What will it take for Ballmer to admit that the GM/Coach Doc experiment has failed?

TucsonClip · Post #181 » by **TucsonClip** » Wed Apr 26, 2017 7:46 pm

I honestly dont see how you can commit to paying Redick $17+ mil per year unless its a 2-3 year deal with a team option on year 3/partially guaranteed.

Teams know to take him away, and have done so at a good clip in the post season.

The one major problem that keeps pissing me off is our guards are too small.

Paul - 6'0"
Felton - listed as 6'1"
Redick - 6'4"
Rivers - 6'4"'
Crawford is the only guy with good size and length, but that means nothing because he cant defend.

Doc usually has to run three guard lineups, as we have one wing capable of playing minutes (Luc). Meanwhile, Utah trotted out a lineup of George Hill (6'2), Rodney Hood (6'8), Joe Ingles (6'8), Gordon Hayward (6'8), and Rudy Gobert (7'1). They then subbed out Hill for Joe Johnson (6'7) to counter even more.

Ranma · Post #182 » by **Ranma** » Wed Apr 26, 2017 7:46 pm

Bergmaniac wrote:Doc signed a contract extension two weeks after Ballmer bought the franchise.

Good grief. I forgot about that. I'm either getting too old or it was a mental block of traumatic events. Thanks for the correction.

Ranma · Post #183 » by **Ranma** » Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:58 pm

clip set wrote:It'll be interesting to see if Blake and Paul re-sign and try to negotiate into no trade clauses in light of everything. I don't see Ballmer getting rid of Doc at any point before his contract is up. He's one of the less informed owners in the league. He got a lot of praise for hiring Zucker at the time, but that was always something that bothered me. It left the organization completely devoid of any independent managers with NBA familiarity in the front office. Maybe you think the old front office was bad, but it had internal understanding of the cap and CBA, and we saw those issues arise in the time following Ballmer's overhaul. The coach having executive control over everything just isn't a viable model, when there are so many considerations that have to go into cap/CBA conformity, scouting, player evaluation, trade value assessment, etc.

I've excused Ballmer for being clueless because of his enthusiasm as a new owner, but at some point he has to bear responsibility for what is going on with his team. As Bergmaniac reminded me, he's the one that extended Doc through 2018-19 and, on top of that, proclaimed him as one of the best executives in the game (see below).

He was advised by fellow Microsoft alumnus and buddy Paul Allen that having one person hold both titles and responsibilities of coach and GM was bad. He's seen first-hand how this team has taken after its leader in choking in the postseason and continually making excuses while talking a bigger game than actually competing. How can this team be taken seriously as championship contenders now?

I guess the best we can hope for is that Ballmer relieves Doc of his GM duties and brings in a retread like Bob Whitsitt to try to change things with Doc continuing on as coach to deal with the mess he's made. It's a half-measure I'm not really fond of, but it's better than the likely alternative of continuing on with the failed experiment brought to us by the makers of the Zune.

Dan Woike, Orange County Register (8/27/14)

“This is an important day for this organization,” Clippers owner Steve Ballmer said in a statement. “I am excited to work with Doc for a long time as we build a championship culture that will deliver results both on and off the court. Not only is Doc one of the best coaches and executives in the game, but he continually embodies the hard core, committed and resilient character and winning culture that the Clippers represent. It was one of my top priorities to ensure that he was firmly in place as the long-term leader of this team.”

Ballmer, Clippers Reward Rivers with $50 Million Extension

wco81 · Post #184 » by **wco81** » Fri Apr 28, 2017 10:35 pm

Long article:

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/presents19258322/the-la-clippers-last-stand

MartinToVaught · Post #185 » by **MartinToVaught** » Sun Apr 30, 2017 11:21 pm

Surely getting humiliated in a home Game 7 will be enough to wake Ballmer up?

TheNewEra · Post #186 » by **TheNewEra** » Mon May 1, 2017 12:20 am

Rebuild fire Doc

MartinToVaught · Post #187 » by **MartinToVaught** » Mon May 1, 2017 2:09 am

Doc makes history once again:

Read on Twitter

There is nothing anyone can say at this point to convince me that Doc is anything less than an atrocious basketball coach.

TheNewEra · Post #188 » by **TheNewEra** » Mon May 1, 2017 2:17 am

Doc really is a con artist

donemilio21 · Post #189 » by **donemilio21** » Mon May 1, 2017 2:52 am

Doc is a bullshitter at the highest level. Everything he does is an act. He is full of it.

Ranma · Post #190 » by **Ranma** » Mon May 1, 2017 3:33 am

Read on Twitter

LACtdom · Post #191 » by **LACtdom** » Mon May 1, 2017 4:05 am

Just saw that stat about us blowing leads in the playoffs. I think it's time to acknowledge that our mental strength is not quite there. During the regular season, we would get a lead and rarely put them to the sword. We seem to collapse more than most teams but that could just be because I watch the clippers more than any other team (the grass is always greener..). Nonetheless we have been a 'win-now' team for the past five years but haven't taken it to the next level. Quite frankly, Doc hasn't been that much better than VDN. Doc's best season was when he took over from VDN. Since then our win % has declined each year. I know this is just tunnel vision statistics to blame one person for the decline of our team but Doc was handed the keys to so much potential and yet we have just fizzled away. I think there are some tough decisions to be made this offseason. I personally want to trade Blake for a different star/s not because I don't think he has amazing talent but purely because his injury record drastically reduces our chances of making noise in the playoffs.

