Round 1 Game 4: LA Clippers (2) vs Portland Trail Blazers (1)

[mttwlsn16]

Yes. Losing to the Rockets last year caused CP to break his hand on a freak play tonight. You couldn't be more correct. Good job.

[DLaren]

Next Man Up.

Start Prigioni for CP3, get Blake some smelling-salts, find the best masseuse for Redick's heel and lets get back to business.

We still have a series to win -- they don't cancel the next game just because your teams best player goes down, and with a quick turn-around on Wednesday we don't have time to sit around moping.

It's called crisis management -- Doc, Blake, DJ -- take the baton and run with it...I still expect to win this series...


...and the next.

[og15]

Next Man Up.

Start Prigioni for CP3, get Blake some smelling-salts, find the best masseuse for Redick's heel and lets get back to business.

We still have a series to win -- they don't cancel the next game just because your teams best player goes down, and with a quick turn-around on Wednesday we don't have time to sit around moping.

It's called crisis management -- Doc, Blake, DJ -- take the baton and run with it...I still expect to win this series...


...and the next.

I'm not sure Blake will be playing next game

[Quake Griffin]

I hate to be the gloomy pessimist but we're going to lose this series with tonight's loss. Our 3 best players are either injured or dealing with hampering ailments while the vast majority of players on our roster just have a bad approach and mentality towards competing. I can't reasonably see any hope for us at this point.

We can blame injuries and use it as another excuse, but this is not a team of winners. I'm onboard with blowing this team up. Doc & son has to go. Jasen Powell and the rest of the medical and training staff needs to be replaced. Gillian Zucker should be ousted.

If we really want to compete for championships, we have to build this organization with competent professionals and construct the team with winners. We're going to lose Cole Aldrich in free agency but will likely overpay to retain Jeff Green. I'm not a fan of Chris Paul putting himself in position to get injured again (why have his right hand on the defender's back?), but he is really the only untouchable player who is safe from the roster purge.

I'm fine with bringing Redick back and we have to keep Griffin and Jordan until we get better replacements, but I'm readily open to dealing Blake for Durant or whomever. A Blake Griffin who is perimter-oriented and doesn't rebound is not going to help us win games. Likewise, DeAndre Jordan is a vital presence on defense and offense as a screen-setter and lob threat, but his continued free-throw shooting and emotional and mental fragility makes him a huge liability. I'm not interested in just dumping him, but I'm definitely open to looking at trade possibilities. A sign-and-trade for Al Horford, perhaps?

Whatever. Doc has put together a team that has not only stalled in failing to progress beyond what Vinny Del Negro acccomplished in the postseason, but he's on the verge of actually stepping backwards with a 1st-round exit imminent.

I am with this 100%

This summer would be the best time to do it. We have the rich owner. We have the great location. We have the facilities. We have very valuable players under contract. Why not?

As one of the resident Raider-Dodger-Clipper fans here (shotout Neddy), I am starved for a title in any shape form or fashion. However, I can write a book on garbage ownership, and even though I might give my 1st born (not really) for a title, I'd much rather see any team I pull for with a quality operation from the top down.

We have the owner and the funds. Why not the best GM? Why not the best training staff? Why not the best coach?


The problem with a rebuild is that we have to find the proper amount of salary to take back while getting picks back.
some quality guys who have the possible salary?
Khris Middleton.
Jimmy Butler.
Horford and Durant via sign and trade (absolute long shots if we called those teams).

[Don Tommy]

DJ has been my favorite player for a long long time, and the FT thing to me was over rated as long as he could grab rebounds, blocks shots and otherwise disrupt the opposing offense.

However, when you are making over $20 million a season, it is time to step up when your other big players go out. We can't call it a "Big 3" when one is such a liability. On offense, most of the time he stands at the top of the key, gets the pass, sets a screen... against a team playing their heart out like Portland is, and with Jamal not worrying about his teammates, I want DJ down in the post grabbing offensive boards. For $20 million, I want 60% free throws. I don't want pictures of him getting high in Amsterdam again this year, earn your damn money!

