Game #10: LAC (3-6) @ NUGGETS (8-2) TUES 11/14 7 PM—TNT

[esqtvd]

Read on Twitter

[esqtvd]

I don't want to hate on Zu but

Read on Twitter

[Dynamix]

That guy responding to Russo on Twitter seems like a real piece of work.

[esqtvd]

That guy responding to Russo on Twitter seems like a real piece of work.

wow what part of it didn't you understand?

26 minutes and zero points
can't win a game with zero points

[og15]

This team has enough scorers for us to be talking about the points of role players and glue guys who took 1 shot in the game and it wasn't because he passed up open looks. This would be like mentioning how many points Draymond Green or Patrick Beverley scores in a game to gauge how well they performed in the game.

Mann had 6 rebounds (4 offensive), 5 assists, only 1 turnovers and was 0-1. His impact and activity was clear watching the game.

-3 in 26 minutes in a 3 point loss, ignoring all the single game +/- issues that we've rehashed many times also means the player was right on par with the team performance in the game. It doesn't actually mean anything to cite that.

Having a negative +/- does not mean a player had a bad game or was negatively impactful, all it means it that the other team was able to outscore the 5 man units he was on with. You can even have a great game and have a negative +/-, we are acknowledging this reality, right?

Seriously, you could be negative 2 in a game against a tough opponent by helping your team play even in those minutes, but having another teammate each get a tech in two occasions you were on the floor and the other team makes the FT's. So your actual on court time is even, and someone can go check the box score and say, "ah, they were negative with him on the floor"

[og15]

I don't want to hate on Zu but

Read on Twitter

Yea, players miss shots, it's not even good hating, just lazy hating since it's just something that happens. Even far superior players to him miss bunnies.

If Zu was shooting 44% as a C indicating he's missing a lot of easy ones (eg: Ben Wallace with his terrible hands, missed dunks, no touch, etc who made it up with elite defense), then sure, we could complain about his finishing, but he's a 57% shooter who shoots 60% at the rim (career 69%), so I think he's okay.

It's just us fans being fans with lazy takes, NBD.

[MartinToVaught]

Damn.

We lost again.

Hard fought loss at least though, and actually looked like a competent team, baby steps I guess?

Was it really, or was Denver just playing down to us? With how much of a disaster this team has been, I'm more inclined to believe the latter.

[Roscoe Sheed]

I don't want to hate on Zu but

Read on Twitter

Yea, players miss shots, it's not even good hating, just lazy hating since it's just something that happens. Even far superior players to him miss bunnies.

If Zu was shooting 44% as a C indicating he's missing a lot of easy ones (eg: Ben Wallace with his terrible hands, missed dunks, no touch, etc who made it up with elite defense), then sure, we could complain about his finishing, but he's a 57% shooter who shoots 60% at the rim (career 69%), so I think he's okay.

It's just us fans being fans with lazy takes, NBD.

true, but it does seem that Zubac is a bit stone handed and a somewhat mechanical around the rim as compared with Plumlee. It is very unfortunate he got injured because I think he would work very well with Harden- he is so good at throwing lob passes to athletic big men

[KL2]

Ouch. It doesn’t help that they rinse and repeat the same shots. Gotta do better mixing it up. They said Lue was a master at this stuff.

Read on Twitter

Damn.

We lost again.

Hard fought loss at least though, and actually looked like a competent team, baby steps I guess?

Was it really, or was Denver just playing down to us? With how much of a disaster this team has been, I'm more inclined to believe the latter.

It can be both. Denver doesn’t look as sharp without Murray no surprise. Malone was telling them pregame we’re a desperate team and no road victories yet too. He warned them about playing down but they still had slippages.

I thought this was the first game where the curtain was pulled back a little. You could see them fighting back, not hanging their heads, and so on. There’s just so much to fine tune still.

One of them is getting Leonard involved again. He can’t go 4-5 minutes without a shot. I don’t know if they’re load managing him in game but he can’t park himself at the 3 point line and be a spectator for the long stretches he is.

Read on Twitter

[Clemenza]

Small ball against Jokic was the Bubble nightmare all over again. Lue keeping Zu on the bench late in the 4th was unforgivable. Great game from PG outside of his last shot that got wedged. Harden is improving and showed life. When do we have the conversation on Kawhi's bad play? We win the game if he knocks down a couple of baskets in the 4th. Mann did a lot of good out there but he's got to score some points. He passed up a layup and two open shots. Good to see PJ finally knock down a jumper. Kobe Brown still should be ahead of him imo. There's signs of life but the losses are piling up like crazy.

[KL2]

Kawhi was fine before the trade. No one was talking about his bad play or wondering if he was cooked. It’s no coincidence his play has taken a dive since the trade.

Post ups are pretty much gone. Not a lot of screens being set. Not a lot of movement without the ball either. He’s still getting to some of his spots but they’re not falling right now. No rhythm to his offense. He’s parked at the 3 point line and has become a spectator. I assume that’s by design for whatever reasons. It needs to change quick though. He was running before so it’s not like he can’t adjust his game some. I wonder if he misses Bones. They had some good chemistry but he’s out of the rotation.

