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Clippers 117 - Rockets 89 - Smooth Success

Game five of the young 2011-2012 season gave the Los Angeles Clippers another chance to move their record above .500 and gain an important win against a gritty western conference foe in the Houston Rockets, who were coming off a nine point loss against the Lakers the night before. The Clippers also welcomed back Chauncey Billups to the starting lineup and new Clipper Solomon Jones, while Houston was without key reserve Courtney Lee. Clearly, the Clippers took full advantage of this favorable situation (Box Score), and have brought back some buzz to the team after a shaky showing in San Antonio and a sloppy 4th quarter against the Trailblazers on New Year's day.

Star-divide

The 1st half went pretty smooth indeed with the Clippers building a 12 point advantage, and with the first quarter being a season high in scoring for the Clips, as they put up 41 points in impressive fashion. Chauncey seemed to really help the flow of the offense, and we saw Chris Paul play a much more aggressive role early in the game tonight, and to great effect. CP3 scored in the paint several times, while showing his mid-range and long range shooting abilities to the tune of 15 points on 7 of 8 shooting, with 7 assists against 1 turnover, plus 2 steals and a three-pointer. In a formful reflection of this Clipper team as a whole, they displayed dynamic offense, shooting just south of 70% from the field for the half, and while not showing particularly good defense, at least early on as Kyle Lowry continued his hot play.

However, the starters picked up where they left off in the first half and really separated in the 3rd quarter, at one point extending the lead to a climactic 23 points after Chris Paul dished out back to back lobs to DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin. I thought Mike Smith said it well on the telecast directly after the dunks, "It's almost like it just all opened up to CP3's vision."

Houston showed some fight directly afterwards, quickly cutting the lead down to 13 points, and Samuel Dalembert even gave Blake a shove while absent-mindedly practicing layups after a foul. It could have been a turning point in the game, and looking back I had to question Vinny Del Negro's decision to stick with the starters late in the 3rd quarter after the lead stretched out to 23, but he followed with some smart rotations I thought. Instead of taking all the starters out when the game could have turned, he kept Blake and CP3 on the floor, and that was the beginning of the blowout that was to come.

Randy Foye of all people helped the Clippers ice the game with hot shooting and some aggressive defensive play. In 18 minutes, he finished with 16 points on 6 of 8 shooting, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 turnover. In fact, the second unit had their most impressive outing on the year (with the exception of Brian Cook), and granted most of their contributions came when the game was already decided. Ryan Gomes was quiet, but effective with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and no significant mistakes. Mo Williams had 7 assists against 0 turnovers, and hitting 3 of 6 shots in 22 minutes. Maybe learning something from CP3? Trey Thompkins continues to look like an asset for the bench, and Foye's hot shooting also allowed Solomon Jones to make his debut and for Travis Leslie to see some limited action.

Despite some good play by the bench, make no mistake - it was the stars that came out to play tonight and propelled the team to victory. Together, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin shot 19 - 29 from the field, good for 65.5%. Chris Paul led such a cohesive attack that Griffin didn't need to dominate like he's had to recently. Griffin did well with his regular ration of possessions, having a nice overall game while really showing some offensive balance and dimension. He took it to the rim, displayed a couple of nifty post moves, and had his outside shot falling. He finished with 22 points on 10-15 shooting, with 9 rebounds, and 3 assists. His match-up with Scola was a little worrying going into the game, but aside from some early lapses he settled in and played ok defensively, while showing good desire to rebound, and chipping in two steals and a block.

DeAndre played competently all around, but more importantly, he played efficiently. We'll take 2-2 from the field, 3-4 from the stripe, and 8 rebounds against 0 turnovers and 1 foul any day, won't we? It'll be one of the few nights he out-shoots Blake Griffin from the foul line, who managed just 2 of 5.

Another interesting matchup going into the game was Billups against Kevin Martin. I can remember Martin giving Eric Gordon some problems in the past, and as many of us have been worried about the drop off in perimeter D from Gordon to Billups, this factor didn't come in to play tonight.

As a whole, the entire starting unit looked really good tonight, including Caron Butler. He didn't help as much on the boards tonight, but he seems to be fitting in well, especially in terms of shot distribution. If he and Chauncey take turns being the 3rd option with around 10 shots a game, that seems just about right. Tonight it was Butler, taking 10 shots in contrast to 15 for Blake, and 14 for Chris.

Looking at the final shooting numbers, the Clippers post an impressive number of 57.3% shooting from the field, while the Rockets cooled off in the 2nd half to finish at 46.1%. Rebounding was even at 33 a piece, and the Clippers win big in controlling the ball. They had just 7 turnovers to Houston's 19.

In the end, it's just one game and it's unclear how much Houston was affected by playing a pretty tough game last night, but it felt like the Clippers outclassed the Rockets and that the on court chemistry is starting to gel. You could tell the guys were having fun out there, and it's nice to see the starters cheering from the bench in the 4th quarter. Read into it what you will, but I'm paying attention to the Laker implications as well. We just beat the same team as they did by a significantly larger margin. While they played the Bulls much closer, it felt good to kind of even the score against out of town guests.

0 recs  |  306 comments

Comments

Good to see the rookies get some PT. Trey looks like a young Aldridge

in the making

I would still like to see him put in the rotation at 3.

I know he is a natural 4, but to me, he just screams 3. He is a great size for a 3, he can pass the ball, he can shoot, and he gets rebounds by going to the ball rather than boxing out. I think that is what a SF should play like. He seems to be a tad too skinny as a 4, but overall, I like his game.

he's not quick enough
he is not a 3

he needs some bulking up for a 4 but I don’t see him as a 3

I want Blake to take him under his wing in the offseason.

Blake could show him around the weight room, run a few sand dunes with a 50lb backpack. He could help Blake with his jumper.

Those sand dunes scare me

I know the idea is that it will strengthen your knees, but apart of me thinks that it might also not be healthy for the knees as well. A lot of incline and imbalance.

It's fine for the knees.

