SB Nation User Blog: ghost_ride

Resetting the Draft

ghost_ride — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:20:54 -0000

If the Clippers hired me to play GM for the draft, this is how I would approach it. I've seen enough mock drafts w/ Thabeet going to us at the 3 spot to be more than a little concerned, but hopefully we'll be competent enough to avoid him.

#1. Ricky Rubio - Many are tempted to put him in the #1 spot, and it's easy to see why if you watch any film on him. He's a throw-back kind of player that could not only be great, but one of the most exciting to watch lead a team. With the fan base and executives anywhere from disappointed to infuriated w/ BD's 1st season, this could be just the face lift the team needs. As recently mentioned in the previous thread, Rubio & EJ have the potential to make for one of the most youthful & explosive back courts in the league. Probability of drafting #1: 17.7%

#2. Blake Griffin - For strong reason, the consensus 1st overall pick would bring plenty of buzz to the Clippers, but Griffin wouldn't figure to have the kind of impact that the team needs in the short term, nor would he seem to have the edge on long term upside when compared to Rubio. He's definitely the most prudent pick at #1 due to his very high floor, but the Clippers don't need solid, they need transcendent. On the other hand, Griffin would seem like a dream pick for OKC...Probability of drafting #2: 17.3%

Probability of drafting 1 or 2 : 35% Unfortunately, we must come to grips with the fact that we are unlikely to draft Blake Griffin or Ricky Rubio. While we have a solid chance of getting here, the reality is that we can't be too disappointed when the odds aren't in our favor. If it's any consolation, the Wizards only have a 35.2% chance of landing in the top 2 spots while the Kings are also under 50% likely go 1st or 2nd @ 46.5%

#3. DeMar DeRozan - Pick #3 is where it starts to get interesting, but what I like about DeMar is that he for sure has an NBA body w/ a ton of upside, and in the small amount of experience we have to go on, he played his best at the right time. Despite the merry-go-round exploits of his "posse", he seems like a good kid, and think he projects as a nice upgrade over Thornton because he's got a better shooting stroke and because he has an easier time deffering to teammates. He'll need to be coached, especially on the defensive end, but it's hard to pass up on this kind of talent, especially after Thornton's stock sliding over the past year. Unless someone goes overboard trying to trade up to get him, I take this guy all the way here. Probability of drafting #3: 16.4%

At least we are likely to land in the top 3 w/ an overall 51.4% chance.

#4. Brandon Jennings - Ricky Rubio aside, he's the only other PG that really stands out from the pack of solid points coming out this year. Like DeRozan, he's a hometown kid with plenty of upside to spare and is arguably more skilled at his position than DeRozan, but questions about how his body will hold up in the NBA persist. While he boasts more quickness and flash than Rubio, he doesn't seem to have that "heart of a champion" determination that Rubio plays with, though he does possess an inner toughness & cool about him that could prove to be very effective just as well. Would be slightly more willing to trade out of this spot, but am still plenty intruiged to take a shot and draft him. Probability of drafting #4 - 19.5%

#5. Jordan Hill - I don't like Hill at #3 or 4 as much because I like the idea of us taking a bold move rather than a safe pick this time, not that Hill is the safest pick around. No doubt he's improved tremendously over the last couple of years, but that also means he wasn't very good just a short time ago and his game still obviously needs plenty of work. Taking Harden, and dealing him shortly thereafter might be another option here, or just trading down or out altogether, just depends what we get back. Probability of drafting #5: 25%

Scary thought: We have about as much chance of drafting #4 or 5 (44.5%) as Sacramento has of drafting #1 or 2 (46.5%).

#6. With a 4% chance of landing here, we're obviously a big longshot to wind up having to be in this position, but if we do, we should be able to take one of the aforementioned players, especially with Thabeet & Harden projected in the top 5. If all else fails, we'd be all but forced to trade our pick, but the group of guys who figure to round out the lottery are Earl Clark, Stephen Curry, Gerald Henderson, Ty Lawson, Chase Budinger, Jonny Flynn, Erik Maynor, Tyreke Evans, & James Johnson. Donatas Mantiejunas (international player) is showing up on ESPN's simulator, but I don't know much about him.

Danny Granger's Knee's

ghost_ride — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 19:53:25 -0000

Danny Granger's Knee's

Probably old news to some of you, but I never knew the reason why so many GM's passed on Granger in the draft.

