In the Bloody Aftermath of Suns-Clippers - Interesting Chat With PhoenixStan
by Steve Perrin on Feb 18, 2009 11:44 AM PST
in News
Email
PrintSo, PhoenixStan from Bright Side of the Sun pinged me this morning on GMail chat. I decided our conversation was worth sharing with everyone.
Bright: oops
Clips didn't look so goodme: you think? I thought Alex Acker was EXCELLENT!
What a mess
and what was Zach thinking?Bright: disaster
funny how much the Suns fans think this is all about us
I mean sure - nice energy etc
but frankly the Clips were horrible
and missing top 3 bigs
think they show up tonight?
me: likely still missing top 3 bigs... top 4 really, since Skinner is much better against shaq than DJ
so if the Clippers decide to compete, they can, you know, keep the Suns from scoring on layups every trip... but they can't winBright: sure
but they rolled over
as pathetic as anything I've seen all yearme: well, I've seen close... but then again, I watch every Clippers' game
they've been embarrassing in each of their last 4 losses... and they also have 3 wins in that time... 2 by blowout
Bright: how much do you put on Clips vs Suns
I kind of feel it was 70% Clips suck and 30% Suns great playme: confluence of factors....
the Suns were energized by the chance to play fast again
then, when the Clippers offered no resistance, it snowballed
so, maybe it's 80% Clippers, 80% Suns.... synergy baby!
Bright: this "chance to play fast again" is a myth
this is best I've read on the matter:
me: so it's not 'the chance to play fast' so much as 'the chance to play for someone other than porter' - I'll buy that... but they were clearly energized
Bright: yes
I am just pissed at the players
bailing on a coach like that...petulant comes to mindme: I think I said it on the podcast...
the players are in charge, whether we admit it or not
Bright: yeah - I know
still, I would have expected more from Nash
to at least give it a try
I believe that the direction they were going was correct
Nash resisted b/c it didn't suit his game
not willing to sacrifice or realize his diminished role
lost a lot of respect
some day I will sit down and ask him about it :)
me: and yet... he's not actively sabotaging the plan...
when you're talking about pro athletes, the difference between the performance from a 'good soldier' carrying out the plan and a 'motivated warrior' who truly believes in the plan is night and day...
and if he doesn't believe, he doesn't believe...
you can't change the way he thinks
oooh... that's good sh*t.... applicable to a certain bearded PG in LA....
So, for me, lots of interesting stuff there. For one thing, welcome to my life citizens - I am pitied by the other bloggers. I'm the lovable misfit Clippers guy, blogging about a horrible team with a horrible past and a horrible present. He just called my team 'pathetic' and a 'disaster' - and he's absolutely right. Still, pitied by BLOGGERS. It doesn't get much lower.
Part of the irony here is that the Clippers actually played the Suns close a couple of times this season when they had no right to, at least on paper. Yet again, the Clippers give their worst effort when Baron Davis is in the game. Coincidence?
But what really made this interesting for me was the point about the Suns quitting on Porter. If Steve Nash, a two time MVP and the ultimate team player and non-head-case, can be accused by a highly qualified observer of 'resisting' and being 'not willing to sacrifice', and if that issue can manifest itself so clearly in the team's play under Porter, then it becomes much less surprising to think that an MDsr/Baron Davis conflict could derail the Clippers season, over and above the injury issues.
Do you fire Dunleavy and bring in Baron's hand-picked successor in order to solve the problem? (Which is pretty much what happened in Phoenix.) Doesn't that just create a different problem, where the players have all the power and the coach has none? Well, as I told PhoenixStan, the players have the power, whether you admit it or not. A few special coaches, like Popovich and Jackson, appear to have power. But to a large extent, their power rests in the fact that they have superstars in Duncan and Kobe that are bought in. They deserve much credit for GETTING their stars to buy in, that much is true. But what happened to the Lakers when Kobe wasn't bought in to Jackson's plan? Shaq was traded and Jackson was gone. So who truly has the power there?
The chat was something of an epiphany for me. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I don't believe that Baron Davis intentionally got an 8 second backcourt violation and a technical foul in the Memphis game. I don't think he's intentionally sabotaging the team in an acive effort to get the coach fired. But maybe he doesn't have to.
when you're talking about pro athletes, the difference between the performance from a 'good soldier' carrying out the plan and a 'motivated warrior' who truly believes in the plan is night and day...
and if he doesn't believe, he doesn't believe...
you can't change the way he thinks
That's one of the few things I've come up with in this dismal season that seems to make some sense.
6 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
With the exception of a few games this season, Baron has the appearance that he doesn’t care. When you saw him at his best with the Warriors, he seemed to have a different body language. He was intense and willed his team to victory. These days he just seems to be going through the motions with no real intensity.
