Thought Al really adjusted his approach tonight and may have had a career night in the process. I counted 1-4 outside shots, and only one fade away desperation shot out of those. But his drives to the basket were strong and relentless, and he shot plenty of free throws as a result. Defensively, he led the team in steals (3), and chipped in with a block. Solid rebounding (8), and a few assists didn’t hurt either.

Randolph gave us a higher end of what we expected out of him, but this is what he can do when his outside shot is falling. Fortunately, he seems very motivated and happy to be on this team.

But this game was definitely a struggle defensively. It wasn’t until our intensity picked up in the fourth quarter, and maybe it was their fatigue that set in at the same time. BD had to power through a stomach virus, Gordon played a more passive game and wasn’t needed as much with Randolph & Thornton. Hope the hammy is alright, but all the minor injuries are a bit unsettling. It’s not too much of a surprise when you consider how hard he plays, and the defensive assignments he’s been getting.

All total, it’s nice to see us play two good games in a row. We’ve gone from playing like a 20 win team to a 40+ win team lately. Hopefully there’s another gear we’ve yet to reach…but it looks like injuries might force us to be in grind it out mode for at least the beginning of the road trip.

#1. Al Thornton dunks multiple times in one game! He had an alley-oop, a sideline charge to the rim with both hands, and a follow up tip dunk. This is something I’ve been hoping for a long time. All last year and until now my biggest frustration with Al has been a great percentage of his shots getting blocked. He seemed to finger roll and finesse all his finishes, giving defenses an easy block and fast break the other way.

But tonight, his aggressiveness going to the rim and finishing hard, instead of taking jump shots helped limit fast breaks the other way and got him to the line much, much more. And I love watching dunks and alley oops. He even had a windmill dunk that was called a dead play that was pretty cool. Where has this AT been all this time????

#2. Zach Randolph is better offensively than Elton Brand, but more importantly fits perfectly into Dunleavy’s offense. Randolph single handedly balanced the offense tonight, bringing back memories of the old 05-06 Clippers. Seriously. In the offensive sets you could just see Zach where EB used to be and the half court offense actually working again just like it did back then (when executed properly, of course).

He’s just as good a jump shooter and he passes out when double teamed for an open jump shot or a slash to the basket. In fact, he made a timely 3 pointer at the end of the game, which EB probably couldn’t have. He went for 27 and 13. Yes, he had no blocks, which EB used to have practically every game but having Camby and Kaman (not tonight) will make up for that I think.

#3. The “REAL” Baron seems to have arrived. Before this he seemed bored or maybe annoyed by Dunleavy. He looked like a guy who was trying to be something he’s not. The “Real” Baron takes risks and many times, bad shots. The “Real” Baron forces penetration, missing some layups, even getting blocked sometimes or being forced to make awkward interior passes while in the air. But with that frustrating risk taking comes the rewards and he came through tonight with big timely shots and assists. When you have a superstar, you live and die with him. You let him take the crazy shots because you need him to. But sometimes, sometimes he makes those incredibly bad shots. That unbelieveable shot that kills the opposing team, stunning them in disbelief.

Don’t you remember cringing when Sam Cassell launched a three pointer when he didn’t have to? Don’t you remember the disappointment when he backed up a defender in the post for an hour, only to shoot a turnaround fallaway jumper that had no chance when someone else was open?

A Quick Comparison to the 05-06 Clippers
Baron is more athletic than Sam ever was and is equally, if not more comfortable taking big shots. Zach is far more threatening on the offensive end than EB ever was and can get similar rebounding numbers. Al can be every bit the scorer and slasher that Corey was and after tonight, is starting to show that he may become an even better finisher than Maggette. Gordon looks to be just as good as Mobley at shooting, ball handling and maybe even defense. Kaman is improved. Add Camby, Taylor and Ricky off the bench and I’d say this team is better than that team that almost won 2 rounds into the playoffs.

Yes, that 05-06 team was a great defensive team. I don’t know if this group can match that teams’ defense. But I do know that a new team always looks bad on defense because the rotations and communication are not automatic yet. They don’t know when or where to help each other.