In fact, it’s safer than running on the ground/pavement. The impact is softer. Most running injuries are due to ground impact. All this talk of the Sand Dune park makes me want to go again. That hill is so painful. Your endurance is pushed to the max. It’s no wonder Paul Westhead teams used to work out there religiously.

What about knee stability though?

I mean, it obviously would strengthen it, running up those dunes, but for someone like Trey is it dangerous? The ground is giving away unpredictably as they carry weights up a steep hill… seems dangerous (but I don’t know jack about anatomy).

I think it would be ok

Especially if someone doesn’t have to break their fall if they trip. (I’ve injured myself from trying to prevent myself from falling more than from repetitive stress.) I am no expert by any means. I just run and do triathlons. But the impact from a foot hitting pavement or a hard floor is much more than on sand. If anything, someone will be gassed from running up that freakin sand dune before they put enough impact on their joints to cause an injury.

And LMU is right! I just recently watched “Guru of Go” and it reminded me of how crazy The System is.

I did 1 sprint tri once... the malibu one. And I was super slow.

Worst part was easily the half mile swim in the ocean. How do people DO that?? It’s way too effing cold, even with a wetsuit on.

You get used to it. :)
Oh, and Paul Westhead :)

LMU!

Only if you already have bad knees. or weak ankles.

But as Chris said, it is better than running on pavement and provides more resistance.

that's what I'm thinking!
jack
no handles

at least not good enough to be a 3

meh... I don't think Aldridge comparison is a good one

but I can’t think of a better one… let’s just hope he doesn’t turn out to be a Brian Cook.

David West

or Carl Landry are his ceiling maybe Matt Bullard (prior to his knees going out) as to what we should expect. He doesn’t have the height or length of Aldridge, but a person can hope.

Kinda wished I moved Disneyland to next week

Missed a great game apparently, and the park was way too crowded to do anything today. So is the life of me

Crowded on a Wednesday?

Wow, I haven’t been to Disneyland on ages, but I can’t believe it is becoming that packed!

It's still the holiday season...

Some people take extended vacations through the first week of the year. The Disneyland Resort holiday decorations don’t go down until next week. There’s a fairly recent site that judges (pretty accurately) the expected crowds to figure out when to go… http://touringplans.com

got my money back on new year's

overcrowded, bad service, poor upkeep. disneyland kinda sucks now…

...wow

two New Years ago we took the kids for there very first "D"land trip, which was on New Years and it was perfect. No where as crowded as we thought it would be. Maybe too close to the economic disaster, back then, for people.

a lot can happen in 2 years

just look at our clippers : D

lol...

that’s your fault for going on a day like that. Especially if you’re from Southern California, you should know better that of course it’d be overcrowded, and with record-breaking attendance this year the Cast-Member to Guest ratio is ridiculous to have perfect service. DLR still outshines Six Flags and Knotts any day of the week.

glad I got my money back is all I can say

u can overpay to wait in line for the teacups all you want

You gotta try going again on a more random weekend.
Do you work at the park, hotel or something like that?
I did, then decided living with my parents at 21 was lame

so I joined the Army.

Still the best job I ever had, and hopefully I can go back and work there when I retire, lol.

So are the rules as crazy as I hear they are?

I also heard the execs all have to spend a day in one of the suits, just to know what it’s like.

When you said castmembers, I knew that you had to be connected somehow.

My cousin has worked at the hotel for the past few years.

Whatttt... bad service? poor upkeep?

I go to Disneyland a lot (girlfriend works for the company at their corporate office in Burbank) and I’ve always been really impressed by the service. Do you know how crazy their rules are there? Everyone HAS to smile all the time and be happy all the time, and they are monitored all the time, with a risk of losing their job if they ever break character. It’s super hardcore. And then they have these dudes that are cleaning up allllll the time. Compared to Six Flags or Knotts, it looks crazy clean there. BUT yeah it’s way too crowded. You might have gone on a day that’s so badly crowded that the cleaning dudes couldn’t get their work done, and it was so hectic that all the staff just said, “screw it.” I never go on those really popular crowded days because they are usually “blacked out” for us to go for free.

I was at Disneyland yesterday too

And gotta say, holiday break really made it more crowded than expected. Indiana Jones at worse was a 120 minute wait. But cleaning people did care, its just hard to get around with the huge crowds.

Yuck

Usually Indiana is like… 45-60 mins… 90 at most. I always saw how much space there is to line up for that ride, and was always grateful it was never fully packed. Hot too, I’m betting!

There are rides I usually try and tackle first- Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, and then Matahorn. I notice that California Adventures rides is not as bad- the only one is Toy Story.

Toy Story tends to move pretty quickly even when it's fully packed too
Key it to go at night

Less heat and crowds. We have annual pass (2 kids, go figure) and always go after 5pm four a few hours, get a couple of rides in and then bail.

I think we need to swap girlfriends- all my girlfriend does is tutor kids. Bleh.

Just playing of course, but I could use her service…of free tickets. Ahahah!

Haha

Yeah it’s pretty sweet using those free tickets. We just go sometimes to ride like 2 rides and bounce. Once we went solely to check out the new Star Wars ride. It was awesome, but i got a little motion sickness because it’s such a long ride and those 3d glasses feel funny.

I don't get free tickets

paying 80 bucks for broken rides and overcrowding is a rip off. Sure I could go on a less busy day, let me just plan my disneyland time when its convenient for them.

Well, it's really not about it being free

It’s just that there are about 360 other days in the year that would be more “convenient,” as you put it, for Disneyland to provide a better experience than the one you had on New Years Day. Go on any other weekend that’s not an international holiday, and you’ll be golden. You have to have some tempered expectations when you go on one of the busiest days of the year. I went to Best Buy on Black Friday, but afterward I wasn’t exactly going around telling people that their DVDs were all over the floor and not a single employee offered to help me find Kazaam on Blu Ray. I knew what kind of experience I was going to get. And I accepted my Kazaam-less Christmas.

Never go during Winter Break, Summer, weekends, or holidays

And it is actually quite nice when not crowded…especially during a light rain.

Off topic, or on topic for this blog actually, great game tonight by the Clips. Loved the overall play of the entire team!!!

