Norman Powell: Losing Paul George is addition by subtraction. Update: Norm: Everybody now is coachable

[Scoundreldays]

PG had a very efficient season last year. The way some people talk about him you'd think he's a low efficiency chucker who does nothing but score.

The guy is a very good, unselfish two way player who can play on and off the ball. His biggest issue is health.

He is a very good player, but he has issues beyond health. He is too often a no show in big games- he often becomes too passive in those situations and is turnover prone when pressured. He also is known to commit dumb fouls in key moments as well

He gets in his head often especially playoffs. Also makes excuses like no other. Was bummed to see him go but now I won't be driven crazy by his silly turnovers and trying to guess if we are getting Playoff P or Pandemic P each game.

[facothomas22]

While I don't think the Clippers will be downright awful, I no longer view them as a lock/near lock playoff team. Losing Paul George was still really big loss. Also we have to consider that Western Conference is the strongest it ever has been. There's like 3-4 bad teams in West with everyone else having a legit shot of making the playoffs. Pulse who would the Clippers be ranked over. We all know that the Thunder,Mavericks,Nuggets, Pelicans,Timberwolves, and a healthy Grizzlies team are all far better than them. I would rank the Kings,Suns over them as well. That's 8 teams right there that I would rank higher than the Clippers and that's assuming Kawhi is healthy. I just simply those teams have better rosters in terms of depth and/or star power with the same level of depth, but much better star power.I put them ahead of the tanking teams like the Blazers/Jazz or mid tier lottery teams like Spurs/Lakers and in the same range as Warriors/Rockets where they could make the playoffs if some of the upper teams underachieve, have bad injury luck or they themselves overachieve, but I would consider these teams to play-in exit team with a low ceiling as it currently stands.

[Pointgod]

First Clippers Sixers game is going to hit hard!

[Quattro]

Rejoice Clippers fans! "The System" is going to lead you to the promised land next year!

That team had exactly one guy who was good enough to win a title as THE guy and he couldn't stay healthy.

[pilkoids]

Probably a reflection of how Kawhi feels too given how tight Norm and him are.

[Ckay]

Kawhi is such a funny guy.

[Scalabrine]

13th is insane. Even if Kawhi misses 50+ games they are a 35 win team. I don’t think people quite realize how good this depth and defense can be. I have the Clippers between 42-48 wins and 6-8 seed. Bookmark this now. Remember when people called OKC at 45 wins I said 55+. The prior year most had OKC at bottom of conference and I rightly predicted .500 or better.

My mistake, they were 12th

Zubac/Tucker/Bamba
Jones Jr./Batum/Brown
Mann/Coffey
Powell/Porter/Hyland
Harden/Dunn

IF Kawhi is there, then sure, it's got the talent, but if he's missing 50 games??? They are a tier below in my opinion.

In 21-22, when Kawhi misses the whole year and PG played 31 games (missing 51), the team went 42-40, and lost both play-in games due to PG "having covid."

The depth was with PG out:
Zu/Hartenstein/Ibaka
Morris/Batum/RoCo
Mann/Winslow/Boston
Kennard/Coffey
Jackson/Bledsoe

I see this years team, sans Kawhi, being better than that unit that won 42, and of course, the rest of the West wasn't static and other teams improved and regressed.

But I see Harden going back to his regular season self, think Porter takes a nice step, Zu keeps making strides and the defensive cohesiveness with Lue at the helm keeping them afloat.

If Kawhi plays at least 35, I'd be surprised to miss the play in.

The biggest difference between now and then is that the West is more stacked top to bottom. Every team that finished ahead of them outside of the Jazz are still really good and the Rockets, Kings, Thunder, Spurs, Lakers have all gotten better too. Even the Jazz could be pretty good if they try for a full season. This team definitely has the veteran depth, but they are less talented than all of those other teams (without Kawhi).

[whatisacenter]

Clippers are such an easy team to root against.

[boomershadow]

Norm not about to be invited back on the pod.

[Hoop Hunter]

Man, people are in for a shock lol. So much of this forum is awful at projections. This team is gonna catch a lot of your teams this year by surprise.

Vegas is awful at projections too, because they have then at 12th also.

That same Vegas literally had the Thunder at like 25 wins two years ago. How did that turn out? Every year recently Vegas runs 5-10 wins low on the top 2-3 seeds in both conferences too basically. The highest win projection last year I believe was 53 or 54 and Boston won 66?

Vegas doesn't really predict where teams will finish. They put teams where they get the most betting action.

[clippertown]

Clips are not looking to win the chip this year - realistically, they simply don't have the talent to compete in the playoffs without PG13. What we are hoping for is a solid regular season where the team gels and learns to play team offense / defense. This was not possible with three sous-chefs in the kitchen, but may be possible with two assuming JH is willing to distribute.

I am optimistic about the ceiling of this team, especially defensively. Clips have a lot of talent and a deep roster that was buried behind PG / KL / JH. This season, we get to see if Norm is as good as he says, we will see if Mann is a true starter or just a role player and most importantly, we will get a chance to preview Kevin Porter Jr, who has star potential yet to be realized.

Its been years since any Clipper fan has seen a team game. It has always been an ISO heavy system that never seems to work out.

