The Clipper Roster: Are We There Yet?

Funny, because I was talking (at something like zhivian length) about this at the bottom of the last thread.

I think that the Clips have to react now to trading both Kaman and Eric Gordon. Those two players are significant pieces who can’t be completely replaced, but the specifics are Gordon’s role as primary wing defender (against elites like Ginobili, Kobe, and DWade) and Kaman as backup center (assuming that DJ was going to start; Kaman is coming off the bench at NOH). There are all sorts of different approaches.

Having Travis Leslie on the roster was a nice bit of potential when the guards were Gordon, Mo, Bledsoe and Foye, and even with Billups added. But as soon as Gordon was traded, and the team is being built to win right away, then I think you have to reevaluate Leslie’s spot and role. Maybe he’s the guy; I don’t know. But having a guy who just plays defense and has some size, to go against big guards, is an important option that the Clips are missing. They need it even more when Billups is the starter. In lots of circumstances, Mo is going to be the perfect guy coming off the bench, and Bledsoe is going to be a big help too. Randy Foye is a good and versatile roster guy, a good placeholder is someone gets hurt (like Bledsoe). But the Clips needs a defender now with Gordon gone. I daresay that QRoss and Mardy Collins are the template, and they would both do better in limited minutes on a team with CP3 and Billups and Griffin, than they did back in the day.

The backup big situation is probably worse, at least until Evans can play. He should be a good backup to Griffin, and okay coming off the bench for DJ, but the Clips still need a long body. I don’t think that Thompson’s spot is at all in question (the way that Leslie’s perhaps should be). When the Clips add guys he should actually start getting some minutes ahead of Cook, to show what he can do, but Cook can spread the floor and he’s not a bad piece to have imo.

I think that should be our priority above anything. There are not too many traditional centers on the league, so Evans can pretty much fill that back up role with the other bigs. Come playoffs it would be a problem. Even so, I see the 2 guard being a bigger problem. We thought that CB4 would be a mismatch for for other teams but he is too slow. I think the reason he has still been good at his age is because of his size advantage over other PG’s. Yesterday he looked slow against a mid 30s Ginobli. If that position is address, it can be a major set back for the team on both ends of the floor, CB4 would serve better as the 6th man of the team. I would try getting a couple young wing players like Chase Budinger & Terrence Williams for Ryan Gomes, Randy Foye, and Mo Will. Another wing that looks good is Jared Dudley or/and Josh Childress, but I don’t think the Suns would be interested in trading either of them to the Clips.

Maybe Minnesota would trade us a future rd pick for those two and they
can have them back.

- I am not happy with our bigs. We need a taller guy who can bang with the other big men in the league. Evans is a rebounding machine, but it would still be hard for him to play with 7 footers.
- It really depends on his minutes. If we want better rebounding, we play him longer. Griffin seems to get rebounds… when he WANTS to. DeAndre is often out of place because of the ridiculous blocks he goes for (they are pretty sweet ot watch but a tad too high risk for me)
- I think a SPECIFIC center would do. Like Przybilla would be perfect, even Diogu.
- I could care less if he is 7 feet or not, as long as we get an ACTUAL center. Sorry, but Evans is a forward. I really liked the Rhino, but he is long gone.
- No, Brian Cook is just not good enough on the defense end and grabbing boards. I like that he can shoot, but other than his occasional jumper or three pointer, he is mediocre.
- Yes, Thompkins should get more minutes. Although he isn’t great defensively, we need to let him develop his game so he can become a threat.
- Gomes is adequate, but I would much rather prefer we don’t give him hefty minutes. I would much rather see Leslie or even Thompkins (assuming he is versatile) play at back up 3. Gomes has been given more than enough time to improve his shot, it just isn’t happening.
- If Thompkins can handle the 3 spot, he is an upgrade from Gomes. He can shoot better and it seems as if he doesn’t make as many dumb mistakes.
- Randy Foye at small forward is a joke. The whole point of a three guard offense in my book is to score, but he just doesn’t cut it. The fact is, he is a liability on the defensive end as a 3 and there is no guarantee he does what he is suppose to, score.
- Billups is adequate depending on who he has to guard. Manu is one tough person to guard for ANYONE in the league. I think Billups is fine for a starter, but you can’t give him rough minutes this year.
- I think Billups is fine with Butler. With CP3 dictating the game, he can always search for a nice pass to Butler or Billups. Even if he can blow by the defense, DeAndre won’t allow easy layups. However, we need to work on what happens AFTER DeAndre goes up high to swat the ball, because I often see a nice block followed by zero defense down low.
- I think Mo is more than adequate, he can be 6th man of the year if he accepts his role. Foye has been playing an extremely weak game. He hasn’t defended and his shooting has been atrocious. I like Bledsoe, but I wouldn’t want him running the game for more than 5 minutes. He just seems to play his college style basketball. He plays too fast and that often hurts the Clippers via his turn overs.
- Foye is the only one capable of being a two guard there. But I’m perfectly fine with playing two points like CP3 and Williams, as long as the other team’s SG isn’t someone capable of hurting the Clippers too badly (Like Manu)
- I think that Williams is extremely valuable and I would not like to trade him. But if he demanded a trade, I think there are several ways we can go. Whether we package him up or just go for a straight up deal. I think that I would be happy to see Foye, Gomes, Cook, or Bledsoe leave. As logn as we get the right deal. I’m sure if we make a deal around Bledsoe, we can get someone of some worth. The rookies on the other hand should be given time to play, because they obviously have potential.
- I think that if we plan to make anymore changes, do it now rather than later. We aren’t exactly playing as a team right now, but I still have confidence we will make the playoffs one way or another. Therefore, I would be fine with shipping off some people and tinkering with our team.

