Generic 76ers 100 - Clippers 92
by supac on Jan 1, 2009 1:20 AM PST
10 comments
In a battle between teams with 4-game losing streaks, the Brand-less 76ers defeated the Clippers 100-92. The Clippers followed up last night's two point loss to the Kings by losing yet another very winnable game to the Sixers. Add to that the 3 preceding blowout losses, and the Clips end the 2008 calendar year with 5 straight Ls and a 8-23 record. We're still only 17.5 games behind the Lakers in the West (and Pacific) and 10.5 behind Phx for the last playoff spot. I'm just saying.
Another game, and another different Clipper starting lineup (11th this season). Tonight Mardy Collins started at the 3 and I immediately puked in the empty seat in front of me. It's, as always, for match-up purposes...but Iggy isn't exactly setting the net on fire to warrant the Collins offensive kiss of death. For those of you who thought QRoss was a nightmare, Collins must be the freaking apocalypse. Result: 2pts (an uncontested layup) on 1-5 shooting in 20mins.
Philly shot 57% in the first half to the Clippers 41%. So the Clips were extremely lucky to be only down by 3. The Clippers came out of halftime with great effort and execution, especially on the defensive end. They went on an immediate 11-0 run and the 76ers didn't get their first FGM until the 7:48 mark (and that was on a goal tend). It was a see-saw battle from then on, until the game was tied 86-86 with 3:12 to play.
Clippers possession. Baron has the ball and drives left baseline, gets doubled and the ball is deflected by Iggy out of bounds with 10secs remaining on the shot clock. Out of a timeout, the best shot the Clips get is a Baron fadeaway 20ft jumper, no good. On the other end, Iggy passes the ball deep in the paint to Thad Young for the easy lefty hook: 88-86 Sixers lead. Next, Thornton dribbles the ball off his foot, an unforced turnover. Then, Ratliff sets a screen on Fred Jones which frees up Lou Williams for the open jumper - good for a 90-86 Sixers lead. Note: now the Philly youngsters are giggling and laughing and doing choreographed handslap routines. Guilty culprits are Iggy, Williams, and Young.
Out of a Clipper timeout, Baron penetrates and gets Jones an open 3PA that's partially blocked. Miller gets the ball and flings a gorgeous bullet alleyoop pass from halfcourt to Young, who dunks it in: 92-86 Sixers. The Clippers follow up with 3 missed shots at the basket and a deflected pass from Baron to Camby. Then Miller AGAIN throws an alleyoop from just inside halfcourt to Iggy for the foul and the 2FTM: 94-86 and pretty much lights off, game over.
What separated the Sixers from the Clips tonight was alley-oop conversions. Camby to Thornton, offensive interference (0-1). Williams to Dalembert, clank off the backboard (0-1). Miller to Iggy, dunkaroo (1-2, 2pts). Miller to Iggy, catch and jam (2-3, 4pts). Miller to Iggy, put in plus the FTM (3-4, 7pts). Miller to Young, slam (4-5, 9pts). Baron to Camby, knocked away (0-2). Miller to Iggy, fouled for 2FTM (5-6, 11pts). Game, set, match.
Iggy filled up the stat sheet (27/7/7) but didn't shoot well from outside at all. He benefitted from Miller's passes and got a lot of freebies at the charity stripe (14-17). Thad Young had another excellent game against the Clips and he's really impressed me in both games this season. I'd trade Thornton for Young in a heartbeat right now.
The best Clipper PG tonight was Mike Taylor. His "DNP - finger injury" outperformed the two Clipper PGs that actually logged minutes. Biddy (he's not getting recognized for any D from me) scored 11pts, shooting 5-16. That's 49 straight games without shooting over 50% now, folks. I keep hearing that he's a "volume shooter" - let's just be glad for the sake of humanity that Bizzle's not a volume surgeon or something. The other local boy Jason Hart scored 0pts on 0-6 shooting. Welcome home, fellas.
The ESPN recap mentioned the "Fire Dunleavy!" chants at Staples tonight. Those have been there since last season, and were louder at other times this season. Tonight was the first time I've heard fans call out Baron ("Baron you suck!", "Baron you're doing nothing for us!", etc.) I don't know if it's because of the Stephen Jackson thing or what. But believe me, he heard every word. Whether that lights a fire under his butt or causes him to dog it (even more) remains to be seen.
If the Clippers went out to celebrate New Year's last night, I hope they made a resolution to actually "Play Loud" for the fans in 2009.
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I heard 'em
I was in section 116. I didn’t hear any of the fans calling out Baron but did hear the “Fire Dunleavy” chants loud and clear. I guess it depends on how the fans felt in each section as to what you’d hear most. In any event, the fans aren’t too happy. Forget “Play Loud”, I’d be happy if the team just “Played Well”. Disappointing season to say the least.
