ATL - Oladipo is Really Good (and Bledsoe dominant again)

[htr]

Good points. I'll attempt a rephrase. Sterling should have just done the Redick deal for two seconds. If dealing Bledsoe, he should have gotten a better haul or most of us too as an owner would have struggled pulling the trigger.

[machu46]

In a sense, the Clippers are like what the Bucks under Herb Kohl might be like should we have won a big lottery prize.

Going back to one of our favorite subjects, the Clips should have called the Bucks last June and proposed Bledsoe and Caron for Redick, Moute and Udoh. Clips need defense and interior defense much more than they needed that extra offensive toy in Dudley. Of course maybe they did make that call and we laughed them off the phone.

I have no faith in the Clips maintaining excellence. The owner will mess it up.

Yep. I don't understand what they are doing.

Every championship team has a premier wing defender and a post defender. Clippers have nobody close to that at all. The fact they signed Jamison shows how clueless they are. They'll never get to the finals without those two elements. The Celtics never were able to replicate what Posey & PJ Brown brought to their team and they didn't win another championship without them.

Celtics had a legitimate chance to win the title like 3 years in a row. That was with guys like Ray Allen and Pierce, that were not good defenders being key defensive players for them. Doc/Thibs did a nice job of getting that group to play good team defense. It's not about individual defense anymore. CP3 is a very pesky defender, JJ has become an average defender, and Dudley was considered a solid 3 and D kinda guy before the Suns became a laughing stock. He was very good at defending SFs, but struggles a ton against SGs because he isn't quick enough to stay with them. Unless I'm missing something on their roster, he'll be playing mostly SF this year, so he might be able to go back to being a very good 3 point shooter while also being a solid defender.

I think the Clippers are in very good shape this year personally.

[EastSideBucksFan]

Celtics were always close, but not enough to get them over the edge after they lost Posey/PJ Brown.

Even the Miami Heat "needed" guys like Shane Battier and Chris Anderson.

The Mavericks needed guys like Marion and Tyson Chandler to take the next step.

The Pistons got over the edge once they got Rasheed (premier post defender)

The Lakers had Ron Artest & Pau Gasol.

The Spurs needed Bruce Bowen and Duncan's post defense.

I stand by what I said and the Clippers will not make the NBA finals until they address these problems.

[paul]

It's the Clips interior D which is going to get exposed, starting Jordan/Griffin isn't going to win you a championship unless you are incredible defensively everywhere else. They start the season behind at least the Thunder, Spurs, Warriors and Rockets in the West for me.

[blazza18]

Free Tobias.

[paul]

Free Tobias.

They need to get him a camelbak, heel that ankle right up with some quality H2O.

[drew881]

Hibbert with 10 rebounds in the first quarter? Is that a mistake?

[paul]

Paul George just got away with a blatant goal tending block taking Oladipo's layup off the board - he getting superstar calls already?

[paul]

Hibbert with 10 rebounds in the first quarter? Is that a mistake?

Vuc keeps playing him the way he is he's going to have 300.

[SupremeHustle]

Damndrew Nicholson.

[blazza18]

Nicholson on fire.

[SupremeHustle]

Oh my gawd. 18 off the bench already.

[bizarro]

Hibbert with 10 rebounds in the first quarter? Is that a mistake?

Vuc keeps playing him the way he is he's going to have 300.

Man, does Orlando have some size. Glen Davis is completely unnecessary with what they've got going on. As soon as Tobias is back they have a great young rotation of 4's. Nicholson is just stroking it. Unbelievable. If Orlando really wants to do this right, when Tobes is healthy they should really look at what they're doing w/ Maxiell and Davis.

Another thing I notice is both these teams - a veteran laden team and a young team - they play their rookies. Solomon Hill is out on the floor and he looks completely inconsequential in the early going. But, he's getting burn. There's no reason. Absolutely no reason we shouldn't be giving quality minutes to Middleton, Giannis, Henson, and Wolters.

[blazza18]

Pacers clearly riggin for Wiggins.

[machu46]

It's the Clips interior D which is going to get exposed, starting Jordan/Griffin isn't going to win you a championship unless you are incredible defensively everywhere else. They start the season behind at least the Thunder, Spurs, Warriors and Rockets in the West for me.

I can't put the Rockets or Thunder ahead of them right now (at least while Westbrook is out). The Rockets don't even have a PF on their team yet unless I'm missing someone. They need to make a move somewhere.

DeAndre has great potential as a defender, and honestly, Griffin has a decent amount as well with his rare blend of quickness and leaping ability for a big man.

[bizarro]

It's the Clips interior D which is going to get exposed, starting Jordan/Griffin isn't going to win you a championship unless you are incredible defensively everywhere else. They start the season behind at least the Thunder, Spurs, Warriors and Rockets in the West for me.

I can't put the Rockets or Thunder ahead of them right now (at least while Westbrook is out). The Rockets don't even have a PF on their team yet unless I'm missing someone. They need to make a move somewhere.

DeAndre has great potential as a defender, and honestly, Griffin has a decent amount as well with his rare blend of quickness and leaping ability for a big man.

There's a lot more to defending than that rare blend, however. He's generally undersized at the 4. And, he hasn't demonstrated the willingness to really develop his defensive game. When I watch Griffin, I see an insanely gifted athlete who loves the offensive end. The defensive end is just the other part of the floorl

[paul]

It's the Clips interior D which is going to get exposed, starting Jordan/Griffin isn't going to win you a championship unless you are incredible defensively everywhere else. They start the season behind at least the Thunder, Spurs, Warriors and Rockets in the West for me.

I can't put the Rockets or Thunder ahead of them right now (at least while Westbrook is out). The Rockets don't even have a PF on their team yet unless I'm missing someone. They need to make a move somewhere.

DeAndre has great potential as a defender, and honestly, Griffin has a decent amount as well with his rare blend of quickness and leaping ability for a big man.

They both would rather slap a block into the tenth row and bump chests than play defense and secure the ball, they both jump every single time someone looks like going up, they are both awful positional defenders. Jordan might block 4 shots a game this year and still be one of the worst defensive anchors in the NBA.

We'll see how it plays out I guess - if they had of got KG and sent Jordan to the bench they'd be close to title favorites right now for me.

[bizarro]

In other news, how could the Pacers consider starting Granger over Stephenson this point in his career? Stephenson looks honed in and seems to have brought a calmness to explosiveness from last year. As a coach, I'd like to see him play a lil' bit at the Point. Does anyone else see that?

[machu46]

It's the Clips interior D which is going to get exposed, starting Jordan/Griffin isn't going to win you a championship unless you are incredible defensively everywhere else. They start the season behind at least the Thunder, Spurs, Warriors and Rockets in the West for me.

I can't put the Rockets or Thunder ahead of them right now (at least while Westbrook is out). The Rockets don't even have a PF on their team yet unless I'm missing someone. They need to make a move somewhere.

DeAndre has great potential as a defender, and honestly, Griffin has a decent amount as well with his rare blend of quickness and leaping ability for a big man.

They both would rather slap a block into the tenth row and bump chests than play defense and secure the ball, they both jump every single time someone looks like going up, they are both awful positional defenders. Jordan might block 4 shots a game this year and still be one of the worst defensive anchors in the NBA.

We'll see how it plays out I guess - if they had of got KG and sent Jordan to the bench they'd be close to title favorites right now for me.

Yeah, I think it'll come down to whether or not Doc can get them to buy in to playing team defense rather than highlight defense, but they have the talent on paper to be a serious threat to the Heat.

[paul]

Hibbert with 8/14 & 4 blocks at the half.