Theories on why the Clippers have become such a tough matchup?

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Originally Posted by Kawhitstorm

The Spurs give up mid-range shots & Paul/Blake are the best mid-range shooters at their respective positions. Jarret Jack used to kill the Spurs b/c he was a very good mid-range shooter, same w/ David West in New Orleans.

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exactly

On avg, Spurs are a better shooting team than Clips, 48% vs 46%, but clips were very hot last night, nearly 60%, even "they can't miss" stuff in stretches, but their shooting failed, even open shots, in the 4th.

In the 4th, clips were 5 for 18, 28%, but still 50% for the game, indicating how hot they were for 1 - 3 qtrs.

the clips are a team where their individual players don't seem to be affected too much by leonard's defense, so that takes away one of our usual trump cards

Another thing I would factor the refs were terrible in the game and disrupted the spurs defensive rhythm by calling a bunch defensive 3 second violations along with a lot bs touch fouls. On the offensive end the spurs were disrespected by the refs when Manu got hammered twice and no call, Duncan got hacked by Paul and there was no call, Parker also got hammered a few times. Pop did the hack a Jordan as mainly as a protest against bad officiating. Despite a terribly reffed game the Spurs still got the win. I would like to see what the spurs cans do against the clips in a normal officiated game.

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Originally Posted by ceperez

Spurs were giving a ton of open shots to the Clippers. No wonder they scored 107 points.

I'm disappointed with the defense, if this was GSW, Spurs would have been buried.

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Like others have repeatedly said, our D is designed to give up low percentage, long range 2s. It just so happens that cp3 and Blake are 2 of the best at their position at hitting the midrange Js. So yeah, obviously they're getting a lot of open looks. Sure maybe we can tighten it up a little bit but I'd rather that then Cp3 living in the paint or throwing lobs to Blake and DJ and them going to shelf for dunks over and over again. It's almost impossible to take every single thing away from a team, especially one as good offensively and athletic as the Clips. Thankfully, their bench is still atrocious and ours is much better so Blake and Cp3 are worn down in the 4th quarter

They had the talent since some time, they got a great coach, few missing pieces and are an elite team now. But the Spurs are going to play much better by playoffs time.

Leonard's defense is kinda wasted vs the Clipps. There's no great iso player for him to guard - no Lebron, KD, Melo - this is when he shines - not running around screens after Paul. Pop should never put him on Paul - use Mills, Parker or DG.

Mid-range shots have always killed the Spurs - see Dallas. I would use the hack-a-Jordan at the end of every quarter. Don't agree with JVG - if Jordan can't improve his free throws after all this time - they deserve it - not a fan of DJ and what he did to Dallas - just rewards if they're stuck with his terrible free-throw shooting.

Can someone please explain why JVG kept saying that Clippers are a bad rebounding team - how can they be so with DJ and Blake?

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Originally Posted by rmt

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Can someone please explain why JVG kept saying that Clippers are a bad rebounding team - how can they be so with DJ and Blake?

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Griffin isn't exactly a stellar rebounder, and their bench bigs are atrocious this season. Their wings are also not much of help, perhaps the insertion of Mbah Mote as starting SF will help more. Only DJ is an above average rebounder on that team.

The Spurs will figure it out against the Clippers, because Coach Popovich isn't a tyrant, he will take inputs from his coaches, collectively they will figure it out, just like they will find a cure to ADHD oh look something shiny.

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Originally Posted by ILoveOranges

Not to mention the refs.

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Honestly, this was so hard to watch. I also remember manu getting hold onto while he did a backdoor cut which ended up being a turn over. Parker could have gotten to the line a bit more. You cant touch Paul. Green picked up that bs foul on Reddick. And West was victim to phantom calls. This is by far the worst reffing i have seen against us this year. And it happened at home. Man, I cant imagine what would have happened in LA.

Because the refs are too busy swallowing the cocks of the LA Floppers, especially Chris Fall. Just last night, on the Clippers end, we were getting called for touch fouls, all because Paul and Griff flail all over the court. Meanwhile, on the other end, Parker, Aldridge, etc. are getting hacked and can't buy a call, even in SA.

All season, the Clippers have struggled from 3, and we are dominant at defending the 3.....but last night, they couldn't miss, and we did a poor job of defending the 3.

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Originally Posted by Biggems

Because the refs are too busy swallowing the cocks of the LA Floppers, especially Chris Fall. Just last night, on the Clippers end, we were getting called for touch fouls, all because Paul and Griff flail all over the court. Meanwhile, on the other end, Parker, Aldridge, etc. are getting hacked and can't buy a call, even in SA.

