How is Frank any better than GM Doc?

[BenchOnaQUEST]

Time to face facts. He has given away nearly all of our draft picks and assets and wildly overspent to both construct and prop up a team that simply isn't good enough - just like GM Doc did with Lob City.

On top of that, he was still going to keep Doc even after last year's playoff meltdown until Ballmer stepped in. Then he ran a very uninspiring coaching search and settled on promoting from within.

Barring a miracle, we are looking at years of treadmilling in the first/second round just like the last few years of Lob City. It might be time for a new GM.

Good point!! Frank Lawrence has turned into the DUMBEST GM ever!!!

[MartinToVaught]

Tonight was the biggest game of the season, the referendum on this team, and it was a debacle.

Paul George ($190 million): 5-21
Marcus Morris ($64 million): only 8 points on 2-6 shooting, -2
Luke Kennard ($64 million): only played 5 minutes and didn't even shoot the ball once

Michael Porter, Jr.: 25 points on 10-16 shooting with 5 assists. Our "genius" front office drafted Jerome Robinson over him.

Lue "coached" exactly like Doc tonight, showing once again why the coaching search last offseason was a disaster.

The entire front office should be on the hot seat right now. Even winning one playoff series feels impossible at the moment. It should not be this hard to put a serious roster around Kawhi or to find a coach who knows what he's doing.

[Quake Griffin]

Jerome Robinson.

lmao.

Had 2 picks that year too.
Whose idea was it to play it safe and pick Romy Rome over MPJ?

None of this truly matters tbh.
Kawhi would have demanded we trade everything, kitchen sink included, to get PG here.

Can’t fix stupid.

[Clemenza]

Jerome Robinson.

lmao.

Had 2 picks that year too.
Whose idea was it to play it safe and pick Romy Rome over MPJ?

None of this truly matters tbh.
Kawhi would have demanded we trade everything, kitchen sink included, to get PG here.

Can’t fix stupid.

I don't think they would've gotten MPJ and SGA. He was hurt his rookie year. If they take them both then we keep our first rounders

[Quake Griffin]

Jerome Robinson.

lmao.

Had 2 picks that year too.
Whose idea was it to play it safe and pick Romy Rome over MPJ?

None of this truly matters tbh.
Kawhi would have demanded we trade everything, kitchen sink included, to get PG here.

Can’t fix stupid.

I don't think they would've gotten MPJ and SGA. He was hurt his rookie year. If they take them both then we keep our first rounders

Makes sense in a vacuum.

This was no vacuum.
This was Kawhi saying “trade for a star or I’m not coming”. We had no leverage that night.

Presti coulda asked for Ballmer’s mom and she coulda been thrown in.

Thanks Kawhi and Uncle Dennis.

[esqtvd]

Jerome Robinson.

lmao.

Had 2 picks that year too.
Whose idea was it to play it safe and pick Romy Rome over MPJ?

None of this truly matters tbh.
Kawhi would have demanded we trade everything, kitchen sink included, to get PG here.

Can’t fix stupid.

I don't think they would've gotten MPJ and SGA. He was hurt his rookie year. If they take them both then we keep our first rounders

Makes sense in a vacuum.

This was no vacuum.
This was Kawhi saying “trade for a star or I’m not coming”. We had no leverage that night.

Presti coulda asked for Ballmer’s mom and she coulda been thrown in.

Thanks Kawhi and Uncle Dennis.

What they could have done was aggressively chase Butler. Miami did and took him off the market before the Clippers had the chance to even meet with him. The Clippers had no master plan besides kneeling before Kawhi, and as Quake said, PG was his price.

But failing that, the Clippers are in the same Catch-22 the entire league is in--titles are won by teams with two or even THREE stars. But like Lob City, that leaves you with whatever MLEs [Ibaka], buyouts [Batum, Cousins] and minimum wagers [Reggie] you can round up to fill the rest of the roster. Zubac is a decent buy--but no bargain--at $7M, and Marcus and Bev are overpaid at $15M though I'm not sure we had much in the way of alternatives.

