poultryfan wrote:Are we even sure that's Patty Mills? Looks like Steph Curry tonight.
Steph tomorrow.
LOL, but you're right--when a guy's hitting everything from the parking lot, you have a good chance of losing. After a tentative start to the season [40%/33%], with
PG out, I thought
Kawhi really took over tonight, at least in the second half, and he almost pulled it off.
This team is still finding its identity, and with PG out [who's been stepping up front in the identity department], it was good to see
Pat Bev make a BIG impact too--20 points, 8 rebs and 8 dimes.
All the starters finished in the plus, and even
Lou was plus+3. It's easy to blame
Reggie's minus-21, but
Zu was minus-18 and
Mann was minus-20 IN NINE MINUTES!
I'm not a blame game guy. IMO, the Clips were just starting to jell around PG--with Kawhi slightly off to the side, the way he likes it. With PG out, we were a pickup team again, like we were much of last year.
This Clipper team is still about WHO, not what:
Kennard was probably a good barometer--thrown into the starting 5 and playing a team-high 38 minutes, he was plus/minus ZERO, lol. 3-10 shooting but with 6 rebs and 4 assists. If you figure he's replacing Shamet, we're already gold.
Now if
Batum can stay in tonight's zone--36 minutes, 21 points 9 rebs, 3 assists, a block and a steal---we have something better than Trez and J-Myke combined last year.
Serge had rather a crap game on paper [3 points, 5 rebs, 2 blocks] but was still plus+10. Even on a bad night, you're going to be able to give him 20 minutes he's not going to hurt you--unlike Trez and to a lesser degree J-Myke. That's damn good news. Sometimes you just need MINUTES from somewhere. If he's healthy, Serge can do.
They looked like sh*it
But they didn't quit
If I can say that after every loss, I'm good.