Yes!

I went one year where it had sprinkled in the morning and it was perfect. It eventually dried up, and the crowd was relatively tame.

I’ve gotten in free the last couple of times that I’ve gone, so it’s cool to just stay for a few hours and leave.

gotta feeling

we gonne do this on a regular basis soon. knock on wood this team looks good on a paper, with no apparent character deficiencies so the results should match the paper. I always respected Clippers for the fact that they took personal characteristics into serious consideration.

undefeated in the new year thats us!
...more Reggie and less Cookie Crisp

…and the Clips will be fun to watch and efficient to run a full crew and set sail.

…man, was Randy Foye greedy or what tonight. He looked like Gollum out there tonight with that ball, as all I kept hearing was “..My precious!…” whenever he touched the ball.

Blake had an awesome pass on one play were he was at the top of the key received a pass with one hand and chucked it out to Billups in one fluid motion. He is definitely one of the most aware and adroit bigs in the game.

Paul has the ball on a string and is a magician out there.

Yeah

I agree, I feel like almost the entire bench just gobbles up the ball when they get a pass. It feels like they feel like it is there one and only chance to pad their stats.

Foye was hot and had 3 assists

Mo 7

A bit of an odd statement considering our bench played well

Everyone on the bench seems to be the gunning type

So when there is a pass, they’ll shoot it soon. If it goes in, an assist gets awarded. I would guess those assist numbers are somewhat a consequence of hot shooting. Other nights people would be pulling their hair?

(I haven’t had a chance to watch the game yet…still at work..)

as norm nixon likes to say

“gotta milk em”

+1

Plus Randy looked really good taking it to the rim in the 4th quarter. Taking over like he was the best player on the court … which he probably was at that time

Foye should get a personal DJ

So he can be like Aziz Ansari’s character RAAAAAAAANDY.

you don't get more playing time passing the ball

you get more playing time shooting the ball and making baskets. Foye was hot, when you’re hot, you can shoot it however much you want.

Does he really ever shoot it any differently though?

Offbalance jumper after offbalance jumper… I really did like his D against Houston’s scrub squad tho.

Considering how he played thus far this season.

I was happy he played like he did and hope this is the beginning of him being useful again. He was effective on offense and on defense and his assists came feeding the rook Trey. By the way, Trey is way more complete than Cook and should have been awarded with a block towards the end of the game.

When Blake and Dalembert were fighting ....

Chris Paul told Dalembert to “Step out and flex, Step out and Flex Bitch” While Blake was shooting free throws…

So Amazing

don't forget caron

he will do crazy eyes on you

Caron's crazy eyes beats Steve Buscemi's crazy eyes in Mr. Deeds
LOL chris and flight!
What time in the game was that?

I’d like to check that out on NBALeague game replay.

That was cool

Well, that’s what we were looking for, right? That’s a bit of what this team can be… they have a chance to be basically unstoppable on offense, so that if they can just be adequate on defense they’ll be very, very good.

Right now, I feel like if either Evans or Jones can take some minutes such that I never have to watch Brian Cook on the court, this team is in really good shape.

I agree

Cook was painful to watch

I was at the game and

I have to admit watching Cookie miss that break away layup was super funny for me. It would have been tragic had we not been up but otherwise it was super funny.

It was amazing to watch on tv too.
I liked the comedy element he brings

although blocking a shot without jumping is a mean feat

Cookie really seems to try and make everything he does epic. Every time he hits a three, he gives us this “yeah I’m dope” jog back down the court and after he swatted the shot he jogs back with the “all day every day” look. Ahahah.

Cookie is so funny to watch, but awful since he's on your team.

but just watching him is kinda comedic.

Hey, that's not true, he did jump

He was at least 3 or 4 inches off the ground!

If there wasn't a guy in front of him I think he would've face planted on the ground.
It was hilarious

He was moving in slooooow mooootiooonnn

agreed willpat, too funny!!
That was freaking hilarious
great win

loved this win, don’t care what anyone says, that was damn impressive. the rockets are a good, scappy team filled with fight, and we sucked the fight out of them tonight.

a few things:

-first something people don’t mention much: caron butler has been great. he hasn’t been ball dominant, hasn’t put it on the floor much, has utilized his killer midrange game well and generally bought into the role he needed to accept. very happy with how he’s handling himself on this team thus far. nice to see the explosion in that first q dunk.

-happy with our backcourt. mo’s been great off the bench and i like foye as a backup 2.

-thompkins looks more and more like a keeper when i see him out there. heady player.

-cp3 is just brilliant. still can’t believe he’s a clipper sometimes.

-can’t wait until the new clipper bigs get acclimated a bit more. will be very happy if i ever see cook as a dnp cd.

all that without even mentioning blake.

"All that without even mentioning blake"

I started a paragraph like that in one of my earlier draft…it’s kind of an important point because tonight really felt like a team win, with the stars leading the way almost equally, and the rest of the starters all doing their jobs. Plus, the bench even came up. Sometimes it all just comes together.

Butler

Think about this – he’s been in double figures every game, without forcing anything. I’d like to see more rebounding, but other than that, he’s been great. How many double figure games did the team get from the three last season? We can just pencil Caron in for 10 to 15 every game this year. That’s nice.

He's great to have.

Opposing teams can easily forget about him because they’re worried about LOB CITY, Blake working his way down low, Paul being able to do whatever he wants or Chauncey hitting a shot. In past seasons we were usually concerned with who was going to be that 3rd player to step up on a given night. Now, we have that and then some with the likes of Mo and Foye off of the bench.

I do wonder what is going to happen when Bledsoe returns. I like the guard depth as it is right now, but someone is either going to get moved or will be unhappy sitting on the bench.

Totally agree..

All of those “3 points in 35 minutes” games from Gomes were painful last season.

I'm glad people's fears were unfounded

I remember a specific play in the game where Caron got the bucket because the defense was so focused on Griffin. That’s exactly what I wanted him to do. More consistent rebounding would be nice though. I believe he pulled up a double double in his season debut. His injury hasn’t seemed to bother him one bit either.

