Clippers (10-36) vs. Wizards (9-37)

[loflin3hree5ive]

I'm just glad to see Baron shooting above 30% and Gordon's efficiency was a bright spot, too, but that's about it. I really hope Dunleavy does experiment with Camby as SF once/if the three bigs are healthy together because I'm kind of down on Al at the moment. I think I like MK's idea of starting Novak at SF and bringing Al off the bench. But as NewEra said, the Wizards role players are getting good experience with all their injuries and that goes the same for the Clippers. I can't wait to see this team at full strength.

[TheNewEra]

We suckk we suck we realy realy suck... yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[TheNewEra]

We are at about 75% full strength and only improvements I've seen since Camby and Baron came back are novak and Ricky. Everyone else playing down back into their roles.

[mkwest]

We suckk we suck we realy realy suck... yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I feel you. Sacramento has OKC tomorrow (twice in the next week). If they win ,then we're the bottom of the barrel (at least until Monday when Zach hopefully returns).


The Clippers needed the same prescription that Ralph was picking up because they could not rise to the occasion tonight. The Wizards' young guns stepped up and played their hearts out, but if we actually were able to hold onto the ball the outcome would have been different. 24 turnovers? There's not really an excuse to turn the ball over that much. We're not playing a All-Defensive first team or anything, so it basically all comes down to carelessness.

[loflin3hree5ive]

Baron/Gordon/Zach all clicking on offense at the same time is something we've never been close to seeing this year so it's not like the team has even had a chance to show what they are capable of. Guys like Collins, Novak, Jordan and Taylor up until the injury have had great opportunities and should be able to thrive when they can go back to being role players again. Not to mention the Clippers are on pace to land another high pick in the lottery to add to the mix. This season has been lost since opening night, but I'm not even close to being ready to throw in the towel on this group's future together.

[DraftSpecialist]

Is there a reason DJ only got 12 minutes tonight? I've given Dunleavy a lot of slack this season. But DJ has shown some potential and I would be pissed to see him get buried on the bench in a season that is lost.

[cinnamon]

I hope it wasn't too painful an experience for thanumba2clippersfan.

[TheNewEra]

Z-Bo is the only chance this team will EVER have this season of getting consistent wins he hasn't been tainted by the Clipper curse. Z-Bo coming back helps tons.

When is Mike coming back?

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I hope it wasn't too painful an experience for thanumba2clippersfan.

It wasn't too bad. I'm just happy I got to see our team play since I'm not in Cali often. Those turnovers killed along with Washington getting all the second chance points. We just didn't have it tonight and Young and McGee did well for the Wizards.

[cinnamon]

My son tells me that Clippers fans need to be very special people, with a particular level of emotional stability and inner calm. I feel as if I need to call on that tonight. I don't know why I found this game so very difficult to watch, but I did. There were just so many elements of it that were beyond disappointing when you are identifying with the players, just really tough to watch.
Usually I don't emotionally engage much with a loss. I just try to find the bright spots somewhere in the present, and try to look ahead to better times for the team. That just doesn't seem to be working for me at the moment. If I didn't care about the team, I could have found this game very funny to watch, in a slapstick kind of way. But I do care about the team.
Maybe as loflin3hree5ive says, we should all just forget about the rest of this season and hope that things will all somehow fall into place for the team by next season. I just don't know who is going to bring that about.
Probably by tomorrow I will forget what it felt like to watch this wretched game, and by the time Miami and Orlando come along I'll be back to normal. I hope so.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I wasn't happy with the turnovers at all. It seemed like almost every play we were loosing the ball.

[no D in Hibachi]

Fred Jones is a tanking teams wet dream! The guy is horrible at PG, why doesn't Taylor play more often? I watched him earlier this season and he seemed like a moderately solid player, much better than Jones.

[Det the Threat]

Eh, we can't even beat the Wizards.

If it wasn't for Gordon, we would've been out of it at the half, at the very latest.

