#Spacing - Steve Clifford Thread

[Braggins]

Maxiell matches up better at PF against Randolph than Biyombo does. So if anything I think Zeller may lose minutes Saturday.

Thats probably true. If they were directly matched up Z-Bo would have Biz jumping all over the place but Maxiell would still in all likelihood get dominated. The only way I see us limiting Z-Bo is if Biz plays heavy minutes at C for his help and we had Al, Zeller, or Maxiell matched up against Z-Bo. Given how Clifford has managed Biz though I don't see any of those scenarios playing out and even if they did Gasol can make you pay if you help too much on Z-Bo. Hopefully one of Memphis' bigs just randomly has a really bad day.

McBob played OK last season against Randolph and hes not exactly known for his defense. Hes smart yes, but Marvin should be able to hold his own just fine. Biyombo getting heavy minutes at any point right now at center means we lose. Jeffersons double and triple teams that he commands on the offensive end is what brings us wins.

I meant heavy minutes for Biz. If he played 20-25 minutes and we always had someone else with size on Randolph I think we could make it tough for him. I'm not necessarily saying that is advisable because some of the lineups that would imply for us could be awkward and you can't really help off Gasol too much anyways. We just don't match up well with them. I used to not really appreciate McBob's defense but I think it might have actually been better than a lot of us gave him credit for. It stood out in the playoffs last year. It is kind of jarring going from seeing our defense last year to this year in the preseason and last night. It was very good even at the beginning of last season with a completely new coaching staff and even more new faces. We upgraded significantly at SG and the the second unit 1-4 isn't any worse than they what we had in the second half of last season. The only other relevant changes in our rotation are having Marvin and Maxiell in place of McBob and Biyombo. I really hope it is a matter of the team re-adapting to the scheme with the new players but I'm very skeptical about that.

[Liver_Pooty]

Thats probably true. If they were directly matched up Z-Bo would have Biz jumping all over the place but Maxiell would still in all likelihood get dominated. The only way I see us limiting Z-Bo is if Biz plays heavy minutes at C for his help and we had Al, Zeller, or Maxiell matched up against Z-Bo. Given how Clifford has managed Biz though I don't see any of those scenarios playing out and even if they did Gasol can make you pay if you help too much on Z-Bo. Hopefully one of Memphis' bigs just randomly has a really bad day.

McBob played OK last season against Randolph and hes not exactly known for his defense. Hes smart yes, but Marvin should be able to hold his own just fine. Biyombo getting heavy minutes at any point right now at center means we lose. Jeffersons double and triple teams that he commands on the offensive end is what brings us wins.

I meant heavy minutes for Biz. If he played 20-25 minutes and we always had someone else with size on Randolph I think we could make it tough for him. I'm not necessarily saying that is advisable because some of the lineups that would imply for us could be awkward and you can't really help off Gasol too much anyways. We just don't match up well with them. I used to not really appreciate McBob's defense but I think it might have actually been better than a lot of us gave him credit for. It stood out in the playoffs last year. It is kind of jarring going from seeing our defense last year to this year in the preseason and last night. It was very good even at the beginning of last season with a completely new coaching staff and even more new faces. We upgraded significantly at SG and the the second unit 1-4 isn't any worse than they what we had in the second half of last season. The only other relevant changes in our rotation are having Marvin and Maxiell in place of McBob and Maxiell. I really hope it is a matter of the team re-adapting to the scheme with the new players but I'm very skeptical about that.

Good post. I can agree with a majority of that.

[therebirth]

Clifford said there were 2 players who weren't playing defense because they were thinking about their offense. Any idea who those players are?

[catch20two]

Clifford said there were 2 players who weren't playing defense because they were thinking about their offense. Any idea who those players are?

I know for a fact Jefferson is one of them (lol) but the other suspect is a toss up since everybody else mainly get scored on because of Jefferson's pick-and-roll defense. Lol

[therebirth]

Clifford said there were 2 players who weren't playing defense because they were thinking about their offense. Any idea who those players are?

I know for a fact Jefferson is one of them (lol) but the other suspect is a toss up since everybody else mainly get scored on because of Jefferson's pick-and-roll defense. Lol

But he said those are player who are capable defenders. Doesn't that rule him out?

[yosemiteben]

We have a identity crisis. Are we a defensive team or not? That's my bone to pick with Clifford.

What after last season has made you think that Clifford does not embrace the identity of a defensive team?

We have new pieces and were rough our first game.

[LofJ]

Our D was dominant in the 4th and OT. We've barely had time to get used to playing with one another, I'm not worried about our D at all yet.

