Clippers at Minnesota - Game Preview
by Steve Perrin on Dec 16, 2009 1:00 AM PST
in Game Previews
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2009/2010 NBA Regular Season
vs.
10-13 4-21
Target Center
December 16th, 2009, 5:00 PM
Prime Ticket, 980 AM
Probable starters:
Baron Davis
PG
Jonny Flynn
Eric Gordon
SG
Corey Brewer
Al Thornton
SF
Damien Wilkins
Marcus Camby
PF
Kevin Love
Chris Kaman
C
Al Jefferson
The Back Story:
November 2nd in LA - Clippers 93, Minnesota 90 - Recap Box Score
November 23rd in LA - Clippers 91, Minnesota 87 - Recap Box Score
The Big Picture:
The Clippers already have two wins over the Timberwolves this season. Of course, both of those were in LA, and neither was quite as comfortable as you would like playing the team with by far the worst record in the Western Conference. In the last meeting, the Clippers were without Eric Gordon and their other two leading scorers, Chris Kaman and Baron Davis, combined to shoot 7 for 30. Fortunately, Al Thornton scored a season-high 31 to ensure the victory. It's no secret that the Clippers are three games under .500, and that they open this road trip against three teams with records among the worst in the league (Minnesota, New York and Philadelphia). So in theory, the Clippers could be 13 and 13 by Sunday. Of course, just mentioning that means it will never happen but Prime Ticket brought it up before I did, so don't blame me. The Clippers have been quite the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde team lately. They looked great the middle two quarters against Orlando, terrible the first and last. They looked great for about 10 minutes against the Spurs, and really, really terrible the rest of the time. And against the Wizards Sunday it was more of the same, with one team or the other going on big runs. If the good team shows up (and hangs around for more than half the game) then this game should go in the W column. But who knows if that team is going to show up?
The Antagonist:
The Timberwolves have a strange habit of beating some good teams and losing to everybody else. Of course, since the Clippers don't qualify as a good team, this bodes well for tonight. As it happens, the Wolves have played a tough schedule so far - much tougher than the Clippers. So their 4-21 record may not be quite as bad as it seems. And their last three wins are against Denver and twice against Utah, including in Salt Lake City on Sunday. Is that an indication that the team is playing better or just a fluke? I guess we'll find out. Kevin Love has been back for seven games now and has been in the starting lineup the last three. He's a rebounding machine, but only shooting 34%. Al Jefferson leads them in scoring of course, but at 16.8 and 9.2, he hasn't been quite the 20/10 guy he was before he was injured. Then again, he has scored 24, 26 and 23 in his last three games, and grabbed 11 or more rebounds in seven straight, so he would seem to be getting closer to that form. Beyond Jefferson and Love, who are both fine players, I'm not really sold on any of the T-Wolves. Corey Brewer remains a shooting guard who can't shoot, though he does have the potential to be a great defender. Jonny Flynn can score, but he barely averages more assists than turnovers, which is not something you want from you point guard. Ryan Gomes is currently hurt, leaving them with Damien Wilkins starting at small forward, and frankly, I don't think Gomes should be starting in the NBA, so what does that say about his backup? There's really just not enough talent here.
The Subplots:
- Hit the road. Only the Lakers have played fewer road games than the Clippers to this point in the season. That is about to change, as the Clippers start a six game road trip tonight. As mentioned above, it starts easy enough, with the Wolves, Knicks and Sixers. But it gets decided more difficult at the end, with games against the Spurs, Rockets and Suns. 3 and 3 would be pretty nice. Anything better than that is probably too much to ask.
- Homecoming for the Clipperwolves. Sebastian Telfair and Craig Smith are playing their former mates for the third time this season, but of course it's the first trip to frigid Minnesota (where the current temperature is -3 F). Telfair and Smith have not been playing particularly well lately, but they were each instrumental the last time the Clippers beat Minny. There's always a little extra motivation playing your former team.