Roscoe Sheed · Post #192 » by **Roscoe Sheed** » Mon May 1, 2017 5:10 am

You only fire doc if that's what cp3 wants. If not you keep him. If cp3 commits, you can always fire him later. The clippers have to do everything they can to re-sign cp3

nickhx2 · Post #193 » by **nickhx2** » Mon May 1, 2017 5:51 am

Roscoe Sheed wrote:You only fire doc if that's what cp3 wants. If not you keep him. If cp3 commits, you can always fire him later. The clippers have to do everything they can to re-sign cp3

this is how you do it

Ranma · Post #194 » by **Ranma** » Mon May 1, 2017 8:49 am

Danny Chau, TheRinger.com (4/30/17)

Because if we’ve learned anything from the Clippers, it’s that half-measures have no effect on them — they’ve only ended up making the team older and less equipped to deal with the future.

Losing to the Jazz, in particular, can feel like two tectonic plates moving in opposite directions. The Clippers lost to a team that in many ways radiates an opposite identity: a small-market franchise that spent almost all of its resources developing young talent and creating one of the deepest talent pools in the league...

Life comes at you fast. And in a flash, the NBA has throttled into a transitional era. The Clippers have found themselves in their dying days as part of the old guard. It seems impossible for the franchise to run it all back after what they’ve just dealt with in the Jazz series. The Clippers have tried to build time machines to bring them back to more promising times, but in reality, they’ve locked themselves into a time capsule being buried deeper and deeper every year. There has always been a ghost in the Clippers’ basketball machine, but now, it seems haunted by its own reflection. There’s no coming back from that, and there is nowhere to hide anymore.

The Burning Questions the Clippers Face Need No Introduction

Read on Twitter

MartinToVaught · Post #195 » by **MartinToVaught** » Mon May 1, 2017 12:38 pm

Roscoe Sheed wrote:You only fire doc if that's what cp3 wants. If not you keep him. If cp3 commits, you can always fire him later. The clippers have to do everything they can to re-sign cp3

Strongly disagree. You fire Doc no matter what. If CP3 gets offended by that and leaves, it only proves that winning isn't his #1 priority and we were never going to win a ring with him.

Clemenza · Post #196 » by **Clemenza** » Mon May 1, 2017 4:23 pm

MartinToVaught wrote:
Roscoe Sheed wrote:You only fire doc if that's what cp3 wants. If not you keep him. If cp3 commits, you can always fire him later. The clippers have to do everything they can to re-sign cp3

Strongly disagree. You fire Doc no matter what. If CP3 gets offended by that and leaves, it only proves that winning isn't his #1 priority and we were never going to win a ring with him.

I agree.. If CP3 doesn't realize Doc wasted his prime with all those crappy players he put around the core then dude is :crazy:

I also wish the core would speak out on the front office like LeBron does and demand better players. I have no clue as to why they don't say ****

MartinToVaught · Post #197 » by **MartinToVaught** » Mon May 1, 2017 4:42 pm

Players making demands got us Caron Butler on an overpaid contract, Doc Rivers as GM and coach, DeAndre Jordan on an overpaid contract, and Jamal Crawford on an overpaid contract. I'd rather they stay out of it entirely, because their judgement is as bad as Doc's.

madmaxmedia · Post #198 » by **madmaxmedia** » Tue May 2, 2017 5:23 pm

wco81 wrote:Long article:

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/presents19258322/the-la-clippers-last-stand

"We practiced at a community center in Carson," says Brent Barry, who played with the Clippers from 1995 to 1998. "If you got there at 9, you couldn't shoot until 10 because there were 10-year-old girls practicing rhythmic gymnastics -- with streamers. At a quarter 'til, they'd roll up the spongy floor, stick it in the corner, and practice would start."

nickhx2 · Post #199 » by **nickhx2** » Tue May 2, 2017 5:54 pm

pretty sure i wasn't posting here during the mike dunleavy years, but my previous board transformed itself into a really toxic place that loved, more than anything, to hate dunleavy.

it's unfortunate too because i thought he did a lot to convince sterling to start changing his ways, one of them being to build the practice facility in playa del rey. imo he never really got credit he deserved from a lot of fans.

donemilio21 · Post #200 » by **donemilio21** » Tue May 2, 2017 7:08 pm

nickhx2 wrote:pretty sure i wasn't posting here during the mike dunleavy years, but my previous board transformed itself into a really toxic place that loved, more than anything, to hate dunleavy.

it's unfortunate too because i thought he did a lot to convince sterling to start changing his ways, one of them being to build the practice facility in playa del rey. imo he never really got credit he deserved from a lot of fans.

yup. at least he didn't give his own son a large contract.