Clips 12-10 in the Russ Era

[Pharmcat]

Just takes some time , most stacked team ever

[Mamba81p]

Buyouts usually don't add too much value on the court, but I can't remember a buyout having such a negative impact on a team.
Clippers were looking like a contender before signing Westbrick, and look at them now

[Harry Garris]

MEM-LAC postgame sound as well as some LAC lineup data.

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The lineup data is showing exactly what it was expected to show. You can play Russ in lineups without a true center, but if you're going to put Plumlee or Zubac out there you need to have Mann in the game.

Last night was a clear example. The Clippers offense was by far at its best in the 4th when they benched the centers, and they defended better too.

And to think OKC always had him out there with a slow center with zero range (Perkins and Adam's, with perk not able to catch lobs, roll, or dunk dump of passes easily). Plus they also had the worst offensive wing in the league in Roberson next to them to boot, for several seasons. It's crazy he and KD are criticized for not winning a title there, and KD is criticized for leaving OKC, when their rosters and personnel were such a joke and bad fit for their two superstars.

Well yeah that’s true but pretty much every nba team was running a “non optimal” roster by todays standards back then

[hardenASG13]

The lineup data is showing exactly what it was expected to show. You can play Russ in lineups without a true center, but if you're going to put Plumlee or Zubac out there you need to have Mann in the game.

Last night was a clear example. The Clippers offense was by far at its best in the 4th when they benched the centers, and they defended better too.

And to think OKC always had him out there with a slow center with zero range (Perkins and Adam's, with perk not able to catch lobs, roll, or dunk dump of passes easily). Plus they also had the worst offensive wing in the league in Roberson next to them to boot, for several seasons. It's crazy he and KD are criticized for not winning a title there, and KD is criticized for leaving OKC, when their rosters and personnel were such a joke and bad fit for their two superstars.

Well yeah that’s true but pretty much every nba team was running a “non optimal” roster by todays standards back then

Ahh. Plenty of teams had fast, rim running centers, and no team played a "sg" 30 minutes a night who averaged 1 assist, was petrified of going to the FT line/never drew team fouls on the opposition, didn't demand a closeout on corner 3s (Playing next to Russ, who could collapse a defense better than anyone outside of Lebron), who also couldn't dribble a ball while guarded or attempt a pull up jumper. They couldnt swing the ball around the perimeter at all, despite having the stars to make that very easy. They wasted Russ/KD, those 2 were extremely good and created a ton out of nothing for them.

[HotRocks34]

The lineup data is showing exactly what it was expected to show. You can play Russ in lineups without a true center, but if you're going to put Plumlee or Zubac out there you need to have Mann in the game.

Last night was a clear example. The Clippers offense was by far at its best in the 4th when they benched the centers, and they defended better too.

Exactly right. Clips closed the game with Small Ball (think it was..........Russ, Gordon, George, Leonard, Batum) and that was the turning point.

So expect to see a lot of Small Ball moving forward.

Lue will figure things out, it takes time. They have like 4 new guys (Russ, Bones, Gordon, Plumlee) so it's a work in progress.

[Revived]

Even despite all the struggles, Russ hasn’t stopped doing what he does best which is ejecting fans.

After retiring I can see him working as some sort of security head on game days for whatever team is in the city he retires in.

[xinxin]

I actually thought the clips were contenders (pre-Russ buyout)...

but with PG13 admitting that he (& Kawhi) need Westbrook to "inspire them" ?????


WTF is that????


total head scratcher....

[HotRocks34]

Clips starting center Zubac talks about the Russ acquisition.

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"It's way better than I thought it would be"

Honesty.

[mediocrityrules]

Seriously though, the Westbrook hate is overdone. The dude isn’t what he once was, but he clearly loves basketball. He doesn’t load manage, demand trades, fake injuries, throw teammates under the bus, or beat up minors, and he gives it 100% every regular season game. It’s the coach’s and GM’s fault at this point.

Are we still talking about Russ, or have we moved on to Ja (Clarence) now?

[Edrees]

This is the epitome of Westbrook's career the last 5 years

"The stats say he had a good game and is playing well"
Actual record: 1-6

At some point it's not just some coincidence dudes.

[HotRocks34]

Paul George talks about why he's a Russ stan (language warning):

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[GreatWhiteStiff]

This is the epitome of Westbrook's career the last 5 years

"The stats say he had a good game and is playing well"
Actual record: 1-6

At some point it's not just some coincidence dudes.

