Play-in Game 2: vs Pelicans 7:00pm PST on TNT

[Roscoe Sheed]

I see that Brogdon is likely available. Maybe the Clippers could package Morris and somebody else for him. I know it's risky because he is injury prone, but Brogdon could start and allow Jackson to come off the bench- he is more effective in limited minutes.

[og15]

Yep, there is nothing to proud with this ****. Two double digit lead in the final quarters erased by young teams. We choked two times in a row, single elimination games. If there should be someone to proud it's Wolves and Pelicans with their youth proved their Nba careers.

Hopefully this was the final game of Morris in Clippers uniform. We need youth playing.

Coaching can be quite hard. If you lose there's always something else you could have done, but that doesn't mean it would have worked either. The Clippers main problem was that they can't create shots late in games, their energy and hustle was there.

Clippers won the 3rd 38-18, 10 point lead. There were two options then #1, rest Reggie and Morris who combined for 22 pts in the 3rd for about 4 minutes, hope you maintain the lead with them on the bench and then bring them back in to close. #2 Try to push the lead further with the same group.

Clippers went with the second option, it failed.

The Pelicans played Ingram, McCollum, Nance and Murphy 11+ minutes in the 4th. Clippers played Jackson, Morris, Mann and Covington 10+ minutes each. Jackson and Morris went 3/14 (two late desperation misses here too) and had 7 pts.

McCollum and Ingram who played 10 and 12 minutes in the third and then 12 and 11 minutes in the 4th combined for 14 fourth quarter points on 6/11. Murphy was also great for them.

In the end, CJ and Ingram being better at that first and second option role late in games was the biggest factor. Even with the offensive rebounds and all the other stuff, if that part was closer, Clippers would have won. It's just tough without those types of players and you really notice it when you don't have them. When the energy goes up and your actions are shut down and you have to make individual plays, you need guys that can do that. Reggie and Morris aren't those guys, but they tried.

You can feel Jackson and Morris were going to burn out early in the 4th

100% agree, I mentioned it too, but unless Powell stepped up, you take them out and whose going to move the defense or force a double and create offense.

The team certainly needed a playmaker. Obviously if they have George and Kawhi, the needs change, and obviously they can't build the roster for success this season if the minutes and roles wouldn't make sense when your main cogs return.

I see that Brogdon is likely available. Maybe the Clippers could package Morris and somebody else for him. I know it's risky because he is injury prone, but Brogdon could start and allow Jackson to come off the bench- he is more effective in limited minutes.

I like him, but do you really think this team can stomach adding an injury prone player? Not just that but he has three more years and about $22M/year. Some of our fans would even blame our medical staff if Brogdon who has averaged 49 games a season the last three seasons were to miss 20+ games.

I don't think he's the one though talent wise yes, but availability wise based on contract, no. If he made like $13 million we could summer the missed games for what he brings, but not at $22M.

[esqtvd]

we lost to Wolves and Pelicans to get kicked out of playoffs while they are both in. Neither has a superior roster than us.

Yep, there is nothing to proud with this ****. Two double digit lead in the final quarters erased by young teams. We choked two times in a row, single elimination games. If there should be someone to proud it's Wolves and Pelicans with their youth proved their Nba careers.

Hopefully this was the final game of Morris in Clippers uniform. We need youth playing.

Coaching can be quite hard. If you lose there's always something else you could have done, but that doesn't mean it would have worked either. The Clippers main problem was that they can't create shots late in games, their energy and hustle was there.

Clippers won the 3rd 38-18, 10 point lead. There were two options then #1, rest Reggie and Morris who combined for 22 pts in the 3rd for about 4 minutes, hope you maintain the lead with them on the bench and then bring them back in to close. #2 Try to push the lead further with the same group.

Clippers went with the second option, it failed.

The Pelicans played Ingram, McCollum, Nance and Murphy 11+ minutes in the 4th. Clippers played Jackson, Morris, Mann and Covington 10+ minutes each. Jackson and Morris went 3/14 (two late desperation misses here too) and had 7 pts.