Butler's TRB% is at 6.6%

Which is actually a career low. Watching opening night I though he’d contribute rebounding a bit more (I believe he had double digits rebounds opening night in GSW) but he hasn’t done much since. In any case, it’s awfully early so I think his rebounding should move back towards his career averages as the season progresses.

Butler's Rebounding

I think part of it is cannibalism. I constantly see him ready to rebound, and one of the other guys (usually Chris Paul I keep noticing) sneaks in and grabs the board too. It’s funny because we either swarm the ball with 3 Clippers going after 1 rebound, or we just completely ignore the ball.

Might be just isolated instances

As CP3 and Chauncy are both below their career averages for rebounds. CP3 should be pulling down 4-5 and Chauncey 2-3 and they are getting half of that right now.

Our bench isn’t helping, either.

Ah yea good point

DJ seems to be rebounding less too, and Blake’s usually in double digits every night.

eric and gan,

it’s only been 5 games, they didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter,
the main starters! blake n cp3, there stats woulda been even higher!

Oh I was excluding this game

This was the first time they all look liked themselves.

hey, who was that guard that came in late in the fourth quarter...

…never seen him play for us before. ….hmmm

Travis Leslie?

The guy with the long arms?

Travis Leslie

He played in college with trey Thompkins

just a joke

….ive been waiting for him to play since he was drafted, with hopes of him being a contributor

not this season

that type of player is difficult to assess. He has the athletic ability but has to put some things together in order to succeed.

he played against san antonio
Hes dope

Hes a Sg/SF that can dunk

Good game for a bunch of different guys

I agree with ghost_ride that our bench played well, with good intensity. Nice to see Foye get hot, but I thought the top guy off the bench tonight was GOMES. Oh man, I don’t think he’s ever earned a hat tip as a Clipper, but tonight he was solid. I also dug his over-the-shoulder pickoff when Houston was inbounding with 2 seconds on the shot clock. Wouldn’t it be cool if he played better for the whole season?

Meanwhile, DJ looks like he’s out to earn his money. My goodness, has he ever improved. I think $10M will seem a bargain as time goes on.

Gomes

He played some four early. That’s another way we keep Cook off the floor. Basically, I’m to the point where I don’t want Cook out there UNLESS we’re down three with 5 seconds left. But if Jones can give us some minutes at the five, I’m content with any combination of Jones/Thompkins/Evans/Gomes at the big spots when Blake and DJ rest.

Cook > Outlaw

The difference between these two chumps: Cook plays hard but doesn’t have the talent, whereas Outlaw had the talent but didn’t play hard. IMO, only one of them belongs in Clipper purgatory.

outlaw?

as in Travis?

Yep

I feel the same wrath for him that others show for Cook.

yes

I hated him when he was on the team, but I prefer not to think of him now that he’s dead(to me) and gone.

I couldn't stand that guy. I'm glad that we let him walk.
Outlaw was terrible

I see he “earned” that contract NJ gave him by getting waived. lol.

I agree about cook silver, but when he HiTs those three's! man it's nice!
This was a fun game

the Rockets bigs had no way of challenging alley oops 12 feet in the air.

BTW Thabeet runs like a t-rex (or how I’d imagine a t-rex to run)

and this was the guy that was glad he didnt get drafted by the Clippers.

…I feel sorry for him make a comment like that to the media.

Thabeet has very short arms in proportion to his height….so yes, he is a T-Rex.

Thabeet a T-Rex?

Why are you insulting the poor T-Rex?

It was a great game to be at last night. Just an absolute thrill to watch such a solid game from the whole team!!!!!

Kevin McHale was walking like Phil Jackson last night. But before the game he was very graciously signing autographs and taking pictures with people. He seemed very nice!!

RE: Thabeet

I was heckling him at the end of the game. I don’t normally, but I despise him for his anti-Clipper comments. But I’m a fan of the rest of the Rockets

Just imagine Thabeet running behind your jeep

Jeff Goldblum: “Faster, we need to go FASTER.”

* stomp * stomp * stomp *

Thabeet: RAWWWWRRR

ahahahahahaaaaa!

OH-MY-GOSH!!……thats was the funniest thing i imagined in a while… good one

Still want to trade Foye for him?
He ain't worth that much.

Thabust is one the worse #2 picks in recent memory.

Hmm maybe

I don’t want to see Foye play anymore, last night’s game is fool’s gold.

If the Clips added Thabeet he wouldn’t play so its addition by subtraction? Or damn maybe he gets playing time out of necessity and ugh.

Sophie’s Choice on this one.

The Li'l Chucker is HORRIBLE

And yet he’s still 10x better than Thabeet. Meanwhile, Thabeet makes $1 million more. No matter how much we hate Foye, that’s a terrible trade.

"LOB CITY?!"
3 point guards - 40 points and 21 assists, not too shabby.

Mo looks great out there attacking the basket and playing tight defense (for once) . I liked foye playing aggressive, hesitation doesn’t work well for him. So many crazy looks we can give teams we can go defensive, half court, sky court, 3 happy its going to be a fun year. Having two great players is such a luxury especially when both have good games something we haven’t really experienced before. This win made me happy, keep up the good defense it wins games!!

only 7 TO's as a team.

So far this season we have significantly reduced our turnovers, except the Portland game.

I don't like being undersized

but we make up for it with efficiency.

the most impressive stat...

7 TO’s (correct?), that stat is awesome and that stat can get you cruising towards the playoffs. When do we ever, consistently avg low TO’s a great change. Having three good ball handlers is very valuable thing in our three guards. Foye is decent, while he’s here and controlling the ball. It’s just that sometimes he put on too much ‘stick em’ before the game.

2 point guards + Blake = 3 play makers on the court most of the game

As long as caron, foye, gomes, thomkins make open looks we should be doing well.

u forgot to mention our best ball handler is still on the bench nursing a foot injury!
gets his hands on a lot of balls
It is almost time for him to ball
Can't wait to see his handles.
He's money with the rock in his hand
if you guys are talking about bloodsoe I can't stand that little guy, talented but man he gets in lot of trouble on the court!
We're talking Reggie Evans

The ballbuster, himself. lol.

who is bloodsoe?
THIS is Bloodsoe...