And for the record, I would rather have Big Baby on this team instead of Pierce. Wes sitting on the bench kills me!

[mttwlsn16]

Ya Wes needs to play more, no question there

[DLaren]

Next Man Up.

Start Prigioni for CP3, get Blake some smelling-salts, find the best masseuse for Redick's heel and lets get back to business.

We still have a series to win -- they don't cancel the next game just because your teams best player goes down, and with a quick turn-around on Wednesday we don't have time to sit around moping.

It's called crisis management -- Doc, Blake, DJ -- take the baton and run with it...I still expect to win this series...


...and the next.

I'm not sure Blake will be playing next game

No Blake or CP3?

Hmmm...

PG - Prigioni
SG - Redick
SF - Mbah
PF - Green
C - Jordan

With Crawford, Austin, Pierce, Wes, and Aldrich off the bench? We're still the more talented & experienced team.

I still believe in the players on this team -- and it's not blind faith -- they earned it this season. People are already talking about dumping players and firing staff...as fans, all of our energy needs to be on showing-up to the Staples Center this Wednesday ready to lift our guys to a victory.

[Dynamix]

Previously I said that everyone else has to step up and get us past the Blazers, but now I realise it's kinda pointless. I must have still been in shock (probably still am) thinking this playoff was anything but over for us. There is no way we can compete with GS in our current condition.

I'm going to avoid pretty much any NBA news until our next game. Don't want to read updates on CP/Blake, excuses from Doc, etc. What I do want is to see some team basketball and efficient plays. Don't just give it up to Jamal/Austin and hope for the best.

Things weren't looking that great even with our top players out there, so maybe these injuries can be a wake up call. We've got two home games remaining, let's make them count!

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/LAClippers/status/724860726389661696[/tweet]

[Alex DeLarge]

Next Man Up.

Start Prigioni for CP3, get Blake some smelling-salts, find the best masseuse for Redick's heel and lets get back to business.

We still have a series to win -- they don't cancel the next game just because your teams best player goes down, and with a quick turn-around on Wednesday we don't have time to sit around moping.

It's called crisis management -- Doc, Blake, DJ -- take the baton and run with it...I still expect to win this series...


...and the next.

I'm not sure Blake will be playing next game

No Blake or CP3?

Hmmm...

PG - Prigioni
SG - Redick
SF - Mbah
PF - Green
C - Jordan

With Crawford, Austin, Pierce, Wes, and Aldrich off the bench? We're still the more talented & experienced team.

More experienced? Maybe.

More talented? No chance in hell.

[KG_Wolves]

Sucks about the CP3 news, but were you guys not playing better without Blake?

Slide Prigioni in and go into that mode you were in without Blake

[nickhx2]

sad thing is i think we still could have won the game, but playing paul pierce so much more than wes and cole while letting jamal play like ass ensured that wasn't going to happen.

[nickhx2]

DJ has been my favorite player for a long long time, and the FT thing to me was over rated as long as he could grab rebounds, blocks shots and otherwise disrupt the opposing offense.

However, when you are making over $20 million a season, it is time to step up when your other big players go out. We can't call it a "Big 3" when one is such a liability. On offense, most of the time he stands at the top of the key, gets the pass, sets a screen... against a team playing their heart out like Portland is, and with Jamal not worrying about his teammates, I want DJ down in the post grabbing offensive boards. For $20 million, I want 60% free throws. I don't want pictures of him getting high in Amsterdam again this year, earn your damn money!

And for the record, I would rather have Big Baby on this team instead of Pierce. Wes sitting on the bench kills me!

pretty much agree. dj should be able to carry the team in the absence of paul/blake. i don't see that happening, though i doubt anyone was under any illusions he was on those two guys' levels.

[mattd13]

the playoffs have become like the wwe. injuries are going to be happening more. the game has just changed. guys are bigger and stronger and are allowed to be physical. jj has to work so hard just to away from someone holding, pushing, and mugging him that you can understand somewhat the difficulty he has. no excuses he has just missed shot for the last 2 games and its going to get worse without cp3. he will be lucky to even get a shot now. it is what it is season over.

