Game 18: Dallas Mavericks @ Los Angeles Clippers: Nov 23 7:30 PM PCT

[TrueLAfan]

^^This. It seems like maybe my comment is being taken is being dismissive or putting down Zu. It's the opposite. He's always been relatively effectively when he's on the court, but the times when he could be on the court were limited by matchup issues, which caused fouls when he was put on the court. He can play against those matchups better now, so he's just as effective in court time while being able to give us more court time. I'll take those extra 400-500 minutes he's liable to play now, thanks. Good for Zu.

Thing is, we’re still 10-8 and that’s without, for all intents and purposes, Serge and Mook, who have played less than 120 combined minutes. It’s without Winslow, who has been less than zero so far, and with Bledsoe starting (very) slow, and with Batum in and out. The fact that we’re even mentioning Coffey shows the depth of the injuries. And we’re still 10-8.

And I‘m sticking with my hypothesis. We’ll stay at 10-8 … but we need more scoring punch. The logical place to get it is from TMann and Luke, who are playing more and should develop more. As long as we get 22 ppg from TMann and Kennard in 52-55 mpg, we'll probably be okay. That’s not more scoring—it’s same amount with more court time. (Last year, they averaged a little under .4 per minute combined per minute—that’s about 21-22 points in 55 mpg.) I’d like to see more, but that will be enough to keep us in the hunt. But with other players missing so much time, we need their offensive production to keep up with the extra minutes they’re playing. And it’s been spotty so far—but the pattern is clear.

Luke and TMann 21 ppg or more: 6-1 Team Record
Luke and TMann 20 ppg or less: 4-7 Team Record

[Wammy Giveaway]

And I‘m sticking with my hypothesis. We’ll stay at 10-8 … but we need more scoring punch. The logical place to get it is from TMann and Luke, who are playing more and should develop more. As long as we get 22 ppg from TMann and Kennard in 52-55 mpg, we'll probably be okay. That’s not more scoring—it’s same amount with more court time. (Last year, they averaged a little under .4 per minute combined per minute—that’s about 21-22 points in 55 mpg.) I’d like to see more, but that will be enough to keep us in the hunt. But with other players missing so much time, we need their offensive production to keep up with the extra minutes they’re playing. And it’s been spotty so far—but the pattern is clear.

Luke and TMann 21 ppg or more: 6-1 Team Record
Luke and TMann 20 ppg or less: 4-7 Team Record

Then here's my question to you: would you start Mann & Kennard? New starting lineup would be Jackson-Mann-Kennard-George-Zubac. Still small ball, but a) Bledsoe's on the bench (where he's best at given his Clipper past), b) Mann & Kennard are now your offensive targets, freeing up George, which leads to c) Jackson remains the bail out as he's always been.

[TheNewEra]

I don't think we need/want DJ; he's still an old school center, and his production drop has almost as much to do with the game (continuing) to move away from him as it does his own declining skills. Even a moderately healthy Serge would be fine.

Part of that is because of Zu. Is Zu playing a lot better than in the past? No--except for one very important statistic. He's fouling 30% less than last year. That's a massive difference. Zu has been over a foul every 9 minutes for almost all of his career--and you can't keep a guy like that on the court very long, even if you want to. We talk about Zu's matchup issues and how he's a situational player--the fouls showed that. When he plays against smaller, more mobile Cs, he reaches and grabs ... and fouls. But he's cut down on that to some degree. He's a little better in positioning; he doesn't make as many dumb attempts to recover as he used to. This year he's under a foul every 12 minutes. He's at a career MPG high, almost 15% higher than last year. He'll never be a 35 mpg guy in the modern NBA--but the difference between getting 18-20 effective minutes every game and 24-28 minutes is substantial. Good for Zu. Lucky for us.

So he didn’t get better but got better at a aspect of defense by limiting his fouling ? So getting better at positioning and defending without fouling while having a bump up on points isn’t playing better?


How is this even a topic about him when so many other players are having near career low shooting years? Morris still looks a step slower, Mann and Kennard are both struggling as of late with their roles, George is having problems with efficient shooting and Reggie is trying to get his stats up from Pistons season bad. This is all while Ibaka still hasn’t been up to speed the Hartenstein lineups are getting more difficult on defense in a more restricted role, Bledsoe is having a season worse than and the team is still wrecked by multiple injuries. Yet come in here to see the topic is on Zu and DeAndre Jordan

the key phrase is "a lot better" and i agree, he didn't really kick his game up to MIP levels or anything. he's playing more and impacting the game more simply by being on the court more, he's better in small ways, but he hasn't really added anything new to his game, so i agree with this assessment.

it's the same thing many of us have been saying for years: the more zubac plays, the better off the team is. his presence has always been integral to what the team wants to do and it shows to anyone who understands basketball.

He’s 24 years old the idea someone needs to take a MIP leap for the league when he’s making his own progressions and staying on the court to be productive is still a win. Mann and Kennard haven’t made a MIP leap and both guys are older but people are willing to accept small improvements to be successful. Not to mention those guys were not playing majority of their minutes with guys that were struggling shooting for majority of this season(Reggie/Bledsoe).

As for adding nothing to his game we all know the Ty has repeatedly told Zubac for 2 years now he doesn’t want him shooting. It’s been said in interviews and it’s been said by Zubac he’s been working on shooting in front of Ty to get a chance to do it. I don’t know clipper fans expect him to just go off the rails and try something new when the coach told him no and yet we know he’s still working on shooting before games.

The entire dialogue just feels like it’s skipping pass the numerous issues on this team to focus on someone that’s doing his job and improving. Team won’t have a lot of shots for any of the younger guys to do a lot of work in because with Reggie and George getting the majority and Mook coming back. If Zu can continue to get to the line and give the clippers some efficient scoring in limited shots it’s exactly what we need during this cold jump shooting time.

[nickhx2]

i like you, man but you're arguing with the wrong people here.

i like him, i think he's a good player, important part of the team, and i'm echoing what true is saying. he's made some smaller improvements, sure, but his most obvious improvement is by just being on the court more (which speaks to his positive impact). don't take the idiotic bashing of zubac you're seeing from other people and make me or true the enemy lol.

saying he isn't a "lot better" or that he hasn't made MIP improvements isn't a slight on him, or being disappointed in expectations of him. neither of us are saying he needs to be a thing, or do a thing, we're just talking about what's being observed thus far.