Sacramento 97 - Clippers 92 - Execution at the End of Quarters
by Steve Perrin on Feb 28, 2010 9:39 PM PST
in Game Recaps
Email
PrintThe Clippers shot only 37% in this game. Their guard rotation of Baron Davis, Eric Gordon and Steve Blake combined to make just 10 of 34 shots (29%) and 2 of 11 threes (18%). But amazingly, when Chris Kaman grabbed a rebound in the final two minutes, the team had possession down one and a chance to take their first lead since midway through the first quarter. The possession, along with the Clippers' faint hopes in this game, lasted about a second, as Ime Udoka stole Kaman's lazy outlet pass, Tyreke Evans made a layup, and the Kings secured a five point win.
It's tempting to blame the loss on Kaman for that late turnover - or perhaps for the blown layup, or the pass from Drew Gooden he dropped out of bounds - but while Kaman was not particularly sharp, neither were his teammates. In particular, in the last few minutes of quarters, the Kings were able to execute and get points, while the Clippers were not.
It began in the first. With the Clippers down 2, 20-18, the Kings went on a 12-0 run over the last two minutes of the first quarter. In a very real sense, that run was the entire difference in the game. The Kings never again trailed, and never led by more than 16. They also scored on their last possession of each of the first three quarters - a buzzer beating jumper by Spencer Hawes in the first, a coast-to-coast drive for a layup by Tyreke Evans at halftime, and a crazy runner by Donte Greene in the third.
In the fourth, after fighting uphill all game, the Clippers seemed to just run out of gas after getting within one. When they got the ball back after Kaman's turnover, they had one of the ugliest possessions you'll ever want to see, with Rasual Butler essentially dribbling nowhere while the rest of the team stood around, until Baron Davis had to force a 30 footer deep in the clock. The next time they got the ball they were down five with 43 seconds to go and in dire straits.
It's a foregone conclusion that Tyreke Evans will be the rookie of the year at this point, and deservedly so. He's terrific. But he has a quality that goes beyond "impressive-for-a-rookie". On big possessions, he has the ability to get not just shots, but layups. That's not supposed to happen against a competent NBA defense (and perhaps the Clippers were not tonight, but usually they are). In a one point game, in the final two minutes, on consecutive possessions, Evans got lay ups. Lay. Yups. That's superstar stuff.
For the optimists who were betting that the Clippers could reach 30 wins before they reached 40 losses, this one hurt. The next 10 games come against teams in or near the playoffs, so beating a bottom feeder like the Kings was essential to putting together a decent run. It didn't happen.
Regardless of the opponent, the Clippers will have to shoot better, and close quarters better, if they want to win games.
52 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I think im gonna toss in the towel for this year
this rollercoaster ride is too much. see you guys next season
Wimp
C’mon! March is going to be great!
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 28, 2010 9:49 PM PST up reply actions
LOL
“For the optimists who were betting that the Clippers could reach 30 wins before they reached 40 losses, this one hurt. The next 10 games come against teams in or near the playoffs, so beating a bottom feeder like the Kings was essential to putting together a decent run. It didn’t happen.” – You
Yea, way to sell us on March! : )
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Feb 28, 2010 11:51 PM PST up reply actions
CC we beat this team last week with half our lineup
This game makes no sense
by big0lbad on Mar 1, 2010 7:39 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
It does actually
We’re a awful road team. I don’t know if its the hotel room, maybe they are partying but we are terrible on the road. 7-23 to date and those losses include the who’s who of bad teams.
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Mar 1, 2010 12:01 PM PST up reply actions
lol, i kid, i kid
I can never turn my back on this historical franchise.
by big0lbad on Mar 1, 2010 7:31 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Historical?
Didn’t you mean hysterical?
Do not worry. (Matthew 6:27)
Except...
there’s nothing funny about our record.
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Mar 1, 2010 12:01 PM PST up reply actions
eh, half the reason why I buy tickets
is to see players on the other team. LeBron, Kobe, Wade, CP3, Dwight, Durant, Melo… are all amazing in their own right and just because they don’t play for the Clips doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy their greatness while destroying your favorite team. Go to a game and get good seats, my best Clipper experiences are at the games and plenty of times it’s through a heartbreaking loss.
Yikes
You like going through heartbreaking losses? Do you also like to run into coffee tables, sit in traffic and find flies in your salad?
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Feb 28, 2010 11:45 PM PST up reply actions
I dont buy
that Tyrekes “layups” were that difficult or amazing..to be honest the Clipper defense was terrible that possession. I seem to remember a few times during the game that the Clippers actually defended Tyreke ended up in wild misses but I could be wrong
I don't get why they moved Rasual onto Tyreke
Baron had been doing a good job most of the game. At the end Tyreke was getting by Rasual pretty easily and none of our bigs are true shot blockers (aside from DJ but the rest of his game needs massive work).
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Feb 28, 2010 11:47 PM PST up reply actions
Other than the getting around part
….which in it self is a BIG part in his game,
Rasual was doing a good job stopping his jumper because of his height.
