2021 NBA regular season thread

[Shaqdaddy11]

G5- Kawhi 36 on 50% shooting and PG 26 on 44% shooting
G6- Kawhi 25 on 44% shooting and PG 33 on 43% shooting

These are the players doc should have removed? They were by far the clippers best 2 players in G5 & G6

So if they weren't to blame, how did they blow a double digit lead in both those games?

Who is to blame?

 

[bksballer89]

So if they weren't to blame, how did they blow a double digit lead in both those games?

Who is to blame?

I posted it in my previous post

 

[bksballer89]

let's blame the 2 guys who were scoring MORE THAN their season avg and not the 2 who played well below their regular season numbers.....yeah that makes perfect sense

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

 

[trojanfan12]

Solid player. Fringe all-star player. But he made one all-star appearance in his career despite there not exactly being a bounty of centers in the NBA. Very good defensive player but he only had 2 years on the all defense team. So a good guy to have on your team but hardly some super team.

When he was making those all NBA teams was when he was with the Clippers. Prime DeAndre was more than just "a good guy to have on your team".

 

[trojanfan12]

The most I'll say Doc could have done difference in the 2020 WCF is call set plays that can get an easy basket or 2 when his team went cold

Yeah, I didn't see a lot of adjustments by Doc. And there's a difference between calling timeouts and knowing when to call timeouts. I just remember seeing a lot of confusion from the Clippers late in those games. That's on both the players and the coach.

 

[trojanfan12]

Removing your superstar and star isn't the change any team would make.

Not entirely true. Obviously, you're not going to pull them when there are 2 minutes or less left in the game. But I could see sitting a guy down for a minute or 2 late in the 4th just to let him kind of watch the game for a minute or so and maybe calm down a little if he's pressing.

I'd definitely have done that with PG a time or 2. There were moments in those games where the look on his face said he'd rather be doing just about anything else other than playing basketball.

 

[ElPatron1]

The problem with the Clippers is they are cursed.

It doesn’t matter what players they have. They could add Lebron, Durant and prime Jordan and they would still figure out a way to lose lol

 

[bksballer89]

Not entirely true. Obviously, you're not going to pull them when there are 2 minutes or less left in the game. But I could see sitting a guy down for a minute or 2 late in the 4th just to let him kind of watch the game for a minute or so and maybe calm down a little if he's pressing.

I'd definitely have done that with PG a time or 2. There were moments in those games where the look on his face said he'd rather be doing just about anything else other than playing basketball.

But as I posted earlier, PG and Kawhi did their job in games 5 and 6.

62 total points in game 5 and 58 total in game 6

In game 7, the entire team played like ass but looking back on it now, very hard to place blame on the big 2 for games 5 and 6. They needed the 3rd and 4th best players to show up and they never did

 

[trojanfan12]

But as I posted earlier, PG and Kawhi did their job in games 5 and 6.

62 total points in game 5 and 58 total in game 6

In game 7, the entire team played like ass but looking back on it now, very hard to place blame on the big 2 for games 5 and 6. They needed the 3rd and 4th best players to show up and they never did

How'd the big 2 perform late in those games? I don't remember them hitting a lot of clutch shots.

Considering that the Clippers had double digit leads in every one of those games, isn't it possible that they did their damage early, but played poorly down the stretch?

Doesn't really matter if they score a lot of points over the first 3 quarters and then fall apart in the 4th. Maybe they should have taken the Lebron approach? He usually likes to get the role players going early and saves himself for the 4th quarter.

 

[AD2022MVP]

Ok, I don’t think anyone is putting Doc on their Mount Rushmore of coaching.

There are certainly times were blowing a series lead falls on the coach failing to adjust.

But these times?

I don’t remember too many specifics from the 1st time, but I can tell you definitively that it is not the coaches’ fault when star players are hitting the side of backboard on open corner 3s.

Yes they underachieved. Sometimes when teams underachieve the coach is most responsible for it.

But not the 2020 Clippers, IMO. The players choked.

In game 5 of the 2015 playoffs against the Rockets, Rivers didn't take a timeout for around 10 minutes when the Rockets were going on a big run in the fourth.