The "JV Team" v.s. The "Real Clippers"

ghost_ride — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:44:01 -0000

It's pretty crazy to think about, but I really think that we've been watching a team closer to the actual Clippers than a JV team these last few games. The JV team has just recently played a decently competitive game against the Lakers, actually finishing a margin better than the Spurs or Cavs have managed. They've also been able to notch a couple actual wins, which is big for any Clipper team this year, and last night we watched them play the Trailblazers tough for 3 quarters, coming off a back to back w/ a short flight sandwiched inbetween.

A big reason the JV Team hasn't been a joke is that the Point Guard play has really stepped up in BD's absence. Mardy Collins for a while, and lately Fred Jones has really been knocking down shots. With as bad as BD was playing this year, have we really been losing much here? Trump card of course is that BD finds his past form, or at least something much better than what we've seen.

DeAndre has also done a pretty good job filling in for Center. He's no where near as reliable and steady as Camby, but he can make some pretty explosive plays that neither Kaman or Camby can. And for all the wacked out stuff we see from DeAndre, don't a lot of those mistakes often remind you of another Clipper Center on our roster? Hint: He's the longest tenured Clipper.

And Novak has been a huge boost offensively, and wouldn't have been getting this playing time otherwise. Crazy as it sounds, I'd say the difference in those positions are pretty negligible.

Hands down the biggest difference in this JV Team we've been watching and the Real Clippers is Zach Randolph. We've all seen we're a different team with him establishing a pecking order in our offense.

And obviously, we'll have plenty of depth to look forward to once the Real Clippers are back in action...maybe we can even spare ourselves of an alleged (but highly suspicious) nba point guard currently on our roster.

What the hope is though, is that the JV Team will have learned something from their experience fending for themselves. EJ & AT will hopefully be better players for it, and be somewhat overqualified, or just better qualified for their roles. Novak will be a regular contributor, our back-up point guard spot will be plenty robust, and project DeAndre status' might be changing to useful DeAndre.

Clippers 101, Bucks 92

ghost_ride — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 08:54:14 -0000

In front of an enthusiastic crowd at Staples center, the Clippers put forth one of their most satisfying victories of the year tonight, snapping their 12 game losing streak against a solid Bucks team that easily handled them 12 games ago in Milwaukee.

The Clippers didn't feature a go to scorer or a high volume shooter tonight, but had 6 players score between 12 and 18 points, with the bench chipping in for a robust 26. That's pretty balanced scoring to say the least. Everyone who played helped the cause with the exception of Fred Jones, who managed 4 turnovers and a missed shot (block against) in just under 10 minutes. Just a brutal game for him.

Camby had one of his most complete offensive performances as a Clipper, aggressively and efficiently attacking the rim and making his outside shots to go 9 for 13 from the field. His front court counter-part, Brian Skinner was shockingly productive as well, putting forth his highest offensive output (18 pts on 8/12 shooting) since April of 2004. Solid rebounding (8) and interior defense (4 blocks) made his performance all the more impressive...So is this why we keep the guy around?

If Skinner's play came out of left field, it was Al Thornton's team oriented line that brought the house down.

13 pts (5/9 FG's in 39 minutes)
8 rebounds
5 assists (ties a career high)
4 blocks (ties a career high)
1 turnover

Yes, Al Thornton. The efficient, low volume shooter, who shares the basketball, rebounds, and makes big defensive plays w/out turning the ball over? Well, for one night anyway. Thank god we won the game, which hopefully gives him some positive reinforcement in how to help the team win without having to score. Side note: His total of 9 (assists + blocks) was 50% more than his previous career high of 6.

Ricky Davis played more or less the way we expected him to play based on last years stats. It was not without a lucky bank shot, and some major contributions to poor ball movement, but he made some big shots when the team needed them and that's what the team has needed.

Gordon continued to struggle a bit from the field but hit a couple big threes and created a wide open 3 for Ricky Davis that was one of the most important plays of the game. His defense continued to be eye popping...fighting through screens and closing out at the 3 pt. line (take good notes Thornton). He finished w/ 4 steals & a block.

Mardy Collins seems to have locked up the back up point guard spot...now who saw this coming? He needs to work on his free throw shooting and show an ability to bring the ball up a little quicker, but other than that he's showing rock-like reliability.

Of course the biggest news of the night was Marcus Camby's injury in the 2nd half. As he slowly walked off the court, it gave the Clipper faithful a chance to show their appreciation for the player who has taken over the teams "lead by example" leadership role left vacant by Elton Brand's departure. Minutes after heading to the locker room, he came back to the bench and received another rousing ovation from the crowd. His coming back to the bench was obviously a great sign going forward, and a huge lift for everyone.

Afterwards, it seemed that the team needed this win just to stay sane. The guys who've been forced to step up due to all the injuries finally proved they could win a game, and also look pretty good while doing it.