- Kaman. In the first meeting, Chris Kaman shot 10 for 15 - in the second, he was 6 for 20. There's really no reason he shouldn't have a big game against the size-challenged Wolves. After slumping badly, he's played a little better the last two games. So which release level will we see tonight?
- Thornton. Al had the hot hand the last time these teams met, but Sunday night against Washington he never got going in the game, owing partly to foul trouble. I'm sure Al would love to have a big night tonight to make up for Sunday.
- Baron. Baron has a big size advantage on Flynn, yet he struggled in the last meeting. However, his only basket of the game was a big one, a driving layup in the final minutes to secure the win.
- Ugly wins. I haven't gone through all 10 Clipper wins to see how many of them qualify as 'ugly', but I think we can safely say that both Minnesota wins AND Sunday's win over the Wizards would fall into that category. It would be great to have a decisive, wire to wire win in this one. But I'd still rather have an ugly win than an ugly loss.
- The triangle. NY Times sportswriter Jonathan Abrams (who you may recall used to be the Clippers beat writer for the LA Times) has an interesting blog post about the Wolves' efforts to install the Triangle offense this season. Kurt Rambis of course is a long time assistant to Phil Jackson with the Lakers, so he has brought the Triangle with him to his new gig in Minnesota. I'm fascinated by the fact that essentially no one in the NBA other than Phil Jackson runs the Triangle, despite the fact that Phil's won 10 titles with it. Of course he's always had talent also - but surely these teams are doing something right beyond the talent? So why is the recent history of the NBA dotted with brief, failed attempts to install the offense in Dallas and post-Phil Chicago? The idea that it's too complicated just seems like a cop-out to me. If you're an NBA player and your JOB is to play basketball, you can learn the offense, it seems to me.
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About those ugly wins
Maybe that’s why both Hollinger and Stein (ESPN) rank the Clips 13th out of 15th in the west, ahead of just the Warriors and Twolves. (Hollinger goes further, ranking them 27th out of 30, ahead of only the Nets in the east. Behind Indiana? The Sixers? Geeze, that’s obnoxious). — But I can’t disagree, we haven’t yet made any kind of case for being ranked, say, ahead of the Kings or the Funk. On the other hand, I have an earnest, gaming confidence that we will better establish ourselves before January’s out, maybe sooner. Once we see some reasonable consistency from our three main wings (all healthy, and at least 2 out of 3 shooting the ball respectably each game), then I see everything else coming around. Improved outside shooting (which will create better offensive flow) and focused defensive intensity are both very attainable. For the record, I put this on the players, not the coaches.
Agreed
We certainly don’t deserve any respect. Any time we win a few games, we follow them up with some bad losses. And we’ve certainly had our share of flat out stinkers. The truth is, it’s silly for any Clips fan to ever talk about respect. Win games, that’s all that matters. Power Rankings and such are meaningless, and for every time we’ve ranted against them for having the Clips too low, they’ve been more right than wrong.
I will say though that it’s nice to get a couple of ugly wins vs. good losses. It’d be nice if the Clips can squeeze in a few ugly wins while they continue to figure things out and wait for Blake, and then get it together before it’s too late.
Having said that, I’m not AT ALL optimistic about Blake’s health. I wouldn’t be surprised if they continue to BS us on his return until we get to All-Star break and he still hasn’t played.
Power Rankings and such are meaningless
That’s exactly how I feel. This isn’t the NCAA. Finish within the top 8 and you’re in, don’t and you’re out. It is completely irrelevant if guys like Hollinger don’t care for the Clippers.
Hence why professional sports >>> NCAA
by Michael White on Dec 16, 2009 11:52 AM PST up reply actions
On what do you base your doublts about Griffin?
I mean, besides the Clips’ historical records with these things. Are you thinking of their recent press statements? The one thing that gives me confidence is the way Griffin responded when asked if he’d be back come January. “Oh yeah, definitely!” I suppose there’s a chance that he doesn’t know any better, but he’s not the kind of guy to bull us.