Let's hope that Zach(maybe next week) and Kaman(after the All-Star break) come back soon, so we might be able to see another win or two, during those last 30 something games of the year...

[JfKnicks126]

Fred Jones is a tanking teams wet dream! The guy is horrible at PG, why doesn't Taylor play more often? I watched him earlier this season and he seemed like a moderately solid player, much better than Jones.

Buddy, hes not a PG. Hes a SG, forced into the role of a PG. In his past 5 starts a PG, he has been averaging 8 ppg, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds. Thats not bad for a guy who is not meant to be playing the point guard position. I guarantee you if he was getting solid minutes at the 2, he would be averaging around 12 ppg, 4 apg, and 2rpg.

[madmaxmedia]

I think you forget about the season a a whole, and just root for them on a game to game basis. Or even just on a quarter-by-quarter basis.

I think there is actually a lot of hope for fans, though obviously not for success this season. The Clippers have 2 bonafide impact players- EJ and ZBo- by that I mean true NBA difference makers. It's no coincidence that those 2 were both playing during the Clippers mini-run of success, before ZBo went down. Perhaps we thought Baron was one of those players, but honestly how many conference championship series has he played in?

They are also neck and neck for the worst record in the league. I root for them to win each game, but in any case they will possibly end up with a top 3 pick. So it's very likely they could pick up another big impact player in the draft to complement EJ and ZBo- that's basically your Clipper team of the future right there. They also have a lot of nice pieces to complement those impact players. They've had those types of players for years, but a team of only complementary pieces isn't going to succeed in the NBA, especially the West. It's easier to improve a team with 2 great players and nothing else, than a team of 12 decent-but-average players.

Gordon is the best draft pick the Clippers have had in many, many years, and that alone gives me hope.

My son tells me that Clippers fans need to be very special people, with a particular level of emotional stability and inner calm. I feel as if I need to call on that tonight. I don't know why I found this game so very difficult to watch, but I did. There were just so many elements of it that were beyond disappointing when you are identifying with the players, just really tough to watch.
Usually I don't emotionally engage much with a loss. I just try to find the bright spots somewhere in the present, and try to look ahead to better times for the team. That just doesn't seem to be working for me at the moment. If I didn't care about the team, I could have found this game very funny to watch, in a slapstick kind of way. But I do care about the team.
Maybe as loflin3hree5ive says, we should all just forget about the rest of this season and hope that things will all somehow fall into place for the team by next season. I just don't know who is going to bring that about.
Probably by tomorrow I will forget what it felt like to watch this wretched game, and by the time Miami and Orlando come along I'll be back to normal. I hope so.

[cinnamon]

I think you forget about the season a a whole, and just root for them on a game to game basis. Or even just on a quarter-by-quarter basis.

It is true that if there is even one quarter in a game where the Clippers play with heart and hustle and flow, that is enough for me to feel satisfied no matter what the final score of the game. I did finally figure out that this was what made last night's game so tough for me to take. That one satisfying quarter never came for me.
And you are absolutely right that we got a great rookie this year, and we are in line to get another great pick in the coming draft. (I haven't seen enough of Zach to be able to take as authoritative a stance on him as you take.) I don't know how long we'll have Camby, but he alone can sometimes make me take joy in a game.
I just wish I felt that when all this talent comes together, at whatever point that may be --- next week or next season or two seasons down the line or whenever --- there would be someone running the show whom the players trust and respect, and who knows how to guide them into a rhythm of knowing and trusting each other and playing as a real team, as effective a team as we can possibly be.
It's great that you take hope in having the great players, here and expected. I would feel a lot more hope if there were some great guidance, direction and leadership somewhere on the horizon.

[mkwest]

Fred Jones is a tanking teams wet dream! The guy is horrible at PG, why doesn't Taylor play more often? I watched him earlier this season and he seemed like a moderately solid player, much better than Jones.

Most of us would love to have Taylor play, but unfortunately he has been out since December 19th with a fractured thumb.