ClutchFans Game Thread: Clippers @ Rockets 3/29/2014

agreed, lin is basically a sg who had to learn how to be a pg, he's a work in progress right now we need a pg. actually the team was ahead by about 10+ when harden ran the point. for some reason they changed it the only reason i think they did that is they don't want too much tape on it in case they play the clips again
lin can play but the conditions and matchups have to be right for him to succeed.

 

agreed, this was what i was looking to see last night after the game was over i was already feeling bad after the game and came to clutchfans hoping to see some positive comments and hope for the season which is quickly ending. all i saw was the usual lin war and negativity about the situation overall.

please continue to post. the board needs more rational thinkers.

 

Losing is losing.

But it's another story if you play like you're losing.

(honestly, I thought our bench would be MUCH better than this)

 

not even mad, we win this game with dwight.

but they were missing blake so...

 

If you *REALLY* want to go into the math, yes they are.

Lin took 9 shots and 6 FTA, 2 of them in garbage time. Let's toss out the 2 points and 2 FTA in garbage time. Now you're looking at 9 shots and 3/4 FT's. 4 FT's is 2 possessions, so the actual equivalent stat line is 9 shots + 2 possessions (2 ft's/possession) for 8 points on 11 shot attempts.

So, Lin 8 points, 11 shot attempts. That translates to 4/11. Toss in the TO's (3 lost possessions) and you get 4/14. What was Collison's shooting line? Oh yah, 4/14. Hrm, funny how that works. IE, offensively, they cancelled each other out.

Yes, Collison got more rebounds (5 vs 2), however Collison played 41 minutes vs Lin's 32 minutes and rebounding is an opportunity based stats (fixed number of possessions per minute), the rebounding advantage over similar minutes played when treated as per48 is 4.36 vs 3.00.

So yes, Collison rebounded more, but I'm not going to get TOO worked up over it given the nature and split of the rebounds. Of Collison's 5 rebounds, 3 were defensive and 2 were offensive.

Our philosophy in terms of rebounds is that Lin is expected to sprint back on shots. Lin is not expected to attempt to get OREBs, he's expected to be back to help defend in transition. That's a specific choice that was made by our coaching staff (similar to Brett Brown who basically tells his team to sprint 4-1 back on makes/misses vs Denver who tells his team to crash the glass).

Not all shot blocking is created equal.

According to NBA.com and Statsvu, DeAndre Jordan is the #3 rim protector in the NBA for Centers. http://stats.nba.com/playerTracking.html

Block leaders
1) Serge Ibaka - 184 blocks
2) Anthony Davis - 180 blocks
3) DeAndre Jordan - 174 blocks

Using "team" blocks is not useful as a measure when comparing starting units as the Clippers have NO rim protection on their 2nd unit. This skews their block percentages down significantly.

See any common thread in those names? Yes, those guys make it *very* difficult for us to score in the paint and have done so ALL season.

Yes, unstoppable Chris Paul who's averaging 18.7 PPG AND 10.9 APG. Who's shooting 57.3% TS% and 50.0% eFG%. That's 18.7 PPG when he's LOOKING to facilitate the VAST majority of the time. Who ALSO shot 55.6% on 3 pointers last night despite his season average of 34.7% from 3.

You do realize how GOOD that is?

57.3% TS% - Among ALL guards that ranks him as 14th in the NBA, and among PG's that's 6th.
11.3 apg - Among ALL guards that ranks him #1
18.7 PPG - Among ALL guards that ranks him #11, among PG's that's 9th.

http://www.basketball-reference.com...&c5comp=gt&c6mult=1.0&c6stat=&order_by=ts_pct

If you don't understand how *difficult* that it is to stop Chris Paul, then I have NO idea what basketball You're watching.

That was one of our biggest issues. Last night Harden stepped up and played a tremendous game in terms of scoring. However, he also struggled defensively and had TO issues (along with others on the team).

Tonight we were also operating without Dwight. In previous games we had Dwight who was averaging 19 PPG in the paint against the Clippers on 52.5% FG%.

