San Antonio 115 - Clippers 90 - It was fun for two minutes before the half

by Steve Perrin on Dec 13, 2009 11:14 PM PST in Game Recaps

Aside from a 10-0 run over 150 seconds at the end of the first half, this game ranged from bad to apocalyptically bad for the Clippers.

I'm not going to pretend that the Clippers had a real chance to win this game had he played it differently, but the moment MDsr fielded a lineup of Craig Smith, Rasual Butler, Ricky Davis, Eric Gordon and Baron Davis with 10 minutes left in the game, I had a very, very bad feeling. What is the point of that lineup?

The Spurs immediately score 14 straight, doubling a surmountable lead and icing the game. This process took less than 3 minutes.

I'm taking the train home from Staples tonight. I'll post this quickly to get something out there. Maybe I'll update it, maybe I won't. This one was ugly. Really, really ugly.

Funny thing is, when they made the second quarter run, and then opened the third looking competitive, I was going to compliment them on sticking with the game in a tough situation. I was going to say that last season's Clippers team would never have fought that hard after falling behind by 24. But all of the good work they did in the second was wasted after the fourth quarter disaster.

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Next time you need a quick synopsis, just use something like this:

“Clippers suck.”

I've got nothing.

by bc56274 on Dec 13, 2009 11:33 PM PST reply actions

Dumbleavy?

I still just don’t understand how he’s still got a coaching job. I haven’t been a completely avid “Fire Dunleavy” fanatic, but I just want to see a change made pronto. Like other games this year, several things in this game upset me. His rotations were absolutely horrible in this game. Like Steve said, not sure it would have given the Clippers a W, but the subbing was awful. Kaman came out after 6 minutes having scored 4 of the Clips 11 points and grabbing 2 boards. Well, maybe he was trying to give him a breather early after the whole thing how Kaman gets tired? If that’s the case, Kaman then went on to start the 2nd quarter and the 3rd quarter, not getting a rest until 10 minutes left in the 4th!!! That’s 26 consecutive minutes for him. Granted there is halftime in between, but a center like Kaman should not play 33 minutes in a game and play 26 of them consecutively.

Another thing I don’t understand is the inability to recognize when a lineup works and when it doesn’t. The Clippers went on that nice 10-0 run to end the half with a lineup of Telfair, Baron, Thornton, Camby, and Kaman. Did we ever see the lineup again in the game, the most effective lineup all night? Nope. Instead we got to see 20 minutes of Ricky Davis posting a -23 off the bench. I like the hustle Ricky’s been putting in when he is in the game, but lets face it, he should not be getting the most playing time off our bench. I’d rather give Novak 20 minutes then RD.

Another typical Dumbleavy moment was at the end of the second half amidst the 10-0 run, the Clippers got the ball back with about 7 seconds left, with one timeout remaining. Ralph and Mike were questioning if there were any timeouts left, they knew the Clips had one left, and then said that the players were yelling to Dunleavy to take a timeout. I was at the Rockets game earlier this year where Dunleavy called a timeout with about 2 seconds left in the quarter and a jump ball was occuring. I was only left imagining him drawing up some wild play to the team where the ball was won in the tip and gotten 70ft down the court for a hoop, but here with 7 seconds left in the half with your team on a 10-0 run you had to have your own players yelling at you to take a timeout?

I don’t think the Clippers would have won this game regardless, but I’m just getting tired of predicting 4th quarter meltdowns to my friends as a repercussion of Dunleavy’s bad substituting. I always thought you were supposed to have your best players on the court in the 4th quarter when it matters, not getting rests for the first time during critical moments during the game. Not too many other coaches have lasted 7 years with one team while producing a .396 winning pct. Blame it on injuries, whatever, teams find ways to win while players are hurt. Changing sports, but the LA Kings have gone 6-0-1 in their last seven games and have taken a tie for first place, all while one of their best players has been hurt.

