1st Quarter Progress Reports

[mkwest]

This is inspired by some conversations with LACtdom before the season began.

A 1/4 of the season (and then some) is over now, and we kind of have an idea of how each player is contributing/fitting. The main purpose is for you to give your takes on how each player on the roster has performed so far this season.

Here are a few additional questions to get the ball rolling...

1.) Which player has been the biggest surprise? Why?

2.) Which player has been the biggest disappointment? Why?

3.) How would you rank the players that we've acquired in the offseason?

4.) Which player is most likely to be moved by the trade deadline?

5.) What has been the biggest surprise to you throughout the entire association?

[mkwest]

1.) Which player has been the biggest surprise? Why?

Wesley Johnson. He's doing now what he was always supposed to do. The word on him was that he'd kill it in practice and would drain his shots, but couldn't get it done when it was time to go live. He's currently shooting the best percentages of his career by far and has fans clamoring for him to see more playing time.

2.) Which player has been the biggest disappointment? Why?

Paul Pierce. Obviously, he's another year older, so it's not exactly a surprise. He's currently shooting 25.8% from beyond the arc, which is the worst percentage of his career. He did have a solid showing against the Nets, but is that a once every 8-10 games type of thing or is he shaking off some of the rust? It was never about what would be required of him in the early part of the season. His biggest impression was always supposed to be his mentorship and his presence in the postseason, but I don't have much confidence in him at the moment. If he can't shoot, then there's not much that he can do for us on the court imo.

3.) How would you rank the players that we've acquired in the offseason?

Wesley Johnson
Josh Smith
Luc Mbah A Moute
Lance Stephenson
Paul Pierce
Pablo Prigioni
Cole Aldrich
Branden Dawson - N/A

4.) Which player is most likely to be moved by the trade deadline?

CJ Wilcox. If any trade goes down, he's most likely the "sweetener."

5.) What has been the biggest surprise to you throughout the entire association?

New Orleans Pelicans. Some of it has to do with the injuries that they've had to deal with. Unfortunately for them, most of key guys have been prone to injury. Add in a new coach and it's understandable why they've struggled, but I wouldn't have imagined them being this bad. After last season, many (including myself) were lumping them in with the likes of SAS, LAC, GSW, HOU, MEM and OKC as being locks to make the playoffs. Outside of SAS and GSW (and OKC to a lesser extent), things haven't gone as smooth as hoped for the western playoff teams.


Blake Griffin - This guy continues to take strides forward on both sides of the ball. He's probably only one of 2 or 3 players on the team that I can't say that I have not been disappointed with at some point this season. It's been good to see his rebounding numbers creep back up after dropping to 7.6 per game last season. I want to see his free-throw percentages rise though. He's still in a good range, but he's better than that imo.

Chris Paul - I wasn't expecting him to duplicate last season where he played all 82 games and some of the best shooting percentages of his career. He's been solid, but pedestrian by his standards imo. The injuries have certainly hindered his play. His percentages are down and his turnovers are up. His injuries have been minor enough for him to play through them most of the time, but serious enough to limit what he's capable of doing. He's now 30 years old, so the thought of him slowing some is there for me, but I'm really hoping that it's just that he is banged up.

DeAndre Jordan - He's OK, but hasn't really taken his game to a higher level. Some critics hang onto the discussion that he wanted a bigger responsibility on offense and has not really showed improvement in that area. I didn't expect that from him and even more so once he backed out of the agreement with Dallas to return home. I'm not going to hold that against him. He has adjusted his free-throw form, but it has resulted in his second lowest percentage, while he faces the highest free-throw attempt rate of his career. When Blake changed his technique after he working with Thate, his numbers dipped before they got better. I'm never going to hold my breath for DJ to make the vast improvement in his shooting that Blake made, but I would be well pleased if he were ever to rise above 50% again.

JJ Redick - His averages are down a little bit, but some of that has to do with the injury. He's currently hitting his 3's at 46%, which is the best of his career so far. He's a player where that is not really anything bad to say about during the regular season.

Paul Pierce - see question 2 above.

Wesley Johnson - see question 1 above. Wes plays within the flow of the game for the most part. His confidence is growing and I hope that opportunities for him increase as the season moves forward. He's an easy player to rally behind and root for.