Camby AT and EG
had monster games, but it was not enough. BD is MIA, and not having Z is hurting.
As far as Thad vs. AT, Young does seem to have more of an innate understanding of the game, and certainly does a lot of little things well. Plus he is younger. But I still think AT is the better player, and the guy I would rather have.
EB didn’t even make the trip. Smart.
DTS brushed off any talk of the “Fire Dunleavy” chants, saying on that he hates losing. (Hard to tell).
Great recap, supac.
F-Elton!
Pressure's Mounting
We even got a quote from Sterling after this one, “I don’t take losing well…”
With the Fire Dunleavy chants at Staples getting in the press now, there’s obviously a lot of pressure on the coach and for the team (if they care).
You could say what the Clips need is some good PG play right now, and that would certainly help a ton, but when you look at the players out there right now there’s no one who really wants to shoot, or that we want shooting. EJ prefers to pick his spots at this point, and even with him scoring more lately, he’s the only guy we want to shoot more. Asking a 20 yr. old rook to take over however, is asking a lot.
This game isn’t even close if Thornton doesn’t step up and play one of his better games of the year. The T. Young v.s. Thornton debate is kind of moot since Philly drafted two spots ahead of us. I remember the Clips hinting that they liked Young, and probably would have gotten him had Philly drafted Thornton like they were expected to. Either way, I think Philly made the right decision, he seems to fit well on that team.
There’s little room for error with the squad we have out there right now, but they have to do something to get competent at the end of games, and they should really go ahead and have that open tryout for a PG if they haven’t already.
hopefully Sterling
takes his anger out on Dunleavy in the form of firing him. Hell right now I would take the rest of the season with Kim Hughes. At least that game was fun to watch.
Hughes
Is the only option if Sterling goes for a mid-season switch. Dunleavy will most likely get a shot to see what he can do with a full squad at the very least, but who knows if we’ll ever be fully healthy. Either way, the hot seat is getting hotter and hotter for MDSr. This current roster with the addition of another lottery pick in June should be plenty to entice a good coach.
"I keep hearing that he's a "volume shooter" - let's just be glad for the sake of humanity that Bizzle's not a volume surgeon or something."
That line was priceless, supac. Good recap; too bad the game couldn’t match that. Aside from the joking, though, Baron is starting to really piss me off. I literally want to light a fire under him. I’m not going to go on because you can just look at any of my previous comments here at CN, they’re pretty much all Baron rants (He’s not even worthy of a nickname in my book).
Camby had another one of his energizer bunny games. Seriously, during film sessions, Dunleavy should just compile a montage of all of the hustle plays this guy makes. Every other Clippers could learn something from the effort of Marcus Camby. It’s not fair to him that we’re 8-23.
Thornton had a good game. He, at least for one game, saw the need to get to the bucket. If he realizes that’s where he’s most effective, he’ll turn into an above average offensive player.
I just have a couple more short points, one being technical fouls. Dunleavy picked up his third T in as many games, Baron’s doing his best Rasheed Wallace imitation and Thornton got mad that he was blocked from behind when he needs to take the ball to the hoop with authority. This team has 8 wins; they are not a call or two away from being even close to a contender. STOP COMPLAINING! Dunleavy’s not protecting his players, as he claims. He is giving the other teams free points, which they usually don’t need when they’re playing the Clippers. Baron needs to suck it up, and stop complaining to the refs. He’s got this wildly disproportionate sense of entitlement when he should just play some damn basketball. If he gave an effort and stopped blaming his problems on other factors, we might get half of the guy we signed for five years (that’s already starting to disgust me).
Last thought: It’s weird to say this, but, after last night, I would rather have former Clipper Andre MIller manning the point than Baron Davis, a two time all-star.
by WestsideBrandon on Jan 1, 2009 12:47 PM PST reply actions
Today's Clip List
Zach = pure gold
Camby = pure gold
Gordon = is almost pure gold after just 31 games in the league
Thornton = still playing like a rookie – probably not a keeper
Baron = career descending or gone mentally – strictly collecting a paycheck
Hart = makes one dream of the good ol’ days of Brevin Knight
Kaman = Clips play better when he’s out – worthless project – Dunleavy fell for a horrible contract after a few good games last season – trade him for anything you can get!
Dunleavy = any respectable franchise would have shown him the door at 10 losses. It’s nice to earn $4 mil a year, but must fill MDSr with self-loathing that it’s only because his owner is too cheap to fire him.
Kaman doesn't = worthless
apparently people forget what he did last season and that he was actually playing very very pre injury he is far far far far from worthless.
Kaman is a BEAST
Clipperlifer stop hating on are players, kaman is one of the best centers in the leauge he is so underrated. I root for every player that throws a clipper jersey on because am a true fan.
If only Kaman was less injury prone :(
then people wouldn’t forget how good he is every time he gets injured.
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