GAME 42: Clippers (26-15) @ Mavs (20-18)—NOTE TIME: Wednesday 6:30PM PDT

[Max Headrom]

This team is just unwatchable and incredibly difficult to root for at this point.

Playoff P is not even a star, let alone a "superstar," and this is the dumbest franchise in sports if they're not at least thinking about trading him in the offseason.

He's the only one that showed up in this game. Wtf are you talking about? You're just hating and creating a narrative for the hell of it. The Clipper Doom Patrol, I swear man

He enjoys when the Clippers lose or play bad so he can always be "right"

[Clemenza]

We all know this bro. They **** history under Sterling, the seven game series loss against Nash and the Suns, 3-1 choke to Houston, more playoff failures, to the 3-1 bubble choke.. we know the history

Yeah, we know the history and yet a lot of fans still want to coddle this team like they're coming off a threepeat. This crap we're watching right now wouldn't fly in Boston, Philly or New York. Our standards should be higher than this, just saying.

Nobody is coddling sh*t. We're fans! What the f*ck can we actually do? Curse louder on the keyboard? This **** isn't flying in LA. It never has. We were a laughing stock last season after the latest choke. We get heat nonstop off of our losses and meltdowns. All the morning shows are about us losing non stop!

[TheNewEra]

Hate losing that one the defense was so inconsistent all night and we didn’t take advantage of inside presence

[MartinToVaught]

This team is just unwatchable and incredibly difficult to root for at this point.

Playoff P is not even a star, let alone a "superstar," and this is the dumbest franchise in sports if they're not at least thinking about trading him in the offseason.

He's the only one that showed up in this game. Wtf are you talking about? You're just hating and creating a narrative for the hell of it. The Clipper Doom Patrol, I swear man

Where was he in the 4th quarter, besides the threes he made in garbage time once the pressure was off?

[Clemenza]

This team is just unwatchable and incredibly difficult to root for at this point.

Playoff P is not even a star, let alone a "superstar," and this is the dumbest franchise in sports if they're not at least thinking about trading him in the offseason.

He's the only one that showed up in this game. Wtf are you talking about? You're just hating and creating a narrative for the hell of it. The Clipper Doom Patrol, I swear man

Where was he in the 4th quarter, besides the threes he made in garbage time once the pressure was off?

He didn't get his points in garbage time. Can we f*ckin' get 30-40 f*ckin' points out of Kawhi once every blue moon? Every superstar in the game goes off at least once a week if not twice! I'll rip PG when necessary but can we get one game where our Batman puts the team on his back and carries us to victory?

[TheNewEra]

Regroup and keep fighting

[MartinToVaught]

He's the only one that showed up in this game. Wtf are you talking about? You're just hating and creating a narrative for the hell of it. The Clipper Doom Patrol, I swear man

Where was he in the 4th quarter, besides the threes he made in garbage time once the pressure was off?

He didn't get his points in garbage time. Can we f*ckin' get 30-40 f*ckin' points out of Kawhi once every blue moon? Every superstar in the game goes off at least once a week if not twice! I'll rip PG when necessary but can we get one game where our Batman puts the team on his back and carries us to victory?

Kawhi's absolutely struggling at times lately, but he at least has the track record of showing up when it matters. You don't fluke your way into two Finals MVPs, after all.

PG has the exact opposite track record and he just signed a $190 million contract, so he deserves more scrutiny.

[esqtvd]

Kennard has stayed ready, engaged, and aggressive. I don’t understand why he couldn’t see some minutes with Lou and Jackson both laying eggs.

Whether everyone hates him or not he had to get a look in this game with Morris, Lou, Reggie, etc not showing up

Here's the thing--If you introduce too many variables at once it's no longer a scientific experiment, it's just throwing spaghetti against the wall. Nobody learns anything.

In science, if you do an experiment, the next thing you do is repeat the experiment with no other variables, to see if you get the same results. The key experiment is Marcus playing with the first unit and to a lesser degree Batum on the second.

