Game #67: RAPTORS @ Clippers Wednesday 3/8 7 PM—ESPN

[NickP]

Another rock solid performance from Morris. Looking at his +/-, this guy carried the team on his broad shoulders. For those of you frustrated with Morris starting, get on with the program. He's not hurting the team, but he's not helping either. It's all good.

[LamarWho]

Favorite stat of the game: 60 pts in the paint
For reference we scored 48 pts in the paint in that 176-175 loss to Sac.

[madmaxmedia]

I think what matters most is minutes and the closing lineups, and I really liked what I saw last night. Mann might be a better closer than starter, especially on this old team that gets tired legs late in games.

Outside of PG and Kawhi, I like to think of all our guys as different pieces in the toolkit that each provide different skills and can be used and combined in different ways. When a player plays 20-30 minutes a game other teams have less of a chance to get used to you, and Ty can keep switching things up this way to keep us fresh and always have new wrinkles.

It really takes a good coach on his toes to manage this type of roster effectively, but do it right and we can definitely be more than the sum of the parts. You get the best out of each player, but do it wrong it you get the worst attributes of each. I think we’re still a 2nd round exit but as long as we’re playing like last night I think most of us will still enjoy watching it play out. I mean this is supposed to be a Laker town and some of their game threads are 1 page long, right now they’ve got as much or more to talk about than us with all their recent moves.

I really wish Ty would start using the RoCo tool more though, but Mann got 29 and closed the game which was great to see- I think that’s probably his sweet spot too. TBH his natural position is a do-it-all type 3, but it just so happens we have 2 HOF’ers there too, so I’d say Ty is cognizant of what Mann does and puts him in wherever he can.

[madmaxmedia]

Still playing Marcus is just mind-boggling, our defense would be so much better with RoCo in there, wtf man, I just don’t understand. He’s clearly done as an NBA player.

Marcus neither helped nor hurt and ate up 23 minutes. His job is to be tall and go stand in the right place. He managed that much.

So here's my conclusion about Marcus. He is one of the poorer defenders on our team, but he is also by far the stoutest non-center on the team as well. We all love RoCo's active D, but he can't hold his position in the post like Marcus can. And while Terance is a solid defender and high energy, he's just physically outmatched against guys like Pascal Siakam last night. Marcus doesn't move well anymore, but he's big and can't be moved off his spot either. If we were a baseball team we'd just roll out our best guys, but in this sport everything is relative to the other guys on the roster. So on our team, if Marcus could just hit 40% from 3 he'd still be a definite plus player even with his deficiencies.

So there is still a significant place for Marcus on our team, but as I mentioned in my previous post only as a tool in the box for Ty to use situationally. Lots of times we don't need his size, and there's absolutely no place for him as one of the mainstays of the team (that is reserved for Kawhi and PG alone.) But he will still be needed in the playoffs (however long that is for us.)

Plus minus doesn't tell you which player is better or worse or even which player played better or worse, but over a statistically significant period of time it can tell you about what combinations of guys works better than others. If our best players were say all small guards, we could roll them all out on the floor for 20 games and they'd end up with terrible plus minus ratings. It's not the player's fault, but it is still a significant tool I think if you use it in the right way.

[esqtvd]

Another rock solid performance from Morris. Looking at his +/-, this guy carried the team on his broad shoulders. For those of you frustrated with Morris starting, get on with the program. He's not hurting the team, but he's not helping either. It's all good.

That's right--for the moment at least. The problem is that Batum isn't up to a full workload anymore. Marcus is his caddy. Marcus didn't play the 4th quarter and plays it in only 60% of his games. Batum plays the 4th in over 90% of his games.

If Kawhi and PG went to Ty begging for RoCo, it stands to reason we'd be seeing more RoCo. The tail wags the dog in Ballmerville.

[esqtvd]

Still playing Marcus is just mind-boggling, our defense would be so much better with RoCo in there, wtf man, I just don’t understand. He’s clearly done as an NBA player.

Marcus neither helped nor hurt and ate up 23 minutes. His job is to be tall and go stand in the right place. He managed that much.