But I agree, Baron had the height and size to match up with him as Rasual (maybe a little less due to height) but at least Baron is slightly better from stopping Tyreke’s drive.
Overall, Gordon should have been guarding him.
Not sure
They started with Baron on him, and tried all three (Baron, Gordon and Butler). I really thought Baron did the best job of anyone on him, so I’m not sure why they went away from it. Reke got a couple of post ups on Baron, but for the most part Baron seemed to do a very good job on him. For most of the fourth, Reke was fairly quiet against Butler, so in that sense it’s hard to argue with having that matchup on the final two possessions. I would say in general that Evans fourth quarter struggles seemed to have more to do with 3 and 4 guys meeting him at the rim than with Sool keeping him from getting there. The guy needs to figure out how to find his teammates, because he forced some bad shots earlier in the quarter. But for some reason the Clippers’ help defense was no where to be found on those last two.
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
Even how bad the rest of the team was they all pulled it together for one last run/stand
That is what teams do and Kaman threw it away in what he has been 2/4 of his season a LAZY pass.
yes
Kaman is just a bonehead…hes been with the Clippers his whole career him coincidence? Not saying the Clippers made him dumb but this franchise does have a knack of ineptitude
the double dribble
LOL so bad Ralph had to replay it!
and thats the season (I can't believe we had so much hope coming into this season)
but that little 3 game winning streak we just had was that one ounce of hope we had left to at least make a push to .500 and be respectable, but our season is officially over as we have lost 2 in a row and are about to face teams that we just can’t beat for the next 10 games. Now we’re just counting down the days til the draft. Sorry to the wasted efforts of Marcus Camby, Craig Smith, Rasual Butler, and Eric Gordon, all who we could always count on to give 100% effort. and sorry to Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw, and Drew Gooden who got traded and are stuck in this shithole the rest of the season on a team full of morons.
RIP 2009-2010 season :(
by baron_davis needs a fro on Feb 28, 2010 10:42 PM PST reply actions
You still had hope for the season?
After we lost to the Nets and Timberwolves I think it was pretty clear the season was over.
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Feb 28, 2010 11:49 PM PST up reply actions
...
sooo true….sooo true….
The nets loss will be the one thing I remember from this season. My roommate always watches a little bit of the games with me, and he knows nothing about bball. He asked me what I thought the game would be like. I remember saying “this game can only piss me off. no matter what we should win. So if we win its a given, if we lose…I might not watch another game this season.” I’ve still watched every game since then. However, a little part of me died that night.
Wasn't the Ime Udoka save thrown past halfcourt thus a backcourt violation?
or was it a karma kaman double dribble non call?
or is it one of those Udoka didn’t have possession? But I thought backcourt violations go by just touching the ball?
Non-possession
was the ruling, I think it should be a possession though, it wasn’t as if he tipped it inbounds. He had to chuck it halfway down the court.
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Feb 28, 2010 11:50 PM PST up reply actions
Love Hate Relationship is giving me gray hairs...
Some nights Kaman is awesome, tonight’s turn over just makes me feel he should quit playing basketball and start doing Geico commercials. I thought that pass was “so easy a CaveMan could do it.”
Down the stretch I want to actually say that Kim Hughes has got to start getting some better play calling going. There was that one possession towards the end that they didn’t do anything and Baron Davis had to throw up a prayer a few feet from the three point line. These off possessions have been happening way to often. It seems since Steve Blake has joined there is the one time a night he hooks up with Jordan for a alley op or at least a nice pass for a dunk. Then a little later they will come down the court and just look confused and turn the ball over.
Of course our ball handling has been horrible, EJ has done some downright ugly passes in the past week and Jordan has those nights when he can’t seem to catch a ball. Has anyone else thought that a lot of these turnovers could be attributed to them just not knowing what each other is doing and the team communication just going downhill since Dunleavy gave up his coaching gig?
Sool going off on EJ
anyone see it? what was it about? Also does anyone else think EJ looks disinterested sometimes…2nd time tv has caught him yawning during games this season…
Roger Sterling: To my knees, Don. They're bringing to my knees!"
Dunno
I do wish ESPN or SI would do a in-depth article on him. We know that Derrick Rose likes gummy bears, he has a few brothers and growing up in the South Side and we know about Baron, Crossroads, Cash Warren and Kate Hudson but we know very very little about Eric Gordon. Maybe he needs to change his diet, maybe he plays too many games or doesn’t get enough sleep. We know very little about the guy. Same with Blake Griffin, we still don’t know too much about him either.
FA in 2010.
TRADE KAMAN AND BARON AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
is their a dumber player than kaman?? if there is, please inform me. he grabs a rebound and cant see the opposing player who is not more than 5 feet from him. makes a plazy pass and theres the game…never mind the crappy defense in the 1st half…thats 2 games in a row, he got abused…at lease he didnt quit this time….he will never be the starting center on an elite team..NEVER.
baron davis…what can i write that i havent written before??? it seems funny that whenever gordon gets 20 to 30, the next game baron will not pass him the ball….check it out next game…same pattern…lawler and smith wonder why he doesnt have back to back 25 point games, look no further than baron (im the man, not you) davis…gordon was selected for team usa, not “the baron”….what superstar wants to play with him? he cant shoot further away than 5 feet from the basket…check out his lifetime stats as far as shooting percentage….its AWFUL….doesnt move without the ball and when he doesnt feel like playing he goes to the “sore back” card.
get rid of them both
Trade Kaman!!!