Salvaging the Season

ghost_ride — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:03:18 -0000

It's amazing to think of our once 8-18 record as the good old days. Some of us still dreamed that a herculean finish to the season could allow us to sneak into the playoffs. Now, we keep hearing players and coaches talking about "Trying to Salvage the Season".

Dunleavy was on AM710 last night doing a pretty good job of explaining why we're in the spot that we're in, citing injuries, and that BD isn't as worthless as he seems (8 assists per game), he's just off to a poor shooting start. Apparently, his objective is to get all the players back healthy and show the fan base what the team is capable of heading in to next year, which isn't much of a surprise. Whether he'll be able to effectively lead a disorganized, talent-laden team is another question for the beleaguered head coach & gm.

The current losing streak has seen us play competitively against the better teams in the league, but then so have other bottom feeders like OKC & Minnesota. With any given team seemingly capable of victory on any given night in the NBA, the ability to close out games may be the biggest difference between the winners and losers, and one area we've proven to be especially deficient. All weaknesses seem to arise when the game is on the line: Lack of team chemistry, judgement, focus, leadership, execution, determination.

As we start to see our team get healthy again, hopefully we'll get to evaluate fair and square what this team will be capable of heading into next year.

Mavs 98 – Clippers 76

ghost_ride — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:44:29 -0000

Coming off the five day layoff the Clippers had hoped to get some key guys healthy, but instead they wind up playing their first game since Nov. 24 without the services of Zach Randolph. Before the game we learned that Dallas would be without their own leading scorer in Dirk Nowitzki (serving a one game suspension), but unfortunately the Mavs didn’t miss him much today, and operated like a professional team on a business trip, while the Clippers continued a trend of (3) bad losses that started in Milwaukee last Saturday. There have been some valid excuses (dead-tired starters, w/out Camby, w/out Randolph), but we’ve seen how better teams like San Antonio, Utah, and Dallas today have competed without their star players so far this season, and we don't seem nearly as capable.

The 1st Quarter: To say that the Clippers got off to a sluggish start today would be a gross understatement. Unfortunately for the Clips; when two evenly matched teams mix it up (the line was LAC by 1), the game can often be decided early, and today Dallas easily reached a double digit lead within a few minutes. On offense, I’m not sure the Clippers have looked worse all season, taking turns shooting a string of contested jumpers, while having no answer for Josh Howard and the Mavs’ efficient offense. To put it in perspective, after over seven minutes of play, Marcus Camby was our only scorer, with six points. After the 1st quarter was over, he accounted for eight of our thirteen points. Mavericks 24, Clippers 13. Dunleavy’s 1st timeout comes with 5:48 remaining.

The most encouraging part of the game came early in the 2nd quarter, where the improbable lineup of Jason Hart, Eric Gordon, Fred Jones, Al Thornton & DeAndre cut the lead to two about midway through the quarter. Hart’s aggressive play really stood out, Gordon was creating & executing, while the new acquisition Fred Jones was showing more than competent play, highlighted by a “look what I found” deflection that he took coast to coast for an impressive layup. What’s also notable is that DeAndre Jordan is on the floor again during an explosive come from behind run. Coming out of Dallas’ timeout, it’s clear that the momentum isn’t carrying forward. BD finally checks in with 4:21 left, Clippers down six. His uninspired play continues, and the Clippers give up the rest of their gains from earlier in the quarter. Mavericks 45, Clippers 34. Baron Davis zero (0) points at the half.

The second half began and ended in a see-saw fashion that featured some more spirited play from Baron Davis, but the Clippers only threaten to fully come back, and can never string big plays together in order to make it happen. Dallas makes it all the more difficult by completely dominating the glass.

Finishing at 41.7% from the field, Dallas didn’t shoot particularly well, but they made up for it in rebounding (53-38), three’s (9-22), minimizing turnovers (7), and making their free throws (19-21). The Clippers poor shooting (38%) can be attributed to the lack of a post presence and their overall inability to attack the rim while being unable to hit from outside. Another way to sum up this game was that Dallas had Josh Howard (29/9 & 7 assists), and the Clippers couldn't stop him, or counter with a player of his caliber tonight.

The unexpected output from the bench (22 points) was a welcome surprise for the Clippers, and was the only reason the game was competitive in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Fred Jones looks like a solid addition, and Mardy Collins looked like he might be beginning to carve out his role on the team, converting on his first three inside shot attempts, but on his fourth attempt he hogged the ball badly and forced up a shot that was blocked, resulting in one of the ugliest possessions of the night.