McCollum and Ingram who played 10 and 12 minutes in the third and then 12 and 11 minutes in the 4th combined for 14 fourth quarter points on 6/11. Murphy was also great for them.

In the end, CJ and Ingram being better at that first and second option role late in games was the biggest factor. Even with the offensive rebounds and all the other stuff, if that part was closer, Clippers would have won. It's just tough without those types of players and you really notice it when you don't have them. When the energy goes up and your actions are shut down and you have to make individual plays, you need guys that can do that. Reggie and Morris aren't those guys, but they tried.

Spot on. You'd trade our 2 best players on the floor [Reggie and Morris] for theirs [CJ and Ingram] in a NY minute. We did not have the better team. Reggie in particular overachieved and only a dope could blame him for not doing more.

Frankly, our board's pets T-Mann and Zubac were useless and Coffey and Hart were disastrous, but not a peep. And no--playing the G-Leaguer was not the answer. We lost the game with the "proven" guys we already do have.

Coffey 4 minutes minus-9
Hart 6 minutes minus-10
Mann 37 minutes minus-9
Zu 13 minutes minus-4
Powell 24 minutes minus-9

[og15]

Could playing the G-League guy have won the game? Sure, he could get hot and change the game, BUT, that's more of an "anything can happen" scenario than a "why didn't the coach play him" scenario

[TheNewEra]

Coaching can be quite hard. If you lose there's always something else you could have done, but that doesn't mean it would have worked either. The Clippers main problem was that they can't create shots late in games, their energy and hustle was there.

Clippers won the 3rd 38-18, 10 point lead. There were two options then #1, rest Reggie and Morris who combined for 22 pts in the 3rd for about 4 minutes, hope you maintain the lead with them on the bench and then bring them back in to close. #2 Try to push the lead further with the same group.

Clippers went with the second option, it failed.

The Pelicans played Ingram, McCollum, Nance and Murphy 11+ minutes in the 4th. Clippers played Jackson, Morris, Mann and Covington 10+ minutes each. Jackson and Morris went 3/14 (two late desperation misses here too) and had 7 pts.

McCollum and Ingram who played 10 and 12 minutes in the third and then 12 and 11 minutes in the 4th combined for 14 fourth quarter points on 6/11. Murphy was also great for them.

In the end, CJ and Ingram being better at that first and second option role late in games was the biggest factor. Even with the offensive rebounds and all the other stuff, if that part was closer, Clippers would have won. It's just tough without those types of players and you really notice it when you don't have them. When the energy goes up and your actions are shut down and you have to make individual plays, you need guys that can do that. Reggie and Morris aren't those guys, but they tried.

You can feel Jackson and Morris were going to burn out early in the 4th

100% agree, I mentioned it too, but unless Powell stepped up, you take them out and whose going to move the defense or force a double and create offense.

The team certainly needed a playmaker. Obviously if they have George and Kawhi, the needs change, and obviously they can't build the roster for success this season if the minutes and roles wouldn't make sense when your main cogs return.

I see that Brogdon is likely available. Maybe the Clippers could package Morris and somebody else for him. I know it's risky because he is injury prone, but Brogdon could start and allow Jackson to come off the bench- he is more effective in limited minutes.

I like him, but do you really think this team can stomach adding an injury prone player? Not just that but he has three more years and about $22M/year. Some of our fans would even blame our medical staff if Brogdon who has averaged 49 games a season the last three seasons were to miss 20+ games.

I don't think he's the one though talent wise yes, but availability wise based on contract, no. If he made like $13 million we could summer the missed games for what he brings, but not at $22M.

A playmaker that plays some defense and confident to take a shot

[TheNewEra]

Yep, there is nothing to proud with this ****. Two double digit lead in the final quarters erased by young teams. We choked two times in a row, single elimination games. If there should be someone to proud it's Wolves and Pelicans with their youth proved their Nba careers.