Josh Smith - He's playing better lately imo. He was frustrating to watch on offense. He took entirely too many 3 point attempts early on. It's great that he was a willing passer, but forced too many bad passes. Since the CP3 era began, the Clippers have been one of the best teams at limiting turnovers. To see bad or unnecessary passes was hard to stomach. Defensively, I have liked what he has contributed more often than not (when he's not distracted). I'm sure he's still trying to adjust to a new role with far fewer minutes.

Jamal Crawford - Crawford has had a lot of struggles this season. He's always been a good bad shot maker (which isn't necessarily a great thing to be), but if they're not going in, it's all bad. 2nd lowest FG% of his career and only 32.4% from 3. However, I've been pleased with his play over the last 10-12 days. 13.8 ppg 3.5 apg on 45.1% from the field and 50% from 3.

Lance Stephenson - I'd like to see a little more stability regarding his playing time. Obviously, they want him to be more consistent. I love watching him push the ball up the court or making an athletic play. That's not really something that we've had out of a wing in a while. Sometimes things are forced or a spectacular play is followed up with a lapse. I think those are things that they're trying to rein in a bit. He's an energy guy, so there's going to be some ups and downs with him.

Austin Rivers - I expected more offensively with him putting work in with Sammy during the summer. He's been awful from 3. He has good moves, but it doesn't matter if doesn't go in. Defensively is where he can make a difference. Opponents have shot somewhere around 36% against him this season.

Luc Mbah A Moute - There was a stat floating around the other day showing that LRMAM is right near the top of opponent points per possession allowed. He's the type of player that can put up a totally unappealing box score, but also make a nice impact in the game. It's a very small sample size, but it is good to see him capable of making an open three.

Pablo Prigioni - A more traditional pg, but we need his long ball to start dropping. I'll overlook it for the most part since he's basically playing mostly garbage time.

Cole Aldrich - Hasn't really played much. I wish that he could log a few more minutes, but the team has to do a better job of either putting opponents away or maintaining leads when we have them.

CJ Wilcox - I've seen some of his play in the D-League. His shooting was on point and it would have been nice to see him log a few minutes for the Clips during the season. When he and Dawson were sent down to the D-League, CP and JJ missed some time with injuries. That would have been a nice time to get him on the court imo. He's been assigned to the Canton Charge. I could see him being involved in a trade as part of a package if one were to be made. If we end up making moves that don't include him, I would love to see him log some time to see if his game can translate.

Branden Dawson - When we drafted him, I was excited. He played very well in Summer League and it was looking like he would possibly force his way onto the court. With everyone healthy, he's mostly been inactive in a suit or in Bakersfield. I'm not going to wish an injury on anybody, but I would like to see this guy on the court at some point this season.

[LACtdom]

1.) Which player has been the biggest surprise? Why?

Luc Mbah A Moute - For a player who was meant to be 3rd string / garbage time, he is a true professional. His attitude reminds me of Willie Green. He isn't our best new recruit but for me he was the biggest surprise as I thought he wouldn't even get minutes.

2.) Which player has been the biggest disappointment? Why?

Paul Pierce - I thought being on a team as deep as we are, The Truth would be able to selectively insert himself into our offense to get some quality looks. Besides the fact that he is shooting at a horrible clip, his positioning and shot selection look lazy. I can only put it down to Father Time but this future HOFer can't buy a 3.

3.) How would you rank the players that we've acquired in the offseason?

Wesley Johnson - Nice two-way player
Josh Smith - provides our bench with much needed D and rim protection
Luc Mbah A Moute - defensive player who can knock down the occassional 3.
Lance Stephenson - Shows glimpses of potential stardom to get your hopes up but can't maintain form from one play to the next.
Pablo Prigioni - Hasn't shot to his normal standards but has effectively run plays.
Cole Aldrich - Purely a garbage time player.
Paul Pierce - The Truth hurts.

4.) Which player is most likely to be moved by the trade deadline?

Probably Lance simply because Doc doesn't seem to like him.

5.) What has been the biggest surprise to you throughout the entire association?

The Standings - Pacers playing so well and the West playing so poorly overall (Only 4 teams in the West have a positive +/- compared to 10 teams in the East).

DeAndre Jordan - I honestly thought that after his Dallas controversy that he was ready to take his game to the next level with all the talk about how he wanted a bigger role on offense.