Al Thorton is another guy that seems to disappear in some games. If he doesn’t get off to a good start, he seems to sulk and becomes a non factor.
Last nights game was an embarrassment and an insult to loyal fans. I think Phoenix set this seasons record for points in the paint midway through the 3rd quarter. When everybody was out and it was mostly our bench playing, they didn’t win, but at least played with effort and heart. I don’t mind losing as much as the lack of effort. I thought some of the most enjoyable games this year were when we were shorthanded, yet competed with some good teams at full strength.
Effort goes a long way. EJ and Camby bring it every game. It needs to rub off on the rest of the team.
by whydoiliketheclips on Feb 18, 2009 1:15 PM PST reply actions
Coach with power...
Jerry Sloane. That team has been consistent a lot longer than the Spurs have been.
I agree
He’s the best example. I’m not sure how he does it. But he maintains the ship, and he gets results.
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 Feb 18, 2009 1:55 PM PST up reply actions
He's a great coach and
they do their homework on the players they draft and trade for. No big risks there or dodgy characters (eccentric in AK47 maybe). It helps the cause.
Bingo! Oh me oh my!
As Ugly As It Gets
Wow. Tough time to be a Clipper fan, even tougher to run a Clipper blog.
Kind of curious about the number of layups and dunks that the Suns got. It really was the perfect storm.
I don’t think that Dunleavy helped things with his lame starting lineup. Ricky Davis had no business being out there. Why not start DJordan, and tell him not to foul in the first half. Just stand there, in between Shaq and the basket, and just try to focus on that blocking out thing that we’re trying to teach you. You know that Shaq is only going to play limited minutes, especially in a back-to-back against the same team. If you can keep DJordan out of 1st half foul trouble, you have a chance to be in the game. Was the theory that Ricky Davis would be able to defend against Grant Hill? Al Thornton should be playing Grant Hill—and that’s going to be one of your best matchups. Dunleavy used to have a completely different set of assumptions for playing guys out of position against Phoenix, and the Clips get blown out time after time. When they play straight up, they seem to stay in the game at least.
Eric Gordon didn’t miss just one layup. He missed an important one in the critical early moments, when Phoenix was already flying out of the gate. And then he missed another one later, in the 2nd I think. Don’t want him missing layups; it’s not acceptable.
I want to say that Baron Davis was the saddest part of this debacle, but the honor has to go to Zbo. We got to see bad Randolph, the guy that we were all so afraid that the Clips had traded for. It may be a case where, when the going gets pathetic AND tough, a guy like Zbo is liable to blow a gasket. So now we get to wait until next week for the Clippers to have a decent team. But it was an ugly sign, and bad timing for a team that is trying to gain some respect. Instead you lose respect, and you lose the ability to make a difference on the court even if you were going to get blown out. Lame lame lame. But I also blame the idea of Zbo starting at center (against Shaq) for some of this. Not much of an excuse, but still. And look what happens now—seems like DJordan is probably going to start at center. How about that.
So BDavis isn’t the lowest of the low, but he’s getting pretty far down there these days. The sad part last night was that he actually seemed to be trying. You could see the light going off in his head: oh yeah, I always kill Nash, he can’t guard me, and this other young scrub can’t play defense either. So then he’s taking shots and clanking them and he’s not making any plays for other guys, and he’s just terrible. And he was trying, at least for part of the first quarter, and then in the 2nd. It was pretty pathetic.
BD is going to have to take apart his game and reconstruct it with the weapons he has, when he gets them back. He’s got nothing now—he can’t turn it on and off, he can’t blame Dunleavy, he can’t shoot, he can’t play defense. He needs to get into his head that he’s got to be smart and make a great effort to match up against Steve Blake or Beno Udrih, and try to build from there, but only after he gets guys like Gordon, Thornton, Novak and Randolph going. If he can play like a guy who can’t shoot and can’t score, maybe he’ll eventually start hitting a few shots.
And yes, Mardy Collins wasn’t ready to go yet either. He needs to get some games and minutes to get his mojo back. It wasn’t that long ago that he was a complete scrub, and he has to build on the basics too.
Didn’t see Acker play. Couldn’t watch much of the 2nd half, too brutal. Have to be excited about getting back out there again in a few hours.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- Shaq digs in on Dwight Howard once again, calling his eventual departure ‘a travesty’
- Behind the locker room doors before and after Lin’s game-winning shot against the Raptors
- Video: Jeremy Lin adds to his legend
- Days of NBA Lives: Wherein Rick Fox isn’t here for the right reasons
- A shameless businessman wants to trademark “Linsanity”
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