Hopefully this was the final game of Morris in Clippers uniform. We need youth playing.

Coaching can be quite hard. If you lose there's always something else you could have done, but that doesn't mean it would have worked either. The Clippers main problem was that they can't create shots late in games, their energy and hustle was there.

Clippers won the 3rd 38-18, 10 point lead. There were two options then #1, rest Reggie and Morris who combined for 22 pts in the 3rd for about 4 minutes, hope you maintain the lead with them on the bench and then bring them back in to close. #2 Try to push the lead further with the same group.

Clippers went with the second option, it failed.

The Pelicans played Ingram, McCollum, Nance and Murphy 11+ minutes in the 4th. Clippers played Jackson, Morris, Mann and Covington 10+ minutes each. Jackson and Morris went 3/14 (two late desperation misses here too) and had 7 pts.

McCollum and Ingram who played 10 and 12 minutes in the third and then 12 and 11 minutes in the 4th combined for 14 fourth quarter points on 6/11. Murphy was also great for them.

In the end, CJ and Ingram being better at that first and second option role late in games was the biggest factor. Even with the offensive rebounds and all the other stuff, if that part was closer, Clippers would have won. It's just tough without those types of players and you really notice it when you don't have them. When the energy goes up and your actions are shut down and you have to make individual plays, you need guys that can do that. Reggie and Morris aren't those guys, but they tried.

Spot on. You'd trade our 2 best players on the floor [Reggie and Morris] for theirs [CJ and Ingram] in a NY minute. We did not have the better team. Reggie in particular overachieved and only a dope could blame him for not doing more.

Frankly, our board's pets T-Mann and Zubac were useless and Coffey and Hart were disastrous, but not a peep. And no--playing the G-Leaguer was not the answer. We lost the game with the "proven" guys we already do have.

Coffey 4 minutes minus-9
Hart 6 minutes minus-10
Mann 37 minutes minus-9
Zu 13 minutes minus-4
Powell 24 minutes minus-9

Still hoping one day you would add context to these numbers instead of just throwing them out there like it’s all absolutes. You know they used Mann on defense on CJ because he was going early and even though he couldn’t guard Ingram he was still hustling. They don’t survive the first stint of the game without Zubac because Reggie couldn’t find his shot.

Jackson and Morris did hold up at certain parts of the game but fell apart late and I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to upgrade both spots

[esqtvd]

Coaching can be quite hard. If you lose there's always something else you could have done, but that doesn't mean it would have worked either. The Clippers main problem was that they can't create shots late in games, their energy and hustle was there.

Clippers won the 3rd 38-18, 10 point lead. There were two options then #1, rest Reggie and Morris who combined for 22 pts in the 3rd for about 4 minutes, hope you maintain the lead with them on the bench and then bring them back in to close. #2 Try to push the lead further with the same group.

Clippers went with the second option, it failed.

The Pelicans played Ingram, McCollum, Nance and Murphy 11+ minutes in the 4th. Clippers played Jackson, Morris, Mann and Covington 10+ minutes each. Jackson and Morris went 3/14 (two late desperation misses here too) and had 7 pts.

McCollum and Ingram who played 10 and 12 minutes in the third and then 12 and 11 minutes in the 4th combined for 14 fourth quarter points on 6/11. Murphy was also great for them.

In the end, CJ and Ingram being better at that first and second option role late in games was the biggest factor. Even with the offensive rebounds and all the other stuff, if that part was closer, Clippers would have won. It's just tough without those types of players and you really notice it when you don't have them. When the energy goes up and your actions are shut down and you have to make individual plays, you need guys that can do that. Reggie and Morris aren't those guys, but they tried.

Spot on. You'd trade our 2 best players on the floor [Reggie and Morris] for theirs [CJ and Ingram] in a NY minute. We did not have the better team. Reggie in particular overachieved and only a dope could blame him for not doing more.