The Clippers have proven to be a decent team with Randolph at full strength (6-6), and among the worst in the league without (2-15), but still there was some room for optimism for those who remembered that our first win of the season came against Dallas at home. As it turned out, with the exception of Camby (16/12 & 5 blocks), the Clipper starters didn’t show up tonight. BD was about as bad as we’ve seen, EJ had it going in the 2nd quarter, but struggled in the 2nd half. He got tripped up on a number of plays trying to drive, and got stuffed on a transition layup where he should have passed to his wing-mate. Thorton favored the jumper, in going 3 of 9 from the outside, and 3 of 6 from close. The revolving door at Power Forward was mixed between below average and worse.

Next up: Visiting Sacramento on Wednesday, and hosting Philadelphia on NYE.

Obviously, there are a lot of concerns with our team right now, and with the playoffs becoming more and more of an impossibility, the focus of this veteran-laden team is hard to figure going forward.

1st 17 At a Glance

ghost_ride — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:50:25 -0000

Blowout Losses: 6 LAL(38), Utah(22), Utah(16), LAL(18), GS(18), NJ(17)

All the blowout losses were a result of being over-matched. It was fun to take the Lakers into the 4th quarter on equal terms, but it never felt like we would win that game. At least, we haven't been blown out w/ ZBO in the mix, but tonight will be our first opportunity, depending on how the team responds to last night's catastrophe.

Mid-Range Losses: 2 HOU(9), NO(12)

In the HOU & NO games we kept within striking distance, but just couldn't overcome early deficits. The New Orleans game easily could've been a blowout if EJ didn't start.

Close Losses: 6 DEN(10-OT), SAC(5), SA(3), DEN(1), PHI(1), DAL(2)

These are the tough losses that have made a bad start extra painful. In 3 out of the 6, we really didn't have any business winning considering how we played...we showed the ability to get back into the game, however we couldn't deliver the knockout punch at the end, SAC(5), SA(3), DEN(1). In 2 of the games, PHI(1), DAL(2), we pretty much controlled the game on the road only to falter at the end. Most of these games were fated by a wild shot and/or a late TO from BD. BD can't be blamed for the Denver OT loss, as he was injured in the 2nd quarter.

Close Wins: 1

Equally as disturbing as the 2 road games we let slip away was the Miami home game over the weekend. We did a good job of staying with Miami all game, and finally took control late in the 4th quarter. We were all counting the win, until the game simply got closer than we wanted it to be at the end when it looked like we would be forced to make free throws on our final possession. Until BD throws away the entry pass and we waited for the officials to decide our fate. A clutch defensive stand saves the game.

Mid-Range Wins: 1

Our first win against Dallas at home. The Clippers actually managed to take control of the game early and hold on for the win, leading throughout the 4th quarter.

Blowout Wins: 1

Looking like disaster early on, the Clippers caught fire late in the 2nd quarter, and carried it into the 2nd half where OKC's front line was exposed in a major way.

What Could Have Been

All total we're 1-6 in close games, and I count at least 3 games that we gave away at the end, and 3 in which we were able to come back at the very end but not finish. Simply taking care of business puts this ball club at 6-11, and finding more at the end of some rally's gets us to 7-10, or 8-9. But it hasn't been done, so much so that a slightly sub .500 team for the first 40+ minutes of games manages to go 3-14 for the first 17 games of the season.

Adjustments?

Obviously, adjustments have to be made at this point, especially considering last nights game was the worst of the year. A constant theme has been BD's inability to create and poor decision making, and the coaches inability to implement structure in final possessions. You could also argue that game management has hurt the club in this area. When Hughes had his turn to coach, he gave the bench more minutes, which gave us an energy edge late in the game to tie it up. Things are looking better with Randolph and Gordon joining the starting lineup, and may get even better if Kaman can come back at full strength, but until we learn how to play coherently late in the game, it's not going to matter. Maybe we could fly Sam Cassell down to L.A. for weekend courses?

2 Guard Controversy

ghost_ride — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:20:38 -0000

While it's true that the bulk of our salary is being spent on 4 players; PG, PF, C, C., an obvious question comes to mind, shouldn't we be spending more on our SG & SF positions?

The simple answer is not necessarily, because right now we have the luxury of not having to pay for talent at SG & SF because the two current starters there are under rookie contracts. It would appear that EJ is in greater danger to lose playing time if he were to struggle because he's a true rookie, he's already been passed over by Davis(2), and the newly acquired Collins will probably be getting a shot to prove his meddle. But as we all know, the only option Clipper Nation can be happy about is for EJ to take this opportunity and run with it, while avoiding injury. If he does go down, we have bodies to replace him, but obviously not the same talent or upside. As it is now, we have a rotation of Mike Taylor (who would move BD to SG), Davis(2), Mardy Collins, & Steve Novak to back up these spots if EJ or Thornton were to go down or struggle. These back-up options aren’t pretty, but if EJ & Thornton can fill their roles, we should be looking pretty good, or at least a lot better.

