Game #41: Clippers @ T-WOLVES Friday 1/6 6 PM [NOTE TIME]

[Roscoe Sheed]

We saw some of this starting at Detroit , when our bench and 3rd team had to over come a 14 point deficit in the last 3 minutes.

Batum is a key 3&D player. God bless Batum.

Maybe this team has a hit a wall or there is some internal issues going on and it is spilling over onto the court.

My background is mostly sales and management. We had a saying of “Skill or Will “.

We can train and coach some one lacking skill. But if it’s a lack of will , then we can not have you there.

So, is this team lacking skill or will ?

I get what you are saying, but part of the job of the coaching staff is maintain and improve motivation and will.

The front office also bears responsibility in that the proper moves need to be made if will seems to be lacking. Policies may also play a role in eroding motivation (eg, load management)

[TrueLAfan]

As a largely hands off mod, we’re skirting mod involvement. I’m a believer in people being able to have and state their beliefs on this (or any) board. I disagree with a lot of the takes here; I (and anyone else) has the right to disagree as well. Here’s the Mod stepping in. Do NOT make it personal. Do NOT make it endless.

Lou and Trezz? Valuable but flawed players. Won us plenty of games. I’m more partial to Lou, but both guys were memorable Clippers, And both had significant flaws that kept them from helping us long term and/or in the playoffs. You can be both valuable and flawed, important and often unplayable.

I get some of that mojo from Powell now, except he’s markedly better than either Lou or Trezz ever was. His efficiency is staggering—since game 4, he’s 50/40/80 guy with a nearly 63% TS%. You can count the number of backcourt players shooting like that on your fingers. And since he’s not a defensive liability, he can be used in all situations and plays multiple positions. He’s a keeper.

I also agree with nick that this is more of a rough patch than anything. One of the reasons I avoid game threads is that people get overly carried away with what is, at most, one game—and often, part of a game. So you get these wild shifts in feelings from “Nobody can beat us if we play like this … Omigod, why can’t anyone shoot? … We look great out there! … Should we just break the team up?” But I also am not willing and don’t want to wait forever for changes—we need a true PG that can play D, and a 20-25 mpg big. Everyone sees it. I see it. Management has got to see it and address it too. So yeah, front office step up.

Don’t get me started on load management. It’s a lie. Always has been. It’s propagated by the Players Union so that their members get more money. Period. It’s the same as moving away from four man rotations and constantly using relief pitchers in baseball. There was never a need for it. It goes against logic and evidence. But it’s here and we use it and it’s screwing us up.

[MartinToVaught]

I also agree with nick that this is more of a rough patch than anything.

I'm not sure I agree it's just a rough patch. It's a team that hasn't passed the eye test all season, and really, this entire era outside of one playoff run.

What's more alarming than the losses themselves is that the fans are the only ones who seem to care. The front office is sitting on their hands, Lue makes dumb excuses after every loss while changing nothing, the players are just going through the motions, and there's obviously been no pressure from Ballmer for anyone to fix this mess.

Don’t get me started on load management. It’s a lie. Always has been. It’s propagated by the Players Union so that their members get more money. Period. It’s the same as moving away from four man rotations and constantly using relief pitchers in baseball. There was never a need for it. It goes against logic and evidence. But it’s here and we use it and it’s screwing us up.

I think it's more nuanced than that. Traditional load management - i.e. resting old and/or injury-prone players in an occasional game - is fine. Nothing wrong with thinking longterm and trying to extend your players' careers. This clown show we've got going on here is something else entirely. It doesn't seem to be tied to how much our players have actually played, i.e. the load we're supposedly managing by doing this. Like, there's no valid excuse for Kawhi sitting out against the Wolves after he barely played against the Nuggets. That's not load management, that's either him quitting on the team or the medical staff just not caring at all about the Clippers' paying customers, or both.

[esqtvd]

As a largely hands off mod, we’re skirting mod involvement. I’m a believer in people being able to have and state their beliefs on this (or any) board. I disagree with a lot of the takes here; I (and anyone else) has the right to disagree as well. Here’s the Mod stepping in. Do NOT make it personal. Do NOT make it endless.

Lou and Trezz? Valuable but flawed players. Won us plenty of games. I’m more partial to Lou, but both guys were memorable Clippers, And both had significant flaws that kept them from helping us long term and/or in the playoffs. You can be both valuable and flawed, important and often unplayable.

I get some of that mojo from Powell now, except he’s markedly better than either Lou or Trezz ever was. His efficiency is staggering—since game 4, he’s 50/40/80 guy with a nearly 63% TS%. You can count the number of backcourt players shooting like that on your fingers. And since he’s not a defensive liability, he can be used in all situations and plays multiple positions. He’s a keeper.

I also agree with nick that this is more of a rough patch than anything. One of the reasons I avoid game threads is that people get overly carried away with what is, at most, one game—and often, part of a game. So you get these wild shifts in feelings from “Nobody can beat us if we play like this … Omigod, why can’t anyone shoot? … We look great out there! … Should we just break the team up?” But I also am not willing and don’t want to wait forever for changes—we need a true PG that can play D, and a 20-25 mpg big. Everyone sees it. I see it. Management has got to see it and address it too. So yeah, front office step up.

Don’t get me started on load management. It’s a lie. Always has been. It’s propagated by the Players Union so that their members get more money. Period. It’s the same as moving away from four man rotations and constantly using relief pitchers in baseball. There was never a need for it. It goes against logic and evidence. But it’s here and we use it and it’s screwing us up.

It's all Doc Rivers' fault. Just read any game thread when we get down more than 10. Talk about endless.


IMO, no changes are being made until it's clear KL and PG are gonna suit up for the playoffs. Trading away the future for another brokeback playoff run is a non-starter. Any deal I make with the Clippers is gonna have to include a FRP and/or Boston Jr. Zubac if it's a deal for my starting center. Mann maybe as a sweetener. I'm not really interested in the rest of your dreck and spare parts.

[Clemenza]

I also agree with nick that this is more of a rough patch than anything.

I'm not sure I agree it's just a rough patch. It's a team that hasn't passed the eye test all season, and really, this entire era outside of one playoff run.

What's more alarming than the losses themselves is that the fans are the only ones who seem to care. The front office is sitting on their hands, Lue makes dumb excuses after every loss while changing nothing, the players are just going through the motions, and there's obviously been no pressure from Ballmer for anyone to fix this mess.

Don’t get me started on load management. It’s a lie. Always has been. It’s propagated by the Players Union so that their members get more money. Period. It’s the same as moving away from four man rotations and constantly using relief pitchers in baseball. There was never a need for it. It goes against logic and evidence. But it’s here and we use it and it’s screwing us up.

I think it's more nuanced than that. Traditional load management - i.e. resting old and/or injury-prone players in an occasional game - is fine. Nothing wrong with thinking longterm and trying to extend your players' careers. This clown show we've got going on here is something else entirely. It doesn't seem to be tied to how much our players have actually played, i.e. the load we're supposedly managing by doing this. Like, there's no valid excuse for Kawhi sitting out against the Wolves after he barely played against the Nuggets. That's not load management, that's either him quitting on the team or the medical staff just not caring at all about the Clippers' paying customers, or both.

Kawhi plays or doesn't play, I don't even care anymore. But why in the hell are we load managing John Wall? That's when you know that this thing is running out of steam and out of control. He's not even a star player anymore nor does he start for the team. We should be playing him until the wheels fall off imo.