Clippers never would have battled back and made it a game out of it. They simply would have given up. I sensed real commitment to try to win this game, and I don’t think all of it was due to the fact that they were playing EB. Unquestionably flawed execution, but real commitment nonetheless.

In order to learn how to win, they have had to learn (or re-learn together) how to battle back when things don’t go their way (think back to the first five games of the season). On the whole, I think they’re doing that way better now… but there is no question the team is still a work in progress.

This game was there for the taking. I think Dunleavy says the right things and for the most part has the right ideas but it does not always translate onto the court. I am very open to the idea of hiring a new coach. He has an empty space in his heart for a low post player and maybe by getting Randolph it helps patch that void .

I agree that his mention of running is misleading. Zach is listed at 6’9’’ and 265 lbs , similar to some one that is 6’8’’ 250 lbs and no longer here.

In defense of the Clippers (and I’m not really much of a “blame the refs” guy) they really couldn’t get a call down the stretch. Not saying that is why they lost, but it had some impact. The Sixers, meanwhile, were shooting (and missing) a lot of FT’s down the stretch.

Mobley’s absence only hurt down the stretch, but for most of the game, I noticed a little bit better ball movement on offense. Although Ricky and Gordon were 2-10 with five turnovers, not having the ball disappear into Cat’s black hole and have it slowly fade-away (get it?) was kind of nice to see, or not see, as it were.

Young Eric was clearly outclassed by Iggy tonight, most notably at the end. He completely blew an entry pass that led to points for Philly, and got swatted from behind on an otherwise nice drive to the hoop late in the 4th. Glad he is getting minutes. He is promising, but he will have growing pains going forward. (Speaking of Iggy: now that the Clippers are bringing Zach Randolph in, it makes one wonder if throwing a bunch of money at Igg this off season after Felton stiffed us would have made sense. Not only would the Clippers have had a more balanced roster, but they would have really been able to stick it to EB as well. On the downside, it would have meant NO Camby, who is having a great year. And Andre is struggling this year, as CS pointed out in an earlier post. His PER # is actually in the Thornton range)

Elton had 5 blocks…all in the first half, but otherwise he struggled shooting. Kaman did a pretty good job on him, and vice-versa. I’m sure the familiarity had something to do with it. Brand’s Achilles stayed in tact for the full 48 minutes, which was unfortunate, because it allowed him to knock down the go-ahead shot with 45 seconds to play. The Clippers had two possessions after the shot, neither resulting in points.

The final offensive sets is indicative of why MDSr. felt he needed to bring Randolph in. There was really nowhere to go with the ball. After Kaman hesitated on the open 15 footer, and turned it over instead, Davis decided he was going to handle things himself. That turnaround fade was a tough shot, but I have not problem with him taking it. It is not a bad thing to get your top playmaker isolated one on one. The first shot was brilliant. The last one was poor. It happens. Iggy is a good defender. Iso’s for AT would have been a good recipe, too.

AT did have a solid game. 22 and 9 with a couple of blocks. Four rebounds on the offensive end. I really like the way he played, and I still believe, Huck Follinger, that he is better than Thaddeus Young.

Based on what I saw last night, I think that Randolph will ultimately help the team. Dunleavy’s rationale for bringing him in was a tad puzzling. Part of the reason, according to him, was in case Kaman goes down. So are we saying that he is a backup, then? $17M is a lot of money for a backup. I don’t think it is a good idea to live life expecting the worst to happen. It almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Their offensive inefficiency did the Clips in. LAC gave Brand and the Sixers all they could handle. Bet they didn’t expect that. Not bad against a team that is supposed to be the new powerhouse of the NBA. I’m sure EB feels gratified that he knocked down the game-winner, but who cares. He can go stick a cheese steak up his…nose.

PJ Calismo was fired for a 1 win sonic team headlined by 2 sophmores. Get a clue DTS! Baron was horrible in those last few posessions.

also.
Is snack randolp playing ??

“The Clippers will add a new element to their struggling club on Saturday, as Zach Randolph is expected to make his debut when they take on the Nets.”

http://www.hoopsworld.com/TheWireStory.asp?id=13715

I like how we battled back against the Spurs late in Monday night’s game, it was probably as pumped Staples Center has been all season, in OKC we outscored them by 35 in the last 30 minutes, and yesterday, playing short-handed we were a superior team on the road against Philly whenever Davis(2) & Hart were off the floor.

We still need to figure out how to close out a game, but the core issue with that may be that we just need to learn how to play with a lead. We’ve never done that well, even with the old regime. If it’s Dunleavy’s plan to milk clock in the 4th quarter, it’s a bad one. You only milk clock when you don’t have to score to win the game. When you’re only up 5-7 points with half a quarter, or a few minutes remaining, you have to stay somewhat aggressive. It becomes the hunter v.s. the hunted. When you keep trying to milk clock and take bad shots, you become the hunted. Albeit, it almost worked last night by a hair, Andre Miller’s 3pointer was the deathblow. You knew it was over then and there. I can’t believe how bad BD’s been with the ball in his hands at the end of the last two close games. Does he have a rep for this?

At least our problems are escalating from just trying to compete, to worrying about closing games out and working on final possessions.

I’ve been pretty upbeat about the Randolph trade, but who knows how it will work. It was a positive that we played as well as we did last night without Mobley & Thomas…you could say Mobley would have helped down the stretch, but would he have held us backfrom getting back in the game? Either way, I agree w/ Mikey’s claim that the ball seemed to move better without Mobley in there. Offense has been our issue, and we could just as easily say Zach would’ve allowed us to win last night. He’ll make us an inside/outside team again, but the difference is that now we have some shooters.