Frankly, our board's pets T-Mann and Zubac were useless and Coffey and Hart were disastrous, but not a peep. And no--playing the G-Leaguer was not the answer. We lost the game with the "proven" guys we already do have.

Coffey 4 minutes minus-9
Hart 6 minutes minus-10
Mann 37 minutes minus-9
Zu 13 minutes minus-4
Powell 24 minutes minus-9

Still hoping one day you would add context to these numbers instead of just throwing them out there like it’s all absolutes. You know they used Mann on defense on CJ because he was going early and even though he couldn’t guard Ingram he was still hustling. They don’t survive the first stint of the game without Zubac because Reggie couldn’t find his shot.

Jackson and Morris did hold up at certain parts of the game but fell apart late and I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to upgrade both spots

CONTEXT: I'm no Mook fan from Day One and Reggie should play 23 minutes, not 46. And Mann should play 20. He did what he could and Ty had no alternatives. But minus-9 and 4 points in 37 minutes is---well, it's NOT winning basketball, and he's getting a pass, which is my point. [He was minus-16 in only 15 minutes in the Minnesota game! Two points.]

Instead, Reggie got the poison, although he was the hero last night, as he was all season. But that's the way it goes with these things--the nail that stands up will be pounded down. And I LIKE Mann and Zu and Coffey and Hart but they did not pull the cart in either of the play-in losses--in fact, they disappeared and should be getting a lot more of the blame.

[ejftw]

Hart looked worse than playoff Trez, didn't think that was possible. Clippers need to get an athletic backup 4/5 in the mold of a Larry Nance for when Zu takes his breaks....would've liked to see Zu get a couple minutes in the fourth when we couldn't grab a defensive board and our offense wasn't doing crap anyway.

Mann did what he could on defense, but he looked scared on offense, not like a guy who balled out last year.

I think Clippers need to rehaul the entire second unit, despite the effort they put in this year.

In either case, I can't wait for the off season and, ultimately, next year.

[TrueLAfan]

First—it was a brutal ending to the season—as bad of an ending as you can get short of someone getting seriously injured.

That doesn’t wipe out the rest of the year, though. We had no Kawhi and less than half a season of PG, and were over .500. We made a great trade at the deadline for players who will help us (partly by giving us trade options). Coffey proved himself to be a legit NBA player. Most of our players had good years. Because to the injury thing, we had glaring flaws that we overcame more often not. So, no—not a bad year. Bad ending—not a bad year.

One of those big flaws with PG and Kawhi (and Luke!) out was scoring—which I’ve noted before. When you’re relying on a notoriously streaky player like Reggie, and have to play him more minutes than you should to get points, it’s not a recipe for success. It wasn’t last night and never will be. Somebody has to try and score. I’m not a Mook guy, but I’ll given him credit for trying in the fourth last night even if he was gassed. I *am* a Covington and Batum guy—but those two, combined with Mann, took 4 shots in 31 minutes played in the fourth. We got hammered on the boards, like we have all year, and the equation becomes simple:

To win you need to score
To score you need to make shots
To make shots, you need to attempt shots

Covington, Batum and Mann attempted 4 shots in more than 31 minutes played in the fourth. That’s half of our team’s minutes. 4 attempts.

[MartinToVaught]

Hard for other players to take shots when they're playing with ballhogs like Reggie and Morris.

[TheNewEra]

Spot on. You'd trade our 2 best players on the floor [Reggie and Morris] for theirs [CJ and Ingram] in a NY minute. We did not have the better team. Reggie in particular overachieved and only a dope could blame him for not doing more.

Frankly, our board's pets T-Mann and Zubac were useless and Coffey and Hart were disastrous, but not a peep. And no--playing the G-Leaguer was not the answer. We lost the game with the "proven" guys we already do have.

