A brutal month (December), followed by …

[TrueLAfan]

I kinda figured we would have it rough in December. 15 games, 10 of them on the road, three back-to-backs … I mean, that’s just not cool, NBA schedulers. I was thinking we’d be lucky to get 10 wins and should consider that a pretty nice plus. Well, we’re 9-4 with two games to go. I feel pretty good about that.

And I’ve felt that January is going to be the month where we start to jell and make a little move. It’s not that we need to do *that* much better—we’re 23-10; we’re playing 57-58 win ball right now. But with a 14 game January that has 7 home games, and starts off with a four game homestand where we play Detroit, Memphis, New York, and Golden State, and has the Knicks and the Hawks on the tail end of our two back to backs, I’m looking for the team to move forward in figuring things out. I’m thinking we should have at least 35 wins by the end of January.

I’m also thinking this is where we’ll see if there will be any trade movement. Like some others, I think a backup PG would be a really nice plus. Mann is a nice piece to develop but he’s not a rotation level player yet—not even a low one IMO. It may be that our offense jells without another PG—I figure we’ll find out in January. I think this is a big month in terms of big picture stuff.

[MartinToVaught]

Perspective: we've lost to the Suns, Spurs, Bulls, and Pelicans so far this year. Just because the schedule's getting easier doesn't mean anything can be taken for granted. Doc needs to have this team fully motivated and locked in. No more giving up 15+ point leads, no more third-quarter meltdowns.

[esqtvd]

I kinda figured we would have it rough in December. 15 games, 10 of them on the road, three back-to-backs … I mean, that’s just not cool, NBA schedulers. I was thinking we’d be lucky to get 10 wins and should consider that a pretty nice plus. Well, we’re 9-4 with two games to go. I feel pretty good about that.

And I’ve felt that January is going to be the month where we start to jell and make a little move. It’s not that we need to do *that* much better—we’re 23-10; we’re playing 57-58 win ball right now. But with a 14 game January that has 7 home games, and starts off with a four game homestand where we play Detroit, Memphis, New York, and Golden State, and has the Knicks and the Hawks on the tail end of our two back to backs, I’m looking for the team to move forward in figuring things out. I’m thinking we should have at least 35 wins by the end of January.

I’m also thinking this is where we’ll see if there will be any trade movement. Like some others, I think a backup PG would be a really nice plus. Mann is a nice piece to develop but he’s not a rotation level player yet—not even a low one IMO. It may be that our offense jells without another PG—I figure we’ll find out in January. I think this is a big month in terms of big picture stuff.

Exc 'State of the Union' post, Tru. The question will first be one of philosophy--that is, tactics vs strategy: Should Doc try to win every game for seeding, or risk some games by experimenting? To wit, giving burn to bottom-of-the-rotation guys like McGruder and Mann, and I'll also add Patterson, and how many minutes does the offensively useless Mo Harkless really deserve?

And of course, our current controversy--should we risk losses by throwing 4th quarter minutes at Zubac? Yes, in theory it would be better to let Trezz get a blow instead of playing the whole quarter. But is a rested but untested Zubac better than a tiring Harrell?

I'm far from convinced. I rate Trezz and I don't rate Zubac yet. The only way to find out otherwise is to risk crunchtime minutes on Zubac. And if he stinks up the joint, do you risk hurting his confidence with a quick hook before he loses you the game?

Rest assured, these are in Doc's calculus. Frankly, I'd be patient over the next month: We have too many other moving parts to be messing with Trezz at the moment. He could get nicked up anytime and then Zubac is gonna get force-fed more minutes than he can possibly eat. For now, if I'm Doc, I want more game reps for the core rotation as it exists now without monkeying with it and overthinking it. I need to my D to get comfortable with each other, and work Shamet in especially, who looks to get far more minutes than Zubac in April.

Kawhi
PG
Lou
Trezz
Bev

and probably Shamet are gonna play the bulk of my minutes. Zubac and Harkless are my secondary concern, then J-Myke, with McGruder and Patterson only maybes for playoff minutes.

As for what we need, I'm just not worried about the offense and lack of a PG. I'd like a big who dials right in between Trezz and Zubac, each of whom have their liabilities.

[TrueLAfan]

Well, I’m okay with the idea that we’ve lost a couple of games we should have won. But I think there are somewhat extenuating circumstances, combined with the fact that we’re still doing awfully well. The tough scheduling alone—and, look, we’ve played more games than anyone in the league and had more back-to-backs than anyone, so those are just facts—haven’t helped. Neither have injuries and consequent lack of familiarity. And we’re still on 57-58 win pace.