Various things
First, the fact that they’ve been avoiding giving us a straight answer from the beginning. They couldn’t even diagnose the issue correctly to start, and then they essentially lied to the media to keep them at bay until Griffin got a 2nd opinion…which in and of itself was kind of strange.
Second Dun emphatically claimed that it was “at most 6 weeks” at the time, only to have 6 weeks pass and have no good news.
Third they continued to mislead or at best misinform the media about the schedule, culminating in Dun claiming he was “on schedule” while apparently not even knowing when his next scan was.
Fourth, Dun finally coming out and saying he’s now learning more about the injury (whatever that means) and he’ll be out til AFTER Jan. 1. Not “right after” or the “game after”. Just “after.”
Fourth, even now they can’t nail down the date of his CT scan.
Fifth, Rick Kamla and Kevin McHale were on NBA TV talking about how Randy Foye had this same injury as a rookie and every time Foye was supposed to come back, he’d suffer a set back and they’d push the return date.
The bottom line to me is this – from the beginning it’s been a strange situation and the team obviously hasn’t been up front about everything. I’ll never forget Steve asking Dun flat out if Griffin has had an MRI done and Dun saying he didn’t know. Even now Dun claims he doesn’t know the date of the CT scan. It’s a classic politician’s trick to feign ignorance so you can’t be blamed when things go south. In this case, Dun obviously is trying to filter the bad news so fans don’t continue to jump ship.
And in my experience, situations that require so much spin don’t end up well. It’s already a disappointment. He was supposed to be PLAYING by now. Instead he can’t even run or take jump shots. I don’t see any reason at all to be optimistic aside from sheer fan hope (which I understand we all have).
One more thing to add
on the pessimistic side. I read somewhere that the Clips had just purchased some kind of a zero gravity conditioning machine for Griffin. (As I write that now, I wonder if I’m just being gullible to some sort of joke. Zero gravity machine?) If true, well, that sounds expensive, and why buy one NOW? See what I’m saying?
Griffin said as much
During the interview with Ralph and Mike in the Wizards games, he said they were bringing in some machine where he would be able to run but not have his full weight on the knee.
It could just be something they decided was a good investment. But in my experience, purchases like these are reactive.
Zero grav makes sense...
Someone on another thread called it an anti-gravity machine. We all need one of those to get down to Staples in traffic. Course you could just “apparate” there if that’s your thing.
Well, how bout this: the game starts at seven o’clock tonight in Minneapolis, but because of this strange continental time warp, it starts at five in L.A. It’s not magic, man, it’s science.
I prefer to zap into the soul of one of the ball boys
Just for the time being, you know. I zap back out whenever he’s got work to do.
Could you zap into DTS' soul?
Fix it up a little, move some furniture around, and zap back out before you lost your mind? Please?
No way, man
Afraid of all that empty space. I’ll see if Refrigerator Perry’s interested.
It's true...
DTS soul probably resembles one of those post-apocalyptic deserts… vast and empty with the occasional weird mutant creature. Very dangerous if you accidentally zapped in there.
Yep...why invest so much money into a machine like this...
If Griffin is expected to be at full practice form within two weeks?
Unless the machine is rented…
Hertz: Cars, Trucks, Anti-gravity Gismos
I may even have space for one in my bedroom
#5 -- Randy Foye had this same injury as a rookie
Didn’t know that. I wonder what the details were, how quickly he came back the first time, what happened after that. I kind of remember him having a knee injury his rookie season, but only vaguely, and didn’t know it was a fractured patella. Was it the same severity of fracture? Another interesting thing is that you can see how bad the injury can be in the case of Greg Oden. Did Foye ultimately have surgery?
I don’t know about Griffin’s return. You’re right to be skeptical, mg. None of the reasons you cite is especially convincing or decisive, and it seems to boil down to your nice statement about things that seem to require so much spin. We know that the Clippers are bumblers when it comes to anything and everything in this department. My own view is that they’re simply inept, especially with regards to PR and transparency on injuries, and I can only hope that the players actually receive good diagnoses and treatment.