But the latter two is where I would put the bullseye.

[Quake Griffin]

What they could have done is not mouthed Kawhi for a year straight and dedicate an entire season of 48-34 basketball to enticing him to come here. It was clear, from the jump (as I stated), that stars want to team up with stars - not 48 win little engine that could teams.

Well, you mouth him for a calendar year. You get a tampering fine all year and what does he tell you, "yeah, that's cool you went 48-34, go find me another star"

A smart franchise would have told him to sign here and trust us or pound sand. If not, we'll go 48-34 again and try to entice Giannis or someone else later. Not us though. Everything for Kawhi. The so called "best player in basketball". LMAO. Haven't heard that one in a while.

[BenchOnaQUEST]

Tonight was the biggest game of the season, the referendum on this team, and it was a debacle.
- Paul George ($190 million): 5-21
- Marcus Morris ($64 million): only 8 points on 2-6 shooting, -2
- Luke Kennard ($64 million): only played 5 minutes and didn't even shoot the ball once

Michael Porter, Jr.: 25 points on 10-16 shooting with 5 assists. Our "genius" front office drafted Jerome Robinson over him.
Lue "coached" exactly like Doc tonight, showing once again why the coaching search last offseason was a disaster.

The entire Front Office should be on the hot seat right now. Even winning one playoff series feels impossible at the moment. It should not be this hard to put a serious roster around Kawhi or to find a coach who knows what he's doing.

One of the BEST posts I've seen in a long looong LONG while! (I wish I could give it more than +1!)

And now a very relative question is:
Who is the best candidate to fill the Clippers GM role?

[BenchOnaQUEST]

Most of the so-called "PG hate" is because he's choking in the most important games of the season. Surely you can understand the frustration when we're all hoping for him to turn it around, but as soon as a big game arrives on the schedule, he regresses all the way back to that Mavs series. It's alarming since the playoffs are almost here and this is still how he's playing in the spotlight.

Even then, if we hadn't traded SGA and a million draft picks for him, given him $190 million, and if he wasn't coming off arguably the worst playoff performance by a "superstar" ever, he wouldn't be getting criticized as much. The context makes his performances even worse than they already are on paper.

Personally, I just think this situation sucks. I really wanted PG to work out for us. It would have been a nice story for him to go from rooting for the Clippers as a kid to helping us win our first championship. It doesn't look like that's going to happen barring a miracle.

Facts!! Seriously, this MartinToVaught guy is a star.. Almost had me starting an Appreciation Thread! I'm 100% serious!
(Note to MartinToVaught: I realized I can't reach out via PM/DM. Feel free to contact me via Twitter. Go Clippers!)

[MartinToVaught]

Another good opponent, another mess of a game.

Paul George ($190 million): 8-20, -7, nowhere to be found in the clutch
Marcus Morris ($64 million): 2-9 (including 0-3 from three), -20, 3 turnovers to 0 assists, worst player on the court today
Luke Kennard ($64 million): DNP

Lue is STILL trying to force Reggie and Bev as point guards instead of Rondo and Mann. He is not a good coach.

This front office traded the whole future for a team that appears to have a second-round ceiling.

[MartinToVaught]

Time for another update after Game 1:

Paul George ($190 million): Abysmal in the first half (1-7 shooting). His decent second half wasn't nearly enough to make up for the disappearing act he put on for half the game.
Marcus Morris ($64 million): 4 points on 2-8 shooting (0-6 from three), -23. Basically unplayable.
Luke Kennard ($64 million): DNP

Ty Lue is a terrible coach. His defensive scheme is making the Mavericks look like the Warriors. Why does Zu keep getting switched on Luka with no adjustments? Why is Reggie Jackson getting 21 minutes in a playoff game when he is unplayable against any serious team because of his defense? Where were Mann and Cousins? Somehow this franchise managed to make a lateral move from Doc.

Our front office is completely incompetent. They screwed up the coaching search, they screwed up the last few years of personnel moves, and they've given away a ridiculous amount of draft picks for a team that will be lucky to get past the first round. Any other team in the league would fire them.