To his credit, Marcus stayed aggressive [7 rebs] and kept firing, although 5-14 and 1-9 from distance is NOT gonna get it done. But scapegoating is bullsh*it. Keep firing, Marcus. We gotta get you going.

And that's why giving Kennard any of Marcus' burn would be the wrong move tonight. Even if Kennard comes in and shoots like a god and we even win the game [unlikely even if he does--we lost by 16] we have learned nothing and built nothing. Kennard is still nowhere near joining the rotation and Marcus still sucks.

Ty knew what he was doing. At age 31 with a month left before the playoffs, all the Clippers can do now is throw Marcus into the deep end of the pool and see if he sinks or swims. He swam on Sunday, sank tonight. It's a process.

[BenchOnaQUEST]

This team is just unwatchable and incredibly difficult to root for at this point.

Playoff P is not even a star, let alone a "superstar," and this is the dumbest franchise in sports if they're not at least thinking about trading him in the offseason.

He's the only one that showed up in this game. Wtf are you talking about? You're just hating and creating a narrative for the hell of it. The Clipper Doom Patrol, I swear man

Hey Clemenza, actually MartinToVaught has a valid point there - Paul George is far from being a superstar right now.
Yes, he did finally show up and hit more than one three in the 4th quarter, but he was in a horrible slump, man.
MartinToVaught's frustration is easy to relate to....

[Clemenza]

Where was he in the 4th quarter, besides the threes he made in garbage time once the pressure was off?

He didn't get his points in garbage time. Can we f*ckin' get 30-40 f*ckin' points out of Kawhi once every blue moon? Every superstar in the game goes off at least once a week if not twice! I'll rip PG when necessary but can we get one game where our Batman puts the team on his back and carries us to victory?

Kawhi's absolutely struggling at times lately, but he at least has the track record of showing up when it matters. You don't fluke your way into two Finals MVPs, after all.

PG has the exact opposite track record and he just signed a $190 million contract, so he deserves more scrutiny.

And none of that was for the Clippers. Ya'll gonna give him a pass and he might f*ck around and bolt after this year is up while giving us nothing.. then what? F*ck the passes given. Deliver some sh*t for the B squad in LA!! I'm not coming until another star is coming with me so get it done, no leadership, load management all last season, no big games where he carries the team. Love that Kawhi is on the team but come on now. How long is the admiration going to last for the sh*t that he did with San Antonio and Toronto? Go ahead and rip PG when he's trash like the first Dallas game, I'll rip him too. But if you ripping him for this game and everybody else gets a pass then ya'll on some other weirdo agenda sh*t. But carry on

[Clemenza]

This team is just unwatchable and incredibly difficult to root for at this point.

Playoff P is not even a star, let alone a "superstar," and this is the dumbest franchise in sports if they're not at least thinking about trading him in the offseason.

He's the only one that showed up in this game. Wtf are you talking about? You're just hating and creating a narrative for the hell of it. The Clipper Doom Patrol, I swear man

Hey Clemenza, actually MartinToVaught has a valid point there - Paul George is far from being a superstar right now.
Yes, hi did finally show up and hit more than one three in the 4th quarter, but he was in a horrible slump, man.
MartinToVaught's frustration is easy to relate to....

I never said he's a superstar. He's a #2 or a #3 on a stacked team. He's a Robin no doubt. When I say superstar on our team I'm talkin about Kawhi

[MartinToVaught]

He didn't get his points in garbage time. Can we f*ckin' get 30-40 f*ckin' points out of Kawhi once every blue moon? Every superstar in the game goes off at least once a week if not twice! I'll rip PG when necessary but can we get one game where our Batman puts the team on his back and carries us to victory?

Kawhi's absolutely struggling at times lately, but he at least has the track record of showing up when it matters. You don't fluke your way into two Finals MVPs, after all.

PG has the exact opposite track record and he just signed a $190 million contract, so he deserves more scrutiny.