WTH!?!
Hahaha

I take typos really seriously.

LOL!
I Didn't Know There Was A Lateral Meniscus In Our Feet
When was last time the Clippers won a game by 28 points?
Feel for the Rockets fans

They must be feeling like we did after the loss in San Antonio, probably a bit worse than that actually.

There were a lot of Rocket fans at the game

however there fans were a lot more courteous and fun to to talk to than other large fan groups that show up to clipper games (at least the ones who were sitting near me). I felt bad for them when Thabeet came in as a symbol of the team giving up in the game.

Great win but we did not see their (Rockets) best

Dead legs after a back to back and the Clippers were killing it. Plus, having 3 days with beautiful weather and beautiful women in LA can be hypnotizing to competitiors.

November 6th 2009

118-90 win at Golden State.

Gordon and Baron had 25 points, Kaman had 22. Marcus Camby had the Camby’ist game ever. 2 points, 4 assists, 4 steals and 12 rebounds. No field goals made.

Largest margin of victory for the Clippers

was 32 points.

Clippers 152, Raptors 120 back in 1998. Two crappy teams who both entered with 13 wins and nearly 50 losses. Rodney Rogers led the Clippers with 24 points. Chauncey Billups and an 18 year old Tracy McGrady were on the Raptors.

152 is also the most the Clippers have scored in any game (going back to 86, BB-Ref doesn’t have game logs for earlier seasons)

This concludes our Clippers history lesson for today.

no clippers history lesson is complete

without a statement how crappy DTS is

apparantly

Wonder if we will get a shot at breaking that record?

Well at least the most point scored. I don’t think we have the defense to win by 32.

There have only been 28 games in NBA history (again, going back to 86) where a team has scored more than 152 points.

Our first quarter last night was on pace to score 164
This just makes me miss Camby even more. :(

I remember that game.

1983 I believe?
strike that year I said! I thought I heard that it was 1983, 4 largest victory margin.
team stats...

best ast to turnover ratio at basically 2 to 1!

what’s alarming is that they’re now the worst rebounding team in the league.

let's hope del negro stops playing cook

so we can improve the rebounding situation

good thing we have one of the top rebounders in the league when Evans gets back for the 2nd unit.
Cook isn't the problem with our rebounding

his DRB% is 22.5. Only player which averages more then 10 minutes that tops him on the clips is Blake (22.7%) DJ has 18.8%, Trey Thompkins 6.4% (small sample size warning). He can’t defend and he hardly has any vertical but his defensive rebounding with the Clips this year and last year (20%) has been decent.

Honestly, Cook is not a good player, but he has been a trooper with the Clips this season. Still it will be a good when he starts collecting DNP’s.

please don't make a plea for cook!
I'm not

but the guy is playing his little hart out. I tend to give people a pass when they are really trying, even if they are in way over their head.

Plus the rebounding issues isn’t his fault. We still have to resolve it, even if Cook isn’t playing anymore.

Am sure Blake's rebounding numbers will increase, but he really needs to hit the boards.

It’s one of his strengths. DJ as well.

they did OK this game

Houston didn’t miss a lot when they were in the game.

they only played 3 quarters!

blake and deandre!

It's funny

We were a much better rebounding team last year. I would take less turnovers this year over better rebounding, but we really need to step up. I remember everyone hustling more last year. Bledsoe used to grab quite a few rebounds, which is surprising considering how small he is.

In part this because we score with much more efficiency

With more boards and better D the sky’s the limit. They are creeping up in D

Yea

I’m betting our offensive rebounding is crappy because we just don’t miss ;)

But because of our faster pace, we should be getting more rebounds due to more possessions.

except when nobody is missing on both sides of the ball.

plus our pace isn’t that fast actually, it ranks 21st in the league.

We were one of the best teams in rebouding last season, thus far I heard we are dead last in the league.

I find that embarrassing. We have guys that can rebound the ball, we should not be last in the league. I would be happy in the middle of the pack. Am sure we’ll creep back up. I love the low turnovers and the better offensive efficiency.

Please cut Cook ASAP....

…or at the very least only play him when the team absolutely needs a 3 and nothing else. Because that’s what Cookie gives you, a possible 3 and nothing else!

he won't be cut

he is something(was going to say valuable, but that’s wrong) when used as the 5th or 6th big. Playing spot minutes based on the matchup.

Can't really afford to cut him yet depth wise

the team is still waiting on Evans to be healthy and Jones is going to need to learn the playbooks and such before he can contribute.

He's replaced Steve Novak for us
Except

Most of us would rather see Novak than Cook.

I meant in what his position *should* be

But yeah. I miss old Chevy Novak.

Bring back Novak!!!
I wouldn't... at least Cook can rebound
he won't be cut this year and next year

he’s not talented but he tries hard. he looks like he’s in much better shape this year, too. he’s valuable because he can stretch the floor, shoot the 3s, and play garbage minutes/defense when BG or DJ needs a break.

he won't be on the team next year, this is his contract year.
I can't hate Gomes

his character reminds me of Shane Battier’s. He may not be the best player, but he looks like a classy guy (and it shows in interviews) and on his Twitters. Even if he leaves the Clips a year or two from now, I’m pretty sure I’ll still cheer for the guy.

I like Gomes the person as well

I think he would be great as an 11th or 12 th man on a roster makeing min-2mil. he is ok as a backup forward, just not as a primary backup. As a starter, terrible. But unless his contract is important in a move(whether to even a trade or to amnesty him for a FA), I would like to see him retained and resigned on the cheap

If VDN could start using him properly

like he did tonight, then I think we will see less complaints. He is a back up 4 not a three. He should be used in the pick and roll/pop game not as a primary/back up 3.

Gomes off the bench is a solid player

Opens the floor and allows him to be more aggressive and comfortable in his role.

jack you too can go have lunch together I want gomes off the team and cook as well!
You wanna hear something crazy?

Clippers were second worst in the league last year in turnovers per game. They’re now ranked as the best.

so

Crucial for success as well

That's the difference when you have a

motivated, in-shape, leader, proven winner of a point guard (or two of these in our case!). The efficiency is just through the roof compared to last season.

it will be interesting to see if the clips can improve

rebounding and defence further.

One thing I noticed is that we don’t really contest offensive boards that much. Just DJ and Blake (if he isn’t making the shot). I don’t mind that actually, considering that we seem to score at a high %. Defensively Bulter has to increase his rebounding. He did that in the second half against GSW. Reggie will also help a lot there.

On defence we can improve but with this personnel I don’t think we’ll ever be a top 10 defense. I do think we’ll be a great pick pocket team, but perimeter defense will be suspect and I don’t think Blake will morph into a defender this season (I do think he can be a decent defender in the future).

If we can improve to a middle of the pack defense and become a top 5 offensive (if we aren’t already) we should be OK.

Actually, we lead the league in steals

and that will probably be our best defensive attribute. Curious what is the league average, because the steals are making up for the lack of rebounds.

everybody in our starting 5 can make steals

against GSW DJ even combined a steal and a block into one move, like the superhero he is.

right on! fly
Anybody else see the Rockets postgame wrap up show?

They did a great interview with Cat Mobley and towards the end they asked him what he was doing and he said he is involved in medical marijuana dispensaries across the country.It was funny and a little awkward as the annoucers seemed both dumbfounded and wanted to laugh.
Cats a great guy and had wonderful things to say about the Clippers and CP3 but when asked he still thought the Lakers were better due to size and experience.

Saw him on the big board last night at the game

Got a nice welcome from fans!

Surprised the announcers didn’t know about his new business … it’s been reported before.

His opinion about the Lakers is OK with me and based on his good reasons. LAC has yet to prove otherwise.

Still would love if he could still play

or if we cold bring him into the fold of the organization some how.

If You Ask The MM Patients There Is Nothing Funny About It

If fact it is sad that the……………….

I know some MM patients that would think its funny
that's funny as hell mike!
about the medical marijuana dispensaries!
Absolutely terrific game but...

the rebounding…. We should be killing the boards with Blake and DJ alone. Still a small sample size but the Clippers are dead last in rebounding while getting out rebounded by their opponents 43 – 35.

At least the defense is improving and we’re second in the league in assists per game and 5th in points per game.

Kevin Love should show BG how to box out.

Can’t wait for another game vs. Minny. The ones last year were fun, and these ones should be even more exciting with Adelman and Rubio on board there.

Yeah Minny is going to be a tough game

They didn’t make it easy for the Thunder or Heat to win. Hell, they would of beat the Heat if not for Wade bailing them out last second.

Blake and DJ are fine. It's the rest that need to step it up

Caron again grabbed only 1 rebound. We can’t afford for him to disappear like that but he gets a pass since our starters were so hot offensively. Blake and DJ out rebounded their starters, but once again our bench was sorely outrebounded. Reggie can’t get healthy soon enough.

Also, CP3 usually grabs almost 5 rebounds a game for his career

He’s at 2 this year

Pretty Boring Game For The Most Part

Watching a Clippers highlight reel of the game would have been a lot more enjoyable then suffering through a game that was for all intense and purposes over by the end of the first quarter.

Yes the Rockets made the typical short run to reduce embarrassing deficit to more reasonable one but the game was never in doubt in my mind by the end of the first quarter. Not that I ever thought the Rockets had any chance to win last night even before the game started as I posted yesterday before the game.

Geez, we need to enjoy this

blowouts have been few and far between around here. Crack open a beer and enjoy the ride.

Yep - blowouts are great - confirms we have a good team
Each To There Own

Maybe because I have been a basketball fan for a lot longer but I have had my share of wining teams that I rooted for including

UCLA and Tark’s Running Rebels which was the best.
Also The Detroit Bad Boys and Detroit Going To Work Group.
A few of the USA Olympic Gold Medal wining basketball teams. Some of the teams I didn’t like for one reason or another.

Lithuania’s Mens U19 champions was the latest team that I was able to add to the group.

So when you have had a few of your favorite teams win it all over the years you get to, or at least I have to where you want to watch a close competitive game with your team of course winning.

That's great

But it still doesn’t change the fact that THIS team, the Clippers, isn’t used to winning. And while I’ve followed lots of winning teams too, I’ve been waiting a long time to see the Clippers convincingly blow out a team. It’s not even like the Rockets played badly with their starters, we just played otherworldly. Plus, we’ve been waiting for this team to show signs of cohesion and chemistry. That’s worth celebration to me.

The '91 Running Rebels had an avg margin of victory of 26.7 ppg

You must have been absolutely miserable then.

Not sure what relevance interest in another team or how long you’ve been a fan, but your examples are from recent memory and some of us enjoyed blowouts much further back than that.

boring??
Loved Chauncey's stat line last night

13 points on only 5 shots. 4 assists in only 22 minutes of play.

He was great

Other than one forced shot early, no complaints. We’re probably better off with him facilitating and just taking the open looks as they come anyway.

didn't see the tussle

with Blake and Dalembert. Seems that opposing bigs are picking on Blake so far this year. Glad DJ gets in the middle. Hope this nonsense stops pretty soon.

Blake was hardly being picked on. Blake attempted a layup well after the whistle, Dalambert tried to block it but there was some contact so they got in each other’s faces.

The contact was Dalembert taking exception - which was fine
Thanks for letting me know

i missed the last quarter, just curious

Yea it didn't seem like Dalembert was being a jerk

He was just kind of instinctively trying to block the ball, and he accidentally touched Blake, which Blake didn’t like.

Blake tried to take 2 extra shots after the foul was called.

Players routinely block shots if a player shoots it after the foul is called. Something about not wanting to let them see the ball go in the hoop. Since Blake was basically at the basket, it was a lay-up he was trying to toss back in twice. The 2nd time Dalembert reached over to basically not even let it leave Blake’s hands and accidentally hit his head. I don’t think he meant to hit Blake. DJ jumped in quickly which is where things seemed to escalate a bit but it there was no tech’s called or anything.

Just saw this little tidbit...

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22748484/34196190

Way to skew things, CBS.

They basically took the original article from Yahoo! and added a touch more haterade. They didn’t put Olshey’s quotes at all.

Oh mainstream media

Why are you such a huge douche?

excited for the next game

for the return of Shaun Livingston! Also, we should definitely not look past the bucks…. they do shoot a low fg%, but they also hold opponents to the same.

Got to love this quote....

Kaman also has reason to be happy with the trade. He received a $1.8 million bonus in the deal because of a trade kicker in his contract and said he’s much happier playing for the Hornets.

"They’re very professional," Kaman said. "I’m not used to that. No, serious. It was an adjustment. After eight years [with the Clippers], I didn’t know it could be like this. I wasn’t used to it. The way they handle business … they’re up front with you and they tell you what’s going on and what’s going to happen."

When I look up "professional" in the dictionary, there's a photo of Kaman

next to the definition

what did the Hornets tell him that made them so professional?

this is where you sit on the bench.

and we won't be needing you after this year
They probably told him that in tailored suits.
Kaman is unhappy because we decided to sign Reggie Evans after he left. I think he wanted to play some 1 on 1 with him.
DJ once again looked solid on D

He was matched against Scola most of the night and stayed home rather than falling for his multiple moves. The stat lines (no blocks last night, 1 against POR), wont’ reflect it but he’s solid.

Yeah. The numbers don't tell everything.

I remember when he was just “the dude who could dunk” when my friend and I would talk about him. His presence on the defensive end is a huge help. Just his length alone makes it tough for dudes to shoot around.

Thanks for the write up

Some thoughts before I start reading the comments:

  • The switch of putting DJ on Scola when possible was a great call by VDN. I think this is one of his strengths: knowing when to make a change, in terms of defensive assignments and substitutions.
  • Gomes played really well I thought, hustling after the ball, playing really good help D, and using his nifty little backdoor cut that he likes to do. CP3 is constantly coaching him during timeouts and stuff, and it’s beginning to show. Maybe CP3 can talk to Cookie too. Hell, maybe Trey can talk to Cookie. Please come back Reggie Evans, we need you.
  • Damn you Brian Cook. DAMN YOU.
  • I was watching Solomon Jones and Travis Leslie like a hawk when they came in. Jones seems adequate, pretty athletic, and despite looking a bit lost, he’ll be better defensively than Cookie. He does seem soft, though, but leaping ability will offset that a bit. Travis looked a lot smaller than I thought he’d be. He’s definitely SG-sized, not SF-sized. That being said, he does seem to be a defensive player (moves his feet very well) and as we saw from his first bucket, he’s really athletic. That whole “first bucket” story from Milph was great, and that’s one hell of a first bucket for Travis.
  • Foye made a lot of shots, but damn it, his shot selection was turrible. I don’t get why he doesn’t take it to the rim more? He’s athletic enough, and when he does it, it looks awesome. All the off balance jumpers just irk me.
  • Blake and CP3’s chemistry seems to be improving. I love it.
  • Our starters are all so smart with the ball, it’s awesome to see a shot clock winding down and everyone’s still got a cool head. In one possession, there was like 5 seconds on the clock and CP3 pump faked, passed to Chauncey. Chauncey pump faked, passed to Caron. Caron pump faked, dribbled and shot with a second left on the ticker. Swishhh… it was just great seeing us be patient for the best shot, but still in control all the while. There was that one shot clock violation, but that was just because Martin didn’t bite on any of CP3’s jukes (which is so rare anyway).
  • Mo looks fantastic. Damn that man is in good shape, and it’s really affecting his game. Maybe it’s just eye-test nonsense, but the stats agree with me. His PER is tied for his career high (his best times in Cleveland) at 17.2. His win shares are up too at 0.117. I hope you come to love your role, Mo, because you’re damn good at it.
  • God damn it Cookie.
  • It may just be my hopeful imagination, but CP3 looks to be in better shape already.
"Hell, maybe Trey can talk to Cookie."

yes. you win, sir.

eric loved your post!

but did you just take a 5 hour energy?

I needed 1 just to read what you wrote! :-)
Haha

No just procrastinating @ work.

keep them coming eric!
eriK

c’mon man!

? keep the good posts coming eric!
complement!
erik

with a K. the c’mon man was to you! lol

lol my bad!
I think something not brought up much is VDN

He actually did a better job coaching. When fans in the thread were complaining about Chaucney being in too long, he goes ahead and pulls him. He quickly yanks Cook during an important stretch to bring back in BG. Even MILPH commented on it. Plus I saw him yelling at them to move the ball around.

More importantly, he is allowing CP3 and Chauncey be the coach on the court. There are things I am starting to see that were not incorporated last season. We got three veteran PGs on the team plus an additional one on the bench. Let the four of them come up with plays and everyone else listen.

VDN might be actually a good fit for this team now

I imagine he stays out of the way in terms of telling the players how to play their game (leaving that to CP3 and Chauncey) and he handles matchups/substitutions really well. That’s all we can ask, right?

Now, for defense… well, he’s not so useful there.

eric, that's what's so great about having cp3 he is a coach on the floor and they don't have to defer to vinny too much.
best play of the game

Paul with Griffin trailing on the break. Everybody is hoping for a lob but Paul passes back to Billups who passes to an open Griffin who simply does a lay up. People where disappointed but I though it was pure genius from CP3.

Is that the one where Blake stepped out of bounds?
no don't think so

it was a basket

that was a savvy play by cp3

opponents know by now we are going for highlight reel plays, CP3 used it to his advantage to get an easy 2 pts. the lob is great eye candy but it puts Blake in positions to get injured.

agreed.

It is fun and all, this whole lob city thing. But I want them to be fundamentally sound as well. Sort of like the Indiana game last year where Blake blew up without a single dunk.

BG was great in that indiana game last year!

mustang, I still have the indiana game on tape I watch it every now and then, blakes best game ever! wish BG good
shoot like that all time!

agreed belgium!
sorry for the misspelling!
our offense clicked yesterday

but i was more impressed with improvement of our defense (although we still gave up a lot of points).

Blake through the hoop block was also funny

ha!

That and the offesnive goaltending
did you see blakes face afterwards?
Leslie = Shooting Guard of the future?

What you guys think?

way too small sample size

don’t really expect something from him this season. Athletic wings with no skill require a lot of time and even then nothing is guaranteed.

Don't expect him to make it through the season

Congrat is non-guaranteed and assuming Bled comes back healthy before the February deadline.

you never know...
He is SG sized and can't shoot... doubt it

So you’re saying he’s Tony Allen? I can live with that. That’s his upside anyways.

Whoa, Nellie

Tony Allen is one of the best defenders in the league. Leslie hasn’t shown much on that end so let’s not insult TA like that.

How’s that an insult to Allen? Leslie was a pretty good defender in college.

better wording:

so he could become Tony Allen?

I did say that was his upside.

Im thinking Derozen is our SG for the future

if Toronto doesnt sign him longterm

Good player - local product (Compton / SC) - humble - good family
He's my third favorite non-Clipper player in the NBA.

Of course behind EJ and Kemba Walker :)

I think the fanpost subject photo

was taken from the Rebublican Primary Debates

Good game and I am very impressed.

I want to be wrong and I think I am if we keep gelling deeper in to the season. CP3 is building a chemistry and now I see why he pushed slow at first but practice make perfect and it showed in this game.

Jeeeeeeeesus

You do realize that just two games ago you were calling CP3 and Chauncey “Our Lazy Starting Guards”? First it was the trade-night hate, then over-the-top CP3 love in the preseason, then WAAAAAAY over-the-top hate for everybody after the SA and Chicago games, and now more CP3 love. Would you please stop acting like a 14-year-old girl?

Can you please stop obsessing on this citizen?

It’s getting annoying

Go away crazy person
Stop aggressively attacking people on this board - go somewhere else

You don’t have the right to mock others here.

And I’m not impressed with your inability to admit you are wrong.

So, either go away or start treating people here with respect.

i’m not going to repeat this, so you can say whatever you want, but if you keep repeating the mantra above, that just means you’re not man enough to respond in a reasonable manner or to acknowledge your own faults. Which is sad since you admitted elsewhere here that you are “old.”

Go away crazy person
-1

for repeated insults in place of debate

Screw that, Li'l Deputy

I’ve asked him to stop responding to me numerous times, as I had long ago stopped responding to him specifically to avoid pointless arguments. And I’ve made it pretty clear that this is the one and only response he will ever get from me if he insists on continuing to stalk me. The -1 should be for instigating this nonsense. If he leaves me alone, I’ll gladly continue to do the same.

You commented back to HVYDRT007

even though you admitted to me in another thread that you hold a grudge against him. If I was trying to be lil deputy, I would be moderating, but I’m just remarking as another citizen that seeing half a dozen “go away crazy person” comments on every thread takes away from the community. Remember kindergarten? “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all”? Jax also came and called you out without making a basketball point, but that doesn’t mean that you should.

Also, you called 007 "a 14-year-old girl because he changed his mind? I have changed my mind about how I feel regarding the CP3 trade multiple times. Even now that I am certain that Paul is worth Gordon and the pick, I still wonder if we would be better with Gordon instead of Paul, and Kaman as a backup big.

Idiot

You started on here by coopting my opinions last year. Then you aggressively attack citizens whom you disagree with. Then you refuse to admit when you’re wrong. Then you argue with me in threads that you have nothing to do with.

I called you out because you add nothing to the community. You are an aggressive bully. Every time you attack someone here, if I see it, I will call you out.

Go away crazy person
If you think he is crazy

then I think we all understood it when you posted it earlier in this thread, or when you posted it in the thread before that, or maybe the thread before that…
Have something original to say?

He just has to stop replying to my comments

And then I’ll stop telling him to go away

Or you could stop coming in unprovoked to attack people

You complain that Jax comments back to you, but you comment back to 007 slamming his post.

Unprovoked?

Hardly. The T you’re giving me is much like the ones NBA refs hand out — you missed the first punch and you’re only seeing the retaliation.

You really should go away

Making things up about me is pathetic.

Go away crazy person
I see a comment by him, and then a response by you

If your argument is that Jax should forget your past altercations and ignore you now, then you should do the same to 007. I’m not trying to get in the middle of anything, but I want the name-calling and non-basketball-related arguments to stop. Because it doesn’t contribute to the website. That’s all I’m saying.

Putting aside the fact that he's described the situation backwards,

He should stop attacking those on this site with whom he disagrees. That was my only point above. Note how he’s not acknowledged the issue.

He won't answer or admit your legitimate criticisms

Just like he lies about me. He’s an insecure bully.

And let me get this straight

Just because he varies the wording of his attacks somehow makes that better? I asked him politely on that earlier thread to not respond to me, as I had already done him the same courtesy, and he couldn’t let it go. He makes up ridiculous stories about our past interaction, and continues repeating the same lies in all of his attacks. Just because I’ve simplified my message to him doesn’t make his actions any more original or mature.

Everything I've said is true and you know it

Stop attacking people on this site.

Go away crazy person
Stop insulting clipsnation citizens
Go away crazy person
Calling those who ask you to stop

Attacking citizens doesn’t help your cause here.

Go away crazy person
You apparently fail to understand what's going on here
My bad thought you were responding to me
Kudos for not responding to any of the above, HVYDRT007.

This is how you win these stupid little arguments in the eyes of the rest of the Nation: by not participating.

Whats so bad about coming off the bench?

Sit back, relax, drink some gatorade, and get paid over a million dollars a year?? If I was Mo, I would be asking to be the 6th man.

Mo adds Great Energy off the bench and makes all kinds of match up problems for the opposing team.

Free Gatorade (Red Bull?) and a bunch of Zeros in the plus column on your bank statement Win/Win

clippers pregame report

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k58M-mEFb3M&feature=colike anyone see this kid at the pregame report hahahaha

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