Game 29: Los Angeles Clippers (20-8) vs Phoenix Suns (11-15) - 10:30 PM ET

[50CalClips]

...No one is saying there aren't concerns but one game of shamet shooting poorly isnt indicative of anything long term. He shot well last game. Where you then?

You JUST said... nm...

... The goal of the regular season is to build championship habits. Not already have them. That doesn't happen. A good win doesn't mean it's a perfect win

PPECISELY! WTF do you think I'm posting about!? Now, Now, NOW is the time to ingrain those 'championship habits'. Prodding Lou Williams to go off to bailey you out against the Suns... that's 8th-Seed level stuff. I'd prefer Landry Shamet getting those 3pt attempts, Pat Bev needs to knock the rust off too... they are our 3-range weapons that need to be honed, if we want contend for the title.

Paul George playing Kobe-ball (er, and being ALLOWED to) is not optimizing the potential of the TEAM! Dude could be as smooth as f&ck, no need to be forcing sh%t. He should be looking for open shooters (Patt, Sham, Bev, JaMyke)... so as to (1) give them their reps and (2) to make opponents pay for the double/triple-teams (and in turn opening things up for himself).

...If the clips won by 5, and I'd say it was a good win, you would be saying they should smack the phx sun, especially without booker! Seriously, that was your complaint about the chicago game. someone wants to have it both ways. What did you want from the clips facing a non-contender? 150-30?

Good =/= perfect

They still got work to do! But to say it wasn't a good win, holding a team under 100pts and beating a team by 20 is just laughable.

When we start seeing the Clippers run smoothly for long stretches of game-time... then we'll have "good wins."

[esqtvd]

...If the clips won by 5, and I'd say it was a good win, you would be saying they should smack the phx sun, especially without booker! Seriously, that was your complaint about the chicago game. someone wants to have it both ways. What did you want from the clips facing a non-contender? 150-30?

Good =/= perfect

They still got work to do! But to say it wasn't a good win, holding a team under 100pts and beating a team by 20 is just laughable.

When we start seeing the Clippers run smoothly for long stretches of game-time... then we'll have "good wins."

First order of business: They're ALL good wins.

The master strategy has been to keep the win column ticking however we can while we regrouped our forces. This we have done, and extremely well

Read on Twitter

Nothing is learned from losing. It would be supremely stupid to sacrifice wins to implement plays, plans and schemes that will not be part of our playoff arsenal. We improvised, played playground ball where we had to, and the results speak for themselves.


That said and that done, we may now at last commence upon our regularly scheduled program:


https://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/story/2019-12-18/healthy-clippers-ready-to-establish-potential-of-roster

One-third of the way through the NBA’s regular season, the Clippers are one of only three teams, along with Milwaukee and the Lakers, to rank among the league’s top seven in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

With a 14-1 record at Staples Center, they protect home court as well as anyone in the NBA.

They might be dead last in understanding how their full roster will play. Injuries have kept the entire 15-man roster from being healthy at the same time and forced coaches and players to project the team’s potential based on feel rather than hard data.

“I do think I know who we can be,” coach Doc Rivers said. “I just have had no proof of it yet.”

The first evidence could be appearing soon.

After guards Patrick Beverley (concussion) and Lou Williams (sore right calf) each returned Tuesday during a 120-99 victory over Phoenix after sitting out two games, the Clippers are only JaMychal Green’s recovery from a bruised tailbone away from a healthy roster. The team on Wednesday listed the forward as questionable to play Thursday against Houston.

“You feel like after this stretch of games, I think we have two more on the road” — against San Antonio on Saturday and Oklahoma City on Sunday — “it feels like after that stretch we can like build our team, which is crazy to say that this late in the year,” Rivers said. “You feel like these first games you’re just trying to get through them, win as many games as we can and try to build some kind of identity, but not really.

“I feel like now we have a chance to get going and it’s a great feeling.”

...


The team inched closer to seeing the roster it envisioned in the summer on Tuesday against Phoenix, the sixth time in their last seven victories the Clippers have won by double digits. Guard Landry Shamet played with stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for the first time. A starter before injuring his left ankle on Nov. 11 — which also came before George’s debut — Shamet came off the bench against the Suns, with Rivers opting to use forward Maurice Harkless as the fifth starter.

“All those rotations were more in my head because I haven’t been able to use them,” Rivers said. “When you think of lineups like [Montrezl Harrell] at the five, Kawhi at the four, PG [George] at the three, Lou [Williams] at the 2, [Shamet] at the 1, or Pat [Beverley], that’s a lot of shooting on the floor. Can that defend well enough? Those are questions we don’t know.”


They should have a better idea soon.

[NippySudz]

...No one is saying there aren't concerns but one game of shamet shooting poorly isnt indicative of anything long term. He shot well last game. Where you then?

You JUST said... nm...