[Dancingpanda]

Clifford said there were 2 players who weren't playing defense because they were thinking about their offense. Any idea who those players are?

I know for a fact Jefferson is one of them (lol) but the other suspect is a toss up since everybody else mainly get scored on because of Jefferson's pick-and-roll defense. Lol

I would guess he was talking about lance. Middleton was going crazy in the first quarter while he was being guarded by Lance.

[catch20two]

Clifford said there were 2 players who weren't playing defense because they were thinking about their offense. Any idea who those players are?

I know for a fact Jefferson is one of them (lol) but the other suspect is a toss up since everybody else mainly get scored on because of Jefferson's pick-and-roll defense. Lol

I would guess he was talking about lance. Middleton was going crazy in the first quarter while he was being guarded by Lance.

Maybe but Middleton was torching Lance because Jefferson's man kept down screening him and Big Al wasn't offering no kinda support, not a bluff, hedge, or flash. Stephenson was getting frustrated by it to.

[BeesWax]

I think he is costing us games by trying to prove a point to Biz. Playing a much inferior player over him because he was not in town all summer is just hurting the team.

[EwingSweatsALot]

I think he is costing us games by trying to prove a point to Biz. Playing a much inferior player over him because he was not in town all summer is just hurting the team.

Biz sitting isn't costing us games.

There is a whole list of issues before that one comes up.

[BeesWax]

I think he is costing us games by trying to prove a point to Biz. Playing a much inferior player over him because he was not in town all summer is just hurting the team.

Biz sitting isn't costing us games.

There is a whole list of issues before that one comes up.

Oh there are a ton of issues he is having but this was the easiest to fix. It costs us two games because Maxiell can't score or defend. Biz is either equal to or better than Maxiell at everything yet is somehow behind him. It is a simple fix that just angers me. Biz should not play major minutes because he has not earned them but he is much better that Maxiell and in close games like these that matters.

[mrknowitall215]

I think he is costing us games by trying to prove a point to Biz. Playing a much inferior player over him because he was not in town all summer is just hurting the team.

I always viewed Biyombo as a game changer since when he come into the game the opposing team usually resort to taking contested jump shots instead of attacking the rim, so I'm going to agree with you on this. It might seem minuscule to anyone who doesn't think Biyombo is anything of significance, but I believe he is. I also feel like Jefferson could get injured and replaced by Biyombo, and we wouldn't miss much of a beat

[EwingSweatsALot]

I think he is costing us games by trying to prove a point to Biz. Playing a much inferior player over him because he was not in town all summer is just hurting the team.

Biz sitting isn't costing us games.

There is a whole list of issues before that one comes up.

Oh there are a ton of issues he is having but this was the easiest to fix. It costs us two games because Maxiell can't score or defend. Biz is either equal to or better than Maxiell at everything yet is somehow behind him. It is a simple fix that just angers me. Biz should not play major minutes because he has not earned them but he is much better that Maxiell and in close games like these that matters.

I'm not saying it's not an issue, but we are losing for reasons that are more significant than that.

-We continually play awful in the first quarter and the first half, our starting rotation is a -8.3 +-
-Supposedly our best player is only shooting 45% and can't rebound the basketball to save his life.
-Our biggest acquisition of the offseason can't score for some reason
-Our star PG, that we just signed to a huge deal, can't make a basket, he can't even make free throws
-Our rotations are really not good
-Our starters play one of the lowest amount of minutes together in the NBA because we continue to basically some 5 in 5 out
-We have two poor ball handlers, Neal and Roberts, on the court together for over 10 minutes a game while Kemba and Lance sit the bench. When Neal and Roberts are together the +- is -1.7, when one or both are out there it is +13.
- Let's also not forget that we lost to a team that was better than us, Memphis (a 50 win team in the West by 2) and we lost to a team that will more than likely contend for the 8th spot on the road without our best player for 3 quarters and lost by 2.

Biyombo is better than Maxiell and I don't even like Biyombo, but fix the other issues and it doesn't matter if Biyombo or Maxiell play.

[mrknowitall215]

We are currently the 28th ranked offense (91.7 OffRtg) and the 5th ranked defense (94.2 DefRtg)

Cody Zeller is currently our biggest offensive & defensive difference maker with a 102.4 OffRtg to a 87.1 DefRtg compared to Marvin Williams being the 2nd to worst in both categories (83.5 OffRtg, 99.7 DefRtg, -16.2 NetRtg)

So far based on advanced stats, our worst contributors are our new acquisitions (excluding Lance Stephenson). Marvin Williams, Brian Roberts, and Jason Maxiell have the worst defensive & net ratings on the team

http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612766 ... /advanced/

[BeesWax]

Biz sitting isn't costing us games.

