Game #2: Clippers(0-1) @ Warriors(1-0)

[thanumba2clippersfan]

It sucks to start the season 0-2 like this. On the bright side Blake Griffin had a double double. I can only hope that the Mavs game on Sunday will go better and I'll get started on the thread.

[clippermitch]

The team better use that $5m cap space and get a scorer. We need a legit scorer!!! JR smith could work.

[Kyle]

JR Smith would be great, lets just hope he doesnt turn into crap like everyone else. lol

[Em1]

Guys. we've seen this before. it's over already. you know it is. just be real with yourselves.

[Det the Threat]

The team better use that $5m cap space and get a scorer. We need a legit scorer!!! JR smith could work.

There are hardly any scorers left on the market and trading for them would cost more then some cap space.

Though, Smith would be good(if available), because we really need some scoring from our bench to rest our starters. And at best, like Smith, that scorer should be someone on the wing who can hit long range jumpers to spread the floor for Griffin and Kaman. Gordon as the only reliable three point threat just won't cut it and having Baron shoot threes just hurts my eyes.

[PerkinsFor3]

We have enough scorers. It's about distribution of the shots, spacing of the floor and choosing your opportunities wisely. None of those wee do well. That;s why I wouldnt mind bringing in a banger who plays great defense instead of another scoring option.

[Jenner]

Very painful game to watch. The offense looked totally random. No movement, just dump it in to blake and watch him get double teamed, kick it out and then a shot right away or after a pass. Kaman looked horrible, lost the ball, missed easy shots and did not hustle at all.

I really hope Blake stops getting in foul trouble, it prevents him from going 100% on D and on the boards. He needs to be a little smarter.

[Det the Threat]

We have enough scorers. It's about distribution of the shots, spacing of the floor and choosing your opportunities wisely. None of those wee do well. That;s why I wouldnt mind bringing in a banger who plays great defense instead of another scoring option.

Pretty much.

But outside of EJ we don't have anyone that can consistantly hit an outside jumper and that's hurting us.
We need to spread defenses so Kaman and Griffin(and even Baron some) can go to work inside. Right now teams only have to play some zone or double team our bigs and we're done on offense.
So far Gomes hasn't hit anything and Butler seems to be useless in his limited minutes because he can't really get into a rhythm.

Also, our 4th quarter offense looks really bad and stagnant as we seem to stop running plays to close out games.

I also don't get why Bledsoe isn't used more. Foye can get hot and score some points for us, but he's mediocre at best at initiating the offense.

BTW: Another big would be good(playing Cook and Collins extended minutes won't help us at all), but they're hard to find, especially at this point of the season.
Still, I wouldn't mind another guy on the bench that can shoot it from deep, because that's something we're really missing.

[BoomFizzle]

To me the problem seems to be lack of playmakers as well. Baron can beat someone off the dribble and dish off for easy buckets but he hasn't really been doing it. The rest of the team doesn't seem to have the ability which kind of kills us for breaking down defenses. Gordon simply isnt a player who is ever going to be doing that. He can drive straight to the cup but when he has tried to create for others his handle has let him down.

To be honest though, there was so much wrong with the team last game there isn't much you can focus on. I just don't think our team isn't as good as we thought.

Kaman - takes too long on the ball, turns it over.
Griffin - poor defensively at times, doesn't have a jumpshot and thus cant break his own man down.
Baron - horrible shooting, cant even hit layups
Gordon - has been turnover prone and missing some easy shots.
Gomes - limitted offensively and not even hitting jumpshots or rebounding.
Foye - poor shot selection and distribution.
Cook - cant guard a chair.
DJ - horrible defensively, rotations are terrible.

I mean, they still all have their positives but I think as fans we tend to forget about their weaknesses. To win we need to get stops and push the tempo, that way we will play to our players strengths. Kaman can hit his mid-range jumpshot in the secondard break off a catch and shoot. Not all these post ups. Against GSW we didn't get stops therefore there is no breaking opportunities.

[playaloc916]

But outside of EJ we don't have anyone that can consistantly hit an outside jumper and that's hurting us.
We need to spread defenses so Kaman and Griffin(and even Baron some) can go to work inside. Right now teams only have to play some zone or double team our bigs and we're done on offense.
So far Gomes hasn't hit anything and Butler seems to be useless in his limited minutes because he can't really get into a rhythm.

Also, our 4th quarter offense looks really bad and stagnant as we seem to stop running plays to close out games.

I agree with these points. I know it's early, but I'm starting to think that we need to start Butler again. We definitely need his outside shooting to free up some space for our bigs. I know Gomes brings the intangibles but I think we need the spacing more than his intangibles. Our second unit's scoring will be pretty bad, but at least we can utilize him better than we are doing now.

And even though I've only seen the Blazers game, the plays, or should I say lack of plays in the 4th quarter really did us in. It seemed like it was just to dump the ball into Kaman and have him turn the ball over, or have a guard dribble the shot clock down and then hoist up a contested jumper. None of the ball movement, cutting, or picks that worked in the first half of the game, is used anymore. Instead, the other team uses them, gets easy buckets, the momentum swings, and then our guys get discouraged.

I also think last year, Kaman overachieved and teams didn't know that much about him. Now, they know. VDN needs to draw up some more sophisticated plays other than just dumping the ball into him and hoping for the best.

[playaloc916]

To me the problem seems to be lack of playmakers as well. Baron can beat someone off the dribble and dish off for easy buckets but he hasn't really been doing it. The rest of the team doesn't seem to have the ability which kind of kills us for breaking down defenses. Gordon simply isnt a player who is ever going to be doing that. He can drive straight to the cup but when he has tried to create for others his handle has let him down.

It's really a shame that Baron doesn't do what he's so effective at. He's almost like a point guard version of Vince Carter. He can easily draw in the defense and kick it out to an open player, but he only does it a few times a game. You see the Rose's and the Rondo's of the league doing it all game long and being so effective. Baron might not have the legs to do it anymore.

EJ is decent at driving, but he needs to stop traveling and turning the ball over and having that confused look on his face. If he would reduce his unforced turnovers, I'm sure he would be more confident in his playmaking abilities.

[ILOVEIT]

Warriors point of view if you don't mind...

Baron doesn't seem to have enough left to break down other defenses all the way to the rim....I don't know if it's age or being out of shape or what...but he seems to either set up the pick and lob or that's it....

Kaman and Griffin are both very solid to good low poster players but have very poor passing skills That's what makes it easy to double team them....

Griffin is a beast so you guys have some nice highlights to look at. Gordon is amazing.... If you guys had Steven Nash then ALL your bigs would immediately be more effective...maybe you can snag him.

Good luck the rest of the way.

[scratch21]

we suck cuz we have a bunch of losers on this team
i dont think we have 1 player with a over .500 record

[donemilio21]

As a team we had a really bad shooting night and as shots missed everybody got nervous and played recklessly. I don't think we played poorly, its just one of those nights. the 3rd quarter 21-2 run killed us.

Next 3 games are Dallas, Durant and Spurs and I think we can win those games.