[RingColluder]

Time for another update after Game 1:

Paul George ($190 million): Abysmal in the first half (1-7 shooting). His decent second half wasn't nearly enough to make up for the disappearing act he put on for half the game.
Marcus Morris ($64 million): 4 points on 2-8 shooting (0-6 from three), -23. Basically unplayable.
Luke Kennard ($64 million): DNP

Ty Lue is a terrible coach. His defensive scheme is making the Mavericks look like the Warriors. Why does Zu keep getting switched on Luka with no adjustments? Why is Reggie Jackson getting 21 minutes in a playoff game when he is unplayable against any serious team because of his defense? Where were Mann and Cousins? Somehow this franchise managed to make a lateral move from Doc.

Our front office is completely incompetent. They screwed up the coaching search, they screwed up the last few years of personnel moves, and they've given away a ridiculous amount of draft picks for a team that will be lucky to get past the first round. Any other team in the league would fire them.

I've never hated a player so much as Paul George who has singlehandedly ruined the last prime years of Kawhi Leonard one of the best players of his generation. That's on Kawhi too for forcing that deal..

Morris usually plays better, but yes he played awful. Kennard speaks for itself.

I was deeply unhappy with Ty Lue this game too in regards to Reggie's minutes. At least I have confidence he'll make adjustments for game 2. I do NOT have confidence in this front office who traded for Kennard. If we lose round 1 we are STUCK with Playoff P for 4 more years with Kawhi heading to Miami. MY GOD.

[MartinToVaught]

At least I have confidence he'll make adjustments for game 2.

I don't. I've been complaining all season about Lue's loyalty to Reggie, just like Doc and his favorites over the years. We're talking about a no-brainer adjustment here that should have been made in January. The fact that it's still a problem in May tells me all I need to know about Lue.

That being said, this is also the front office's fault for continuing to waste roster spots on Reggie and Patterson because they're PG's friends. PG has won nothing in his career to earn that kind of special treatment from the front office.

[RingColluder]

At least I have confidence he'll make adjustments for game 2.

I don't. I've been complaining all season about Lue's loyalty to Reggie, just like Doc and his favorites over the years. We're talking about a no-brainer adjustment here that should have been made in January. The fact that it's still a problem in May tells me all I need to know about Lue.

That being said, this is also the front office's fault for continuing to waste roster spots on Reggie and Patterson because they're PG's friends. PG has won nothing in his career to earn that kind of special treatment from the front office.

He made adjustments in the 3-1 Warriors Cavs series. He'll make them. If he doesn't make them by game 3 feel free to quote me.


The front office is even worse. PATTERSON? REGGIE? KENNARD (who also is PG's agent)?? Disgusting.

[MartinToVaught]

He made adjustments in the 3-1 Warriors Cavs series.

LeBron made adjustments. Lue watched the games from the sidelines.

[RingColluder]

He made adjustments in the 3-1 Warriors Cavs series.

LeBron made adjustments. Lue watched the games from the sidelines.

Better than Doc. But if he can't stand up to the narcissistic Playoff P and he was able to get LeBron to listen, that speaks a lot about the depth of our problems.

[RingColluder]

From the main forum: Well done Frank! You sure know how to pick them!

Read on Twitter

[og15]

He made adjustments in the 3-1 Warriors Cavs series.

LeBron made adjustments. Lue watched the games from the sidelines.

This is why being a coach of a LeBron team is generally pretty sucky. Failures are due to your inability to do this or that and success is due to LeBron's ability to make the necessary changes and perform. It's basically a lose/lose to some people as a coach of a LeBron team. You lose, it's your fault, you win, it was LeBron.

[MartinToVaught]

He made adjustments in the 3-1 Warriors Cavs series.

LeBron made adjustments. Lue watched the games from the sidelines.