But I’ll give the doubts more attention if we don’t have the pedal to the floor (and our foot on opponents’ necks) by the end of January. You gotta be real about what we’ve dealt with—that game with Chicago, for instance, was the first game that Sham and George had ever been on the court together. But that schedule and those situation are moving into the past. I’m sticking with we’re fine, but anything less than 34 wins at the end of January will be telling us something.

And I agree that part of that will be figuring out both Harkless and Zu. Zu needs crunch time experience … except that means he needs to be in during crunch time, which hasn’t been shown to be a good idea. And my feeling about Harkless is that, with 2Pat playing better than adequately, he’s a little bit non-essential. He’s played almost half his time at SG, but with Sham back that will get cut back. Figure it this way—he’s the #3 SF behind PG and Kawhi. He’s the #3 PF behind JaMychal and 2Pat. And he’s the #3 SG behind Sham and Lou. He’s a nice insurance policy, but $11.5 million is an awful lot to pay for that. It's another case/reason why it would be terrific if Jerome would show that he's a rotation-worthy player.

[clipperlover]

The fact of the matter is that Harrell will be in 4th quarter foul trouble at some point. We have to know what Zubac can do. Not trusting Zubac and going small could sink us.

As far as Harkless goes, the guy has 32 playoff starts. There is no question about who should be on the court when the real season starts. Patrick Patterson is not it.

[NippySudz]

Zu needs to earn it but he needs to be given a chance to earn it

Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using Tapatalk

[Forte IV]

Hey at least we havent lost 4 in a row

[50CalClips]

More of this...

Read on Twitter

[NippySudz]

I would love for this team to rack up a ten game winstreak at least once. I think the closest we got to was a 7 Game win streak.

Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using Tapatalk

[Wammy Giveaway]

I would love for this team to rack up a ten game winstreak at least once. I think the closest we got to was a 7 Game win streak.

The players they have are too prone to injury. Plus, the last time they had a perfect month (achieved by Lob City on December, 2012-13), they ended up losing in the 1st round to the Grizzlies.

Under Leonard and his eyes-on-the-prize mentality, only the championship matters, so they've conceded to letting go every playoff edge like longest winning streaks and double-digit streaks, both of which are associated with having top seed in the conference and home court advantage. If it means making the playoffs as an 8th seed, it's still a berth: you have to fight your way through four other teams to get to the top.

Besides, even if the maximum winning streak Clippers achieve this year is nine, it's still a good look. If the Clippers were to win 9 and lose 1 in this pattern and stretched it out to fit the 82-game schedule, their record would be 72-10, a record once set by the Jordan Bulls.

[esqtvd]

I would love for this team to rack up a ten game winstreak at least once. I think the closest we got to was a 7 Game win streak.

The players they have are too prone to injury. Plus, the last time they had a perfect month (achieved by Lob City on December, 2012-13), they ended up losing in the 1st round to the Grizzlies.

Under Leonard and his eyes-on-the-prize mentality, only the championship matters, so they've conceded to letting go every playoff edge like longest winning streaks and double-digit streaks, both of which are associated with having top seed in the conference and home court advantage. If it means making the playoffs as an 8th seed, it's still a berth: you have to fight your way through four other teams to get to the top.

Besides, even if the maximum winning streak Clippers achieve this year is nine, it's still a good look. If the Clippers were to win 9 and lose 1 in this pattern and stretched it out to fit the 82-game schedule, their record would be 72-10, a record once set by the Jordan Bulls.

#2 is pretty much as good as #1

but anything lower than the 3rd seed is the longest of longshots


only the Rockets of '1995 [6th] and the Celtics of 1969 [4th] have ever won a title

in fact, in 72 seasons, only 7 teams seeded 4th or lower have even made the Finals!


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NBA_champions

[NippySudz]

I would love for this team to rack up a ten game winstreak at least once. I think the closest we got to was a 7 Game win streak.

The players they have are too prone to injury. Plus, the last time they had a perfect month (achieved by Lob City on December, 2012-13), they ended up losing in the 1st round to the Grizzlies.

Under Leonard and his eyes-on-the-prize mentality, only the championship matters, so they've conceded to letting go every playoff edge like longest winning streaks and double-digit streaks, both of which are associated with having top seed in the conference and home court advantage. If it means making the playoffs as an 8th seed, it's still a berth: you have to fight your way through four other teams to get to the top.

Besides, even if the maximum winning streak Clippers achieve this year is nine, it's still a good look. If the Clippers were to win 9 and lose 1 in this pattern and stretched it out to fit the 82-game schedule, their record would be 72-10, a record once set by the Jordan Bulls.