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/status/725067678151544832[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/ArashMarkazi/status/725067067833999361[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/ROSGO21/status/725068682506858496[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/ROSGO21/status/725069742524899328[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/725072494168817665[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/725067856409284608[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/FlyByKnite/status/725068914607140864[/tweet]

[nickhx2]

i pretty much didn't envision blake being back but yeah. what a waste of a season.

[Quake Griffin]

It is what it is.

Blake's news was just bringing sand to the beach.

[Don Tommy]

DJ has been my favorite player for a long long time, and the FT thing to me was over rated as long as he could grab rebounds, blocks shots and otherwise disrupt the opposing offense.

However, when you are making over $20 million a season, it is time to step up when your other big players go out. We can't call it a "Big 3" when one is such a liability. On offense, most of the time he stands at the top of the key, gets the pass, sets a screen... against a team playing their heart out like Portland is, and with Jamal not worrying about his teammates, I want DJ down in the post grabbing offensive boards. For $20 million, I want 60% free throws. I don't want pictures of him getting high in Amsterdam again this year, earn your damn money!

And for the record, I would rather have Big Baby on this team instead of Pierce. Wes sitting on the bench kills me!

pretty much agree. dj should be able to carry the team in the absence of paul/blake. i don't see that happening, though i doubt anyone was under any illusions he was on those two guys' levels.

He's not on their level, but when you are getting a max contract, you have to be someone the team can depend on. No one is expecting him to turn in Hakeem overnight... but maybe over the summer? DJ is from Houston, why has he never sought out The Dream's advice? I don't know if Hakeem is still working with... the Knicks? But if he is available, use that money you are getting paid and spend the summer with him!

[Ranma]

When I made the post about the 3-1 collapse, I wrote it in the hopes that the Clippers will not end up like the other eight teams who lost their superstars and were forced to rebuild. Looking back, do you think the curse is legit? As in, did losing 3-1 last year vs. the Rockets caused a domino of events that have led up to Chris Paul's hand injury, the inevitable first round exit, and a possible cleaning of house?

Okay. So this is the post in question. Yeah, I never checked back in as I was pre-occupied with the NFL Draft, Dodgers baseball, the upcoming Civil War movie from Marvel, and the subsequent games in this particular playoff series. Plus, it was the last post on the previous page, so it got lost in the shuffle of going through posts.

To answer your question, no, I don't believe there is such a thing as a curse...well, at least not entirely. I do think there's some bad vibes with Shelley Sterling still hanging around as the Clippers' so-called "#1 fan". Seriously. As if taking after Donald by harrassing her tenants as a slumlord apparently wasn't enough, she then takes a page out of his playbook in buying false publicity. Donald did it with his humanitarian awards, which I'm sure she was also involved in, and now she buys the fake title of being the team's top supporter. The sooner she and her husband leave this world, the better off we will be.

While I concede there may be a bit of karma involved with our misfortunes, I won't go so far as to say that our recent misfortunes in the postseason are a result of some sort of curse. Theoretically, most of that should have dissipated the moment Donald T. Sterling was ousted from the organization. While Sterling's absence from the organization certainly serves the Clippers for the better, the lingering effects of his last big bad decision in giving Doc GM powers after trading a 1st-round pick for him to coach the team still haunts the ballclub.

This has less to do with the mystical or supernatural than it does with just bad leadership from a flawed organizational structure. I've already discussed at length how Doc's bad decisions as GM undermine his abilities as a coach, which is evident in the stalled progress of building a complete team to contend for a title despite being handed advantages that would make practically every executive and coach envious. We've arrived at this unfortunate point as an organization and fanbase because of the opportunities squandered by Doc. This was something a lot of us saw coming so it's not some curse causing things to happen out of thin air even if there have been some unexpected turn of events that could be used as excuses.

To illustrate, the Kings and Nets have been bad organizations because of bad ownership and management. The Timberwolves were just as dysfunctional under David Kahn until they relieved him of his GM duties. Now Minnesota is on the upswing. Hopefully, the Clippers will experience the same once Doc is completely purged from the organization.