Clippers 116 - Kings 112 - Pre-season

by Steve Perrin on Oct 16, 2008 1:03 AM PDT in News Comment 17 comments

Sweet merciful crap! What is going on here?

It's just pre-season. And the fact that Chris Kaman is now 3 for 18 for 10 points to go with 10 turnovers in the three games is potentially disastrous.

But all that "It's just pre-season" stuff aside, can we all agree that depth is looking like less and less of a problem? The Clippers overcame a 17 point deficit, and erased 10 of it in the fourth quarter with the three rookies on the court.

Eric Gordon isn't going to make 5 threes in the fourth quarter of many games this season. He's not going to score 21 points in a quarter many times. But the very fact that he CAN - whether in pre-season or not - has got me, frankly, a little giddy. Did you see where he was shooting from? There were so many arcs drawn on the UoP court, I guess he wanted to make sure there was no doubt, so he just pulled up from three steps beyond the last one. The dude has got a stroke, doesn't he?

As for Mike Taylor, I just sent an eMail to Matt from Ridiculous Upside asking why this guy wasn't called up to an NBA team from the D-League last season. Seriously. Blake Ahearn? Andre Barrett? These are the point guards who got a look on NBA rosters last year. Where was Taylor? Can he possibly be this good? If he is, why did no one know it until now? No one can stay in front of him. He's getting layups (and a dunk in OKC) in crucial situations in the fourth quarter of close games. That is not supposed to happen. He even made like a point guard in this one: 9 assists and 3 steals, against only 3 turnovers, to go with his 21 points He's averaging over 18 a game in three pre-season games.

Anyone know what happened to Jason Hart? Eight minutes at the start of the game and that was it. And Gordon actually played the point for a couple minutes while Taylor was getting a rest in the fourth quarter. Of course Gordon pretty much just dribbled up and shot the ball. But still... he did dribble. It's hard to imagine that Taylor would supplant Hart on the depth chart based on pre-season, but at the same time you kind of have to start considering it if you're MDsr.

It's great to see Gordon have a monster performance after missing most of summer league and the first pre-season game. We've read the headlines about Jerryd Bayless and OJ Mayo having big games, and we've insisted that Gordon was every bit as good and was a steal at the seventh pick - but it's nice to have a little something backing that up. Say it again - it's just pre-season, and it doesn't mean a lot. But it means more than Bayless lighting up summer league. And it means he can score. Which is a good thing.

Hopefully the team will be at full strength on Saturday against the Raptors. The performance of the young guys has been incredibly positive. Now we need to get Camby out there, get Baron playing with his new teammates, and get Kaman back. There's plenty of work to be done. But the youth movement is certainly on track.

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good post

Given all the stuff that happened with Kaman since last season ended, I had a little itsy thought down in the recess of my brain about the possibility of him not developing as much as we’d all hope…I know it’s early and it’s preseason, but when is the guy gonna man up!? When we’re at .500? under .500? …ugh…the thought of seeing more missed 1ft bunny hop flips this season makes me cringe!

As for Gordon, he looking good and he’s stroke reminds me Reggie Millers long armed follow through…I think Taylor will do what many rookie PGs under MDsr do, that’ s ride the bench regardless of how ineffective Hart is on offense.

"Duck, Crab. Crab, Duck"
Roger Sterling - Mad Men

by Lawler's Law on Oct 16, 2008 7:41 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Look familiar?

F-Elton!

by mikey p on Oct 16, 2008 9:26 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Did he get the whistle?

In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd

by Steve Perrin on Oct 16, 2008 9:31 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

different suit...same result

"Duck, Crab. Crab, Duck"
Roger Sterling - Mad Men

by Lawler's Law on Oct 16, 2008 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Heh

Get me BD and 75 and I'm in

by John R on Oct 16, 2008 10:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

CLASSIC PICTURE

Corey who? what was that guys name? these rookies are making me forget all about the past. I’m not even thinking about putting liar on the back of my FBrand jersey anymore.

ROY-Gordon
MVP-Davis

by FEARTHECLIPS on Oct 16, 2008 9:51 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Us Against The West

I seriously can’t remember morale being this high for the club. Thought the team had more talent than they were given credit for before I knew anything about Mike Taylor…but he has the look of an ultra motivated player advancing rapidly, and at a position where we really needed some questions to be answered. The backup PG job is his in my opinion. Hart makes for a very solid 3rd string.

Paranoia was kicking in a little bit regarding Eric Gordon after the two minor injuries this summer and preseason, but last night was just what we needed to put his abilities and this teams potential in perspective. It looks like we may have the luxury of letting Kaman & Camby focus on being dominant defenders, and take on more of a facilitator role on offense.

Whatever we get our of DeAndre is a bonus, but it looks like he’ll be useful this year. Chemistry with this club is off to a good start without question, and the vibe is off the charts, especially considering Baron Davis is everything we expected and more, and the new training facility couldn’t have debuted at a better time. It’s still too early to make any big assumptions, but we’re seeing a lot of encouraging things here…

by ghost_ride on Oct 16, 2008 10:12 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Concerns

I totally agree that the pre-season has indeed shown us that we have some talented yougsters. That’s great and all but given all the new faces in the starting line-up, the hope was to get those guys a chance to get to know one another on the court and develop some chemistry. There was tons of talk all summer about whether Camby and Kaman could play together (I think they can) but we haven’t seen that once.