Coffey 4 minutes minus-9
Hart 6 minutes minus-10
Mann 37 minutes minus-9
Zu 13 minutes minus-4
Powell 24 minutes minus-9

Still hoping one day you would add context to these numbers instead of just throwing them out there like it’s all absolutes. You know they used Mann on defense on CJ because he was going early and even though he couldn’t guard Ingram he was still hustling. They don’t survive the first stint of the game without Zubac because Reggie couldn’t find his shot.

Jackson and Morris did hold up at certain parts of the game but fell apart late and I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to upgrade both spots

CONTEXT: I'm no Mook fan from Day One and Reggie should play 23 minutes, not 46. And Mann should play 20. He did what he could and Ty had no alternatives. But minus-9 and 4 points in 37 minutes is---well, it's NOT winning basketball, and he's getting a pass, which is my point. [He was minus-16 in only 15 minutes in the Minnesota game! Two points.]

Instead, Reggie got the poison, although he was the hero last night, as he was all season. But that's the way it goes with these things--the nail that stands up will be pounded down. And I LIKE Mann and Zu and Coffey and Hart but they did not pull the cart in either of the play-in losses--in fact, they disappeared and should be getting a lot more of the blame.

I get Mann struggled but the other guys didn’t play enough to really get into a rhythm and when they did it’s not like the +\- stat didn’t have other factors. Poor shooting overall how hard you try to keep a team afloat can still have the team behind and it’s exactly how last game went

[ejftw]

Hard for other players to take shots when they're playing with ballhogs like Reggie and Morris.

Besides Norm, who else is a player you could give the ball to and tell them to create?

Mann? He should've been a guy with this ability, but he played like a rookie last night.

Coffey? He shouldn't be in a playoff rotation, as much as a fan of him I am.

RoCo? He can't create, he's a c&s guy.

Batum? Not at this point of his career if he wasn't during his peak.


I was disappointed on how Norm was used but he also didn't seem to be fully recovered....the Luke mismanagement was agitating as he could have helped.

Clippers need to bring in a Rubio type, hell, maybe Rubio himself even.

[esqtvd]

Still hoping one day you would add context to these numbers instead of just throwing them out there like it’s all absolutes. You know they used Mann on defense on CJ because he was going early and even though he couldn’t guard Ingram he was still hustling. They don’t survive the first stint of the game without Zubac because Reggie couldn’t find his shot.

Jackson and Morris did hold up at certain parts of the game but fell apart late and I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to upgrade both spots

CONTEXT: I'm no Mook fan from Day One and Reggie should play 23 minutes, not 46. And Mann should play 20. He did what he could and Ty had no alternatives. But minus-9 and 4 points in 37 minutes is---well, it's NOT winning basketball, and he's getting a pass, which is my point. [He was minus-16 in only 15 minutes in the Minnesota game! Two points.]

Instead, Reggie got the poison, although he was the hero last night, as he was all season. But that's the way it goes with these things--the nail that stands up will be pounded down. And I LIKE Mann and Zu and Coffey and Hart but they did not pull the cart in either of the play-in losses--in fact, they disappeared and should be getting a lot more of the blame.

I get Mann struggled but the other guys didn’t play enough to really get into a rhythm and when they did it’s not like the +\- stat didn’t have other factors. Poor shooting overall how hard you try to keep a team afloat can still have the team behind and it’s exactly how last game went

When your team loses 10 points in the 5 minutes you're on the floor like Coffey and Hart did, if the coach DOESN'T do something, he's an idiot. And when Ty benched Zu at halftime--down by 10--to go small, we outscored them by TWENTY in the 3rd quarter. When they tired, Ty had two choices--hope they could stumble across the finish line or go back to WASN'T WORKING.

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[TrueLAfan]

I see that Brogdon is likely available. Maybe the Clippers could package Morris and somebody else for him. I know it's risky because he is injury prone, but Brogdon could start and allow Jackson to come off the bench- he is more effective in limited minutes.

I like him, but do you really think this team can stomach adding an injury prone player? Not just that but he has three more years and about $22M/year. Some of our fans would even blame our medical staff if Brogdon who has averaged 49 games a season the last three seasons were to miss 20+ games.