All season, the Clippers have struggled from 3, and we are dominant at defending the 3.....but last night, they couldn't miss, and we did a poor job of defending the 3.

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The league should fine Chris Paul for flopping. That game had several instances where Paul grabbed another player and was acting account. Those are flops and the league should look into them.

They played great defense against us in this game. They were shooting 56% at one point in the second half. They have great coaching. They are considered as one of the top 10 teams in the league.

What is it that some ST fans don't understand?

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Originally Posted by wildbill2u

They played great defense against us in this game. They were shooting 56% at one point in the second half. They have great coaching. They are considered as one of the top 10 teams in the league.

What is it that some ST fans don't understand?

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Yes, their defense was air-tight. Parker had no opportunities to score in the paint.

Leonard had to beat his man one-on-one.

I think CP3's constant flopping and playing the refs is a hard part of this match up in itself.

Kawhi can't pick his pocket. As soon as Kawhi tried Paul was grabbing and getting the call.

I've lost respect to Paul due to this. I don't know why he's not fined and players like him are not punished by the refs.

In cases like this, I could see the refs turning against this kind of players and even starting to miss legit fouls on them.

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Originally Posted by Agloco

You nailed the bit about Leonard. It seems like his body language is totally different against this team. Like they're in his head for some reason.

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Not sure why that happened since the first 4 of 5 games against them last year his confidence seemed sky high and then all of the sudden he lost it the last few games and it continued some. I have no idea what caused it to be honest.

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Originally Posted by Spurtacular

I think the Clips are basically more handsy with KL. He needs to learn how to brush it off and make his moves or otherwise anticipate contact and use their physical play against them.

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I'd like to see a lot more of this.

Kawhi's basically a post up player and mid range shooter, the few times Kawhi gets the ball in the post his fadeaway from that position is almost automatic but that isn't the way the Spurs play him.

He's getting less and less the ball in his favorite spots because with healthy Parker and LMA addition, the Spurs prioritize the PnR/pop between them, which makes sense since both excel in those situations.

That's why one of most efficient post up players in the league has a really low usage in the post, Kawhi's spot up Freq% almost double his post-up plays.

It would be nice to see Kawhi playing more minutes with Mills and West/Boris, that would solve their defensive problems and help to continue improving his offense.

Whatever it is, it was a shitty game because of the hacking. I think the Spurs win going away if they don't go that route.

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Originally Posted by YGWHI

Kawhi's basically a post up player and mid range shooter, the few times Kawhi gets the ball in the post his fadeaway from that position is almost automatic but that isn't the way the Spurs play him.

He's getting less and less the ball in his favorite spots because with healthy Parker and LMA addition, the Spurs prioritize the PnR/pop between them, which makes sense since both excel in those situations.

That's why one of most efficient post up players in the league has a really low usage in the post, Kawhi's spot up Freq% almost double his post-up plays.

It would be nice to see Kawhi playing more minutes with Mills and West/Boris, that would solve their defensive problems and help to continue improving his offense.

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Not so fast. He's "basically a post up player and mid range shooter" who's leading the league in 3P percentage. And his FG% from 10-16 feet is actually higher than from 3-10 feet. (.463 vs .449) The fact is, LMA shoots about the same percentage as Kawhi from 0-3 feet, and from 3-10 feet.

Kawhi is shooting .490 from the 3P line, which is almost 1.5 points per attempt. That accounts for about 1/4 shots he takes, and you sure don't want to lose those.

From 0-3 feet, Kawhi is shooting .733 (but that includes fast break points too). Aldridge is shooting .700 from 0-3 feet. So who works in the post depends a lot more on who is defending. You may not like it, but the stats show that the two shoot about the same percentages there. It's a good problem to have.

It's really not a question of whether they are using Kawhi in the way that gets him the most PPG. There are a lot of guys who are scoring their max points, on losing teams. The real question is whether they are using Kawhi in the way that benefits the team the most. There's a lot to be said for balance and versatility. I just think there is too much made about not posting Kawhi enough. Some nights they will, some nights they won't. The great thing about Kawhi these days, is that he can get it done so many different ways.

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Originally Posted by YGWHI

I'd like to see a lot more of this.

Kawhi's basically a post up player and mid range shooter, the few times Kawhi gets the ball in the post his fadeaway from that position is almost automatic but that isn't the way the Spurs play him.

