Game #4 LAC vs OKC @ 5:00pm

[esqtvd]

Man , this is brutal to see tonight. Clippers offense has such a challenge to score while OKC just gets to the rim.

It’s Reggie Jackson 1on1 or Norman Powell 1on1 .

Seems like a lack of ball movement

Down by 20 points .. going to need to get focused and turn up the execution.

I figgered Reggie would get a lot of blame but he's out there with 3 non-scorers and a struggling Powell. Nobody moving without the ball so he ends up iso-ed. And he's out of form too tbh. Having the Wall thing looming over his shoulder has hardly been a confidence-builder--JW is a former #1 overall pick, a 5-time All-Star and is already elbowing ahead of Reggie for the top PG spot. And it's all been about working Kawhi and JW in and how they fit with PG.

There's been NO effort to do anything to get Reggie going--which is fair. He's an afterthought, a role player, a spear-carrier. Let's just not lay tonight's fustercluck with 3 playoff starters missing at his feet.

____________________

Zubac--10 points, 14 rebs, 7 blocks. But once again the number that impresses me the most--35 minutes, a quantum leap from his career average. Makes the backup center problem not a problem. Growth and improvement but not in the way we expected.

I think the thing is is that nobody wants to watch the Reggie Show this season like we had to do all last year. We want to see Kawhi and PG but of course that's wishful thinking. If not that then we want to see some "hope for the future" mixed in with all these vets that we've compiled. Hope in the future as in Coffey, Boston, and Diabate. Hell I'd have John Wall start and have Preston has his backup. I mean if Kawhi and PG are going to be sitting out every other game and more then play some of these kids. Hell run some offense through Zu. He's improved and he's paid his dues for a few more touches per game. Give us a reason to watch. This depth is for helping Kawhi and PG but if their not playing then having guys like Reggie, Norm, Morris, is kinda pointless. We're just spinning wheels.

Just sayin let's just not lay tonight's fustercluck--with 3 playoff starters missing--at Reggie's feet. Last year's fustercluck got laid at his feet and he came through as our MVP. I've been bullish on J-Wall from Day One, a 5-time All-Star and think he's loaded for bear. But let's not bury Reggie and piss on his grave. He's going to play valuable minutes this year again. He's still one of our top 6-7 players. We need him.

FTR--I'm supersatisfied with Zu staying on the floor for 35 effective mpg. 5th option. Rim protection. GRADE: B-to-B+. I ask for no more. He's been a C+ in his career to date. He's already made the jump IMO, the first success of the year.

[esqtvd]

It’s time to start Wall and Reggie is hurt let him rest.

If you're going to start a PG and 4 non-scorers, yes, J-Wall is certainly the choice. We could have been the Washington Wizards tonight. With no Bradley Beal. And maybe even won.

But that teaches us nothing.

We don't need the old John Wall. The old John Wall did not play winning basketball. He played great hoop in losses. Big difference. Now, I do believe that it will be J-Wall and not Reggie out there with Kawhi and PG in crunchtime in the playoffs but that's in April, 6 months away.

[Captain Ballmer]

whatever these guys achieved in 2021, the rest of the league catch up with their youthness. For example; can 2021 pre injury Kawhi still be a top 10 player in 2023. He was a top 3 before that but rest of the league keep evolving. Giannis-Jokic and Embiid is already past him. I think what Doncic-Ja and Tatum are showing at the moment also up there, might be better than his peak. There is still Durant-Curry-Lebron on their peak. Looks like Zion and Edwards might make that step later this year... I can make this case almost every other veteran on this team. They have the name but even at their peak may become an avarage at this new league.

The question is it going to enough if we even reach the 2021 level of Clippers?

[esqtvd]

whatever these guys achieved in 2021, the rest of the league catch up with their youthness. For example; can 2021 pre injury Kawhi still be a top 10 player in 2023. He was a top 3 before that but rest of the league keep evolving. Giannis-Jokic and Embiid is already past him. I think what Doncic-Ja and Tatum are showing at the moment also up there, might be better than his peak. There is still Durant-Curry-Lebron on their peak. Looks like Zion and Edwards might make that step later this year... I can make this case almost every other veteran on this team. They have the name but even at their peak may become an avarage at this new league.

The question is it going to enough if we even reach the 2021 level of Clippers?

For anyone over 30, everything before the All-Star Game is preseason. Let Zion have his fun.

[TheNewEra]

It’s time to start Wall and Reggie is hurt let him rest.