 

[flyerhawk]

Honestly last season was also just a weird season. Teams were all screwed up. Living in the bubble. Sometimes sneaking out of the bubble. Sometimes sneaking people into the bubble.

I have a hard time blaming a coach for under performing last year. The Clippers losing to the Rockets in 14 was definitely a worse loss.

 

[trojanfan12]

The problem with the Clippers is they are cursed.

Shit, you may not be wrong. Folks in LA have said the Clippers are cursed for years. I always figured it was because Sterling wasn't really interested in winning.

But Ballmer seems like he's serious about winning, they even brought in The Logo and still couldn't get out of the 2nd round.

A curse is about the only explanation left that makes sense.

 

[shopson67]

Shit, you may not be wrong. Folks in LA have said the Clippers are cursed for years. I always figured it was because Sterling wasn't really interested in winning.

But Ballmer seems like he's serious about winning, they even brought in The Logo and still couldn't get put of the 2nd round.

A curse is about the only explanation left that makes sense.

They need to get the hell out of LA. Back to San Diego, on to Seattle, off to Anchorage for all I care lol.

 

[trojanfan12]

Honestly last season was also just a weird season. Teams were all screwed up. Living in the bubble. Sometimes sneaking out of the bubble. Sometimes sneaking people into the bubble.

I have a hard time blaming a coach for under performing last year. The Clippers losing to the Rockets in 14 was definitely a worse loss.

Yeah, I'm not buying the bubble excuse. Everyone was in the same bubble. The teams that played well and advanced, had their best players and their coaches all on the same page.

For example, I remember hearing that any time there was some doubt about the bubble, the Lakers and Heat's best players and their coaches all had the same message of basically..."We're here, it sucks, but since we're here, let's make the best of it and try to win". Not all teams took that approach and a sizable chunk of that falls on the coach.

 

[tlance]

Which is when you switch lineups, sub players, call time-outs.

If Doc wasn't to be blamed they wouldn't have fired him

Doc was the scapegoat. Simple as that.

Are you benching Paul George and Kawhi? Because they were missing all their shots down the stretch.

And calling timeouts?

The single biggest mistake an NBA coach can make is burning all their timeouts too early. They are way more valuable for end of game situations than at any other time.

 

[tlance]

In game 5 of the 2015 playoffs against the Rockets, Rivers didn't take a timeout for around 10 minutes when the Rockets were going on a big run in the fourth.

And that is a fair criticism. I bet he would tell you he wished he had called a timeout at some point during that run.

 

[tlance]

Yeah, I'm not buying the bubble excuse. Everyone was in the same bubble. The teams that played well and advanced, had their best players and their coaches all on the same page.

For example, I remember hearing that any time there was some doubt about the bubble, the Lakers and Heat's best players and their coaches all had the same message of basically..."We're here, it sucks, but since we're here, let's make the best of it and try to win". Not all teams took that approach and a sizable chunk of that falls on the coach.

That is another fair criticism of Doc.

 

[trojanfan12]

Are you benching Paul George and Kawhi? Because they were missing all their shots down the stretch.

Benching? Like not having them on the floor in the last 2 minutes kind of benching? No.

But as I said earlier...sitting them (especially PG) a little earlier than that in the 4th (and preferably not at the same time), so they can watch the flow of the game for a minute and maybe calm down a little if they appear to be pressing? I'd definitely do that.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

That is another fair criticism of Doc.

There's plenty of criticism on Doc yet all I'm hearing is "It was all the players fault"

7 years in LA, multiple superstar players, probably the deepest teams in the league during his stretch with the Clippers, yet the best he could do is a 2nd round playoff exit?

There was no leadership with Doc. How many games did Kawhi and PG have to "load manage" last season only to suffer one of the biggest humiliations in playoff history? Doc let guys like Kawhi waltz all over him.

Like the video I posted earlier said: "The Clippers problem was they had this arrogance that they could turn it on and off, and Doc allowed that."

You think Phil would have accepted Kawhi's lackluster attitude last season? Pat Riley? Hell, he tried it with Pop and got his ass shipped out.