He's getting less and less the ball in his favorite spots because with healthy Parker and LMA addition, the Spurs prioritize the PnR/pop between them, which makes sense since both excel in those situations.

That's why one of most efficient post up players in the league has a really low usage in the post, Kawhi's spot up Freq% almost double his post-up plays.

It would be nice to see Kawhi playing more minutes with Mills and West/Boris, that would solve their defensive problems and help to continue improving his offense.

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Too much of that and the offense stagnates. And I doubt KL would make those in volume on many nights, tbh.

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Originally Posted by Spurtacular

Too much of that and the offense stagnates. And I doubt KL would make those in volume on many nights, tbh.

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The offense stagnates if nobody moves around but that wasn't the case lately...when Kawhi being double-teamed he has found open guys this season in those post up situations.

Kawhi needs to utilize LMA pump fake more often is what goes through my mind watching that vine vid.

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Originally Posted by GSH

Not so fast. He's "basically a post up player and mid range shooter" who's leading the league in 3P percentage....Kawhi is shooting .490 from the 3P line, which is almost 1.5 points per attempt. That accounts for about 1/4 shots he takes, and you sure don't want to lose those.

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His .49 3FG% isn't sustainable, he probably will regress a bit, and when that occurs, Pop lost half season without developing Kawhi's main strength on offense.

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From 0-3 feet, Kawhi is shooting .733 (but that includes fast break points too). Aldridge is shooting .700 from 0-3 feet. So who works in the post depends a lot more on who is defending. You may not like it, but the stats show that the two shoot about the same percentages there. It's a good problem to have.

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I enjoy watching LMA getting more and more comfortable, but it isn't about who is defending. If so, Kawhi would probably have a lot of post up situations against the Clippers since they have shitty wing defenders...and we know that wasn't the case.

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It's really not a question of whether they are using Kawhi in the way that gets him the most PPG. There are a lot of guys who are scoring their max points, on losing teams. The real question is whether they are using Kawhi in the way that benefits the team the most.

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IMO getting Kawhi involved on offense instead of him just waiting in the corner is a good thing for the team.

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I just think there is too much made about not posting Kawhi enough. Some nights they will, some nights they won't.

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I put emphasis on the fact they don't post him enough now, if they will do it in the next months...or next seasons....I certainly hope so.

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Originally Posted by YGWHI

His .49 3FG% isn't sustainable, he probably will regress a bit, and when that occurs, Pop lost half season without developing Kawhi's main strength on offense.

I enjoy watching LMA getting more and more comfortable, but it isn't about who is defending. If so, Kawhi would probably have a lot of post up situations against the Clippers since they have shitty wing defenders...and we know that wasn't the case.

IMO getting Kawhi involved on offense instead of him waiting in the corner is a good thing for the team.

I put emphasis on the fact they don't posting him enough now, if they will do it in next months...or next seasons....I certainly hope so.

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That was more of a general observation, and I shouldn't have directed it toward you like that. Careless and unnecessary.

I doubt that Kawhi's 3P% can stay this high, but then again I wouldn't bet against it. The game is coming easy for him now. The basket may be looking like a washtub to him, when he's got an open 3. I can see it staying pretty close to this, at least, for the season.

The point is, I'm not so sure you can plan to post Kawhi x number of times a night, or x percentage of the time. I think the Spurs are taking what the defense gives them. And the good news is that LMA makes just about the same percentage of shots from close range as Kawhi does. I don't think Kawhi's post skills are going to rust from under-use, so if it becomes necessary, I think he can post up more. If Aldridge gets injured, for instance, I think you'll see more of it.

That fade-away in the video? I don't think that's a near-automatic shot for anyone, including Kawhi. I'd much rather see the Spurs get better looks than that, than to see him make a lot of them.

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Originally Posted by GSH

I think the Spurs are taking what the defense gives them.

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If so Kawhi would get the ball in the post when he's guarding by scrubs or small defenders like Neto, Sessions, sadly the list is extensive...and the Spurs would exploit his favorable matchups more often.

This season Pop said he wanted post Kawhi more and more, that has not happened. But at least I expect they exploit the mismatches he generates in the post.
http://www.hngn.com/articles/141067/...-post-more.htm

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i don't think Kawhi's post skills are going to rust from under-use

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Hope not, but he can get better in those situations with the practice in real games.

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That fade-away in the video? I don't think that's a near-automatic shot for anyone, including Kawhi. I'd much rather see the Spurs get better looks than that, than to see him make a lot of them.

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Well, the greatest player in history of the game had that, and Kawhi looks so jordanesque with that shot.