Here’s to hoping we can get a W against Washington.

by besaje on Dec 13, 2009 11:48 PM PST reply actions

Horrible game

I know that we aren’t expected to win but at least we can do better. Oh well.

by penguin35 on Dec 14, 2009 4:13 AM PST reply actions

Well this is going to anger a lot of people but I am convinced that baron is the most important player on the team. Yes Ej is awsome but the team is lost without Davis on the court. Anyway I can’t believe how ugly that was today, hopefully we can bounce back against the wizards

by Sam50 on Dec 14, 2009 5:03 AM PST via mobile reply actions

Actually I somewhat agree with you

I think both of them are important. EJ is still immature, when people double/triple team he’ll turn the ball over. But Baron on the other hand is cool. But Baron has less skill than EJ, so EJ is still the most skilled player on the team. Thus, I think they both should be on the court against the very best team we play.

by RockyMountain on Dec 14, 2009 8:27 PM PST up reply actions

Yeah I still think he is more skilled than Ej but obviously the
guy is sadly on a decline but he is our player that keeps things the most comfortable on the court. I really hope this ‘riff’ between the two is just bs

by Sam50 on Dec 14, 2009 9:26 PM PST via mobile up reply actions

Back to Back

I was a bit surprised and frustrated by CMDSr’s 4th quarter substitution and lineup, but later I realized that the Clips are playing again tonight. They were down 14 or whatever with a lot of time left, and then they had the wacky CS-RB-RD-EG-BD thing going. Why not, thinking that Craig Smith might be a good matchup against DBlair.

Milph said something about RDavis having a great week of practice. There’s an open backup spot at the wing, with Kareem Rush down, and RButler highly challenged these days. RDavis is even worse than RButler (though it’s close), but if he’s hitting shots and active in practice it probably seems like he should play. He shouldn’t.

It’ll be interesting to see if the Clips are clueless again tonight. Spurs are a good team, and as SP predicted, they had an extra crispness to their execution and shooting touch against the Clippers. Good teams will do that when they play a victimized team that they think they can break. The Clips came back and put up a fight for a little while, which was nice to see. But the Clips crawled back into the rabbit hole as soon as it turned into a game.

by citizen zhiv on Dec 14, 2009 11:20 AM PST reply actions

It did not help that CMDsr. took out the guys that got us back in the game when we came back from the SAS time out.

That was the worst coaching in the game and after that we choked big time and MDsr. kept playing Bassy even though he saw that he was in a struggle.

Everything starts out New, Gets Old and Dies or is Destroyed.

by HVYDRT007 on Dec 14, 2009 12:21 PM PST up reply actions

Zhiv would qualify as a die hard Clipper fan I think

“It’ll be interesting to see if the Clips are clueless again tonight . . .”

Can you be more specific?

You describe teh Clippers as a “victimized team.” Why is that – the fact that they are handicapped with a poor coach?

"[Fans are] not technically a lot of times savvy. They don't understand and they don't weigh issues the way that [I] weigh them."
Mike Dunleavy, Sr.

by Jax on Dec 14, 2009 1:55 PM PST up reply actions

You're funny, Jax

Will the Clippers be clueless again tonight: let me try to be a little more specific. Last night felt a little like a perfect storm, although we’re used to extremely inclement weather. As SP says when he notes, offhandedly, that the Clips would be much more watchable if they had a different coach, in a game like the one last night against the Spurs it’s painfully obvious that all of CMDSr’s shortcomings are on display. The players weren’t especially focused or motivated; there was no carry over from the at-times strong play against Orlando, and in fact they seemed to move in the other direction; game management and the rotation were weak and suspect; when the Clips made their comeback and got within striking distance the game management seemed to get worse; the 4th quarter makes an impressive lowlight reel of 4th quarters thus far this season, and that’s quite a (negative) accomplishment. The players deserve most of the blame, but on a night like that it seems like something is rotten at the core. Clueless is probably being kind.

“A victimized team” isn’t exactly the right term. The Clips have played the victim for many years. If any of us was in the NBA, on any other team, we would probably be excited about playing the Clippers. There are degrees to it, but this phenomenon—I’m sure SP could do a better job of figuring out what to call it—is very real. We see players not just get healthy, but explode against the Clippers all the time. Basketball is a game of confidence, and because the Clips are known to be weak and flawed, individual guys will get that extra bit of confidence that allows them to play their very best, to perform at an extraordinary level. In the case of the Spurs, it is an entire team, a team that is playing in a rather mediocre way (based on their history and current record), needing something extra, a bit of confidence that allows them to see that they can be better. As I said above, they pass and cut more crisply, they shoot better—and it’s because they’re playing against the Clippers and they need to get healthy. It’s a bummer, but it happens. And until the Clips stand up and play their best and gain consistency, and they refine their own execution, it’s going to keep happening.

by citizen zhiv on Dec 14, 2009 5:21 PM PST up reply actions