If you're going to start a PG and 4 non-scorers, yes, J-Wall is certainly the choice. We could have been the Washington Wizards tonight. With no Bradley Beal. And maybe even won.

But that teaches us nothing.

We don't need the old John Wall. The old John Wall did not play winning basketball. He played great hoop in losses. Big difference. Now, I do believe that it will be J-Wall and not Reggie out there with Kawhi and PG in crunchtime in the playoffs but that's in April, 6 months away.

Ball movement and structure works better than a bunch of guys that can create their own brick.

[LamarWho]

I am more concern about Kawhi's knee stiffness than this loss. Clipper fans will need alot of patience for this season.

[Clemenza]

I figgered Reggie would get a lot of blame but he's out there with 3 non-scorers and a struggling Powell. Nobody moving without the ball so he ends up iso-ed. And he's out of form too tbh. Having the Wall thing looming over his shoulder has hardly been a confidence-builder--JW is a former #1 overall pick, a 5-time All-Star and is already elbowing ahead of Reggie for the top PG spot. And it's all been about working Kawhi and JW in and how they fit with PG.

There's been NO effort to do anything to get Reggie going--which is fair. He's an afterthought, a role player, a spear-carrier. Let's just not lay tonight's fustercluck with 3 playoff starters missing at his feet.

____________________

Zubac--10 points, 14 rebs, 7 blocks. But once again the number that impresses me the most--35 minutes, a quantum leap from his career average. Makes the backup center problem not a problem. Growth and improvement but not in the way we expected.

I think the thing is is that nobody wants to watch the Reggie Show this season like we had to do all last year. We want to see Kawhi and PG but of course that's wishful thinking. If not that then we want to see some "hope for the future" mixed in with all these vets that we've compiled. Hope in the future as in Coffey, Boston, and Diabate. Hell I'd have John Wall start and have Preston has his backup. I mean if Kawhi and PG are going to be sitting out every other game and more then play some of these kids. Hell run some offense through Zu. He's improved and he's paid his dues for a few more touches per game. Give us a reason to watch. This depth is for helping Kawhi and PG but if their not playing then having guys like Reggie, Norm, Morris, is kinda pointless. We're just spinning wheels.

Just sayin let's just not lay tonight's fustercluck--with 3 playoff starters missing--at Reggie's feet. Last year's fustercluck got laid at his feet and he came through as our MVP. I've been bullish on J-Wall from Day One, a 5-time All-Star and think he's loaded for bear. But let's not bury Reggie and piss on his grave. He's going to play valuable minutes this year again. He's still one of our top 6-7 players. We need him.

FTR--I'm supersatisfied with Zu staying on the floor for 35 effective mpg. 5th option. Rim protection. GRADE: B-to-B+. I ask for no more. He's been a C+ in his career to date. He's already made the jump IMO, the first success of the year.

Nobody is blaming Reggie or personally attacking him. This is on Lue for these iso heavy Reggie & Norm offense were watching. And the "three missing starters" happened all of last year and looks like it'll continue all throughout this year. And if this is the case then all I'm saying is that the Reggie, Morris, Norm Show is bad basketball and basically bad television. And yes Reggie can get hot but even then it mostly equates to a loss at the end of the night.

With the stars out Clipper basketball is getting boring and stagnant with the iso ball chucking offense & small ball failures.. and I think Zu has more to give than what Lue is making him settle for. Let me see Coffey get some run, more shots for Zu & Kennard, Wall starting, Boston on the 2nd unit, Diabate with the main team, etc. Give us a reason to tune in for a change. And no that's not an attack on Reggie

[Clemenza]

I am more concern about Kawhi's knee stiffness than this loss. Clipper fans will need alot of patience for this season.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. It is what it is at this point. Our babysitting and hand holding is finally starting to get the best of us rotation and chemistry wise. Hopefully our stars are healthy in May & June if not its time to move forward. This is the last year of being patient during the Kawhi experiment for me

[ejftw]

Yeah, losses suck, especially in that fashion.

But gotta look at some positives. Zu needs to keep getting closer to 32 minutes a night than 28, and I love how aggressive Luke is, but why is he passing up good threes to drive? Need that to balance out.

Norm will bounce back, but boy, if he doesn't by the deadline, hope we can find an intriguing prospect (ala Keon) and expiring for him. However, he tends to start a bit slow, which is disappointing as I trusted him and two weeks into fantasy BBall, he's given me a combined 7 points.

Reggie is also ice cold, but, like Norm, I expect that to average out as they year goes on.