And none of that was for the Clippers. Ya'll gonna give him a pass and he might f*ck around and bolt after then year is up while giving us nothing.. then what? F*ck the passes given. Deliver some sh*t for the B squad in LA!! I'm not coming unless another star is coming with me so get it done, no leadership, load management all last season, no big games where he carries the team. Love that Kawhi is on the team but come on now. How long is the admiration going to last for the sh*t that he did with San Antonio and Toronto? Go ahead and rip PG when he's trash like the first Dallas game, I'll rip him too. But if you ripping him for this game and everybody else gets a pass then ya'll on some other weirdo agenda sh*t. But carry on

I'm not ripping PG for the sake of an agenda, it's just yet another important game where he vanished during winning time. I have more faith in Kawhi to turn things around based on his prior track record as a player than I do in PG to become the real star and leader he was hyped up to be.

Really, my biggest complaint with Kawhi is how he demanded another star immediately, forcing us into a terrible trade instead of having some patience. That being said, that's also on the front office for not fully convincing him to buy in and trust the process. Load management isn't something he could help, he has a degenerative knee condition that has to be managed, so it's not really fair to criticize him for that - I'm sure he'd much rather have fully-healthy tendons than get a few more games off to rest.

[esqtvd]

Hate losing that one the defense was so inconsistent all night and we didn’t take advantage of inside presence

They only scored 105 and are known as a below-average D. I think the way to beat these guys is to outscore them. Frankly I think were soft on OFFENSE. We're fine when hitting from 3--the highest % in the league. But tonight 28% and we cacked.

When we drive to the basket, we don't initiate contact. Don't pull up or around, lower the shoulder and get the call.

[Clemenza]

Kawhi's absolutely struggling at times lately, but he at least has the track record of showing up when it matters. You don't fluke your way into two Finals MVPs, after all.

PG has the exact opposite track record and he just signed a $190 million contract, so he deserves more scrutiny.

And none of that was for the Clippers. Ya'll gonna give him a pass and he might f*ck around and bolt after then year is up while giving us nothing.. then what? F*ck the passes given. Deliver some sh*t for the B squad in LA!! I'm not coming unless another star is coming with me so get it done, no leadership, load management all last season, no big games where he carries the team. Love that Kawhi is on the team but come on now. How long is the admiration going to last for the sh*t that he did with San Antonio and Toronto? Go ahead and rip PG when he's trash like the first Dallas game, I'll rip him too. But if you ripping him for this game and everybody else gets a pass then ya'll on some other weirdo agenda sh*t. But carry on

I'm not ripping PG for the sake of an agenda, it's just yet another important game where he vanished during winning time. I have more faith in Kawhi to turn things around based on his prior track record as a player than I do in PG to become the real star and leader he was hyped up to be.

Really, my biggest complaint with Kawhi is how he demanded another star immediately, forcing us into a terrible trade instead of having some patience. That being said, that's also on the front office for not fully convincing him to buy in and trust the process.

How did he vanish tonight? What about Lou, Morris, Reggie, etc not scoring. I get PG is shaky as hell and not up to par on certain nights but you're blaming him tonight is ridiculous. I hope somewhere down the line you demand that Kawhi gives us something before the season is out. Now who's coddling who?

[Clemenza]

Kennard has stayed ready, engaged, and aggressive. I don’t understand why he couldn’t see some minutes with Lou and Jackson both laying eggs.

Whether everyone hates him or not he had to get a look in this game with Morris, Lou, Reggie, etc not showing up

Here's the thing--If you introduce too many variables at once it's no longer a scientific experiment, it's just throwing spaghetti against the wall. Nobody learns anything.

In science, if you do an experiment, the next thing you do is repeat the experiment with no other variables, to see if you get the same results. The key experiment is Marcus playing with the first unit and to a lesser degree Batum on the second.

To his credit, Marcus stayed aggressive [7 rebs] and kept firing, although 5-14 and 1-9 from distance is NOT gonna get it done. But scapegoating is bullsh*it. Keep firing, Marcus. We gotta get you going.