Regardless, I think the Clippers now have the right mix to be successful. They just need time to gel and gain some confidence.

What is the possibility of trading Gordon, Kaman, and one or two (the Wovles’) draft picks for D Wade? in 2010, D Wade is probably gone from Miami anyways. To build around Beasely, Marion, Chalmers and company, the Heat would get two good contracts with two very good young players along with the picks. They don’t have a true, good center.

As for the Clips, they aren’t going to be able to recruit Wade in 2010 and they get another top-line player (probably 2nd best palyer in the NBA after L James). With a starting line up of B Davis, D. Wade, Thornton, Zach and Camby/ P. Davis, they have a legitimate shot at an NBA crown in 2009 if they can get this group to gel together this year. This could tank the franchise after 2009, but sure would make 2009 very, very promising. The most ever. Let’s face it, the Clips aren’t likely to be much above average any time soon. Why not roll the dice and consolidate our talent at the starting five (just as we did by trading for Zach)?

Would the trade numbers work out salary wise? After Gordon and Kaman come back from injuries in mid December and prove themselves again on the court, could Miami be interested in what we have to offer?

Go Clippers!

Every two steps he gets to full stop and decide where he wants his next dribble and two steps to go.

—Kaman out for 10 days or 2 weeks
This should be interesting. The timing is both good and bad—good because the arrival of Randolph means that the Clips have genuine depth up front and can play well if one of their big 3 is banged up; bad because we want to see the team gel sooner rather than later, and we have really been more than patient about waiting to see the Clippers best big men playing together, whether it’s Kaman-Brand, Kaman-Camby, or Kaman-Camby-Randolph. So we get Camby-Randolph for a few games.
     But the other part I like is the absence of Tim Thomas. The whole addition by subtraction thing just gets better and better. And I wanted TT to be a well-used asset and a luxury item, but that was never going to happen. So with Kaman out we’ll get to see a generous helping of Paul Davis and some Steve Novak.

—Baron Davis is a happier guy. It would be nice if he would start making some shots in the first half of games. Clipperblog made a good brief analysis of this point. BD already seems to be happy to be able to fire the ball towards ZR’s soft hands and steady finish. He likes playing with Eric Gordon, who makes shots and makes plays, and Mike Taylor, who brings energy and makes things happen. Let’s remember that BD was very successful playing with Monta Ellis last year, and he has some idea of how to help an undersized running mate very effective on offense. It helps if they can hit shots. I think that Baron is happier being the one guy shooting a low percentage out on the court, and seeing Ricky Davis miss dozens of shots bummed him out.

—Embracing ZR. Hugging it out feels pretty good at this point. Addition by subtraction is a big part of it, as I’ve said, both the inability to call out TT’s number, and taking away the blanket in order to let Gordon (and Taylor now) play. We won’t know about the real value of this experiment for a month, if Kaman even makes it back to full strength by then. Being decent with Kaman injured is a collateral value, and it will be great if the Clips can build some momentum while he’s out.
    But the big issue here with this trade has nothing to do with the 2-12 Clippers going 1-1 with ZR and improving. It’s the capspace, Jake. Heisler’s column today was about how the Knicks are giddy, and the trade went through just in time for LeBron’s arrival in NY to play the Knicks. It raises the question of what the Clips could have done with the capspace that they just gave away, which is what is making NYK ecstatic (also including the Crawford trade for them, but obviously nothing is bigger than dumping ZR’s contract). Right now I’m leaning towards giving the Clips the benefit of the doubt, that 27-year-old ZR now, for almost two full seasons, is better than anybody that they could have signed in 2010, when they’ll have Camby’s money, and they’ll get the money in 2011. It looked like two years of BDavis might be going down the tubes and things might get ugly, and it’s a big plus if that turns around.
     And again, I’m traumatized from watching TT in a Clipper uniform and in the starting lineup time after time. I don’t know that I could take it anymore, and it’s over now.
     Camby-ZR isn’t bad at all and kind of fun to watch.

—Along with others, nice to watch Thornton take it to the hole and play a strong game.

if the ref wasnt standing there we would have lost.