Clippers (3-6) vs Toronto Raptors (4-4)
Gameday Haiku
Bargnani shooting,
Chris Bosh throwing down monstrous
dunks; oh me on my.
First Look
Raptors are starting its long west coast road trip tonight at Los Angeles.
From what I have seen, the Raptors are the best 2nd tier team behind the East's big 3. Their record does not reflect this, just 4-4, with some tough losses. Without Eric Gordon, the Clippers are really in disarray at the wing positions. Butler/Thornton combo is simply too weak against other NBA starting combos. The Clippers catch a break today with the Raptors starting Demar DeRozan who is not of NBA starter quality yet.
- Clipper bigs will be lost.
Bargnani is taking five 3s a game while making close to half of them. Bosh will also be shooting an array of midrange/outside jumpers. Kaman and Camby simply won't be able to defend them on the perimeter. Hopefully Kaman will be able to muscle up Bargnani inside. - Jose Calderon
He is not having the kind of statistically driven season that we are used to seeing the past two years. He has uncharacteristically missed a few free throws and is shooting far below career norm from the field. His assists numbers are also down due to Hedo Turkoglu's influence. Having Hedo means taking the ball out of Calderon's hand. This has brought his average from nine assists per game to six. He is reduced to spot up duty on many possessions. Jarrett Jack signing the full mid-level exception with the Raptors also mean Calderon's playing time is reduced. - Baron Davis
For the Clippers to have any chance of winning, we need a big game from Bdiddy that we really haven't seen since his addition to the team. Davis has played fine so far and looked to be enjoying his job. Let's hope he can step up to night and be the star he once was.
Clippers (3-5) vs Oklahoma City (3-4)
Gameday Haiku
Hornets buzz by us
Here comes Durant with Thunder
I sense hopelessness
First Look
Oklahoma City is a top defensive so far this season. They even held the Kings to 101 at Sacramento last night. Without Eric Gordon, Clippers really don't have much firepower against the Thunder. Kaman should have a bounce back game against inferior defenders but Butler and Thornton won't get many opportunities against OKC's athletic perimeter players. The Clippers are unlikely to regain their hot shooting start and with Butler at SG, Coach Dunleavy will look to lower the attack pace.
So look for a low scoring game tonight in the 80s.
He hadn't shot well so far this season, but he went for 37 points, 18-18 at the strip last night. He averaged 28points against us last year in four games.
He is still averaging a ton of turnovers after leading the league in this category last year. Currently at 55assist:32turnovers. His field goal percentage is up but he is still not much of a long range gunner, at 31%.
Clippers (3-4) vs New Orleans Hornets (2-5)
Gameday Haiku
Almighty Chris Paul
dropping dimes to David West;
May I plead ’Mercy?"
First Look
I hate to be pessimistic but Clippers will have trouble without Eric Gordon. Baron will have plenty of trouble with CP3, everyone does; Thornton starting and playing 40+ means is very unappealing. David West had two mediocre games in a row so I will watch out for him to make it up tonight. Plus he has the ability to draw Camby away from protecting the rim.
Chris Paul is Godlike
He is averaging 27 points a game this season but he is just not getting the support from his teammates. He is also not getting the amount of steals we are used to seeing. Not sure what is wrong there.- Outstanding Okafor
He's been quietly averaging 12p/11r/2b over 7 games. This is a major upgrade from Tyson Chandler which makes it strange that the Hornets are playing so poorly. He is a premier low post defender with the size to bother Kaman.
Preview: Clipsnation | At The Hive
Heavy Dose on the House 11/09/09
2009-10 NBA - YTD: 16-14, +0.84u ATS: 10-11 Totals: 6-3
11/9
1. Hornets -2 @ LA Clippers 1.05u
Hornets coming off an embarrassing loss to the Lakers's B team. Look for David West to bounce back with a strong game by taking Camby outside. EJ is out with sore groin, that means Butler moves to the 2 and Thornton will be starting. This also means Ricky Davis might see the floor tonight and that is bad news bear Clippers fans. Thornton has been absolutely horrendous so far this season and I see no reason to improve.
2. 76ers +2 vs Phoenix 1.09u
Phoenix has been playing great and Grant Hill is a rebounding machine, but I like the 76ers in this spot. Last road game of a perfect road trip so far. Suns has been turning the ball over alot, but getting away with it by shooting lights out. I expect their carelessness to catch up to them tonight. Barbosa will likely play tonight but he has been ineffective when he does.
Memphis Grizzlies 100(1-6) @ Clippers 103(3-4)
Gameday Haiku
Grizzlies in da house,
Give me Mayo on EJ.
Let us win three straight.
Post Game Notes
The Clippers came out flat and Gay lit them up. Rasual Butler got the start again while Kaman continue his early season tear. The Grizzlies handed the game over in the fourth quarter by repeated making silly fouls leading to freebie free throws. Butler, Baron and Kaman all missed some free throws in the end giving Gay a last second shot attempt to tie the game. Definitely need a better performance at home for any playoff chances.
- It seems like Baron is happy this year. Smiling and joking after assists and passes leading to shooting fouls. This bodes well for our playoff chances.
- Rudy Gay shot the lights out in the first half; he also shot the Grizzlies out of the game in the fourth quarter. How do you think Mayo feels about Gay taking 20 shots to his 12?
- Craig Smith is a beast. He is good for the Clippers's moral and just overall hustle and effort. He is certainly a player that can be part of a team to turn this miserable franchise around. 18 points including his first career three and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes.
- Rasual Butler needs to shoot better. He bricked quite a few open threes in the fourth. 6-17 is bad no matter how you slice it.
First Look
I have a hunch that Clippers will be Clippers tonight. That means somehow wasting all the momentum from the last 2 wins. Please prove me wrong!
Things to watch for:
Chris Kaman vs Marc Gasol
Neither will be able to stop the other from scoring. Kaman's length should bother Gasol just a little that he won't get over 20 points. I think Kaman will continue his midrange hot stroke to start the season so look for him to win this match-up.
Rebounding
Clippers is a fairly weak rebounding team, especially on the offensive side. While Memphis is the best team in this category and pulls down 15.2 offensive rebounds per game. If Kaman and/or Camby gets in foul trouble, yikes.
Zach Randolph
He will be a handful tonight. Camby simply doesn't have the weight and will be pushed. Z-bo will also step out for a jumper whereas rendering Camby ineffective.
Allen Iverson
He won't be playing tonight, or anytime soon.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4633226
Other Previews: Clipsnation | Straight Outta Vancouver
Globetrotter: Efficient Kmart
Slam online: Very interesting and in-depth piece by John Krolik about Kevin Martin and scoring efficiency. I think he is spot-on about Kevin Martin.
So apparently I wasn't the only one interested in the previous article.
Here is the response from Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN and Clipperblog.com
ClipsNation: Yet another spinoff of the Kmart article, this time ClipperSteve talks about Eric Gordon and his scoring efficiency.
Iverson, Please go away
Since I am up early, might as well write something about AI.
"My people just informed me that we are getting close to a deal. I asked them to call me when its done. I am so ready to know!" said a post on Iverson's Twitter account late Wednesday morning."
Everyone remembers AI's infamous practice quote, but do people remember he is fifth all time in points per game. Personally I think he got a bad rep last year just because Billups and the Nuggests performed way above expectation. AI didnt get along with his Pistons teammates but when has animosity distracted him from performing in games? Never. Iverson had a rocky relationship with Larry Brown and he still averaged over 30 points to carry the Sixers into the Finals. He did offered to come off the bench for the Pistons. Iverson's value is extremely low given how badly the Pistons played, but he can still ball. Despite being 34, he still gets into the lane at ease. He is still a solid player, particularly if his team uses him for scoring boost off the bench. You might be surprised at all these praises but I think AI deserves credit for still sticking around and playing hard at a high level.
However, he would be a terrible fit here. The Clippers has NO spot for Iverson. Not with BD already running the point. Can you imagine the horror show with Baron/AI/Thornton in the game?? Maybe Thornton will punch out AI just to touch the ball or Baron will headbutt AI just so AI wont be taking up all the allotment of shooting 30 footers. The defense would just be utterly disatrious. Hey, you can go pick up Camby in fantasy and he might just average 5 blocks a game with those 3 guarding the perimeter. The most important thing is that he would be taking a majority of EJ's playing time. Its not like Iverson is a savvy veteran who is going to take time out to pass down his knowledge/experience.
I realized it is unlikely that the team he is negotiaiting with is the Clippers. I just felt like whining even at the thought of it. I think Iverson deserves to go to somewhere better to finish off his illustrative career. The Knicks would be a nice spot. Coupled with Nate Robinson while running D'Antoni's offense? Get your popcorn ready! I know New Orl
eans is not in the pursuit for AI but I acutally think it would be a perfect match. The Hornets really dont have a serviceable 2 guard. We have already seen how potent the Hornets can be with Paul and Pargo. AI would be Pargo on roids. Tyrone Lue better not sign with whichever team AI goes to or else Lue will be seeing tons of Iverson's fury.
The Curious Case of Baron Davis
What went wrong last season?
Let us take a look at his basic stats from the last four seasons:
As one can see, Baron averaged just 15 points, well below his career average. This can be attributed to his extremely poor shooting from the field even for his lowly standards. He also attempted four less shots than he did the year before. I will get into that later. But we already know he sucks at shooting from watching him dribble into contested long shots, jack up 3s, and take half-hearted floaters.
Contrary to what Baron himself said, the fans know he felt betrayed by Elton Brand. This coupled with the clashing of basketball styles with coach Dunleavy and his well-published disinterest in basketball made a miserable union with the Clippers.
The passing stats chart to the right is a compilation of passing ratings of the top PGs in the league(I also added Wade and Lebron for comparison) in 08-09.
Despite Baron's bad first season with the Clippers, his passing ability is still ranks him among the best floorleaders.
What will happen this season?
At his best, Davis is a big defender that can hold his own while having one of the highest steals rate in the league. His size and strength are useful as the undersized Eric Gordon will be spending a lot of time on the court with him. As long as his heart is there, the defense will be acceptable. This is not a big part of his game and is not what will impact the season.
This brings us to Baron's offense. His numbers were way down last season due to not just horrify shooting but also because of the set plays that Dunleavy runs. The slower pace of attack takes away a huge part of Davis's game where he can use his athleticism and passing to lead the fastbreak. Dunleavy's walk the ball up preference simply just tempts B Diddy to dribble into a 3 early in the shot clock. He started last season shooting in the 20% range but got a tad better towards the end. As shown in my projection, I think Baron will return to shooting just over 40% from the field and taking a few more shots. I think he deserves some slack on his shooting ability since he had always been the one on his team that has to force up a contested 3 as the shot clock winds down.
Baron's rebound rate went down last season but that should rebound nicely this seasons. haha. His career rebound rate among active NBA point guard is second only to Jason Kidd.
Coach Dunleavy likes to post his guards. So let Baron punish smaller guards inside. With EJ and Butler as bombers, this should create a lot of problems for oppositions.
And yes Baron, last season was like a bad dream. Bring back the beard, and the excitement and intensity you played with. I leave you for now with one of my favorite basketball video ever.
Stats used in this article are extracted from sports.yahoo.com and 82games.com
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