I don't think he's the one though talent wise yes, but availability wise based on contract, no. If he made like $13 million we could summer the missed games for what he brings, but not at $22M.

Yeah, the injury thing makes Brogdon a rough idea. The major level guy I want us to be in play for is Terry Rozier, who I think will be on the block. TMann and Mook are borderline enough to get it done. Doing something like that would basically give us two guys--Powell and Rozier--at the salary of one SuperMax player.

[donemilio21]

If you can bet on who will win the draft lottery, my money will be on OKC. They will get #1 with the unprotected lottery pick they have from us now. Just watch

[og15]

If you can bet on who will win the draft lottery, my money will be on OKC. They will get #1 with the unprotected lottery pick they have from us now. Just watch

Like the Kyrie pick, lol

[esqtvd]

I see that Brogdon is likely available. Maybe the Clippers could package Morris and somebody else for him. I know it's risky because he is injury prone, but Brogdon could start and allow Jackson to come off the bench- he is more effective in limited minutes.

I like him, but do you really think this team can stomach adding an injury prone player? Not just that but he has three more years and about $22M/year. Some of our fans would even blame our medical staff if Brogdon who has averaged 49 games a season the last three seasons were to miss 20+ games.

I don't think he's the one though talent wise yes, but availability wise based on contract, no. If he made like $13 million we could summer the missed games for what he brings, but not at $22M.

Yeah, the injury thing makes Brogdon a rough idea. The major level guy I want us to be in play for is Terry Rozier, who I think will be on the block. TMann and Mook are borderline enough to get it done. Doing something like that would basically give us two guys--Powell and Rozier--at the salary of one SuperMax player.

Time to start talking about upgrading from the board sacred cow. The elephant in the room is at the 5. It's not that he's bad but he is what he is. And his playoff stats are bad. In fact, in the infamous 3-1 choke to Joker and the Nugs, he was far worse than Trezz [who was having a breakdown!].


https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2020-nba-western-conference-semifinals-nuggets-vs-clippers.html

[og15]

I like him, but do you really think this team can stomach adding an injury prone player? Not just that but he has three more years and about $22M/year. Some of our fans would even blame our medical staff if Brogdon who has averaged 49 games a season the last three seasons were to miss 20+ games.

I don't think he's the one though talent wise yes, but availability wise based on contract, no. If he made like $13 million we could summer the missed games for what he brings, but not at $22M.

Yeah, the injury thing makes Brogdon a rough idea. The major level guy I want us to be in play for is Terry Rozier, who I think will be on the block. TMann and Mook are borderline enough to get it done. Doing something like that would basically give us two guys--Powell and Rozier--at the salary of one SuperMax player.

Time to start talking about upgrading from the board sacred cow. The elephant in the room is at the 5. It's not that he's bad but he is what he is. And his playoff stats are bad. In fact, in the infamous 3-1 choke to Joker and the Nugs, he was far worse than Trezz [who was having a breakdown!].


https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2020-nba-western-conference-semifinals-nuggets-vs-clippers.html

Unless you're getting a star C, you generally just need serviceable ones and other players that allow you to go smaller.

Why sneak a Harrell vs Zubac debate into this with the aim to prop up Harrell? Couldn't help it?

In the three final loses, the team was +5, +11 and -10 with Zubac on the court and -9, -19 and -8 with Harrell on the court.

For the whole series, the team was only positive with Harrell on the court in game 1, with Zubac it was 5/7 games. Of course there are other factors that play into that, but that series does not in any way condemn Zubac or suggest Harrell was better. They played similar minutes and both got time with some similar lineups. Harrell was not better with the lineups that Zubac primarily played with in that series either.

What's the evaluation metric for "far worse" in this one? Harrell had more ppg and a higher FG%, we already knew Harrell scored better, but he was worse at just about everything else.

