SB Nation User Blog: Jax

NY Times / J Abrams article on Elgin Baylor lawsuit

Jax — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:41:55 -0000

NY Times / J Abrams article on Elgin Baylor lawsuit

Very sad for all concerned

This deserves mention

Jax — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:24:04 -0000

This deserves mention

Stuckey - player of the week. Just because.

Suns 106 - Clippers 98

Jax — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 06:58:27 -0000

I wrote in a post before this game that the Clippers might have a shot if Shaq didn’t play. Well, he did, and BD didn’t. For the record, the Clippers were without three starters, BD, Randolph and Kaman, as well as three bench players, Ricky “Blunt” Davis and Mike Taylor. Thus, the outcome of this game, the Clippers’ sixth loss in a row, was predetermined.

The Suns blew out the Clips in the first quarter, up by 18 right out of the gate. Amare was a man among boys. The Suns ran their offense through Shaq at times, and Grant Hill hit a couple of threes on kickouts. Somehow, the Clippers won quarters 2, 3 and 4. That, however, is a somewhat misleading stat because it was clear which was the better team.

The Suns looked good for the most part, but it seemed they got bored and lost focus. On the other hand, the 10 Clippers who did show up did play hard. Having said that, the Clippers couldn’t stop the Suns – who shot 55% for the game. The Clippers, on the other hand, shot 42%.

The Suns were of course rather efficient. They had 25 assists. Nash played 3 quarters and had 11 assists, JRich with 15 points, Shaq with 17 and 9, Barbosa with 12, 5 and 4, Amare had 23 and 8. Lou Ahmundson proved to be tonight’s unsung hero, bringing a lot of energy off the bench.

A couple of thoughts about the Clipper offense. Other than EJ and Novak running out around screens, there is very little movement by the guards from one side of the court to the other. This offense is all about isos, which in my view discourages team play and asks individual players to do far too much. Unless you have superstars or mismatches, offenses tend to work much better when everyone is involved. I think that the team would do much better running a standard motion offense and the efforts of the players out there would be rewarded more often. For the most part, the team expended far too much energy tonight trying to score.

Someone mentioned Thornton’s inconsistency in a post in the past few days. You could really see that tonight. Sometimes he makes plays that leave you breathless, like when takes that first step to the hole or gets an offensive rebound put back high above the rim. At other times, you just have to shake your head, like when he catches the ball at the beginning of the shot clock at the elbow and shoots a fade away, without setting his feet or allowing the team to get into its offense. He also inexplicably can’t handle the basics at times, such as mishandling the receiving end of a simple pick and roll. Tonight he was 5 – 18. That’s not going to get it done. Of course, he almost got decapitated in the third on a foul by Amare.

Gordon looked good overall tonight, finishing with 21 points. He wasn’t shy with his shots, and the Clippers ran some screens for him, which was a good thing to see. On the other hand, he would sometimes force the action unnecessarily, trying to do too much. It almost appeared like he was given the green light to do whatever he wanted, which may not be surprising given number of Clippers who were hurt. I’m not sure that we want EJ shooting threes at the beginning of the shot clock with no one under the basket. He did have a beautiful dunk off a cut at the end of the first half. And his D against JRich improved as the game wore on.

Camby was a stud tonight, as usual. 19 and 23. He alone is worth the price of admission. He brought his all tonight, as usual, and his effort appeared to be infectious.

As oasisman pointed out in a recent post, MDSr found a good one in Fred Jones. The veteran, who played 33 minutes tonight, finished with 16 points and 4 assists off 4 – 12 shooting.

Mardy Collins, Novak and Skinner all brought good effort tonight. Paul Davis didn’t play much, which says a lot about what MDSr thinks of him.

All in all, the Clippers played about as well as could be expected given the hand they were dealt with and the type of offense they are being asked to run. Not holding out much hope for Sunday’s game against the Pistons (and Stuckey, who scored 39 points tonight), particularly if BD is still out.

CS - thanks for the opportunity to write a recap. Enjoyed it.

MDSr Implies DWade Cheats

Jax — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:55:32 -0000

MDSr Implies DWade Cheats

Interesting article. MDSr is now spending time unnecessarily dissing one of the NBA's top three stars.

Wonder what positive developments can come from that. Probably doesn't help the Clippers' long-term goal of signing top free agents.

In addition, as Wade says, maybe MDSr should be worrying about his own team:

"There's a lot of things going on that could be called," Wade said. "So if you want to nitpick at everything, then he doesn't have enough to do. He needs to do something else."

I think MDSr has enough to do trying to right the 3-15 ship that is the Clippers. Hopefully he'll get to that.

Clippers Looking to Trade Kaman?

Jax — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:16:59 -0000

Caught this article this morning from Peter Vescey in the NY Post. If true, it seems as though MDSr is actually doing something as GM that could help the team. I had mentioned in previous posts that I thought the Clippers would be better off with a traditional PF rather than two centers. There are a number of angles here. First, interesting that they are seeking to move Kaman here. Doubt they resign Camby in two years, so it would seem that someone has decided that they can't win with Kaman.

Second, this appears to reflect a realization within the Clippers that they need more range and athleticism from the PF position, and that this would help them more than the positives that go along with the twin towers approach. I would speculate that this attitude might be coming from BD.

Third, since Kaman's contract is not horrible by current NBA standards, and since he's a 7 foot center, the Clippers might be able to get someone halfway decent for him. I suspect that they will seek someone younger with upside, but that could create salary issues. (Maybe they can wrestle Philly's newly-signed PF away . . .) Let the speculation begin.

In any event, I see the Clippers trying to leverage their assets as a positive trend, whatever the outcome.

Investigation - Donaghy Only Culprit

Jax — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:34:07 -0000

Investigation - Donaghy Only Culprit

For all you conspiracy theorists, the results of the investigation into the Donaghy are in, and it turns out (surprise)that he was the only culprit. Thus, the NBA is not fixed, there is no Trilateral Commission and we can all go back to work.

Chris Sheridan on The US' Chances in Beijing

Jax — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:37:51 -0000

Chris Sheridan on The US' Chances in Beijing

This is a great article by Chris Sheridan, who has been following US basketball for years on the international stage, predicting how the US will do in Beijing and why.

Great read.

R. Davis and Hart are Introduced

Jax — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:27:22 -0000

R. Davis and Hart are Introduced

The Ricky Davis era begins

Article - Maggette Believes Brand

Jax — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:20:15 -0000

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_9865888

I find it quite ironic given the current speculation-based "EB lied" hysteria around here that MDSr was telling everyone just before the draft that the Clippers fully expected Maggette to return. Not true.

Maggette and Brand have always been stand-up guys with the Clippers, and have had to endure much during that time. No need to go over those issues here. If Maggette, who handled his exit professionally, says he believes EB, we should think twice about blasting him before all the facts are out. After all, who knows EB better?

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Just our luck

Jax — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:35:45 -0000

It looks like Gallinari may be the real deal.

"Danilo Gallinari celebrated his Euroleague Rising Star award that honors him as this season’s best youngster with another very productive outing in the Italian League. He had 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals, in front of a large number of NBA scouts and executives, although his team couldn’t beat Upim Bologna. Danilo’s streak of double-digit games in the scoring department continues, and he’s yet to fail reaching the 10-point mark this season in the Italian League, which sounds like unbelievable consistency for a 19-year-old player. With the regular season now in the books, Gallinari’s team will face 4th seeded Montegrenaro in the playoffs, with his team Milano being the 5th seed.[/p]"

He could be a great prospect. Of course, he's a forward.