Game #77: Clippers @ GRIZZ—Wednesday 3/29 5PM

[esqtvd]

Ladies and Gentlemen---
THE MAN OF THE HOUR
Russell Westbrook

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[esqtvd]

Seeing how much Russ and Bones are pushing the pace... it's usually us on the receiving end, very strange to see lol.

About time we win one of these pickup games. The Grizz gave heavy minutes to 4 rookies and a 2nd-year man, so let's not get too carried away. 141-132 was a scrimmage, not a playoff preview.

But adding Russ and Bones increased the energy quotient by miles. Career shooting night for RoCo, and 36-4-10 is like MVP Russ. It's a shame that Batum was ass--after going 8-10 from three last game, he was 1-5 tonight. I was afraid the 31 minutes he played vs the Bulls might take their toll, and it looks like they did.

Still, a great confidence-booster and a cleaning out of the cobwebs for RoCo and Powell. Mann only 11-2-3 in 35 minutes but with a nice plus+18.

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[ejftw]

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[Dynamix]

[Dynamix]

I know it was just one game and they were missing a lot of pieces, but that was also the case in our previous meeting, when we also had two guys called Kawhi and PG on the court, yet needed a double digit 4th quarter comeback to avoid an absolute embarrassment after giving up 51 in the 3rd. So yeah, pretty solid win tonight.

Do I expect Russ and RoCo to go off like this next game? Absolutely not. Hopefully we get Kawhi back (although we also really need him against the Pelicans) and someone else can step up. Maybe better defense will be able to make up for the offense coming down to Earth.

We need to talk about Bones, because this kid seems legit. You could say it's just a hot shooting streak inflating his numbers, but the pace, the playmaking, chemistry with others, even grabbing some boards, just general effort, all this after sitting out a bunch of games, have been a very pleasant surprise.
Other than some silly turnovers and getting lost on defense, which can be expected from a second year player that just joined the team, there's really not much else to hold against him. Huge contribution after PG went down.

Just wish this wasn't game 77, or at the very least PG could be available. Maybe some cards were not on the table earlier in the season (getting Russ and Bones for nothing, a solid backup for Zu, a steady veteran like Gordon becoming available), but others were definitely in our hands and we just ignored them. Not to make it sound like a single decision impacted our entire season, but it definitely didn't help.

We'll see how this season ultimately turns out, at the end of the day it's still mainly about your two best players being available and performing at a high level, but some serious conversations need to be had over the summer, on a wide variety of topics.

Just get one more win over the next two games, extend our winning streak against the Lakers and keep them in the play-in, take care of business against the Blazers, maybe even secure home court in the first round with a win in the last game, then just see what happens.

Having to go through Phoenix, then Denver, just to make the conference finals, seems almost impossible without PG, but that's what happens when you mess around for an entire regular season, you have your work cut out for you in the playoffs.

[esqtvd]

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just hold the fort Russ

[Dynamix]

[Dynamix]

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[UKClipperfan]

There's that game. The game where Kawhi and PG sit out and Russ just goes ham bananas. Against a really good Memphis team too.

[Clemenza]

"Russ wears Hermes"


"Aye Yo...."

[Clemenza]

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[Cyclips]

Miss Kennard but West is going crazy

At first I thought you were calling Luke "Miss Kennard", like a single woman, lol. That's a great nickname actually. He will now be known as "Miss Kennard"!

[donemilio21]

The most interesting from last nights games is that Russ scored 36 points and was the MVP of the game. I think that's clear. BUT 12 of those 36 points came from what we would all consider bad 3 point shots. The type of shots that gave him his bad reputation as a chucker. Not sure what to make of that. I hope he himself knows that he got hot and luck was on his side a bit too. He is not suddently Curry.

See below.

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[madmaxmedia]

The most interesting from last nights games is that Russ scored 36 points and was the MVP of the game. I think that's clear. BUT 12 of those 36 points came from what we would all consider bad 3 point shots. The type of shots that gave him his bad reputation as a chucker. Not sure what to make of that. I hope he himself knows that he got hot and luck was on his side a bit too. He is not suddently Curry.

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Spoiler:

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Do you mean bad shots, or bad 3 point shots? Because none of the 3 point shots were really bad IMO. One was a (presumably) lucky bank, but it was an open shot. Another was a pull-up right in front of the defender, the announcers called it a heat check which was pretty apt so not a great shot. Then there was one with about 7 seconds left in the shot clock, I thought that was fine because of the shot clock. The rest looked open to me.

He pushed a few transition shots, I think you have to accept the good with the bad there because when you drive and initiate you're not always going to know if the opening is going to stay open or not. A lot depends on the opponent's defense, and at least from that video he was doing a fantastic job of sonning Ja Morant.

It's obviously not always going to work out the same way in the box score (let's see tomorrow...) but if we play the Griz in the playoffs I definitely want Russ to keep attacking Ja and making him work at the other end. Russ is absolutely capable of putting Ja on the floor AND drawing the foul once or twice a game.

[madmaxmedia]

Miss Kennard but West is going crazy

At first I thought you were calling Luke "Miss Kennard", like a single woman, lol. That's a great nickname actually. He will now be known as "Miss Kennard"!

It's Luke, Miss Kennard if your're Nasty...

[clipperlover]

This sets up great for Friday:

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Dillon Brooks is a good player, but has accomplished jack squat to be running his mouth so much. Russ and RoCo didn't fall for his antics last night and he kept quiet most of the 2nd half.


Two under appreciated highlights of the night:
1. Russ driving from the 3 for a nice dish under the hoop for Zu.
2. RoCo forcing a jump ball by tying up the ball between the Griz player's legs.

it is the little things like that that RoCo provides that we have been missing. The younger players feed off of those plays.

I think we are not totally appreciating the impact that Russ is having on Mann and Hyland. They are going to be better players long term because of their ability to learn their position from him.

[clipperlover]

It's obviously not always going to work out the same way in the box score (let's see tomorrow...) but if we play the Griz in the playoffs I definitely want Russ to keep attacking Ja and making him work at the other end. Russ is absolutely capable of putting Ja on the floor AND drawing the foul once or twice a game.

One thing is for certain, we have enough different looks at the PG spot to really keep the Griz off-balance. Russ has the size to beat on Ja and then Bones has a similar pace as Ja to make him have to work harder after being beat on by Russ. Then, we can force the switch of him onto Mann who has length over Ja. Then, we can always force the switch onto Kawhi or PG. We just have to hunt him continually.

Hopefully, on Friday, we have a "crack back" block type of play for Brooks every time he tries to pick up full court. Use his aggressiveness against him.

[LamarWho]

Still sick to my stomach that Roco wasn't freed until 2 weeks left in the season.

[clipperlover]

After their 19-0 run, we outscored them 136-113 the rest of the way.

[clipperlover]

So, Ty's rotation has been PG and Russ for about 6 minutes to start, then Kawhi for the full qtr. Start of the 2nd PG comes back on the floor, Russ gets added back in and then Kawhi back by 6 minutes left to close the quarter.

Maybe Ty needs to change it up a bit when we get everyone back. Keep Russ for 6, PG for 8 and Kawhi for 16. Let Russ run the start of the 2nd with the Mann, Bones, and Plumlee where Russ is the #1 option. They can outwork any other opponent's 2nd unit. Bring PG back with 8 minutes left and then bring back Kawhi at 6 minutes left.