Been real impressed by Wall so far.

On to the next one

[MartinToVaught]

I am more concern about Kawhi's knee stiffness than this loss. Clipper fans will need alot of patience for this season.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. It is what it is at this point. Our babysitting and hand holding is finally starting to get the best of us rotation and chemistry wise. Hopefully our stars are healthy in May & June if not its time to move forward. This is the last year of being patient during the Kawhi experiment for me

I'm pretty much there as well. I've accepted the load management stuff for what it is, but at some point, it's either all going to click for this team or it won't, and each new season of aging and mileage makes it less likely.

[TheNewEra]

Give it time

[KL2]

I am more concern about Kawhi's knee stiffness than this loss. Clipper fans will need alot of patience for this season.

Agreed. 7 games this month and he’ll play 3 at most. That’s …. more than being cautious with him.

Read on Twitter

?cxt=HHwWgMC4-efqm4AsAAAA

[nickhx2]

ya, sounds about right

for better or worse, enjoy the show

best of luck to those who have difficulty setting proper expectations and/or an inability to distinguish progress from results

[madmaxmedia]

I am more concern about Kawhi's knee stiffness than this loss. Clipper fans will need alot of patience for this season.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. It is what it is at this point. Our babysitting and hand holding is finally starting to get the best of us rotation and chemistry wise. Hopefully our stars are healthy in May & June if not its time to move forward. This is the last year of being patient during the Kawhi experiment for me

I'm pretty much there as well. I've accepted the load management stuff for what it is, but at some point, it's either all going to click for this team or it won't, and each new season of aging and mileage makes it less likely.

I guess we're all cognizant of our team's age, the hope is that the new additions- Powell, RoCo, Wall (and maybe small rotation minutes for Boston and/or Diabate) would help make up for our team getting one year older. We'll just have to see.

[madmaxmedia]

I think the thing is is that nobody wants to watch the Reggie Show this season like we had to do all last year. We want to see Kawhi and PG but of course that's wishful thinking. If not that then we want to see some "hope for the future" mixed in with all these vets that we've compiled. Hope in the future as in Coffey, Boston, and Diabate. Hell I'd have John Wall start and have Preston has his backup. I mean if Kawhi and PG are going to be sitting out every other game and more then play some of these kids. Hell run some offense through Zu. He's improved and he's paid his dues for a few more touches per game. Give us a reason to watch. This depth is for helping Kawhi and PG but if their not playing then having guys like Reggie, Norm, Morris, is kinda pointless. We're just spinning wheels.

Just sayin let's just not lay tonight's fustercluck--with 3 playoff starters missing--at Reggie's feet. Last year's fustercluck got laid at his feet and he came through as our MVP. I've been bullish on J-Wall from Day One, a 5-time All-Star and think he's loaded for bear. But let's not bury Reggie and piss on his grave. He's going to play valuable minutes this year again. He's still one of our top 6-7 players. We need him.

FTR--I'm supersatisfied with Zu staying on the floor for 35 effective mpg. 5th option. Rim protection. GRADE: B-to-B+. I ask for no more. He's been a C+ in his career to date. He's already made the jump IMO, the first success of the year.

Nobody is blaming Reggie or personally attacking him. This is on Lue for these iso heavy Reggie & Norm offense were watching. And the "three missing starters" happened all of last year and looks like it'll continue all throughout this year. And if this is the case then all I'm saying is that the Reggie, Morris, Norm Show is bad basketball and basically bad television. And yes Reggie can get hot but even then it mostly equates to a loss at the end of the night.

With the stars out Clipper basketball is getting boring and stagnant with the iso ball chucking offense & small ball failures.. and I think Zu has more to give than what Lue is making him settle for. Let me see Coffey get some run, more shots for Zu & Kennard, Wall starting, Boston on the 2nd unit, Diabate with the main team, etc. Give us a reason to tune in for a change. And no that's not an attack on Reggie

I like your points about changing things up when the stars are out. I do think Lue is aware of the balance we have to strike here, but he is not a knee=jerk guy and generally takes his time to try out or implement changes especially in the regular season. I'm also okay with that for now.

[esqtvd]

Just sayin let's just not lay tonight's fustercluck--with 3 playoff starters missing--at Reggie's feet. Last year's fustercluck got laid at his feet and he came through as our MVP. I've been bullish on J-Wall from Day One, a 5-time All-Star and think he's loaded for bear. But let's not bury Reggie and piss on his grave. He's going to play valuable minutes this year again. He's still one of our top 6-7 players. We need him.

