I've said for quite some time Blake plays better when CP3 is away. Not surprised by this one bit. The Clippers will come down to earth but Blake's productivity will improve. My point about CP3 has always been if he is the alpha dog, his team will suffer because of it. Hopefully on the Rockets he can steady Harden and prevent him from going full r****d as often while improving the defense and raising the team IQ.
Yeah, you probably want to establish another Alpha guy. Blake is the younger guy, and you roll with that. Paul is still the best PG arguably but he aint the best fit with the Clips now. But it is all about the Playoffs and Bev in the back court. Blake is a decent playmaker himself, registering around 4-5 assists per game in his heydays.
Just wonder once everything is said and done let's say 5yrs from now who will ultimately be seen as the winner and loser of the Chris Paul trade? I like the move to get Paul but I still think we gave up a bit much.
They won't have a 10-1 start like last year though. Nor 14-2 like last year. How soon we forget how great a regular season team LAC was, barring injury. 4-0 in 2015-16, too 16-5 in 2014-15
This is the truth. One tough team there (Portland) and the rest are all pretty cake. They'll come down when the tough teams show up. They're good but they're not a top team in the West. GS, Hou, SA, OKC, Mem are probably all better than them. Their 4-0 is the opposite of GS 3-2 and OKC 2-2. (Though OKC may not be as good as people thought...)
You know who isn't as good as people thought? Minnesota. Most aggravating thing all summer was people claiming how they got better than us or hey are a top 4 team. With thibs and butler their defense will be top notch. Blah blah blah They suck and their defense is the worst in the league. Anyways, I'm sorry, rant over. As for the clippers. I think they are a 6-8 seed and beating inferior teams is pretty expected. They seem to start out hot every year just to end up fizzling out
There is certainly more fluidity in the offense now that CP3 is gone. They have a lot of dynamic players on that team that can do many different things. Gallo, Lou, Blake, Doc Jr., Teodosic*, even Bev can get you a bucket without a pass facilitated by the offense. Rockets have Harden, EG and CP3. Quality over quantity I guess.
This is a good point, too. There were quite a few weak sports sites/hosts out there who talked on and on about Houston falling to what-5th or 6th or ? in the West. I think we're still probably top 4 if not top 2 or 3. Minn was touted as being this gangbusters team. Maybe they'll get better but they're obvi not better than us.
They've had 3 wins against absolute scrub teams, but the Portland win last night was solid. Too early to tell though.
I think they are a 7-8th seed at best. As for the rockets. I believe it will be no worse than 3 and likely 2nd
I like their roster and future outlook, but let's be honest, you could put Jerry West on the Cleveland Browns' staff and they'd be rattling of wins too.
The one thing I was really interested in with the Clippers is how they respond in close / late game situations. Last night Griffin made the play. Will be interesting to see how the Clippers continue to execute late in games without Chris Paul there to orchestrate things. Also, Dekker and Harrell are totally buried on the bench. Trade fodder at this point.
early hot clippers start. no one is injured yet. nobody should be worried about this team making a deep playoff run at this point. but can they rack up wins during the regular season and screw up seeding? sure.