[OkcSinceSGA]

Clips are not looking to win the chip this year - realistically, they simply don't have the talent to compete in the playoffs without PG13. What we are hoping for is a solid regular season where the team gels and learns to play team offense / defense. This was not possible with three sous-chefs in the kitchen, but may be possible with two assuming JH is willing to distribute.

I am optimistic about the ceiling of this team, especially defensively. Clips have a lot of talent and a deep roster that was buried behind PG / KL / JH. This season, we get to see if Norm is as good as he says, we will see if Mann is a true starter or just a role player and most importantly, we will get a chance to preview Kevin Porter Jr, who has star potential yet to be realized.

Its been years since any Clipper fan has seen a team game. It has always been an ISO heavy system that never seems to work out.

And 2019 and 2022 were the most fun Clippers teams in recent years. Both years role players and depth carried them, not egos and stars.

[clippertown]

Clips are not looking to win the chip this year - realistically, they simply don't have the talent to compete in the playoffs without PG13. What we are hoping for is a solid regular season where the team gels and learns to play team offense / defense. This was not possible with three sous-chefs in the kitchen, but may be possible with two assuming JH is willing to distribute.

I am optimistic about the ceiling of this team, especially defensively. Clips have a lot of talent and a deep roster that was buried behind PG / KL / JH. This season, we get to see if Norm is as good as he says, we will see if Mann is a true starter or just a role player and most importantly, we will get a chance to preview Kevin Porter Jr, who has star potential yet to be realized.

Its been years since any Clipper fan has seen a team game. It has always been an ISO heavy system that never seems to work out.

And 2019 and 2022 were the most fun Clippers teams in recent years. Both years role players and depth carried them, not egos and stars.

Agreed. They were some of the most entertaining seasons for Clipper fans ever.

Personally, I am starting to wonder if super-teams are better than deep teams anymore. Its time to play a five man game instead of a three man game. The superstar path only led to injuries and missed opportunities. While the future is up in the air, the Clips have zero bad contracts (except PJ Tucker who is expiring and may be waived) and a bunch of gritty mid-level players who actually defend and are willing to defer to the player in the best position to score. If they gel, they can exceed expectations for once.

[manlisten]

This season, we get to see if Norm is as good as he says, we will see if Mann is a true starter or just a role player and most importantly, we will get a chance to preview Kevin Porter Jr, who has star potential yet to be realized.

This is hilarious and you've clearly never watched Kevin Porter. Aside from that you should keep in mind that he's absolutely going to be suspended to start the year. Miles Bridges got 30 games and credit for 20 games served because he sat out a whole season. Porter was waived so I doubt he gets the same benefit but his case was a misdemeanor while Bridges' was a felony. He represents a good chunk of the Clippers offense and he won't even be available for who knows how long.

[John Murdoch]

Norm was azz last yr tho tbh, he shouldnt be talkin

[ryguy613]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

I don’t think he’s completely wrong

if someone is saying something positive about the clippers, you tend not to ever think theyre completely wrong. lol.

[clippertown]

This season, we get to see if Norm is as good as he says, we will see if Mann is a true starter or just a role player and most importantly, we will get a chance to preview Kevin Porter Jr, who has star potential yet to be realized.

This is hilarious and you've clearly never watched Kevin Porter. Aside from that you should keep in mind that he's absolutely going to be suspended to start the year. Miles Bridges got 30 games and credit for 20 games served because he sat out a whole season. Porter was waived so I doubt he gets the same benefit but his case was a misdemeanor while Bridges' was a felony. He represents a good chunk of the Clippers offense and he won't even be available for who knows how long.

KPJ's crime was nowhere near Bridges crime (Miles strangled his GF and was arrested vs an assault KPJ's GF has said did not happen). He will probably get suspended, but highly likely that he will get credit for not being in the NBA for a year. I am guessing a 20 game suspension with a 15 game credit - so 5 games out. It wont change things much IMO, but we don't know yet.

You are correct that I have not seen much of KPJ on the court but the few times I remember, he was becoming a star player in Houston. His athleticism and natural scoring abilities was likely to secure him a max deal and now he is on a vet min deal. For the price, he could be the biggest bargain in the league and on the Clips, as the 4th option, he could really thrive.

[ryguy613]

Bottom ten defense without him. Aight tho

I would be shocked if they aren’t a top 5-7 defense this year.

Dunn, Batum, DJJ, Mann, Zubac, Kawhi isn’t giving you a bottom 10 defense lol.

Bet... lets go my dude.

[ryguy613]

Vegas is awful at projections too, because they have then at 12th also.

That same Vegas literally had the Thunder at like 25 wins two years ago. How did that turn out? Every year recently Vegas runs 5-10 wins low on the top 2-3 seeds in both conferences too basically. The highest win projection last year I believe was 53 or 54 and Boston won 66?

Vegas doesn't really predict where teams will finish. They put teams where they get the most betting action.

im not a betting expert, but i would imagine its a lot more volatile trying to correctly predict the success of a young team with potential all star talent than it is an old team with well known established players who have a long resume.

[ryguy613]

PG and harden and Kawhi all ball dominant so it was bad flow on offense . Defensively they did get worst

How? Defensively DJJ was significantly better than PG last year. Then they brought Batum back and added Dunn lol.

Batum is 90 bro. be serious.