So here's my conclusion about Marcus. He is one of the poorer defenders on our team, but he is also by far the stoutest non-center on the team as well. We all love RoCo's active D, but he can't hold his position in the post like Marcus can. And while Terance is a solid defender and high energy, he's just physically outmatched against guys like Pascal Siakam last night. Marcus doesn't move well anymore, but he's big and can't be moved off his spot either. If we were a baseball team we'd just roll out our best guys, but in this sport everything is relative to the other guys on the roster. So on our team, if Marcus could just hit 40% from 3 he'd still be a definite plus player even with his deficiencies.

So there is still a significant place for Marcus on our team, but as I mentioned in my previous post only as a tool in the box for Ty to use situationally. Lots of times we don't need his size, and there's absolutely no place for him as one of the mainstays of the team (that is reserved for Kawhi and PG alone.) But he will still be needed in the playoffs (however long that is for us.)

Plus minus doesn't tell you which player is better or worse or even which player played better or worse, but over a statistically significant period of time it can tell you about what combinations of guys works better than others. If our best players were say all small guards, we could roll them all out on the floor for 20 games and they'd end up with terrible plus minus ratings. It's not the player's fault, but it is still a significant tool I think if you use it in the right way.

Very good point. Morris is 240 pounds; RoCo is only about 210, Mann about the same and he's only 6'5". At only 225, Kawhi does not want to bang with the bigs either and that's the key here. It's not like ANYBODY thinks Morris is a plus. You hope for a push.

[esqtvd]

some Zu porn for y'all lol

best game in a month

Read on Twitter

[nickhx2]

guys sorry i'm bad at posting tweets please don't ban me

@joeylinn_
·
16h
Tonight was just the 6th time all season that Terance Mann played the entire 4th quarter.

The Clippers are now 5-1 in those games.

[esqtvd]

guys sorry i'm bad at posting tweets please don't ban me

@joeylinn_
·
16h
Tonight was just the 6th time all season that Terance Mann played the entire 4th quarter.

The Clippers are now 5-1 in those games.

Right click on the time stamp next to his name or below the tweet
"Copy Link"
Go to your post
Right click
just paste in your post

Real GM does the rest

Read on Twitter

______________________

ADD:

Read on Twitter

[playaloc916]

some Zu porn for y'all lol

best game in a month

Read on Twitter

Lol that is pretty cool! Reminds me of playing NBA Live. Once the 2K series hit the PS3 i stopped playing because I would routinely lose even on easy mode lol.

Zu legit has become pretty reliable inside. A few years ago he'd be fumbling passes all the time the way Plumlee is right now.

[esqtvd]

some Zu porn for y'all lol

best game in a month

Read on Twitter

Lol that is pretty cool! Reminds me of playing NBA Live. Once the 2K series hit the PS3 i stopped playing because I would routinely lose even on easy mode lol.

Zu legit has become pretty reliable inside. A few years ago he'd be fumbling passes all the time the way Plumlee is right now.

It's on the QB to put the ball where his receiver can catch it. These guys are 7-foot dinosaurs and it's a long distance from their brain to their hands. No quick-twitch.

Russ can do this. He SEES. If he can just be happy with the 3 things he does well--pass, penetrate and rebound--he's still one of the most valuable players in the league. 10-4-10, baby. No more than two 3-pt attempts per game, make or miss. Just enough to keep them guessing.

Bring up the ball and initiate the offense. Nobody else on this team can do it. 4 TOs, that's your limit. We're not asking for the world here.

[donemilio21]

Favorite stat of the game: 60 pts in the paint
For reference we scored 48 pts in the paint in that 176-175 loss to Sac.

attack the basket, get to the line. Kawhi and Westbrook are pretty much unstoppable when attacking the rim, PG and Zubac, Plumlee are decent too. Its not pretty basketball, but if we get to the line 10 to 15 times a night (20-25 FTs) , it would be difficult to beat us.

[PeteyPablo]

All the close games that were lost , where they shot so many threes and lost by 5 or less. Attacking the basket could wind a good percentage - assuming refs are calling fouls during those games.

[clipperlover]

Favorite stat of the game: 60 pts in the paint
For reference we scored 48 pts in the paint in that 176-175 loss to Sac.

attack the basket, get to the line. Kawhi and Westbrook are pretty much unstoppable when attacking the rim, PG and Zubac, Plumlee are decent too. Its not pretty basketball, but if we get to the line 10 to 15 times a night (20-25 FTs) , it would be difficult to beat us.

Not only that, but if we attack, we can get into early bonus situations. It also prevents the opponent from getting into a flow.