... The goal of the regular season is to build championship habits. Not already have them. That doesn't happen. A good win doesn't mean it's a perfect win

PPECISELY! WTF do you think I'm posting about!? Now, Now, NOW is the time to ingrain those 'championship habits'. Prodding Lou Williams to go off to bailey you out against the Suns... that's 8th-Seed level stuff. I'd prefer Landry Shamet getting those 3pt attempts, Pat Bev needs to knock the rust off too... they are our 3-range weapons that need to be honed, if we want contend for the title.

Paul George playing Kobe-ball (er, and being ALLOWED to) is not optimizing the potential of the TEAM! Dude could be as smooth as f&ck, no need to be forcing sh%t. He should be looking for open shooters (Patt, Sham, Bev, JaMyke)... so as to (1) give them their reps and (2) to make opponents pay for the double/triple-teams (and in turn opening things up for himself).

...If the clips won by 5, and I'd say it was a good win, you would be saying they should smack the phx sun, especially without booker! Seriously, that was your complaint about the chicago game. someone wants to have it both ways. What did you want from the clips facing a non-contender? 150-30?

Good =/= perfect

They still got work to do! But to say it wasn't a good win, holding a team under 100pts and beating a team by 20 is just laughable.

When we start seeing the Clippers run smoothly for long stretches of game-time... then we'll have "good wins."

When you literally expect significant improvement from Chicago to at home vs PHX while we're a work in progress , that's where I'm comment and say those things. They practiced once in-between those games

When you say things like they're supposed to know coverages and options just because they're professionals, that's where I make my comment. It's not because I don't want them to get better. I do. It's that I realize its a journey.

You can't have it both ways, saying the loss of Chicago shows our true character[paraphrasing] but when we whip a team and keep them under their avg and have them shoot horribly from 3 you got nothing??

And you're going to take a joke from doc about practice to mean they practice Willy Billy at a whim? You're grasping at straws.

It's been on record for years that doc balances practice. Some days players may need rest or they had a tough road trip. So he might call off practice to give them additional rest.

Again, grasping at straws man. I get it. You don't like doc or don't think he's fit for the job. I get it. Let's just try to enjoy the season.

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[nickhx2]

personally i'd say to manage expectations but i also wouldn't think much of it if someone held ones higher than mine.

what works for me is that try to accept the idea that while the product is not finished, there are clear signs that it's getting there, and i'm confident that the team will look much different come playoff time. it's not about shamet going 0/4 from three in a single, random game. it's about paul george looking more and more unleashed with his offensive repertoire. it's about the pistol action gradually developing from game to game. it's about the defense shifting from a buncha guys trying to play together (earlier in the season) to now a buncha guys actually playing together on a string that gets tighter and tighter.

so for me, if a little piece gets solved, and if that happens during a win, i'd be all too happy to call it a good one.

[NippySudz]

The pg dilemma,

I agree with you though 50, PG volume 3pt shooting does concern me and have been from day one if you look at my posts in the Paul George thread. I'm not a fan of him taking so many threes because in the past he's been shown to go cold on the biggest stage, the playoffs when you need him

That being said I don't think it takes away anything from the win and I do believe in riding the hot hand. He was hot, so let him shoot.

I do believe it was a good win. Before it was Leonard and PG taking turns. This time they made PG the first option and Leonard got his when he got his. Shamet is still being worked back in. I will give shamet more games before complaining. Guys like 2pat and jamychal have their fair share of nights where they attempt 6-8 threes. So again, one game isn't indicative of this moving forward. All it is things they did well and things they can look to improve.



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[NippySudz]

personally i'd say to manage expectations but i also wouldn't think much of it if someone held ones higher than mine.

what works for me is that try to accept the idea that while the product is not finished, there are clear signs that it's getting there, and i'm confident that the team will look much different come playoff time. it's not about shamet going 0/4 from three in a single, random game. it's about paul george looking more and more unleashed with his offensive repertoire. it's about the pistol action gradually developing from game to game. it's about the defense shifting from a buncha guys trying to play together (earlier in the season) to now a buncha guys actually playing together on a string that gets tighter and tighter.

so for me, if a little piece gets solved, and if that happens during a win, i'd be all too happy to call it a good one.

Couldn't said it better myself. Now if we win against a really good team and spank them, I'd call that a statement win! Again, a good win doesn't mean perfect.

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[50CalClips]

The pg dilemma,

I agree with you though 50, PG volume 3pt shooting does concern me and have been from day one if you look at my posts in the Paul George thread. I'm not a fan of him taking so many threes because in the past he's been shown to go cold on the biggest stage, the playoffs when you need him...

We just cant seem to agree...

Paul George is a career 37.9% 3pt... 38.9% last 5 seasons... 40.3% this season.
George has the GREEN LIGHT for threes, as far as I'm concerned.
(Playoffs: 36.1% career, 38.0% last *5 seasons)

Lou Will, however, is a career 34.9% 3pt... 35.9% last 5 seasons... 36.8% this season (career high).
The league average is 35.5%. If we're going to take away attempts from anyone, it's Lou.
(Playoffs: 26.2% career, 28.2% last *5 seasons)

My issue with George is that a times, he's too single-minded, he'll force things when its not called for. When the doubles come... Kick it out to the snipers (but another issue is that, often times, the "snipers" aren't even in place, See: Coaching). And BTW, Kawhi -- his game is forcing things, essentially, so I have no issue with Kawhi doing it. But both should be looking to kick to the sniper more often.