Then the game won’t even be close in the final 2 minutes!
Hooray!!!
by Michael White on Mar 1, 2010 7:50 AM PST up reply actions
Baron and EJ have some chemistry issues
EJ is their most efficient scorer but it seems like Baron doesn’t want to be upstaged. I get the feeling Baron is hindering EJ’s development.
by big0lbad on Mar 1, 2010 7:37 AM PST via mobile reply actions
I don't see it
I do see that Baron should give it more to EJ
but career-wise, Baron has all the “experience points” to say…Sorry EJ, but I’m taking this big shot to get our team back in the game.
After the shot: (oops, I missed….)
I don’t blame him. It’s not a hindrance on purpose at least.
Where do you guys make these inferences
Baron does pass to EJ, its not Baron’s fault EJ doesn’t get himself open.
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Mar 1, 2010 12:04 PM PST up reply actions
They are excellent eye-readers
with some soul reading thrown in there too.
by Michael White on Mar 1, 2010 12:41 PM PST up reply actions
kamen
kamen is always going to be who he is. he’s a guy that will give you 15-20 points and 10 reb, but don’t expect him to make many passes or big shots at the end. i think he’s a decent player and a good #2 option but he’s never going to be a #1 option on a nba team. the problem with this team is they lean on kamen way too much and they really don’t know what the heck to do when kamen is off his game and everyone else has to score.
How is this Kaman's fault
We are missing a true superstar. Hopefully Griffin fills that role someday or maybe EJ steps it up. Kaman is the best bet option we have right now, it is what it is.
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Mar 1, 2010 12:09 PM PST up reply actions
kamen
not saying its his fault, but just saying the team leans on him more than they should. the team should work around him instead of putting all the weight on him. developing EJ and other scoring options is really important to this team if they want to improve.
by zac4president on Mar 1, 2010 4:13 PM PST up reply actions
The sophmore slump is real
At the end of last season EJ seemed destined for stardom (maybe super).
He is not progressing at this moment.
Do not worry. (Matthew 6:27)
Wouldn't call it a slump
as he hasn’t really regressed but he hasn’t really gotten better… he’s kind of in a tie.
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Mar 1, 2010 12:05 PM PST up reply actions
Yes
but he is not where I thought he would be, at least not consistently. Continued improvement is key.
Do not worry. (Matthew 6:27)
That I agree with
he’s been disappointing. He’s not playing worse than last year… well he might be a little bit considering his ft shooting but not a slump. I think we all expected some improvement though.
FA in 2010.
Which is disappointing
I think we all expected EJ to continue to get better. He’s 20 so you’d expect each year to bring exponential amounts of improvement. But he hasn’t been very good at all this year.
It’s a stretch to say that he seemed destined for stardom, and certainly not superstardom. I don’t think any unbiased observer really saw that kind of potential in him. Superstars aren’t shy and reserved.
We also need to keep in mind that Al Thornton looked pretty promising as a rookie putting up numbers on a bad team. I think Gordon has a bright future ahead of him, but I highly doubt he’ll be anything more than a solid starter on a good team. In the right situation he might be an occasional All-Star.
off topic
shaq out 2 months after injuring his thumb,,,,,,,,,,,,,is this the type of accident that gets Cleveland tossed from the playoffs and Lebron playing for us next season?
No
because Shaq will be back to face Orlando and the Lakers…the reason he was brought in in the first place.
Otherwise they are fine without him (better?).
Do not worry. (Matthew 6:27)
The injury doesn't matter
They don’t need Shaq to beat the lesser teams. They destroyed the Hawks and Pistons last year until they ran into the Magic, a team they matched up poorly with. They need Shaq’s brawn against the bigger teams (Magic and Lakers and possibly the Celtics).
FA in 2010.
by ClipperChuck on Mar 1, 2010 12:07 PM PST up reply actions
Yes
I do think they match up better with ORL now. They added size to the wings in Anthony Parker and Jamiro Moon, and can put a body on Howard now. Jamison matches up with Rashard. Hickson has become a solid player, and Varejao may be an all-star were it not such a stats driven league.
I think that Hedo was more of a playmaker last year and the Cavs couldn’t stop him. The Cavs backcourt was too short.
Do not worry. (Matthew 6:27)
with Big Z traded
who is their starting center?
Roger Sterling: To my knees, Don. They're bringing to my knees!"
Varejao now
but Z will be back in a few weeks.
Do not worry. (Matthew 6:27)
They have a pretty deep team
Hickson can play some center too against the smaller teams. They should be fine, they have a pretty deep team.
FA in 2010.
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.