I want Griffin to come back sooner rather than later, but am trying to get through the month and keep expectations modest. Having Gordon playing again helps, but it’s not enough.
It seems that on the Wizards game broadcast they said the scan was on Dec. 23. It was Griffin or Milph or both. So that would mean that he’s not going to do anything until this time next week, but after that we should know if the scan is clear or not.
Conspiracy theorists or those who want to break down the timeline and information flow can speculate that this 12/23 date has been in place for some time, as much as 6 weeks or more. “Well, when do we check it again?” The doctor says, in the greatest length of time possible, to promote the most healing. The team and the player want it sooner, as soon as possible. “So what are we talking about? Beginning of December, mid-December, January?” The doctor really isn’t comfortable with the beginning of December, and the team/player doesn’t want to wait until January.
If you’re not going to push to January, then Dec. 23 is the last possible (reasonable) day to do it. If it’s clear, he gets an extra 10 days at the end of the year to do the post-scan phase of his rehab.
by citizen zhiv on Dec 16, 2009 2:22 PM PST up reply actions
Randy Foye
I’m not sure about the details of his injury myself. Maybe Steve can tap the TWolves blogger on SB nation and have him write a quick post or something?
All I know is that Kevin McHale was talking about it and how frustrating it was. I’m sure watching Brandon Roy tear it up in Portland didn’t help either.
Certainly I’m not claiming that anything I’ve said is “decisive.” I’m just making a prediction based on Clippers history as a whole and how this specific instance has been handled (or more accurately, mishandled).
The Clips act like the employee who barely gets by. He over-promises, under-delivers, he’s quick to blame others, he tries to hide when he screws up and he’s quick to talk himself up when there’s good news. That last part is what makes me worry. The Clips are the first to scream at the top of their lungs when there’s any good news about anything. Party because good news is so rare around here. So the fact that instead of trumping up a fast recovery they’re being evasive about timelines tells me there’s more bad than good here.
Hope I’m wrong.
They were talking about it on NBATV last night...
I, too, do not know all of the details, but they mentioned that he did not return until March of his rookie season.
"look, you can find any coach you want, bring him in here and run the situation. But I don't think they are going to do as good a job as I do." -Mike Dunleavy Sr.
by CLiPPz WeRD 12 on Dec 16, 2009 3:11 PM PST up reply actions
hard to argue with madglove
At least Griffin gave a definitive date for the CT scan with Milph – 12/23. But yeah, the statements from MDsr and the team up to that point were evasive at the least, fabrications at worst. On 12/2 he said it would be in 10 days, on 12/11 he said “the 16th or the 18th”, he said something else to Adande before the Spurs game. Very fishy.
I’m a little disappointed that the team has put it on BG to clear it all up. And he said to Milph something like “the original estimate was 6 to 8 weeks for the bone to heal”…. while the press release said 6 weeks, and as we know, I specifically asked MDsr what 6 weeks meant.
So you can say it was a mis-statement by MDsr… but it’s hard to reconcile a PRESS RELEASE saying 6 weeks and then having Griffin go on air and say it was always 6 to 8 weeks.
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 Dec 16, 2009 3:07 PM PST up reply actions
Soooooooo
The point is…when will Blake actually come back?
Should we just expect the worst and think that he’ll never come back or expect him to play a week from New Year’s day?
Clippers 09-10. Prepare for a revolution.
Somewhere in between?
Blake will play eventually obviously. But I’ll bet anyone a good amount of money that he won’t play a week from New Year’s Day.
To underrepresent the time in a press release
makes it look like they felt GUILTY or something. I mean, why should they be red-faced over bone physiology? Does anyone ever apologize for the rain? Just get the facts and report them.
I wonder if Dunleavy on some level wanted to minimize more talk of a curse… to maintain morale or something. That’s all I can think of.
Traumatic
I think everybody was traumatized, and wanted to be somewhat helpful. There are a lot of way one gets to minimizing something.
by citizen zhiv on Dec 16, 2009 5:18 PM PST up reply actions
Hollinger's ratings are meaningless...
