann ... he's not looking over his shoulder or double clutching when Beverley or Kennard are guarding him, I promise you that

[NippySudz]

Got ripped again defensively by DMitchell again in game 2. What planet are we on that he's playing crunch time defense over TMann?
Beverly's blowing coverages left and right last night as well.

PUT F"ING TERRANCE MANN in for 15 minutes a game and his activity changes the complexion of the game for the better. Happened all year long. Is it that difficult to acknowledge the terribly obvious? I don't know what channel are we watching, but it ain't the efficient or smart basketball channel.

If Reggie Jackson isn't vastly outperforming, LAC isn't in either of those games. And those just aren't the odds I'm betting on.

LAC down 0-2 two series in a row. Championship basketball ... hell no. And sadly, QUITE preventable.

They needed desperate scoring to try to close the gap. It wasn't the same situation as game 1.

But I do agree with you, mann should see second half mins. And Please, no more Boogie.

[StreakyJ]

I hear you. And I'm still sticking with the logic that (A) a team contending for a championship in game 1 & 2 of a 7 game on the road would be considered "desperate" down 10 with 3 minutes left and (B) volunteering a massive defensive mismatch against DMitchell to give up 8 pts on easy buckets inherently solves that issue ... maybe if they were playing Phili with Danny Green on the floor you put Kennard in. Not against DMitchell when you know they are immediately going to switch Kennard onto him with screen up top. All too predictable what happened. That is how you ensure you're going to lose, desperate or not.