There is a whole list of issues before that one comes up.

Oh there are a ton of issues he is having but this was the easiest to fix. It costs us two games because Maxiell can't score or defend. Biz is either equal to or better than Maxiell at everything yet is somehow behind him. It is a simple fix that just angers me. Biz should not play major minutes because he has not earned them but he is much better that Maxiell and in close games like these that matters.

I'm not saying it's not an issue, but we are losing for reasons that are more significant than that.

-We continually play awful in the first quarter and the first half, our starting rotation is a -8.3 +-
-Supposedly our best player is only shooting 45% and can't rebound the basketball to save his life.
-Our biggest acquisition of the offseason can't score for some reason
-Our star PG, that we just signed to a huge deal, can't make a basket, he can't even make free throws
-Our rotations are really not good
-Our starters play one of the lowest amount of minutes together in the NBA because we continue to basically some 5 in 5 out
-We have two poor ball handlers, Neal and Roberts, on the court together for over 10 minutes a game while Kemba and Lance sit the bench. When Neal and Roberts are together the +- is -1.7, when one or both are out there it is +13.
- Let's also not forget that we lost to a team that was better than us, Memphis (a 50 win team in the West by 2) and we lost to a team that will more than likely contend for the 8th spot on the road without our best player for 3 quarters and lost by 2.

Biyombo is better than Maxiell and I don't even like Biyombo, but fix the other issues and it doesn't matter if Biyombo or Maxiell play.

All those are issues but none are so easily fixed. My change I suggested is just a difference in who is put in for 12 minutes and very likely results in 3-0. All those problems don't have obvious simple fixes. Hopefully they work themselves out and we start winning anyway but if we just use Biz for 12 minutes instead of Maxiell we are all happy with the wins and the potential to still improve.

[yosemiteben]

My change I suggested is just a difference in who is put in for 12 minutes and very likely results in 3-0.

I strongly disagree with that take, but obviously we'll never know.

I will say that I refuse to believe that either Clifford or Cho think Maxiell is the guy to back up Al for the entire season. If they want to abandon Biz, they better find a way to get another big before the trade deadline.

[BeesWax]

We are currently the 28th ranked offense (91.7 OffRtg) and the 5th ranked defense (94.2 DefRtg)

Cody Zeller is currently our biggest offensive & defensive difference maker with a 102.4 OffRtg to a 87.1 DefRtg compared to Marvin Williams being the 2nd to worst in both categories (83.5 OffRtg, 99.7 DefRtg, -16.2 NetRtg)

So far based on advanced stats, our worst contributors are our new acquisitions (excluding Lance Stephenson). Marvin Williams, Brian Roberts, and Jason Maxiell have the worst defensive & net ratings on the team

http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612766 ... /advanced/

I get different using basketball reference.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHO/2015.html

It has per 100 possessions ORtg and DRtg and Williams is fine there but Maxiell is god awful.

[BeesWax]

My change I suggested is just a difference in who is put in for 12 minutes and very likely results in 3-0.

I strongly disagree with that take, but obviously we'll never know.

I will say that I refuse to believe that either Clifford or Cho think Maxiell is the guy to back up Al for the entire season. If they want to abandon Biz, they better find a way to get another big before the trade deadline.

Maxiell ORtg - 66 DRtg - 100

Biz's worst season at both
ORtg- 92 DRtg -109

Even using the worst rating from different years it is not nearly as bad. In the same minutes last season Biz was putting up 3/5/3 in points rebounds and blocks to Maxiell 2/2/.3 this season. There is no doubt in close games that Biz could have tipped the scales in our favor by the margins available.

[LamarMatic7]

We are currently the 28th ranked offense (91.7 OffRtg) and the 5th ranked defense (94.2 DefRtg)

Cody Zeller is currently our biggest offensive & defensive difference maker with a 102.4 OffRtg to a 87.1 DefRtg compared to Marvin Williams being the 2nd to worst in both categories (83.5 OffRtg, 99.7 DefRtg, -16.2 NetRtg)

So far based on advanced stats, our worst contributors are our new acquisitions (excluding Lance Stephenson). Marvin Williams, Brian Roberts, and Jason Maxiell have the worst defensive & net ratings on the team

http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612766 ... /advanced/

I get different using basketball reference.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHO/2015.html

It has per 100 possessions ORtg and DRtg and Williams is fine there but Maxiell is god awful.

BK-Ref's off and def ratings, unfortunately, aren't to be trusted.