In Dwight's absence we not only lost his efficient 19ppg in the paint (and defensive attention), but we lose Asik's presence on the bench. This left us with NO rim protection with the 2nd unit.

Uh, no. The Clippers are a legitimate championship contender. Portland plays mediocre defense. The Clippers are a top 10 defensive team AND a top 10 Offensive team. The gap between the Clippers and Portland is substantial AND the match up is very different. The same applies to Clippers vs GSW.

We were down one of the best Centers in the NBA. Unlike losing Blake Griffin (where you primarily miss his scoring when he's out), losing Dwight isn't a 1/1 positional loss. Dwight's absence had defensive consequences that trickles down through the entire roster.

Posing this in simple terms, it's a LOT easier to spread out the load in terms of missing a scorer (you only need a few points from several other people) than it is to spread out the loss of rim protection.

If I asked you how much of a defensive downgrade is it going from Dwight to Asik you might say some or not much. However, If I asked you how much of a defensive downgrade is it going from Asik to Dmo/Tjones at the center position you'd probably say a hell of a lot.

Dwight/Asik >>>>> Asik/Dmo/Tjones

No, the team didn't play an especially good game outside of Parsons and Harden, however I fully expected serious issues given the match up and loss of Dwight.

The Clippers are a bad match up. It's not more complicated than that.

 

Crikey!

How long did it take you to do this?

Respect

 

How did rockets win games over Spurs, Mavs, Mems, Clippers in absence of Harden?

Harden is superstar so he is running show, not Lin can't play PG.

 

That all falls apart IF the Spurs and Thunder end up with the same record. Spurs have a tough schedule coming up.

 

Sure, but given how few games there are left and the Spurs lead in the standings (9 games left and 3.5 games ahead for the Spurs), it's *HIGHLY* unlikely that they lose the #1 seed. Hollinger's puts the Spurs at 93.5% for the #1 seed and I don't see that as being very far off.

The Spurs would have to go 5-4 and OKC would have to go 10-0 to factor in the tie break. Even if the Spurs went 3-6, OKC would STILL have to go 7-3.

I just don't see OKC beating their brains in to get the #1 seed so close to the play offs when they're SO close to the play offs unless the Spurs completely collapse over the next 5 games. And how likely is THAT?

Nope, our absolutely BEST odds are where we're sitting now... in the 4th seed.

 

Man, are you Daryl Morey?

 

We win this game with Dwight and Beverley even if they do have Blake

 

I'm not so sure. They beat us three times this year, even before last night. Clippers just look like the better team right now.

 

Dwight's been sucking last few games so no clippers would still win

 

It's just a bad matchup, even with PBev and DHoward.

CPaul, flopper that he is, is as good a player as they say he is
(ie. #3 after James and Durant).

Arguably, JHarden might caught up to CPaul but not just yet.

And on top of CPaul, you've got Doc Rivers to contend with.

So it's best to stay clear of them.

Stick with the #4 seed and everyone is happy

And we dont meet them till the WCF.

 

anyone wanna give me some advice. put a bit of effort into a thread which answers what salary parsons should get (or any other for that reason) when considering his current performance vs other SF's over 5 million and what their current salaries are.

thoughts on dropping it now vs waiting until post season?

realise its not the right thread just want some advice

 

The excuses never cease to amaze.

 

To be fair, Parsons was very good, even against Paul,
and Asik played better than ever before. His dunks and his defense was totally solid. DMo was also great.

We lost badly, but we only lost it in the last 10 minutes.
When Lin and TJ did not play.
Harden made no shots as usual, we lost the flow and we just fell apart. Our play relies too much on emotions and the flow.

 

If we are going to be resting our starters. Let's bring Troy Daniels up

 

All of these gifs? I am as white as they come my friend, lol.

 

I also would like to see Daniels brought up. We have an open spot, and McHale doesn't seem real comfortable playing Garcia, Casspi, or Hamilton. Garcia seems to get injured a lot, so I think it would be a good idea to get Daniels some minutes.