And that's why giving Kennard any of Marcus' burn would be the wrong move tonight. Even if Kennard comes in and shoots like a god and we even win the game [unlikely even if he does--we lost by 16] we have learned nothing and built nothing. Kennard is still nowhere near joining the rotation and Marcus still sucks.

Ty knew what he was doing. At age 31 with a month left before the playoffs, all the Clippers can do now is throw Marcus into the deep end of the pool and see if he sinks or swims. He swam on Sunday, sank tonight. It's a process.

You're thinking too deep on it. If Morris, Lou, Reggie, Batum, etc aren't making shots then give the $60 million dollar guy some minutes. F*ck it, its just one regular season game right

[RingColluder]

Deep breath.

Ok, first off the good news! I was shocked to see no one mention Zu in this thread! He played fantastic. Two great games against the Mavericks, I hope he can continue it for games not against the Mavericks. Exactly the right type of defense, not getting lost nearly as much, and we're really seeing some solid chemistry with him and Kawhi. Very ok with him replacing Ibaka as the starter IF he continues to work out.

Kawhi's mindset was perfect. He played hard on both ends and is just one of the very few select players who is a game changer. Unfortunately he needs to press when the rest of the team is not playing like one and it shows. My only criticism with him is his GM-ing skills in free agency.

--
I can't emphasize enough just how **** Paul George is for a supposed superstar and max player. That Martin is spot on, I don't see how anyone can come away from yet ANOTHER atrocious game from PG (other than stat padding in meaningless minutes at the end of the game) and look at his mediocre defense, absolutely disgustingly horrible playmaking and ball handling and believe we can win a 1st round series with most decent teams in the West. There is nothing worse than a max player who hogs cap space and is NOT a good team player. The absolute worst. I cringe every time he starts intensely dribbling the ball for 20 seconds only to turn the ball over or shoot a horrible brick. I think he is a lost cause. He has lost his athleticism and just is not a good team player. I'm **** pissed.


And as usual, we need more depth. Morris was not aggressive enough this game and by the time he was, his rhythm was off. Give it another 10 games for me before I start to panic, I still like his defense. Batum is playing exactly up to his minimum salary requirements as well as Reggie.

The scary thing is we look like a middling playoff team who got outplayed in every sense to a less supposedly talented dMavericks team after adjustments. Not a championship contender who can compete with the Nets and Lakers.

We need a trade and I'm not sure what else we can do to convince me otherwise.

The blame falls on PG. Just like we saw with the Nuggets series, when PG doesn't have it (which is more often than not, I'd say maybe 80% of games), Kawhi is forced to play in a weird style that and force the issue which isn't ideal for his game. Stay in the corner PG, play defense and shoot spot up 3's. THAT'S IT. Why Ty Lue won't tell him to do this for the sake of the team is a major issue right now.

We're in deep trouble. If Zu and Morris can play up their fullest potential and we stay lucky with injuries, we'll be only reliant on PG to make a WCF run. But if those other aspects don't happen, I see a first round exit. This team is BAD.

Kawhi deserves better. This was a hugely disappointing game, especially given that this is similar to a playoff series with adjustments. We looked totally outclassed.

[RingColluder]

Hate losing that one the defense was so inconsistent all night and we didn’t take advantage of inside presence

They only scored 105 and are known as a below-average D. I think the way to beat these guys is to outscore them. Frankly I think were soft on OFFENSE. We're fine when hitting from 3--the highest % in the league. But tonight 28% and we cacked.

When we drive to the basket, we don't initiate contact. Don't pull up or around, lower the shoulder and get the call.

That's all Paul George. Why is he not shooting more foul shots? He needs to go up more aggressively, but his shoulder or whatever won't allow him to. At this point I just want him shooting 3's early in the shot clock on spot ups. For every nice ESPN highlight play he makes, there's another 4 awful shots or turnovers he makes in the same game. Im sick of it, he's ruining this team.