Baron missing the last few games is tough too given that the players have to get used to him and he needs to learn his teammates’ tendencies.

I’m most worried about Kaman. Primarily because the team’s overall success is so closely tied to Kaman playing like he did early last season. In a stacked West, we can’t afford to have our best post player have a bad year.

I know everyone’s riding high right now, and I am too, but 3-0 in the pre-season means nothing, especially when the guys doing it aren’t the guys who will be playing on Oct. 29.

by madglove on Oct 16, 2008 10:28 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Good points MG...

…but I’m looking at the fact that this is our 2nd unit, that is doing well, and climbing back into games. I don’t think our 1st unit is going to have too many issues (other than the looks of Kaman, at the moment), but I think we were all concerned about the bench’s production, and I think they have really shined (especially our rookies!)

by CLiPPz WeRD 12 on Oct 16, 2008 10:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe

I see what you’re saying Werd, but I honestly think it’s a little naive for us to expect the first unit to play well together with so many new faces. This isn’t the local rec league. Every other western conference playoff contender has been together a while and has 1 or 2 new faces. We have possibly 3 new starters and a host of new rotation players. Not to mention we have a brand new PG, which changes everything. Against the Lakers, I saw Baron throw a ridiculous no look to TT right under the bucket. It hit TT’s hands and fell to the floor because he wasn’t expecting it. That’s the kind of disconnect that needs to be worked out.

As tough as the west is, every little advantage or disadvantage comes into play, and I’m a little nervous that the starters aren’t getting a chance to get used to one another and most importantly, get used to Baron. There’s still some time though so let’s hope we have most of the starters healthy for the last 2-3 pre-season games.

by madglove on Oct 16, 2008 11:19 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Low Expectations

You’re doing a good job of keeping expectations low…I just wouldn’t be worried about so many new faces, because we’re finding out they all look pretty good. As a long time Clipper fan, I would’ve been a lot more concerned if there WEREN’T many new faces this year.

We needed to overhaul after last year, and the organization (Dunleavy) looks to have put together the deepest team we’ve ever had. Obviously, we need to see how it all fits, how healthy we stay, and if the team can collectively get Kaman back on track. Yikes. There’s a lot to answer, but at least we know the potential looks to be there.

by ghost_ride on Oct 16, 2008 11:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

points well taken

You’re points are spot on. I won’t argue any of the. After all, the Clippers aren’t going to make the playoffs with Gordon, Taylor, Jordan, Novak and Jelani McCoy playing the fourth quarter, even if they that group does come from behind in a pre-season game.

So the priority now is to get the regulars out there. But let’s not overstate the impact of the missed games so far. Even if everyone was completely healthy, one or more of the vets would have sat out either OKC or Sacto – 30 year old guys don’t play back-to-backs in the pre-season. So in Baron’s case, it’s likely just one missed game, and in Camby’s case a couple. Not to mention that these early games are when coaches are most likely to be looking at the rest of their team the most. So missing some early pre-season games is not that big a deal – IF we can get the core group on the court starting soon (like against the Raptors Saturday).

And whereas the pre-season does not prove anything, it’s great to get an indication that the rookies may be able to be regular season contributors and help team depth. Compare and contrast to last pre-season – we thought Thornton could help – and he did. On the other hand, Diaz looked overmatched – and he was.

So bring on the Raptors and let’s see. Camby and Kaman are the key. Bosh and O’Neal is an interesting test.

In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd

by Steve Perrin on Oct 16, 2008 11:46 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

I agree with what both of you guys said. ghost_ride, I too would have been upset if they didn’t overhaul the roster. I’m definitely grateful for the Baron Davis era of Clippers basketball. Having said that, my expectations aren’t low at all. I EXPECT us to be in the playoffs. But for that to happen in the ridiculous West, the team needs things to break their way like you said. It just concerns me that the starters haven’t had a lot of court time together because developing chemistry is a BIG step 1.

Steve, I totally agree that it’s early on and there are still pre-season games left to make it happen. That’s why I said there’s still time in my 2nd post. But keep in mind that 2 of our other pre-season games are also back to back (next Tues and Wed I believe), which means that the starters will probably sit out one of those games. That means we only have one game this weekend, one of the 2 games tues/wed and the last pre-season game on Fri.

I’ll feel a LOT better if the starters can play at least 3 pre-season games together. And if Kaman doesn’t stink up those pre-season games.

by madglove on Oct 16, 2008 12:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

"And if Kaman doesn’t stink up those pre-season games."

For your typing to the FSM’s ears.

In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd

by Steve Perrin on Oct 16, 2008 12:40 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Food for thought

When Sam and Cat joined the first unit, we started off 14-5… so I’m not sure it’s safe to generalize about how long the first unit has been together and how that is the key to our success. I’ll take five talented players who have never played together over five stiffs who have spent their career together any day.

All of that said, I’m sure you’re right about TT catching BD’s pass later in the season.

"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" – Albert Einstein

by Another son of Mike Smith on Oct 16, 2008 9:44 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm just scared....

That everything is going to blow up. I need two solid back to back seasons to believe that we have broken the curse. Something always goes wrong….and it looks like it may be Kaman this year……

We thought we had EB & BD on lockdown….then something went wrong and it blew up.

I’m just getting this feeling in my gut…of nervousness.

by Newtybar on Oct 16, 2008 11:13 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs