Official Los Angeles Clippers 10-11 Season Thread - The Griffin Era Begins (Again)

[lawdog1]

^^^ Nice. The Internet -- where common interests happen.

 

[div1lbc]

I haven't been as active on CTB lately, I was posting more when the off-season first started. I'll start posting more once the season starts. A lot of people on that board are down on the team after the 1-7 pre-season. I'm actually not too worried about the pre-season, I'm expecting a totally different outcome in the regular season. I saw enough from the team that's giving me confidence that they can make huge improvement this year.

 

[lawdog1]

Originally Posted by Div1LBC

I haven't been as active on CTB lately, I was posting more when the off-season first started. I'll start posting more once the season starts. A lot of people on that board are down on the team after the 1-7 pre-season. I'm actually not too worried about the pre-season, I'm expecting a totally different outcome in the regular season. I saw enough from the team that's giving me confidence that they can make huge improvement this year.

Yeah, the vibe on CTB is mostly negative right now.  There certainly are exceptions, but most people's expectations are pretty low.  I'm with you -- I don't think that the preseason was a good indicator of what this team can be.  Baron missed a couple games, as did Blake.  Gordon sat out the 2nd half of the last game, etc.  When the regular starting five played together, like the 1st half of the San Antonio game, they played pretty well.  That's the team I'm expecting to see.  

 

[marath0n]

[table][tr][th=""]2010/2011 NBA Regular Season[/th][/tr][tr][td]

​

[/td][th=""]vs.[/th][td]

​

[/td][/tr][tr][th=""]0-0
[/th][th=""]
[/th][th=""]1-0
[/th][/tr][tr][td]Staples Center
[/td][/tr][tr][td]October 27th, 2010, 7:30 PM[/td][/tr][tr][td]FSN Prime Ticket and ESPN, KFWB 980 AM
[/td][/tr][tr][th=""]Probable starters:[/th][/tr][tr][td]Baron Davis[/td][th=""]PG[/th][td]Andre Miller
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Eric Gordon[/td][th=""]SG[/th][td]Brandon Roy
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Ryan Gomes
[/td][th=""]SF[/th][td]Nicolas Batum
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Blake Griffin
[/td][th=""]PF[/th][td]LaMarcus Aldridge
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Chris Kaman[/td][th=""]C[/th][td]Marcus Camby
[/td][/tr][tr][th=""]
[/th][/tr][/table]

The Back Story:

• First meeting of the season.  Portland won the season series last season 3-1.

The Big Picture:

Well, here we go everybody. The Clippers start the 2010-2011 season with a new coach, a new general manager, a new star, seven new players and a new star.  This is the long-awaited (and I do mean loooonnnngggg-awaited) NBA debut of Blake Griffin.  His first summer league game in Las Vegas in July 2009, he made a dunk and a three on the first two possessions.  His first televised pre-season game this year, in Mexico City against the Spurs, he caught an alley-oop from Baron on the first possession.  He seems to rise to occasions, and this is certainly an occasion - the game is even on ESPN.  My expectations are sky-high, at least for him.  The Clippers were a terrible 1-7 in pre-season, worst in the league, but that will all be forgotten and irrelevant if they win their opener tonight.  If they lose, it will on the other hand be remembered, and quite relevant.  The schedule makers didn't do the Clippers many favors this year - not with a league-high 11 game road trip in February.  But they do catch a break tonight.  It's the Clippers season opener, at home, but it's the second night of a back to back for the Blazers, who beat the Suns last night.

http://

The Antagonist:

The Blazers open this season the way they spent most of last season - with a bunch of big mean injured.  Neither Greg Oden nor Joel Przyzbilla have recovered from the injuries they suffered last season, and continuing the trend, Jeff Pendergraph tore his ACL in pre-season and is out for the year.  And people say the Clippers are cursed.  With big guys dropping like flies, the Blazers still have former Clipper Marcus Camby holding down the middle, and the absence of all those injured centers didn't hurt them against the Suns, whom they outrebounded 48 to 30.  Then again, that was the Suns.  The Blazers do have a healthy Brandon Roy, which is more than they had going into last year's playoffs.  When healthy, Roy is one of the elite shooting guards in the NBA and a real difference maker for the Blazers.  Really, you have to like Portland's starting lineup, even without Oden.  Andre Miller is no Clips Nation favorite, but he's a savvy veteran point guard, Roy is an All Star, Nic Batum is coming into his own, LaMarcus Aldridge is a deadly scorer, and of course we know all about Camby.  What's not to like?

The Subplots

• Batum.  Last February the Blazers traded Travis Outlaw to the Clippers as part of the Camby deal.  This summer they traded Martell Webster to Minnesota for rookie Luke Babbitt (and Clippers starting small forward Ryan Gomes, whom they subsequently cut).  The net effect is that Portland's small forward job is now indisputably Batum's.  His first two seasons, he was usually the starter when he was healthy, but he wasn't necessarily the closer, averaging just over 20 minutes per game on the Blazers crowded wing.  Now he's the starter, and likely the closer as well, which could be addition by subtraction for the Blazers, because this guy is very, very good.
• Matchups galore.  There are fascinating matchups all over the floor in this game.  Davis and Miller, two old LA guys, at the point.  Eric Gordon versus Brandon Roy (so interesting, it gets its own bullet).  Blake Griffin against LaMarcus Aldridge, one of those stretch fours that have given the Clippers lots of trouble in recent years, but perhaps Griffin is the answer.  And of course Kaman versus his old buddy Camby.  Even Gomes versus Batum has an air of revenge for Gomes given that the Blazers waived him this summer.
• Finally Healthy.  I heard a quote from Neil Olshey the other day, talking about being healthy on opening night for the first time in four years.  I hadn't really thought about it, but it's kind of huge.  Last season they were of course without Griffin.  Before that, in 08-09, they began the season without a tweaked Camby.  And of course in 07-08, it was Elton Brand who was injured.  So this is the first time in four seasons that they've had their starting power forward, and indeed their entire team, available to start the season.  Will it make a difference?
• Not the Lakers!  It's also the first time in a while that the Clippers have opened the season against a team other than the Lakers.  The last two seasons the Clippers have opened against (and lost to) the other LA team.
• Gordon and Roy.  Everyone knows that the Redeem Team took the summer off, creating an opportunity for Eric Gordon to be a major part of Team USA's gold medal run in Turkey.  But another member of the broader Team USA program had to skip try outs in Las Vegas.  Roy is officially on the Team USA roster, but was recovering from knee surgery in July and had to miss the World Championships.  EJ took advantage of the opportunity to raise his NBA profile considerably, and you can now make an argument that Roy is one of only a small number of NBA shooting guards who are ahead of Gordon in the pecking order (Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade being the other two obvious choices).  Gordon's calling card for Team USA was lock down perimeter defense, and he'll have his hands full with Roy tonight.  Turns out, Roy is a little better than anyone on Turkey's roster.
• The Wait is Over.  This moment has been a long time coming for Clipper fans, and even longer for Blake Griffin.  (Actually, it's been the same amount of time, but I mean that it probably feels longer for Blake, but you probably knew that's what I meant.)  From the time the Clippers won the draft lottery on May 19, 2009, until his first NBA game tonight, it will have been 526 days.
• Baron.  As exciting as it is for Blake to make his debut, Baron Davis remains the engine that drives the Clippers.  His impact was evident in pre-season, when the team looked pretty good with him on the floor, and mostly terrible without him.  He has worked his way into shape during the pre-season, and it's a good thing, because he may have to play big minutes for the Clippers.  He has a lot of weapons around him, and he seems poised to have a huge year passing the ball.
• Homesick Rudy.  Rudy Fernandez of the Blazers made it clear before the season that he was homesick and he wanted to return to his native Spain.  The Blazers made it clear that they didn't just walk away from assets, and they expected him to honor his contract.  Fernandez sulked for awhile, and then turned around and had a monster pre-season, taking a ridiculous number of threes, and making most of them.  With Outlaw in New Jersey, Webster in Minnesota and Jerryd Bayless in New Orleans, the role of bench scorer will fall to Rudy by default.
• Clippers bench.  The Clippers starting unit looks great on paper, and has looked good in the pre-season.  Unfortunately, the second unit has not looked good.  It will be interesting to see how VDN handles substitutions.  Will he try to keep one or two starters on the floor at all times?  Or will he take his chances with a lineup of Randy Foye, Rasual Butler, Al-Farouq Aminu, Craig Smith and DeAndre Jordan?  Smith is probably a key to the second string, since he is the only one with the ability to score with any efficiency.  He's been struggling with a bad back, but is expected to play tonight.  If the Clippers bench can manage to hold it's own tonight, then the team has a chance in this game.
• Superstar for one game.  If you're new here, this is a feature I've done in the past where I predict what relatively nameless player on the opposition will kill the Clippers tonight.  It's a double-reverse mojo tactic, where perhaps I can at least take one guy out of the game by predicting that he'll play great.  Get it?  Anyway, let's go with Wesley Matthews, the newest Blazer.  He certainly killed the Clippers in pre-season.

 

[mjshoefanatic]

Lets Get this W!

Go Clippers!!!

 

[HIM]

Originally Posted by lawdog1

Originally Posted by marath0n

Originally Posted by lawdog1

^^^ Ha. I knew I couldn't be the only one that overlaps between NT and CTB. I'm guessing MJShoe is on there too. Anyway, my favorite of the wallpapers is the Kaman/Kobe one. Hilarious.

yup...

Whats your name on there?

Clipfansince88. 

i got the same name over there but I never post anymore; just lurk. MJShoes is MJSF over there.
Got the Blake Griffin joint as my wallpaper

LETS GO CLIPNATION!




BTW someone needs to make a better sig

 

[mjshoefanatic]

blake still put up roy numbers.

 

[thedeek]

Blake was scaring me out there thinking he'd get injured again already. If he can stay healthy though, the Clippers are going to be

.

 

[mike23theking]

Blake did his thing last night. I think he needs to just tone it down a slight notch.

Like everyone else is saying, it's great he's goin out there 500% but there were times during the game where I'd be like, "oh snap... PLEASE get up!"

 

[marath0n]

Originally Posted by erupt107th

Originally Posted by lawdog1

Originally Posted by marath0n

Originally Posted by lawdog1

^^^ Ha. I knew I couldn't be the only one that overlaps between NT and CTB. I'm guessing MJShoe is on there too. Anyway, my favorite of the wallpapers is the Kaman/Kobe one. Hilarious.

yup...

Whats your name on there?

Clipfansince88. 

i got the same name over there but I never post anymore; just lurk. MJShoes is MJSF over there.
Got the Blake Griffin joint as my wallpaper

LETS GO CLIPNATION!




BTW someone needs to make a better sig

I'll make a sig.

 

[marath0n]

CLIPPERNATION
"In Blake we trust..."


TEAMCLIPPERS


IN BLAKE WE TRUST



I dunno... yall can fool around with it.

 

[mike23theking]

SIG CHECK

 

[marath0n]

 

[laridah23]

Although we lost, I actually feel pretty good about this team.

I like how Gordon adjusted his game and drove to the basket more when he realized his shot wasn't falling.  He seems to be more aggressive.

Kaman was horrible. Camby did a great job against him. (Makes me wish we didn't trade him for a couple of rentals last year

).  I expect Kaman to bounce back against Golden State though.

Foye did pretty good...Gomes needs to hit his open jumpers. 

Can't say enough about Griffin.

Looking forward to seeing how we'll respond on Friday.

 

[goldmember]

I hope Blake stays healthy all season.. i love watching dude play

 

[lawdog1]

Originally Posted by LARidah23



Although we lost, I actually feel pretty good about this team.

I like how Gordon adjusted his game and drove to the basket more when he realized his shot wasn't falling.  He seems to be more aggressive.

Kaman was horrible. Camby did a great job against him. (Makes me wish we didn't trade him for a couple of rentals last year

).  I expect Kaman to bounce back against Golden State though.

Foye did pretty good...Gomes needs to hit his open jumpers. 

Can't say enough about Griffin.

Looking forward to seeing how we'll respond on Friday.

Pretty much sums up my feelings.  The fact that we were even in the game when Kaman was terrible and Baron did basically nothing is a good sign.  And, since I've been pretty critical of him lately, the 9 minutes he played in the first half was one of the better performances I've seen from Deandre Jordan.  Not sure why he didn't see any more court time. 

Oh well, bring on GSW tomorrow!

 

[marath0n]

Deandre definitely needs to see the court more. Especially when Kaman is stinkin it up.

 

[marath0n]

[table][tr][th=""]2010/2011 NBA Regular Season[/th][/tr][tr][td]

​

[/td][th=""]vs.[/th][td]

​

[/td][/tr][tr][th=""]0-1
[/th][th=""]
[/th][th=""]1-0
[/th][/tr][tr][td]Oracle Arena
[/td][/tr][tr][td]October 29th, 2010, 7:30 PM[/td][/tr][tr][td]FSN Prime Ticket, KFWB 980 AM
[/td][/tr][tr][th=""]Probable starters:[/th][/tr][tr][td]Baron Davis[/td][th=""]PG[/th][td]Stephen Curry
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Eric Gordon[/td][th=""]SG[/th][td]Monta Ellis
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Ryan Gomes
[/td][th=""]SF[/th][td]Dorell Wright
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Blake Griffin
[/td][th=""]PF[/th][td]David Lee
[/td][/tr][tr][td]Chris Kaman[/td][th=""]C[/th][td]Andris Biedrins
[/td][/tr][tr][th=""]
[/th][/tr][/table]

The Back Story:

• First meeting of the season.  The teams split the season series last year 2-2.

The Big Picture:

The Blake Griffin era got off to a roaring start on Wednesday, as the delayed rookie went for 20 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists in his NBA debut.  Not bad I guess.  Unfortunately, it didn't result in a win, as the Clippers struggled to make shots all game long, in particular during a crucial six minute stretch of the fourth quarter.  Other than the terrible shooting - Chris Kaman was 4 for 18, Eric Gordon was great going to the rim, but missed every jump shot he took, as did Baron Davis and Ryan Gomes - there were many positives from the first game for the Clippers.  Golden State is a very different challenge though.  The Clippers go from playing the team with the slowest pace in the league last season, to the team with the highest pace.  This one will be a shoot out, and if the young Clippers aren't careful, the Warriors could run them right out of their building.  

http://

The Antagonist:

Golden State made some changes during the off season, but in many ways they're the same old Warriors.  If you thought that they were going to play at a slower pace this season under Keith Smart now that  Don Nelson is no longer the coach, their 132-128 win over Houston on Wednesday should have disavowed you of that notion.  132-128!  That's like an old ABA score.  While most of the signifcant player movement this offseason was from West to East, there was one All Star that moved West - former Knick David Lee.  It's clear that you want Lee on your fantasy basketball team - he's going to put up impressive numbers in the Warriors uptempo style.  Whether he can help a good team win basketball games remains to be seen.  Even with Lee, the Warriors will be a guard dominated team.  Stephen Curry may turn out to be the second best player from the 2009 draft (after Blake Griffin, and yes, I think he can be better than Tyreke Evans), and Monta Ellis is one of the flat out best scorers in the league - and to prove he's still got it, he put up 46 on Wednesday.  On the other hand, the Warriors bench looks positively anemic.  Among the changes (new players, new owners, etc.)  the best change of all has to be their logo.  Looking at this one next to that stupid cartoon thing they've used for the last decade or so, this is so much better.  And it fits so well with the roots of the franchise.  Well played Warriors.  Well played.

The Subplots

• Early season schedule.  I'm very concerned about the Clippers early season schedule.  I almost wish it was harder.  At the Spurs or at the Lakers - those are games they're not likely to when no matter when they play them.  But having the Blazers at home or the Warriors on the road - these are theoretically winnable games.  However, coming so early in the season, before the team has had an opportunity to gel, they could well be losses (as indeed Wednesday was).  That makes them not just losses, but lost opportunities, which is even worse.
• Rebounding.  The Clippers allowed Portland to get way too many offensive rebounds on Wednesday, which really hurt the team.  The Warriors are clearly not the Blazers in that regard, but they're also a much better rebounding club with Lee this season than they have been in the past.  With Lee at the power forward alongside Biedrins, Golden State is actually starting a lineup that looks, dare I say, conventional - no more Corey Maggette at the four.  Lee is a rebounding machine, and watching Lee and Griffin fight for boards tonight will definitely be a treat.
• De-fense!  Stopping the Warriors guards is no small task, and a key to the game is how the Clippers guards handle it.  Interestingly, Gordon was a teammate of Curry this summer with Team USA, and Davis and Ellis were teammates for a couple of seasons in Oakland.  They may or may not match up that way, but it would be interesting to see those battles of former teammates.
• Speaking of Team USA.  You'll recall that Eric Gordon and Stephen Curry were reported to be on the bubble together during qualifying for Team USA.  The conventional wisdom, which turned out to be plenty conventional but not very wise, was that there was room for one of them on the roster as the designated shooter, but not for both.  When both were kept, many people thought that Curry would be ahead of Gordon on the depth chart, which also proved incorrect.  Gordon beat out Curry for playing time based on his defense, and on the fact that in Turkey, he shot every bit as well if not better than Curry.  They're very different players (which is why the either/or talk was so strange) - both great shooters, if Curry is probably a bit better.  Curry is a much better playmaker, but Gordon is better at getting to the rim.  While it's nice that Gordon outplayed Curry for Team USA, we'd really like to see him outplay him tonight.
• Pick and roll.  When Lee signed with the Warriors, I expected the Curry/Lee combination to become a tough pick and roll cover.  Lee sets great screens, and you can't afford to go under the screen with Curry or he'll kill you on jumpers.  He's also an adept passer and can hit the roll man in stride.  In game one, it was the Monta show, but this combo could be lether as well.
• Kaman.  After having an absolutely outstanding pre-season, Chris Kaman had a nightmare of a game on opening night.  He went 4 for 18, which included 1 of his last 10.  He was automatic from 18 feet in pre-season, but he made only one of his face up jumpers against the Blazers.  Fans were booing in the fourth quarter, and some citizens were upset with the play calling that went to Kaman down the stretch, but seriously, he was getting great shots.  They just didn't go in.  I guarantee you that the Clippers were happy with the shots Kaman was getting.  Like the rest of us, they'd have been a lot happier had the shots gone in.  Surely he'll bounce back with a big game against the Warriors.  It's worth noting that in his last meeting with the Warriors, Kaman had 27 points, two shy of his career high.  Of course, that team didn't have Biedrins or Lee.
• Baron the former Warrior.  Since joining the Clippers, Baron Davis has been something of a disappointment to be sure.  However, he's played very well against his former team.  Baron has scored 29, 25, 25, 25 and 21 in five of the seven games he's played against Golden State as a Clipper.  
• Warriors Bench.  The Warriors added Lee this summer, but they also lost a bunch of players.  Anthony Randolph went to the Knicks in the Lee sign and trade, and while Randolph missed 39 games last season, this time last year the organization thought he was a key part of their future.  They also lost Corey Maggette, Anthony Morrow, Anthony Tolliver and C.J. Watson, getting little or nothing in return for each.  That's five players who averaged double figures for Golden State last year (including Maggette who was their second leading scorer at almost 20 per game).  Last year, the Warriors bench was suspect because so many players were hurt.  This year, it's just plain suspect.
• Blake Superior.  As great as Blake Griffin was on Wednesday, didn't you get the impression that we were only scratching the surface?  He had 14 rebounds - and may have gotten his hands on ten more that the super long Blazers managed to poke away from him.  The Clippers could have gotten him the ball more as well.  I think I said that Blake could average 16 and 12 just on put backs and fast breaks - well, he got 20 and 14, and it was mostly on put backs and fast breaks.  I don't think either Lee or Biedrins can handle him, and there certainly isn't anyone on the bench who can - let's see what happens when you feed the beast.
• Superstar for one game.  Reggie Williams.  He's a great scorer, and he's lit up the Clippers before.
• 
  Famous Quotation: 
  

  Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
  In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
  Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol.
  
  William Shakespeare - Julius Cæsar. ACT II Scene 2. (Two straight quotes from the same Shakespeare play.  Spooky.)

 

[mjshoefanatic]

Blake McDyess better drop that 20-10 tonight.

 

[lawdog1]

^^^ I don't have any doubt that Blake will get those kind of numbers against the Warriors, but I do have some doubts about us getting the win. Our last few trips to Oakland have not gone well. I'm hoping tonight will be different.

 

[daprescription]

Really wanted to go tonight, but with the rain, I decided to sell my tickets. I'm expecting a monster game from Blake, he beasted on out frontcourt in the pre-season. Has his free-throw shooting gotten any better? I think he missed around 7 in a row in the pre-season

.

 

[mjshoefanatic]

Originally Posted by lawdog1

^^^ I don't have any doubt that Blake will get those kind of numbers against the Warriors, but I do have some doubts about us getting the win. Our last few trips to Oakland have not gone well. I'm hoping tonight will be different.

If we go 9-10 deep meaning VDN goes to his bench then we shouldn't have the same issue we had in the preseason. GSW loves to run 14 deep.

 

[lawdog1]

Originally Posted by daprescription

Really wanted to go tonight, but with the rain, I decided to sell my tickets. I'm expecting a monster game from Blake, he beasted on out frontcourt in the pre-season. Has his free-throw shooting gotten any better? I think he missed around 7 in a row in the pre-season

.

I think his FT shooting has improved since then.  He had one game in the preseason, after the GSW game I think, when he went like 8 or 9 for 10.  He was 4 for 6 in the opener. 

 

[div1lbc]

I expect bounce back games from the vets, BD, Kaman and Gomes.

Go Clips!

Someone hook me up with that Clipper Nation sig.

 

[laridah23]

We really need Kaman back on track tonight.

Golden State's backcourt is a problem.  Hopefully we can actually hit our shots tonight.