FTR--I'm supersatisfied with Zu staying on the floor for 35 effective mpg. 5th option. Rim protection. GRADE: B-to-B+. I ask for no more. He's been a C+ in his career to date. He's already made the jump IMO, the first success of the year.

Nobody is blaming Reggie or personally attacking him. This is on Lue for these iso heavy Reggie & Norm offense were watching. And the "three missing starters" happened all of last year and looks like it'll continue all throughout this year. And if this is the case then all I'm saying is that the Reggie, Morris, Norm Show is bad basketball and basically bad television. And yes Reggie can get hot but even then it mostly equates to a loss at the end of the night.

With the stars out Clipper basketball is getting boring and stagnant with the iso ball chucking offense & small ball failures.. and I think Zu has more to give than what Lue is making him settle for. Let me see Coffey get some run, more shots for Zu & Kennard, Wall starting, Boston on the 2nd unit, Diabate with the main team, etc. Give us a reason to tune in for a change. And no that's not an attack on Reggie

I like your points about changing things up when the stars are out. I do think Lue is aware of the balance we have to strike here, but he is not a knee=jerk guy and generally takes his time to try out or implement changes especially in the regular season. I'm also okay with that for now.

Rule of thumb: Anyone who says 'things can't any worse' has no imagination . A pick-up game with vets is bad enough. Throwing a G-League level pickup team out on an NBA floor is a farce. Let's take a breath here. Nobody learns anything by playing bad basketball. We finally found our feet in the 4th and maybe some good will come of it.

[madmaxmedia]

Nobody is blaming Reggie or personally attacking him. This is on Lue for these iso heavy Reggie & Norm offense were watching. And the "three missing starters" happened all of last year and looks like it'll continue all throughout this year. And if this is the case then all I'm saying is that the Reggie, Morris, Norm Show is bad basketball and basically bad television. And yes Reggie can get hot but even then it mostly equates to a loss at the end of the night.

With the stars out Clipper basketball is getting boring and stagnant with the iso ball chucking offense & small ball failures.. and I think Zu has more to give than what Lue is making him settle for. Let me see Coffey get some run, more shots for Zu & Kennard, Wall starting, Boston on the 2nd unit, Diabate with the main team, etc. Give us a reason to tune in for a change. And no that's not an attack on Reggie

I like your points about changing things up when the stars are out. I do think Lue is aware of the balance we have to strike here, but he is not a knee=jerk guy and generally takes his time to try out or implement changes especially in the regular season. I'm also okay with that for now.

Rule of thumb: Anyone who says 'things can't any worse' has no imagination . A pick-up game with vets is bad enough. Throwing a G-League level pickup team out on an NBA floor is a farce. Let's take a breath here. Nobody learns anything by playing bad basketball. We finally found our feet in the 4th and maybe some good will come of it.

A lineup with Preston, Diabate, and Boston would surely by worse.
(as much as I want to see them all individually this year.)

[Clemenza]

Just sayin let's just not lay tonight's fustercluck--with 3 playoff starters missing--at Reggie's feet. Last year's fustercluck got laid at his feet and he came through as our MVP. I've been bullish on J-Wall from Day One, a 5-time All-Star and think he's loaded for bear. But let's not bury Reggie and piss on his grave. He's going to play valuable minutes this year again. He's still one of our top 6-7 players. We need him.

FTR--I'm supersatisfied with Zu staying on the floor for 35 effective mpg. 5th option. Rim protection. GRADE: B-to-B+. I ask for no more. He's been a C+ in his career to date. He's already made the jump IMO, the first success of the year.

Nobody is blaming Reggie or personally attacking him. This is on Lue for these iso heavy Reggie & Norm offense were watching. And the "three missing starters" happened all of last year and looks like it'll continue all throughout this year. And if this is the case then all I'm saying is that the Reggie, Morris, Norm Show is bad basketball and basically bad television. And yes Reggie can get hot but even then it mostly equates to a loss at the end of the night.

With the stars out Clipper basketball is getting boring and stagnant with the iso ball chucking offense & small ball failures.. and I think Zu has more to give than what Lue is making him settle for. Let me see Coffey get some run, more shots for Zu & Kennard, Wall starting, Boston on the 2nd unit, Diabate with the main team, etc. Give us a reason to tune in for a change. And no that's not an attack on Reggie

I like your points about changing things up when the stars are out. I do think Lue is aware of the balance we have to strike here, but he is not a knee=jerk guy and generally takes his time to try out or implement changes especially in the regular season. I'm also okay with that for now.