1.a backup big to help with rebounding is not the answer. we have 2 guys that are VERY capable of averaging 15 a piece but DJ just perfers to hang out in the high post instead. this can/should be fixed.

2.having gomes and thompkins at the 3 should suffice. having foye out there, would only lead to even bigger rebounding issues.

3. i genuinely feel foye should be getting more time at the 2. he’s EJ Foye when given the chance.

Sure I’d love to get Przybilla (sp?) for a cheap one year contract. I’d love a back-up SG as well like Bogans for a veteran’s minmum 1 year deal. We have to keep in mind the new CBA and salary cap problems when we have to re-sign Paul & Griffin in a year or two. That’s why guys like Ariza are pretty much not an option, we won’t be able to pay a back-up 7 million a year for 3 years which is his contract.

Also, we need to keep Mo & Foye for now. When Bledsoe is healthy and can play again then we can move one of them. But they are 2 of the players who have actually played with some of the people on this team so hopefully they can gel quicker with the 2nd unit.

Our first unit hasn’t played together much. Let them play and then after 10 games (I’d say 15-20 but this shortened season doesn’t help) figure out what needs to be changed. Maybe Pryzbilla will have decided he wants to play by then and Bogans will still be available. They are hopefully cheap fixes for a year that could work (if we get both i say goodbye Leslie if we have to get rid of a contract).

I think the Clippers need to trade Mo because he’s too inconsistent in this new role. We were all worried about Mo when he was supposed to be the starting PG because he was essentialy an undersized 2 guard who couldn’t play D. Well he’s still the same player and now he’s being asked to shoot more because he’s supposed to be the scoring off the bench. This is just going to lead to more bad shots and misses. I’d rather have bench guys that are good defenders and rebounders who can score efficiently as long as their not asked to shoot too much. If the Clippers can package Mo and Gomes or Foye or Bledsoe and bring back a couple of decent bench players they need to do it.

Im like damn we never bragged or said we were going to dominate every team like the heat did we just want to be better. The lob city thing was just a funny gimmick its like people hate the Clippers when we suck ans hate us when we try to get better.smh

Just finishe watching the rockets spurs game and trading for thabeet would be a great idea plus Houston has him at the end o their bench so we could probably get him on the cheap. He had like 6 pts in 5 mins and looked athletic an huge.

w/ only marshon brooks scoring over 15 pts? Dwill the only other in double figures, but going 2-12 from the field?

I’m guessing this is the byproduct of this weird season.
Teams will constantly be out of sync or too tired (which upon will throw rotations out of sync)

I’m a bit too young to remember it, but wasn’t that a crazy season>

Lets hope for overtime.

They have absolutely NO chemistry. I know this seems pretty hypocritical coming from a Clipper fan. But this team has no defense and they have no offensive plays. They are trying to play a 1 on 1 game on offense and they can’t do anything right. Pull ups are better than the shots they are taking. On defense they seem more than lost. They are basically scrambling on EVERY play. This team is looking extremely poor.
Also a shout out, whoever the Clippers commentators are are extremely biased towards Bynum. They claim he is the 2nd best, but they would much rather take Howard+Pau+Kobe. Has this sense of entitlement really hit the commentators too?

AFA would have given us an option over Gomes.

If the FO has such a high regard of Bledsoe, then to me that suggests that Mo is a trade chip. Bledsoe will come back and hopefully start earning some playing time. Some team or another will be looking for a PG as the trade deadline approaches. Maybe Baron will still have be having back problems…

I think they’re too much the same kind of player. We could and should live up to just one them coming off the bench. CB could easily be the 6th man of the year playing a lot off the bench and most of all closing the games. With the actual roster Mo will be playing 20/25 min and NEVER ( look at @GS game) the clutch minutes. That’s not indeed a great 6th man!!!
What about back up bigs? Yeah we need some body but we especially need our starters to take care of our painted area. It won’t surely be Przy or Ike to change our life if GS grab 10 out of 11 rebs against BG&DJ. I copy and paste from above:
we need a new coach

exactly why I am lukewarm on the CP3 trade. Getting him is awesome – but the team is now thin and lacking a true 2. I just don’t understand the logic of shoring up one position by giving up on another. As awesome as Chris Paul is, having a starting lineup of Chauncey, EJ, Butler, Griffin, and DJ with Mo and Kaman as our 6th and 7th would have arguably made an even better team and with flexibility to boot.

With that said, I don’t blame Olshey for pulling the trigger and I think the team just needs more time to gel. Chauncey, in particular, needs time to get adjusted to his shooting guard position. Let us relax a little, and lay off the panic button. The Heatles stumbled out of the gate, so I’m not surprised at all we got our butts kicked by the Spurs.

We’ve had a minimal preseason and only played 2 games. No need to be calling for an overhaul like some are suggesting.

Give it time and reassess after 22 games.