#2 is pretty much as good as #1

but anything lower than the 3rd seed is the longest of longshots


only the Rockets of '1995 [6th] and the Celtics of 1969 [4th] have ever won a title

in fact, in 72 seasons, only 7 teams seeded 4th or lower have even made the Finals!


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NBA_champions

Agreed. I'd settle for a lock at third. But 2nd is good enough as first. I'd like the clips to face an ass team in the first round win in 4 or 5 games, get some rest before the second round.

Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using Tapatalk

[esqtvd]

The players they have are too prone to injury. Plus, the last time they had a perfect month (achieved by Lob City on December, 2012-13), they ended up losing in the 1st round to the Grizzlies.

Under Leonard and his eyes-on-the-prize mentality, only the championship matters, so they've conceded to letting go every playoff edge like longest winning streaks and double-digit streaks, both of which are associated with having top seed in the conference and home court advantage. If it means making the playoffs as an 8th seed, it's still a berth: you have to fight your way through four other teams to get to the top.

Besides, even if the maximum winning streak Clippers achieve this year is nine, it's still a good look. If the Clippers were to win 9 and lose 1 in this pattern and stretched it out to fit the 82-game schedule, their record would be 72-10, a record once set by the Jordan Bulls.

#2 is pretty much as good as #1

but anything lower than the 3rd seed is the longest of longshots


only the Rockets of '1995 [6th] and the Celtics of 1969 [4th] have ever won a title

in fact, in 72 seasons, only 7 teams seeded 4th or lower have even made the Finals!


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NBA_champions

Agreed. I'd settle for a lock at third. But 2nd is good enough as first. I'd like the clips to face an ass team in the first round win in 4 or 5 games, get some rest before the second round.

Yah, precisely what I wanted to discuss. It's not so much getting home court advantage in a 7-game series but not having to battle through a pretty good team from Series One/Game One. Cruising through the first round or two is definitely a goal.

The proof is below. Same as what they've been saying about the Patriots having a first-round bye and then playing at home all the way to the Super Bowl. Easy peasy. Lower seeds get picked off.

OTOH, Lob City used to give its all in the regular season for seeding and then show up tired and broken come the playoffs. Doc is not going to make that mistake again. Esp with Kawhi and load management, this is tricky as hell. You can't give your all to win every regular-season game PLUS use every X and O trick in the book and THEN expect to show up to the playoffs with a full bag.

This requires strategy, not just coaching every game like a Game 7.

anything lower than the 3rd seed is the longest of longshots


only the Rockets of '1995 [6th] and the Celtics of 1969 [4th] have ever won a title

in fact, in 72 seasons, only 7 teams seeded 4th or lower have even made the Finals!


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NBA_champions

[MartinRiggs]

Next 4 home games look easy on paper and 2 weekend games are at 9:30 pm European time so I will be able to watch them live.

[Dynamix]

Next 4 home games look easy on paper and 2 weekend games are at 9:30 pm European time so I will be able to watch them live.

Totally. I know the players hate these early games, especially them being b2b, but it will be great not having to wake up at 6 AM on a weekend.

[MartinRiggs]

Well,I see you have good taste in football also.

Yes,sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night,check scores and go back to sleep.

[NippySudz]

I don't anticipate this happening but if there's any back to back Leonard could play, it would be this one. They get four days off after the Knicks game.

They play Sunday and don't play again till friday

Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using Tapatalk

[esqtvd]

Next 4 home games look easy on paper and 2 weekend games are at 9:30 pm European time so I will be able to watch them live.

Totally. I know the players hate these early games, especially them being b2b, but it will be great not having to wake up at 6 AM on a weekend.

You get up at 6AM to watch the Clippers? You guys are awesome!!

[Dynamix]

Next 4 home games look easy on paper and 2 weekend games are at 9:30 pm European time so I will be able to watch them live.

Totally. I know the players hate these early games, especially them being b2b, but it will be great not having to wake up at 6 AM on a weekend.

You get up at 6AM to watch the Clippers? You guys are awesome!!

Living in Eastern Europe has its perks, for others further West it would be 1-2 hours earlier, which is much tougher. I find it very convenient during the week, at least for home games. Get up a little earlier and catch most of the action, or even at 7-7:30 AM and still be able to see the 4th quarter. So the things that some people hate (late tip-offs for non-West Coast viewers, games being stretched out over 2-3 hours) are what make it very easy for me to watch live. That and "certain sites" that run smooth on my tv. Unfortunately League Pass is the only major streaming app that's not available on LG, which is a shame, because the international pricing is actually very reasonable.