We, theoretically, match up pretty well with them. LMA isn't as good as Blake, but he can equalize his production, like tonight, something Tiago wouldn't have a hope in of doing. Duncan=DeMonkey. JJ Re is basically Danny Green without the defense (Re is better offensively, but Danny, when he's good, is a more impactful player). Their bench is one of the worst in the league. And Leonard is better than their entire wing rotation combined (Crawful, Pierce, Johnson, the ghost of a Moute). CP3 is their only big advantage, a gap that has closed some since Parker's resurgence, but yet, they give us loads of trouble.
Quick theories are:
Pop coaches like an idiot against them, all too tempted to try and "exploit" hack-a-Jordan. I understand Pop's reasoning. Force it into a half court game where our size, post-game advantage, length, and defensive advantage should win out. Problem is, Chris Paul is the best half court PG in the league and can just spam pick-n-rolls. Hack-a also throws our offense out of rhythm.
Leonard struggles against them. I don't know why, but he does. He had that 1-11 game last year against them, and struggled in the playoffs after his 32 point coming out party. I have no explanation for this. Leonard isn't a penetrator, so DeMonkey's presence shouldn't bother him and the Clippers have no lockdown wings. He should crucify Crawful, Pierce, Johnson, etc in the post.
My theory is that pop s around too much with defensive rotations. Kawhi guarded CP3, Griffin, Red and Crawford in our playoff match up against them last season. Too much imo. He needs to keep him on 1-2 players max to give him time to figure said player out. Once again Green was pretty trash on D tonight leaving Kawhi with even more responsibility.
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.
Their offense with Blake and Paul is ridiculous, plus Blake is just money against the Spurs. You also have to account for Jordan for the lobs. DJ gums up the middle so well, makes the threat of dribble drives and cuts much weaker. Then Pop coaches like a dumb asshole against them.
I don't see any games against them as easy. The bench broke this one a little and should be a factor going forward. We can't count on Parker being this good every game.
Well you can't completely leave the Clippers out of the discussion. They play their best ball against us.
I'll also add that CP3 has gained confidence against the Spurs. Fittingly, we're like the only team he doesn't choke against. Figures.
I wanted to slap the ESPN commentator when he kept talking about how good the offense was. the offense, the Spurs D was terrible. How many open shots did the Clips get - especially Blake ? They were bad on D tonight.
DG used to own that (defensively) . Now danny plays like a piece of against him.
It's all Blake and Paul, tbh..even when Jordan went out in last year's series, they didn't lose anything with Big Baby on the floor IIRC, sadly..
Kawhi and Danny can't defend Paul, and their biggest defensive weakness is fighting through screens..Clippers just run Paul through screens to negate them and cause switches, and the Spurs bigs are too slow to defend, too, whether it's Duncan/Aldridge/Splitter/Diaw..there's also Re to defend, although that was easier with Mills on the floor tonight(since he's the quickest player on the team), which only worked because Mbah a Moute was on the court, and wouldn't have worked vs. Matt Barnes(better shooter and great cutter)..
Griffin is an even bigger matchup nightmare than Paul, as he's a great passer, and he's too quick for the Spurs' bigs, not to mention that they can't close out on his mid-range jump shot..the combination of both has become unguardable for the Spurs..
Tbh, Blake's emergence as an elite offensive player is the biggest problem for the Spurs imo.
They got Leonard in the post in the first half and he responded well. None of that in the second half though. That's not just a Clippers problem though.
I don't think having him chase Red all around and through multiple screens is smart either. That tires a guy. Especially one you depend on to carry a big chunk of the scoring load. Let Danny do that.
Funny thing about tonight is that he was 6-12 before missing two 3s. He actually shot well before that. And despite the struggles he made 4 clutch fts. That counts for something.
Kawhi didn't play badly he just wasn't very aggressive in the second half.
Mills on Re was a great adjustment, as his quickness is enough to keep up with Re , but it only worked because Mbah a Moute is a terrible offensive player that Tony can hide against..hopefully Pierce and/or Stephenson doesn't emerge later in the season..losing Matt Barnes was a bigger blow than they thought it would be..
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.
Paul and Blake are absolute monsters, and Re is a lights-out shooter. Re looks like Belinelli did running around screens taking shots, and his defense is very underrated. He's a smart player and gives great effort. The Paul/Griffin pick-and-roll killed the Spurs, and they kept rotating too much, leaving Griffin open for all kinds of jumpers; the Spurs' pick-and-roll defense has been their achilles heel, but it will get better. The Spurs defense overall today was a mixed basket, and an off-night, but really, the Clippers are a very talented team. They just let tantrums get in their way.
