Houston 105 - Clippers 79
That one was depressing.
I'm not sure why, in this season of 54 losses and counting, that one felt particularly futile. Perhaps it was seeing yet another key player leave the court. (By the way, the last two games I've been to were Dallas when Kaman turned an ankle and last night when Maggette pulled a hammie, and they have not won a single game I've attended this season, so I'm apparently not very good luck for the team.) Perhaps it was watching the Rockets play incredibly well DESPITE the absence of two starters (Yao and Alston) and the sub-par performance of a third (McGrady was 5 for 16) - I mean, if their reserves can run an offense and get good shots, why can't the Clippers?
I can't even bring myself to be AYSO-coach-encouraging after this one. Josh Powell, career high 22 and 10 rebounds, 11 for 14 from the field? Whatever. I want him on the bench, mired behind Kaman and Brand and Thomas and Thornton and hopefully some others. Elton Brand, 19 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks in his third game in almost a year? That's great, but it's only what we expect (perhaps unfairly) and it was just depressing watching him struggle against double and triple teams, with no one to throw the ball to - he doesn't know where they're going to be because he's NEVER played with them, and besides, even if he passes it, no one can actually make a shot.
Besides Powell and Brand, every single Clipper was a disaster in this game. So you say, "What about Cat Mobley? He wasn't so bad with 11 points." Well, forgive me if I want a little more out of a guy making $8M when he's one of two players available who wasn't waived within the last year or currently making a league mandated minimum salary. So you say, "Dan Dickau shot the ball pretty well." Yes, yes he did. He shot 4 for 8. And the guy he was guarding, Aaron Brooks, shot 7 for 9. And when they put someone else on Brooks and put Dickau on Luther Head, Head became the focal point of the Rockets offense. Dickau is never going to be a great defender, but some night's he does OK. Last night he was a train wreck. Thornton was 4 for 13 with 5 fouls and ONE (!) rebound. Ross and Knight, the Clippers starting backcourt, were a combined 0 for 8 with 1 point scored. (By the way, the one point was when Knight sank a Technical free throw, which means that they combined for exactly as many points as I would have scored if 45 year old bloggers were allowed to take Technical free throws.)
And not that it really matters, but why exactly did the Clippers bother to sign Marcus Williams? Down double figures the entire game, with the starting small forward in the locker room, the backup in foul trouble and the Clippers getting KILLED on the boards (to the tune of 51-33 on the game), MDsr went with Cat at the 3 and Smush at the 2 for 16 minutes. Why is Williams here - what exactly is the point - if he can't get into THAT game?
These next two home games - Denver and the Lakers - happen to be games it would be really nice to win. Beating Denver would go a long way towards keeping them out of the playoffs, and I think most of ClipsNation roots for Golden State over the Nuggets - certainly I do. And of course a win against the Lakers is always good, and would avoid the season sweep. But there's simply no way - NO EFFING WAY - this group can win either of those games. Not without Maggette; not without Kaman. And probably not without a whole new backcourt.
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Comments
Did we just see...
And don't worry CS...the odds of you seeing a Clipper home win this year are 1 in 3, so the NEXT home game you go to is a guaranteed win.
I was at the game early and saw pre-pre game warm ups. The Clippers coaching staff has Marcus Williams shadowing everything Q Ross does in warm ups (shooting drills, etc.). So, maybe the Clippers already know what they have, and don't want to let anyone else know. These final games may in fact be the final "audition" for Q and his possible re-signing, with Q knowing full well that Marcus is right behind him, ready to take his job. Just a theory...
by Clip Show on Apr 7, 2008 10:37 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
i just hope
by benwahbenyameen on Apr 7, 2008 10:44 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
LOL
by Steve Perrin on Apr 7, 2008 11:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Marcus
Giving all of those minutes to Smush is baffling. MW is a completely unknown quantity. Let him play a little bit and we'll see what he's like.
It's a yin-yang Dunleavy thing. On the one hand, he has a good eye for guys like Bobby Simmons, Q Ross, Singleton and Josh Powell. He brings in some good, talented guys.
Yes, CS is right, and Powell should be mired on the bench behind Kaman, Brand, Thornton and even--ahem--Tim Thomas. But Powell is pretty good at this point. Granted, he's suddenly better somehow playing next to Elton Brand. He has established fairly solid Brian Skinner credentials at this point, and he's headed towards Lorenzen Wright and Chris Wilcox country, and he's never going to make it to Loy Vaught land or the Charles Smith world. But the only reason this has happened is because he has played an ungodly number of minutes this season. Among the what ifs this season: say the Clips resigned Singleton instead of Reuben Patterson, and Singleton was healthy all season. MD would have been forced to play him big minutes. That would have been fun, although it might have slowed Thornton's progress. MD had to be forced to play Al Thornton as the season progressed, after giving the big minutes to Thomas and backup minutes to Patterson.
Do we need to see QRoss miss wide open shots? If Cat Mobley isn't razor sharp, killing people and hitting shots, does he need to be hanging out out there? Smush is pretty much a known quantity--do the Clippers have a real interest in him, or are they biding time? It all reminds me of playing Lamond Murray and others endless minutes in preseason while Korolev was on the bench the entire time--the first round pick.
Why don't we want to see Marcus Williams get schooled by McGrady? The Powell example is a pretty powerful one. And Simmons, Kaman, and Ross all turned into good players because they got extended minutes.
The Clips have nothing to prove or discover, except to see if they can find guys who can play. As a signed, roster player at a minimal deal, Powell's ability is actually another piece of very good news this season--for next year, and bringing pressure starting in training camp. Put it this way. If you were starting this year all over again, without EB, would you think about starting Powell alongside Kaman and bringing Thomas off the bench? I wanted to do it anyway, and that was before Powell got good.
Didn't see the first half so I missed a few Fazekas minutes. How does that fit into my point?
by citizen zhiv on Apr 7, 2008 3:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
we all want to see marcus
by benwahbenyameen on Apr 7, 2008 4:56 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

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