I get that. Hopefully Lue figures it out cause no team is going to lay down for us. The Pelicans are coming, Golden State rises to the occasion during the post season. Portland is finding their way again. Denver, Phoenix, Dallas will be there. You guys know how this sh*t can go from 100 to zero real quick in this league. The narrative is that we're deep and could possibly come out of the West. Now the hard part is putting this is motion. I trust Lue, Kawhi not so much but I'm hoping for him to get healthy

[Clemenza]

Nobody is blaming Reggie or personally attacking him. This is on Lue for these iso heavy Reggie & Norm offense were watching. And the "three missing starters" happened all of last year and looks like it'll continue all throughout this year. And if this is the case then all I'm saying is that the Reggie, Morris, Norm Show is bad basketball and basically bad television. And yes Reggie can get hot but even then it mostly equates to a loss at the end of the night.

With the stars out Clipper basketball is getting boring and stagnant with the iso ball chucking offense & small ball failures.. and I think Zu has more to give than what Lue is making him settle for. Let me see Coffey get some run, more shots for Zu & Kennard, Wall starting, Boston on the 2nd unit, Diabate with the main team, etc. Give us a reason to tune in for a change. And no that's not an attack on Reggie

I like your points about changing things up when the stars are out. I do think Lue is aware of the balance we have to strike here, but he is not a knee=jerk guy and generally takes his time to try out or implement changes especially in the regular season. I'm also okay with that for now.

Rule of thumb: Anyone who says 'things can't any worse' has no imagination . A pick-up game with vets is bad enough. Throwing a G-League level pickup team out on an NBA floor is a farce. Let's take a breath here. Nobody learns anything by playing bad basketball. We finally found our feet in the 4th and maybe some good will come of it.

Mix them into the lineup with the vets. Not all of them on the floor together. Come on man

[esqtvd]

I like your points about changing things up when the stars are out. I do think Lue is aware of the balance we have to strike here, but he is not a knee=jerk guy and generally takes his time to try out or implement changes especially in the regular season. I'm also okay with that for now.

Rule of thumb: Anyone who says 'things can't any worse' has no imagination . A pick-up game with vets is bad enough. Throwing a G-League level pickup team out on an NBA floor is a farce. Let's take a breath here. Nobody learns anything by playing bad basketball. We finally found our feet in the 4th and maybe some good will come of it.

Mix them into the lineup with the vets. Not all of them on the floor together. Come on man

Coffey got some minutes and did ok. Problem here was even vets founder when playing unfamiliar combinations. Throwing Diabate into a hurricane isn't fair to him.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/story/2022-10-25/clippers-kawhi-leonard-knee-stiffness-miss-okc-thunder-games

“It’s going to take at least two months to really get everything in the same groove, get set,” Batum said. “That’s normal. We’ve barely had less than three weeks of training camp. Only four preseason games. So we’re going to be OK when we bring everybody back and going to be ready down the road for sure.”

“Stuff like that just kills you mentally,” said center Ivica Zubac, who had 10 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high seven blocks. “You play 20 seconds of great defense, you force them into a tough shot and then they just get an offensive board.”

Despite Lue’s weeklong message that the team cannot afford careless turnovers, there were 19 more that became 23 points for the Thunder. Oklahoma City took 27 more shots.

There was Zubac, unaware of the game clock, heaving an 80-foot shot with still eight seconds to play in the second quarter, and a five-minute stretch of the third quarter when the Clippers were outscored 21-0.

And there was a moment with seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter, the Thunder’s lead down to 11 and the Clippers with the ball, when offensive miscommunication led Luke Kennard to throw up a long shot that missed everything, only for former Clippers guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to effectively snuff out any L.A. run once and for all with a three-pointer.

“We just can’t have the casual turnovers, the non-thinking turnovers,” Lue said. “We got to be better with that. I didn’t fault our effort. I thought we did some good things. We just got to continue to keep getting better.

“When you are shorthanded like that, the small things mean a lot. When you are missing Kawhi, PG and Marcus, all the small things add up so we got to understand that and go back to the drawing board.”

Young players were not going to fix what went wrong--in fact, they would exacerbate it. The problem was mental.


One thing we need to do is get Powell going. Ouch...

There was Norman Powell, whose shooting slump continued in a three-for-10 performance that dropped his three-point accuracy to 8.3%.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/story/2022-10-26/clippers-norman-powell-struggling-play-confidencen-tyronn-lue