Not to mention the refs. Paul literally pulled Kawhi's arm in and they called a foul. Diaw breathes on Griffin, foul. LMA looks menacingly at anybody, it's a foul. They showed some pretty silly replays in the game. I wouldn't be surprised if Pop just went to the hack-a-Jordan out of disgust for the game the refs called.
Then there's the matter of Kawhi not being assertive against the Clips; I have no idea why. When he was aggressive, his shots were going down, but throughout the game he settled for 1-2 dribbles, stop, defender in the way, pass out. Like the defense, he'll adjust and I expect the next game vs. the Clippers to be more in the favor of the Spurs.
Kawhi turns into a quivering pink vagina against them, that's all
we pack the lane and give up open jumprs. Simple as that. Why in the are we doubling on jordan and others in the paint is beyond my knowledge. We're giving up open 3's to shut down the paint. Plus their screen well to get paul on weaker defenders
The bottom line is that when Blake/Paul/Re are healthy they can torch any team. There in no team that can stop the Blake/Paul PnP w/ Re on the strongside ala the Amare/Nash PnR besides them missing shots or turning the ball over in crunch time out of exhaustion. They had the top ranked offense last season over the Warriors for a reason. The best way to beat them is by having a deep bench to wear them down & a potent offense to expose their mediocre defense. They are basically the D'Antoni Suns w/ less shooters but a legit center.
Blake and CP3 are great mid range shooters which defensively is a weakness for the Spurs. Also Red can hit 3's off the ball which makes him hard to defend. Factor in they are great at setting screens which takes away from Kawhi and Danny's defense.
Definitely..I picked them to beat the Spurs, last year, people were sleeping on how dominant they could be, but at the end of the day, in regards to winning a le, they're still the Clippers franchise, and that will always hold them back from winning a leThe bottom line is that when Blake/Paul/Re are healthy they can torch any team. There in no team that can stop their PnP w/ Re on the strongside ala the Amare/Nash PnR besides them missing shots or turning the ball over in crunch time out of exhaustion
Blake is the best PF in the NBA and Paul is the best PG of my generation(pre-Curry), that's enough to make it tough on any team, tbh..
Well, someone has to pass him the ball in the post, tbh.Leonard struggles against them. I don't know why, but he does. He had that 1-11 game last year against them, and struggled in the playoffs after his 32 point coming out party. I have no explanation for this. Leonard isn't a penetrator, so DeMonkey's presence shouldn't bother him and the Clippers have no lockdown wings. He should crucify Crawful, Pierce, Johnson, etc in the post.
This is pretty much on Pop and how he's using Leonard against them.
In the last playoffs, we saw that Kawhi was guarded by scrubs like Crawford and Rivers, and our guards ignored him in the post. Danny couldn't make a decent entry pass to him, and Parker preferred run PnRs with Tim and Boris instead of exploiting Kawhi's matchup.
The same thing this game, Kawhi was shooting well in the half time, then barely got the ball in the 3rd quarter, and was completely cold in the 4th.
He's one of the most efficient post up players in the league, why in the Pop doesn't call more plays for Kawhi in the post against the Clippers?
Last edited by YGWHI; 12-18-2015 at 11:59 PM.
I really like your take, and I really hope that you are right about Kawhi.
Griffin seems to be able to score on anyone we throw at him and he's in the middle of their offense. This allows many bad mismatches throughout the game. Then you have Cp3 torching us. Red doing well or at the very least tiring out a major part of our offense while just being role playing extra benefit for theirs.
good assessment.
They also don't rely on a scoring wing which is where Leonard excels stopping. He's not great on PG or PF, so his defensive upside is nullified a bit. He hasn't had terrific defensive games lately against them. (Edit: They do have JJ Red , but you pointed out the screening issues. Kawhi not great running through screens, and Danny ... /sigh he should be better but has not been).
Also, CP is a smart player, he will do his thing to get a mismatch and exploit it. I remember the green light he gave to Josh Smith to go get that easy basket against Mills.
We definitely have trouble defending them, and all the times we have won lately it is because we have had a terrific night scoring ourselves. If we have a tough shooting night its going to be a tough game to win.
Pop hacking Jordan doesn't help our offensive rythm either and allows what is a still a shallow team too reliant on CP3 to rest.
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