Harrell couldn't grab a rebound in the series (2.6 in 19 mpg), Zubac averaged 7.3 in 24.5 mpg. Eye test and stats said Zubac's minutes were more positive for the team and that he defended Jokic better.

Zubac is a big body who does well in the right matchups and makes below league average salary. This means that you feel no remorse to bench him when needed and no pressure to play him big minutes when he's a below MLE contract player. Upgrading C would be nice, but it's well below upgrading for a playmaker guard.

If the Clippers could get a guy like Myles Turner who can give you 28-30 mins and makes $18 million, okay, fine, but most options (which will be non rookie contract players) that will give you enough of an improvement would simply be much too expensive.

[ejftw]

If you can bet on who will win the draft lottery, my money will be on OKC. They will get #1 with the unprotected lottery pick they have from us now. Just watch

Nah, our pick will give OKC #2, Pelicans will get #1 via the neighbors.

[esqtvd]

Yeah, the injury thing makes Brogdon a rough idea. The major level guy I want us to be in play for is Terry Rozier, who I think will be on the block. TMann and Mook are borderline enough to get it done. Doing something like that would basically give us two guys--Powell and Rozier--at the salary of one SuperMax player.

Time to start talking about upgrading from the board sacred cow. The elephant in the room is at the 5. It's not that he's bad but he is what he is. And his playoff stats are bad. In fact, in the infamous 3-1 choke to Joker and the Nugs, he was far worse than Trezz [who was having a breakdown!].


https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2020-nba-western-conference-semifinals-nuggets-vs-clippers.html

Unless you're getting a star C, you generally just need serviceable ones and other players that allow you to go smaller.

Why sneak a Harrell vs Zubac debate into this with the aim to prop up Harrell? Couldn't help it?

In the three final loses, the team was +5, +11 and -10 with Zubac on the court and -9, -19 and -8 with Harrell on the court.

For the whole series, the team was only positive with Harrell on the court in game 1, with Zubac it was 5/7 games. Of course there are other factors that play into that, but that series does not in any way condemn Zubac or suggest Harrell was better. They played similar minutes and both got time with some similar lineups. Harrell was not better with the lineups that Zubac primarily played with in that series either.

What's the evaluation metric for "far worse" in this one? Harrell had more ppg and a higher FG%, we already knew Harrell scored better, but he was worse at just about everything else.

Harrell couldn't grab a rebound in the series (2.6 in 19 mpg), Zubac averaged 7.3 in 24.5 mpg. Eye test and stats said Zubac's minutes were more positive for the team and that he defended Jokic better.

Zubac is a big body who does well in the right matchups and makes below league average salary. This means that you feel no remorse to bench him when needed and no pressure to play him big minutes when he's a below MLE contract player. Upgrading C would be nice, but it's well below upgrading for a playmaker guard.

If the Clippers could get a guy like Myles Turner who can give you 28-30 mins and makes $18 million, okay, fine, but most options (which will be non rookie contract players) that will give you enough of an improvement would simply be much too expensive.

Not about Harrell--that ship has sailed. But the narrative that we lost because of Trezz lives on--and it's bullsh*it. Despite his mental health issues, he was still our 3rd leading scorer in that series and high scorer in the Game 7 humiliation. According to Basketball Reference, his Off/Def Rtg was a surprising 117-111.

FTR: He was bad and Doc cut his minutes to 19.1--BOTH Zubac AND JaMychal Green played more minutes in that series!!

https://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/2020-nba-western-conference-semifinals-nuggets-vs-clippers.html

No--this is about a long-overdue inspection of Zu's playoff record. In that series Zu was given as many minutes as he could physically handle--and he's always been a first-half wonder statwise. In 24.5 mpg he put up a very middling 7.3 and 7.3 and according to Basketball Reference, his Off/Def Rtg was 105-112. Last year's playoff stats under Ty were about the same per 36, but cut to 17 mpg.

And he was unproductive in the play-in losses this year. It shouldn't be controversial to say we should look at an upgrade?