…I don’t even think he watches the games.
Well
It’s not possible for him to watch every game, right? That statement is true for every pollster in every sport.
by Michael White on Dec 16, 2009 11:45 AM PST up reply actions
Except maybe Kelly Dwyer...
I’m not sure how he does it, but he seems to watch every game.
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 Dec 16, 2009 11:49 AM PST up reply actions
Tuesdays & Thursdays
Can usually be watched by one person alone, but you pretty much need an assistant or two to have eyes on every minute. If you had everything tivo’d, and that’s all you did…what a life that would be.
No love for Love?
Kevin is back in the line up, so it does not look good for our rebounding numbers! Plus he can step out behind the 3pt line. Who will guard/box him out?
At first, I thought Love made a mistake coming out after one year, but the few times I have seen him he has a nose for the ball…reminds me of a very athletic Fazekas…
Roger Sterling: To my knees, Don. They're bringing to my knees!"
duh! maybe I should have read the Antagonist portion of the post!
I usually skip to your bullet points!
Roger Sterling: To my knees, Don. They're bringing to my knees!"
by Lawler's Law on Dec 16, 2009 12:11 PM PST up reply actions
I'm predicting...
Gordon goes off for 40 pts!
That would be awesome
If he scores 40+ points tonight, I will have a contest for one of my autographed cards of EJ :-)
It will be my way of saying Happy Holidays to the nation.
Infact, if he goes for 40+ points in any of the next 3 games, I will run the contest.
email me at ryanshinn_5@hotmail.com if interested in the free contest.
Anybody up for a little guessing contest right now?
I predict EJ has 26.
I hope he gets 20+
My guess is 23.
Btw, I must receive an email from all those interested by 8:00 central time on 12-16-09 if you are going to be part of my Eric Gordon 40+ point contest.
Thanks
Without wanting to jinx it..
28 is my guess.
by LancasterGordon4Eva on Dec 16, 2009 12:47 PM PST up reply actions
I'm predicting...
Butler shows up again. And Smith does too.
Important insider information...
I don’t think Kevin Love will be in the stadium tonight, let alone play. Kevin looks like quite the tasty little morsel, and there’s no doubt BSkinnz will eat him and his outlet passes if given the chance. I expect Pecherov to get his minutes, Olexsey gives ’nough respect to BSkinnz and will therefore be sparred.
Hopefully Kaman can come through with another good game.
Yay yay.
by KamanHomie on Dec 16, 2009 12:54 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Speaking of BSkinnz
are we expecting him to get minutes tonight? Is DJ still out? Why was DJ out to begin with? Did BSkinnz eat him?
by Michael White on Dec 16, 2009 12:57 PM PST up reply actions
I don't know if we should ever "expect" minutes for Brian...
but I think he should get some, as long as he can keep up the defense and rebounding. As far as DeAndre goes, I definitely support the possibility of Skinner consuming him, but I feel like BSkinnz probably put him on time-out until he can grow and bleach some legitamite facial hair.
Yay yay.
by KamanHomie on Dec 16, 2009 2:18 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
The Timberwolves are a different monster with KLove back in action but if JLuc takes over coaching again we should get the "W"!
Also more minutes for BSkinnz will help too.
Everything starts out New, Gets Old and Dies or is Destroyed.
Zero Gravity Treadmill
This is the machine Blake was talking about. Allows you to run without putting much pressure on the bones and joints.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/10/zero-gravity-treadmill-like-running-in-space/
A plastic air bag?!?
And here I thought they had an on/off switch on Earth’s gravity. F$%&ing scientists.
If I build a new kind of hour-glass, where the sand passes through in only a minute, can I call it a Time Accelerator?
Flynn
Had a breakout game against the Jazz on Monday, including the game winner. I was at the last game against Minnesota, and Flynn was burning by BD with ease. Think that matchup at point guard will tell a lot, BD can’t be as bad as he was during that last game, but Flynn could also be much improved.
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