This is why being a coach of a LeBron team is generally pretty sucky. Failures are due to your inability to do this or that and success is due to LeBron's ability to make the necessary changes and perform. It's basically a lose/lose to some people as a coach of a LeBron team. You lose, it's your fault, you win, it was LeBron.

Spoelstra is universally recognized as an elite coach, and for good reason, because he gets the most out of his teams and has the humility to address his own flaws when the team falls short - like when he changed his entire offensive system after the 2011 Finals. His success both pre- and post-LeBron disproves this narrative. Vogel was also already praised as a coach pre-LeBron because of his success in Indiana (still the only coach who ever made Playoff P look good in the playoffs).

LeBron really has spent most of his career making terrible coaches look better than they are with his overall greatness, unparalleled floor-raising ability, and incredible BBIQ. When these coaches don't have the luxury of the GOAT carrying them, they get exposed. That's why Lue's record in Cleveland with "just" Kyrie and Love playing was so horrible. Two All-Stars in a weak East weren't enough for him, he needed the GOAT to win games for him.

Frank's whole approach to the coaching issue last offseason was baffling from start to finish. He was actually planning to keep Doc after last season's failure until Ballmer stepped in. The other candidates we interviewed were laughable (Mike Brown, really?) Then he decided to promote from within the same coaching staff that had just failed miserably. The whole thing felt very half-assed, like they were begrudgingly making a coaching change for the sake of optics.

I just don't see any real vision with Frank as POBO and the coaching search was a microcosm of that. He's loyal to the Doc tree because he was part of the Doc tree. He's obsessed with acquiring the Pistons' castoffs because he used to coach the Pistons. He doesn't set trends or keep up with the rest of the league, he sticks to what he knows. We can and should do better than this front office.

[Clemenza]

LeBron made adjustments. Lue watched the games from the sidelines.

This is why being a coach of a LeBron team is generally pretty sucky. Failures are due to your inability to do this or that and success is due to LeBron's ability to make the necessary changes and perform. It's basically a lose/lose to some people as a coach of a LeBron team. You lose, it's your fault, you win, it was LeBron.

Spoelstra is universally recognized as an elite coach, and for good reason, because he gets the most out of his teams and has the humility to address his own flaws when the team falls short - like when he changed his entire offensive system after the 2011 Finals. His success both pre- and post-LeBron disproves this narrative. Vogel was also already praised as a coach pre-LeBron because of his success in Indiana (still the only coach who ever made Playoff P look good in the playoffs).

LeBron really has spent most of his career making terrible coaches look better than they are with his overall greatness, unparalleled floor-raising ability, and incredible BBIQ. When these coaches don't have the luxury of the GOAT carrying them, they get exposed. That's why Lue's record in Cleveland with "just" Kyrie and Love playing was so horrible. Two All-Stars in a weak East weren't enough for him, he needed the GOAT to win games for him.

Frank's whole approach to the coaching issue last offseason was baffling from start to finish. He was actually planning to keep Doc after last season's failure until Ballmer stepped in. The other candidates we interviewed were laughable (Mike Brown, really?) Then he decided to promote from within the same coaching staff that had just failed miserably. The whole thing felt very half-assed, like they were begrudgingly making a coaching change for the sake of optics.

I just don't see any real vision with Frank as POBO and the coaching search was a microcosm of that. He's loyal to the Doc tree because he was part of the Doc tree. He's obsessed with acquiring the Pistons' castoffs because he used to coach the Pistons. He doesn't set trends or keep up with the rest of the league, he sticks to what he knows. We can and should do better than this front office.

F*ck that, Vogel and Spoelstra didn't coach jack sh*t! All of them benefited from Prime Bron and his all star "help". Black coaches always have to deal with the bullsh*t narratives like being labeled "a player's coach" "not a x's and o's guy" and so forth. Go ahead and rip Lue on his own merit if you don't like the job he's doing but all that extra stereotype narrative is not needed to make a point. Bron has been the ultimate cheat code for Cleveland, Miami, the Lakers, and the entire league since day one. They recently just let him bypass the 10-14 day Covid protocols so the Lakers/Suns gets full billing and ratings.