When your opponent knows taking the ball out of your best players hand is a win then you know there’s a problem.

I mentioned earlier in the thread if this is the plan for Leonard then maybe bring him off the bench.

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[clipperlover]

That's a tough shot to take

Was a bad shot by PG. We still had time to move the ball. He shot with just under 8 seconds right and with KCP all up on him. Norm was coming through a screen and had Reggie trailing him. PG just needed to be patient a little longer.

[NickP]

I don't want to hate on Zu but

Read on Twitter

Yea, players miss shots, it's not even good hating, just lazy hating since it's just something that happens. Even far superior players to him miss bunnies.

If Zu was shooting 44% as a C indicating he's missing a lot of easy ones (eg: Ben Wallace with his terrible hands, missed dunks, no touch, etc who made it up with elite defense), then sure, we could complain about his finishing, but he's a 57% shooter who shoots 60% at the rim (career 69%), so I think he's okay.

It's just us fans being fans with lazy takes, NBD.

true, but it does seem that Zubac is a bit stone handed and a somehow mechanical around the rim as compared with Plumlee. It is very unfortunate he got injured because I think he would work very well with Harden- he is so good at throwing lob passes to athletic big men

Couldn't agree more with you except Zu is not a "bit" stone handed but a lot. I made an observation in the last game thread about Zu not being there completely.
Having said that it's unfair to pin this on one missed shot or rebound. We missed 3 layups in 6 possessions to start the 3rd Q.

The biggest takeaway for me was we hung in till the end.

[KL2]

Read on Twitter

[MartinToVaught]

With the acquisition of Harden, Lue explained to Hyland that he would not be in the rotation for the foreseeable future... Hyland was given a timeframe of a five-to-six-game window, sources say.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10097449-inside-la-clippers-growing-pains-getting-superstars-to-sacrifice-harden-on-critics

I'm not even a huge fan of Bones, but there isn't a more toxic environment in the league for any player under 30 than the Clippers. Lue's ever-shifting "x-game window" is the insult to injury.

If I was a NBA draft prospect who got drafted by the Clippers - yes, I know Bones wasn't, but that's not the point - I'd pull a Danny Ferry instead of wasting my career on the bench. Being a young player on this team means your career is probably over before it started.

[NickP]

Damn.

We lost again.

Hard fought loss at least though, and actually looked like a competent team, baby steps I guess?

Was it really, or was Denver just playing down to us? With how much of a disaster this team has been, I'm more inclined to believe the latter.

Do not agree with your take about Denver playing down to us. We missed open shots and layups. I'd say we're in most games but we end up finding ways to lose.

[esqtvd]

This team has enough scorers for us to be talking about the points of role players and glue guys who took 1 shot in the game and it wasn't because he passed up open looks. This would be like mentioning how many points Draymond Green or Patrick Beverley scores in a game to gauge how well they performed in the game.

Mann had 6 rebounds (4 offensive), 5 assists, only 1 turnovers and was 0-1. His impact and activity was clear watching the game.

-3 in 26 minutes in a 3 point loss, ignoring all the single game +/- issues that we've rehashed many times also means the player was right on par with the team performance in the game. It doesn't actually mean anything to cite that.

Having a negative +/- does not mean a player had a bad game or was negatively impactful, all it means it that the other team was able to outscore the 5 man units he was on with. You can even have a great game and have a negative +/-, we are acknowledging this reality, right?

Seriously, you could be negative 2 in a game against a tough opponent by helping your team play even in those minutes, but having another teammate each get a tech in two occasions you were on the floor and the other team makes the FT's. So your actual on court time is even, and someone can go check the box score and say, "ah, they were negative with him on the floor"

minus-3 was fine
anything a little under or over break-even is statistical noise
but you can't win a game with zero points

it's a rule lol

[nickhx2]

Small ball against Jokic was the Bubble nightmare all over again. Lue keeping Zu on the bench late in the 4th was unforgivable. Great game from PG outside of his last shot that got wedged. Harden is improving and showed life. When do we have the conversation on Kawhi's bad play? We win the game if he knocks down a couple of baskets in the 4th. Mann did a lot of good out there but he's got to score some points. He passed up a layup and two open shots. Good to see PJ finally knock down a jumper. Kobe Brown still should be ahead of him imo. There's signs of life but the losses are piling up like crazy.

agree with this.

i think there are people who over-blame lue for plenty of things, whether it's here or elsewhere (and hey i mean we go back to last year and if i'm not the loudest critic, i don't know who is). but while i'm not gonna make him the main or sole culprit for these past several games, it boggles the mind that zu was left on the bench when he was doing such good things for us. definitely think lue has to do better with that stuff. it's one thing if you have 5-out offense that's raking in points off of mismatches that the opponents can't keep up with, or if we actually managed to deploy our 5-wing "wingstop" defense in a way that completely disrupted the nuggets (which never truly came to fruition, thanks for that, t-lue), but yeah that wasn't the case.

at any rate, i'm happy to see the signs of life. if we were further into the season i'd be taking some deep breaths but i'm not terribly concerned right now and i'm definitely feeling optimistic.

[KL2]

Read on Twitter

[esqtvd]

Read on Twitter