[RingColluder]

Kawhi's absolutely struggling at times lately, but he at least has the track record of showing up when it matters. You don't fluke your way into two Finals MVPs, after all.

PG has the exact opposite track record and he just signed a $190 million contract, so he deserves more scrutiny.

And none of that was for the Clippers. Ya'll gonna give him a pass and he might f*ck around and bolt after then year is up while giving us nothing.. then what? F*ck the passes given. Deliver some sh*t for the B squad in LA!! I'm not coming unless another star is coming with me so get it done, no leadership, load management all last season, no big games where he carries the team. Love that Kawhi is on the team but come on now. How long is the admiration going to last for the sh*t that he did with San Antonio and Toronto? Go ahead and rip PG when he's trash like the first Dallas game, I'll rip him too. But if you ripping him for this game and everybody else gets a pass then ya'll on some other weirdo agenda sh*t. But carry on

I'm not ripping PG for the sake of an agenda, it's just yet another important game where he vanished during winning time. I have more faith in Kawhi to turn things around based on his prior track record as a player than I do in PG to become the real star and leader he was hyped up to be.

Really, my biggest complaint with Kawhi is how he demanded another star immediately, forcing us into a terrible trade instead of having some patience. That being said, that's also on the front office for not fully convincing him to buy in and trust the process. Load management isn't something he could help, he has a degenerative knee condition that has to be managed, so it's not really fair to criticize him for that - I'm sure he'd much rather have fully-healthy tendons than get a few more games off to rest.

You are **** SPOT ON.

other than our major disagreements on Zu and Harrell from last year, this is perfectly said. Us with SGA, Gallinari and draft picks (plus potentially still Harrell without PG being an egotistical fool) is better than this current team.

This team got worse since last year and that's the worst part of it.

[RingColluder]

This team is just unwatchable and incredibly difficult to root for at this point.

Playoff P is not even a star, let alone a "superstar," and this is the dumbest franchise in sports if they're not at least thinking about trading him in the offseason.

He's the only one that showed up in this game. Wtf are you talking about? You're just hating and creating a narrative for the hell of it. The Clipper Doom Patrol, I swear man

With all due respect, I have no clue what game you're watching, truly. How anyone can watch the first 3 quarters of the game (till his 2 3's when we were down by 15) and say this.. I don't get it at all.

[Clemenza]

And none of that was for the Clippers. Ya'll gonna give him a pass and he might f*ck around and bolt after then year is up while giving us nothing.. then what? F*ck the passes given. Deliver some sh*t for the B squad in LA!! I'm not coming unless another star is coming with me so get it done, no leadership, load management all last season, no big games where he carries the team. Love that Kawhi is on the team but come on now. How long is the admiration going to last for the sh*t that he did with San Antonio and Toronto? Go ahead and rip PG when he's trash like the first Dallas game, I'll rip him too. But if you ripping him for this game and everybody else gets a pass then ya'll on some other weirdo agenda sh*t. But carry on

I'm not ripping PG for the sake of an agenda, it's just yet another important game where he vanished during winning time. I have more faith in Kawhi to turn things around based on his prior track record as a player than I do in PG to become the real star and leader he was hyped up to be.

Really, my biggest complaint with Kawhi is how he demanded another star immediately, forcing us into a terrible trade instead of having some patience. That being said, that's also on the front office for not fully convincing him to buy in and trust the process. Load management isn't something he could help, he has a degenerative knee condition that has to be managed, so it's not really fair to criticize him for that - I'm sure he'd much rather have fully-healthy tendons than get a few more games off to rest.

You are **** SPOT ON.

other than our major disagreements on Zu and Harrell from last year, this is perfectly said. Us with SGA, Gallinari and draft picks (plus potentially still Harrell without PG being an egotistical fool) is better than this current team.

This team got worse since last year and that's the worst part of it.

They're gone thanks to Kawhi now what??? Gallo is sh*t this year, do ya'll even watch games or do you skim through them? This might even be the same person as MTV. Trez was Klutch Sports and against the team. You still on that **** too?