But the stats haven't always said he's playing well. Also a lot of his big statted triple double games have lead to wins. Colour me confused emoji face.

[Lockdown504090]

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This actually wasn’t true at all. It was like 50 at the time he posted this

[LikeABosh]

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?s=20

This actually wasn’t true at all. It was like 50 at the time he posted this

It is. His last win as a starter was March 21, 2022

[Jedi32]

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?s=20

This actually wasn’t true at all. It was like 50 at the time he posted this

It is. His last win as a starter was March 21, 2022

[og15]

Paul George talks about why he's a Russ stan (language warning):

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It's good that George is saying positive things about the guy, because sometimes people confuse basketball with real life. Westbrook is not some bad human because he doesn't play basketball the way someone likes, lol.

We have to remember that basketball impact and skill and who someone is as a person are not the same.

In terms of friendliness among players, I haven't heard anything bad about Westbrook, he's known as a very nice guy. He's friends with a lot of guys around the league, him and Chris Paul are good friends, him and Paul George are good friends, him and Adams, etc.

Of course for players, friendship can also cloud judgement about fit and roster building, that's certainly true.

Clippers have committed to this now, so no turning back really. So far, the 4.3 tpg in 31.7 mpg while taking 11.8 FGA and dishing 8.3 apg is simply too much. 4+ tov in 5/6 games is not really what the team needs, but at least so far it has coincided to PG going down 1 tpg so far.

Westbrook hasn't helped in decision making down the stretch as of now, which was part of the whole needing a true PG idea, but the Clippers have more issues than him. He isn't helping on defense though, and team defense has been unimpressive since his addition when it was a strong aspect for the Clippers most of the season. Lue put him in the starting lineup but did not adjust the lineups (I'm not convinced about playing Westbrook and Morris together on defense for example).

[Slava]

He's been shooting better at the basket with the Clippers, even if turnovers, bad defense and non-existent 3 pt threat are lingering issues. It remains to be seen if that will sustain due to better spacing around him or he'll regress to blowing lay ups like his usual self. He's also shooting 81% FT, which is surely indicative of a hot shooting stretch than any tangible improvement due to better fit, that can be forecasted to continue.

[og15]

He's been shooting better at the basket with the Clippers, even if turnovers, bad defense and non-existent 3 pt threat are lingering issues. It remains to be seen if that will sustain due to better spacing around him or he'll regress to blowing lay ups like his usual self. He's also shooting 81% FT, which is surely indicative of a hot shooting stretch than any tangible improvement due to better fit, that can be forecasted to continue.

Yup, exactly, I would need to trust the 52% FG and 81% FT and based on history, one simply can't, but if course if he maintains it, great, but that's not really a proper expectation.

So if he regresses in those areas and we still have the 4+ turnover, not being an outside threat, sketchy defense and at times erratic decision making, how beneficial is he? I don't know...

[HotRocks34]

Clippers have committed to this now, so no turning back really. So far, the 4.3 tpg in 31.7 mpg while taking 11.8 FGA and dishing 8.3 apg is simply too much. 4+ tov in 5/6 games is not really what the team needs, but at least so far it has coincided to PG going down 1 tpg so far.

Westbrook hasn't helped in decision making down the stretch as of now, which was part of the whole needing a true PG idea, but the Clippers have more issues than him. He isn't helping on defense though, and team defense has been unimpressive since his addition when it was a strong aspect for the Clippers most of the season. Lue put him in the starting lineup but did not adjust the lineups (I'm not convinced about playing Westbrook and Morris together on defense for example).

All true. There's a lot to fix.

Hopefully the more Russ plays with Zubac, rather than Plumlee, the turnovers will go down. Plumlee just can't seem to catch Russ' passes.

Also, it'll probably take time for all of the players (except PG) to get used to Russ' passes. But for sure the TO's need to come down.

And I agree, he's not helping the defense.

I think, as Harry Garris said earlier in the thread, the ideal situation for using Russ is Small Ball. That's what they did to finish the Grizz game, and it worked. I think we'll be seeing more of that.

[HotRocks34]

Clips 108, Raps 100

LA wins their second straight.

Closing lineup was....................Mann, Gordon, George, Leonard, Zubac

Russ 7/2/7 and a game-high +12 in 23 minutes.

Mann played 28 minutes.