[DLaren]

"We know how not to win a championship," Griffin said Thursday night, "and each year we've been unsuccessful, you should learn from that. I think we have learned a lot from that, so we know what losing teams do." -Blake Griffin

1-quarter down and I'm still waiting to see what they've learned.

Grade: Incomplete.

[Neddy]

1.
Luc Mbah A Moute. I expected Wesley Johnson to do well and relentlessly advocated for him to start, so his performance is not a surprice but I did not even expect Luc to make the roster. his defense has been wonderful to watch. epecially with his size and length, there aren't too many switches that hinders him defensively out there, which cannot be said about most of our guys. right now on the floor for the starting 5, he may be the best defensive player for us. even though DJ's rim protection is huge, he is lost out in space when switched on a guard or a wing player. Luc can end up in the post and still hold his own.

2.
no player has disappointed me. well maybe Pablo... and I know this wasn't the question but the biggest disappointment for me for this season so far is Doc. we have a poor man's Draymon Green in our hands and we don't even have him on our active roster. we have a legit center on the bench and he never sees the floor. instead, we have his son who is really a combo guard and should be relegated to being a 2 guard handling the ball for the second unit, Love having Josh to back up Griffin but instead he is our exclusive 3rd big playing a ton of center minutes while jacking up shots with no regard. Lance is the one who should be handling the ball for the second unit primarily as his strengh is playmaking and weakness is his shooting, but doc is asking the complete opposite of him. his defense can be used better against smaller PGs rather than going against SFs where he is undersized. the small ball second unit must sieze to exist immediately. we are not GSW. we are the damn clippers. before he lost his mind, younger Al Davis was once quoted, "you don't adjust, you just dominate" if your team is built on certain strength and style, you maximize it, not try to immitate the latest fad and style that we don't have the right fits to run it with. GSW, just like the Pop's Spurs, have horned their own styles based on the strength of the players they each have. the Warriors can run a small lineup because not only the have a very versitale player in Green, but outside of Curry, the rest of the 4 on the floor with him are all tall. Thompson, Iggy, Barnes, Green, Livingston, Rush, they are all on the average to much taller size for 2's and 3's and have enough flexibility to cover the 4's while Green can handle the 5 when Bogert or the Nipplehead is on the bench. but most of all, they are very well coached, and all bought in to the system and are not afraid to pass the ball for the better shot because they trust each other to pass back when the situation is right. we jack up bad shots one after another, which means 1))) our guys are playing selish ball or 2)))) we don't have a system that can share the ball at its most effective rate for the roster we have. both scenario falls under the HC's shoulders. if Jamal and Josh are taking bad shots, take em out and sit them for the rest of the game. we drafted CJ, why not play him time to time? we signed Cole, why not play him time to time? and it brings back to a full circle of... we went out of our way to buy a draft pick and got Dawson who was killing it during the summer league, why not play him? maybe it has something to do with his son's dental bill? whatever the case, Doc's strength to me, is calling good clever plays out of time outs. other than that, he fails as a GM, he fails as a depth chart/rotation picker, and he fails as a teacher as he can't develop anything. and one year he did a decent job as a GM which is this year, he has completely failed as a head coach to manage and maximize the roster he built.

3.
Wes - expected him to be playing well and he has met the expectation.
Luc - a complete surprise.
Lance - misused and under utilized, but he is playing the way I thought he would.
Josh - stop shooting 3s!!!! he's got wonderful footwork to the hoop! use it!!! all the effing time!!!
Cole - use him, period. the second unit should slow the pace down. we have a half court center.
Dawson - or if Doc must run the damn small ball lineup, use HIM instead.
Pierce -let's limit his minutes to say, 8 to 10 just to get his rust off before the playoffs.
Pablo - stop shooting, and start passing. I am greatly disappointed in his shot selections so far.

4.
Jamal. please. pretty please.

with sugar on top.

5.
the Rockets, then the Mavs. for the exact opposte reasons.

[Ranma]

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[mattd13]

I would have to agree the coaching has been subpar. they have a number of coaches and the team should be better. jamal by far has been the biggest let down from a player. why he plays is amazing to me. plus the end of game strategy is horrible. I knew the new guys would be a problem and I hoped at least one would work out. they have been disappointing.

[mattd13]

I forgot to mention I can not believe Austin is in the nba.