As it will most likely play out, our 6th man and co-team captain (Camby), happens to be a Center. He also is being paid heftily for this year and next to potentially be our 6th man. Those statements alone have caused a lot of people to speculate about another trade being in the works, but there are plenty of reasons why they wouldn't deal one of their two centers right now.

1. They just created a rare front court power: By acquiring Randolph, they’ll now have a consistent low post threat, and a #1 scoring option for BD to look to. This takes a lot of pressure off of Kaman, and will allow him to concentrate more on help D, and getting better looks underneath. Camby will provide similar support to Randolph when they play together, helping to account for Randolph’s weak D, but he’ll also provide true veteran leadership and guidance to our younger bigs, namely Kaman & DeAndre Jordan. On paper, Camby looks like he’s a commodity, but he could go a long way toward developing talent if Nene’s success is any indication.

2. PF & C Quality for 48 minutes: The beauty of this front court situation is that a quality starter can be occupying the PF & C positions for 48 minutes a game if all three can manage to stay healthy. Playing Camby 28-30 minutes, leaves 33-34 minutes for Kaman & Randolph, which are reasonable starter minutes. And if Randolph can prove to effectively spell Thornton at the 3 for a few minutes a game, so much the better. Trading a Center now for a wing might fill our current weakness at the 2 & 3, but it would also create the same weakness up front if we’d have to rely more on Skinner & Davis(3), plus it could block the development of EJ and/or Thornton. One could argue that in this scenario, Skinner, Davis(3), & DeAndre provide better depth at PF & C than Taylor, Davis(2), Collins, Novak, & possibly Randolph do currently, but the jury’s still out for now.

3. After a Flurry of changes, some stability and evaluation is necessary. This doesn’t mean that the Clippers wont make a move later on, perhaps in the off-season, or later on next year if this doesn’t work out or if DeAndre begins to make one of these guys expendable. Of course, that’s unlikely to happen this year.

So after a brutal start to the season, I have to welcome this move simply because the team we started with simply wasn’t getting it done. Randolph finally gives BD a reliable 1st option on offense as he clearly couldn’t trust Kaman or Thornton before. Kaman should now find even easier looks, and Thornton should be used more exclusively on transition, making BD himself and EJ the primary 3 pt. threats. Defense will be more of a challenge, but I think we'll see more activity and commitment on defense all around once the team knows it has a better chance of winning.

Playing Coach

ghost_ride — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:52:57 -0000

In the wake of the trade, it's going to be really interesting to see what kind of lineups Dunleavy goes with. The two main issues now are filling the shooting guard spot, and balancing the big three PF/C's.

As of right now, I'm fine with letting Eric Gordon develop at his natural position that the trade left wide open. There will be some growing pains, but he's shown he can get to the line (and make his free throws), and gives a good effort on D.

As for the big three; Randolph, Kaman, Camby. We have three above average bigs now, and the only feeling I have right now without the benefit of seeing them play together is that Camby should come off the bench to start since his minutes need to be limited anyway. I'm open to whatever works, but here's how I'd divy up the playing time (on average) going forward:

PG: Baron(34), Taylor(12), Hart (2)

SG: Gordon(30), Taylor/New Guy/Whoever else we pick up(18)

SF: Thornton(33), Randolph(10), Novak(5)

PF: Randolph(24), Camby(14), Skinner/P.Davis(10)

C: Kaman(34), Camby(16)

*Ship Ricky Davis out of town ASAP!

Sunday - Josh Howard Questionable

ghost_ride — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:05:00 -0000

How about a win on Sunday? I had a feeling we'd get on the board last night, but Dallas is a much softer opponent, and it looks like they may be at a severe disadvantage with Josh Howard limited.

From the Dallas Morning News: http://mavsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/11/josh-howard-injures-wrist.html

The Mavs haven't looked very good anyway, but if he doesn't play this could go a long way towards helping us get our first victory. He's easily their 2nd best player, and they really don't have a lot of options on offense, unlike the Lakers, Jazz, & Rockets.

Poll

Will the Clippers win or lose on Sunday, and by how much?

Clippers win in a blowout

1 votes

Clippers win by around 10

9 votes

Clippers win in a tight one

8 votes

Dallas wins. (a loss is a loss)

2 votes

20 votes | Poll has closed