THE KEY TO WINNING THE TITLE is exploiting/maximizing the weapons we have. We should be the biggest 3-Shooting team in the league! We have PG, we have Shamet, Bev, Patterson, JaMyke.. we should be toying with teams... if you want to try to clog things up for George/Kawhi and Montrezl... then deal with Shamet, George/Kawhi, JaMychal, Beverley, Patterson raining threes on you... and if you can race back to defend the 3-shot, then deal with Lou, Shamet, Harkless, Beverley, George/Kawhi slashing.

We're no where near that flow.

[NippySudz]

The pg dilemma,

I agree with you though 50, PG volume 3pt shooting does concern me and have been from day one if you look at my posts in the Paul George thread. I'm not a fan of him taking so many threes because in the past he's been shown to go cold on the biggest stage, the playoffs when you need him...

We just cant seem to agree...

Paul George is a career 37.9% 3pt... 38.9% last 5 seasons... 40.3% this season.
George has the GREEN LIGHT for threes, as far as I'm concerned.
(Playoffs: 36.1% career, 38.0% last *5 seasons)

Lou Will, however, is a career 34.9% 3pt... 35.9% last 5 seasons... 36.8% this season (career high).
The league average is 35.5%. If we're going to take away attempts from anyone, it's Lou.
(Playoffs: 26.2% career, 28.2% last *5 seasons)

My issue with George is that a times, he's too single-minded, he'll force things when its not called for. When the doubles come... Kick it out to the snipers (but another issue is that, often times, the "snipers" aren't even in place, See: Coaching). And BTW, Kawhi -- his game is forcing things, essentially, so I have no issue with Kawhi doing it. But both should be looking to kick to the sniper more often.

THE KEY TO WINNING THE TITLE is exploiting/maximizing the weapons we have. We should be the biggest 3-Shooting team in the league! We have PG, we have Shamet, Bev, Patterson, JaMyke.. we should be toying with teams... if you want to try to clog things up for George/Kawhi and Montrezl... then deal with Shamet, George/Kawhi, JaMychal, Beverley, Patterson raining threes on you... and if you can race back to defend the 3-shot, then deal with Lou, Shamet, Harkless, Beverley, George/Kawhi slashing.

We're no where near that flow.

When it comes to averages and Paul George, I don't pay attention to that. Because he's has shown multiple times in big games that he can get cold. Kawhi Leonard hasn't had a game in single digits yet. PG has had a five point game . When PG shot isn't falling or when defenses frustrate him, he'll burp up a three. In the regular season, it goes in often than not and sometimes in the playoffs but some nights he might be 3-14 like he was in Toronto with 12 - 3pt attempts.

I love PG shooting threes as long he's mixing it up, getting to the basket for easy twos and not just settling for three because he' not Steph curry. He's a pretty good 3p but he has the worse shooting slumps when he's cold. He shouldn't continue shooting just threes when he's 2-10 from three. Get some easy baskets. Get into a rhythm

You gotta let Lou be Lou when he's on the floor because he can create his shot but at the same time, Lou might have to sacrifice his mins so that shamet can play more in tight match ups. Lou also needs to involve himself more in off ball actions. When he hands off the ball, he stands around and just waits. Shamet will make a play. So Lou come playoff time will have to sacrifice the most probably. He and probably patbev if they get a playmaking guard that can hit threes.

Doc has some experimenting to do. That's why I said it can't be solved in a day or two days. That's why I said you have to build championship habits, not have them and building anything requires time.

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[NippySudz]

Even though we can't seem to agree , I'm happy were able to keep the discourse civil.

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[50CalClips]

Paul George is not our closer.
We can agree on that.

Playoffs, 4thQtr/OT, 2 mins or less, single-digit score differential (not for the lead or tie, just miss or make), based on impromptu BBall-Reference "Shot Finder" compilation...

Paul George
2019 - 1/1
2018 - 0/2
2017 - 0/1
2016 - 1/1
2015 - n/a
2014 - 2/5
2013 - 0/2
2012 - 0/1
30.8% - 4/13

Kawhi Leonard
2019 - 7/18
2018 - n/a
2017 - 1/4
2016 - 2/2
2015 - 1/3
2014 - 1/2
2013 - 1/1
2012 - 1/1
45.2% - 14/31

Andre Iguodala, for scale (;
2019 - 1/1
2018 - 1/1
2017 - 1/3
2016 - 1/5
2015 - n/a
2014 - n/a
2013 - 1/1
2012 - 2/3
50.0% - 7/14

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/shot_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&year_id=2019&game_num_min=0&game_num_max=99&is_playoffs=Y&q4=Y&q5=Y&time_remain_minutes=2&time_remain_seconds=0&time_remain_comp=le&margin_min=0&margin_max=9&order_by=efg_pct