Clippers Game Notes

[jbeecham]

I just got home from the game and I wanted to let you know my impressions:

James Jones: He was the bright spot tonight. He shot the ball really well and made some very nice passes ( I counted 4 assists). His defense was ok and it looked like he had about 2 blocks and a couple rebounds. His ball-handling isn't that great though.

Raja Bell: He struggled with cheap fouls tonight mostly going for steals or scrambling for loose balls (hustle fouls) that kept him out of the game most of the night. When he was in, his jumper looked good and his passing and ball handling were ok.

Boris Diaw: Diaw really surprised me. He moves so fluidly with the ball and took it to the hoop around defenders really well. He also made a lot of really nice passes in traffic or kicked out to Grant for open 15ft jumpers. He didn't attempt an outside shot though and had a few turnovers where a smaller quicker defender poked the ball away. Diaw also had 3-4 blocks while playing low post defense that were impressive (defending SGs like Quintin Ross).

Eddie House: House was horrible tonight. I haven't looked at the stats yet, but it looked like he went 1-15 from the field and he dribbled way too much and tried to shoot way more than pass. His defense looked ok, but he was only guarding Daniel Ewing or Yuta Tabuse (who has improved).

Kurt Thomas: Kurt didn't play a lot tonight, but he was living off the pick and pop and hit a fair percentage of his jumpers. He really can't jump at all and struggled to grab rebounds over Chris Wilcox.

Brian Grant: He played a lot like KT, but hit less of his open jumpers. He wasn't spectacular, but a little better than I expected after his play last season.

Shawn Marion: Marion was absolutely pathetic offensively tonight. He missed two open dunks and a ton of open shots. He did have a nice alley-oop dunk from Nash for his only made fg, but overall he sucked.

Steve Nash: Nash played very well. He looked like he hasn't missed a step from last season. He didn't really play that much and didn't play at all in the 4th (neither did Marion or KT).

Pat Burke: Pat shouldn't be on a basketball court. The guy was pathetic tonight. He got outrebounded by Yuta Tabuse on one play and then Daniel Ewing got a rebound over him later on in the game. He was also shooting from 20ft out on his shots. He had a chance at a fast break dunk except he knocked Yuta Tabuse to the ground when trying to catch the pass from Nash and got called for a loose ball foul. The one positive I can say about Burke is that he runs well for a big man. He was the 1st Sun down the court a number of times (although he probably should've been back trying to rebound).

Leandro Barbosa: DNP.......I'm not sure why because he was in uniform.

Dijon Thompson: Played a few minutes in the 4th qtr....he hit a 3 and then airballed the next one. He didn't really do anything special.

Tischer: Got in the game with 6 seconds left because Burke got elbowed in the back of the head and had to leave the game (no foul called). ]

Overall, I'm pretty discouraged by the team so far. The fast break offense isn't there at all right now. The guys aren't pushing the ball up the floor. They were solely a jump shooting team tonight. They lost, but they really didn't try to win. D'Antoni didn't play Nash, Marion, KT at all in the 4th and the other top guys played very little in the 4th. Also, the Clippers got about 40 pts tonight on buzzer beaters. Every time their shot clock got down to 1 or 2 seconds they'd heave up a prayer and it would go in and they barely beat the Suns.

 

[reader]

Thanks for the recap. I listened to the game feed. It seemed every single time the buzzer sounded the Clippers were making a shot.

Not pleased to hear that about Burke, I held out some hope for him.

Diaw, I still don't know what to make of him. Four blocks, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 turnovers and 6 points on 3/3 shooting. I should be happier with his line but the a/to are disconcerting.

What is needed is an inside presence, did it look like any of the guards could post up? Don't laugh, I am now reaching for anything inside. The fact that they were only shooting jumpshots was reflected in the free throw disparity, Suns 6/9 vs Clippers 18/28. The Suns have to make ALL of their free throws if the numbers continue to be so one sided.

 

[jbeecham]

Diaw, I still don't know what to make of him. Four blocks, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 turnovers and 6 points on 3/3 shooting. I should be happier with his line but the a/to are disconcerting.

What is needed is an inside presence, did it look like any of the guards could post up? Don't laugh, I am now reaching for anything inside. The fact that they were only shooting jumpshots was reflected in the free throw disparity, Suns 6/9 vs Clippers 18/28. The Suns have to make ALL of their free throws if the numbers continue to be so one sided.

Most of Diaw's turnovers were caused by his teammates fumbling a good pass. I know Grant was responsible for at least 2 of them. The other ones were poke steals from behind and a pass into the paint with too much traffic around.

The suns weren't getting many calls tonight because the took so many jumpers, but there were a bunch of shots where the defender jumped through the Suns player shooting and knocked him to the ground with no whistle. As far as posting up, I think Bell and Jim Jackson both posted up Cuttino Mobley once or twice, but missed on turnaround jumpers.

I forgot to comment on Jim Jackson because his play was completely forgettable. I'm not even sure if he hit a basket.

 

[reader]

With Jackson and some of the veterans, for the most part they seem to sleepwalk through preseason, knowing to try and save themselves for the games that count. Marion has not been shining as an offensive threat, so far. The greatest exception to that is Nash. He is scary good. I don't even have any more superlatives to use for him. I think this year there will have to be a lot of those, jump on my back guys and I'll carry you games. When he is in the entire team plays better and smarter.

Re Diaw, I can now see why they are looking at him playing some 4. The number of blocks he had are a bonus, now that we have no Hunter type player.

 

[jbeecham]

Diaw's blocks were pretty good. I think he had 3 of them on 1 play where he blocked the SG (I think it was Quintin Ross) going for a 5ft shot and the clipper guy got the ball back and tried to shoot quick and he blocked him again straight down into the ground (it was almost a jumpball) and another Clipper grabbed the ball and Diaw blocked his layup. Then he got a tip on a 20ft jumpshot (not a full block, but the ball was 5ft short of the rim). His height and long arms really help him defensively.

 

[Errntknght]

reader, "What is needed is an inside presence, did it look like any of the guards could post up? Don't laugh, I am now reaching for anything inside."

I've been talking about the dearth of inside scoring most of the summer. It was predictable since D'Antoni has the hots for long range shooters - and, unfortunately, BC listened to him. It'll probably be a blessing in disguise that Diaw can't or won't put up jumpers so we'll have one guy trying to get to the hoop.
Twenty-seven assists on top of 28 last night sounds impressive but if they were all for jump shots it's really not a lot of help. The indications are that the Suns are not running plays with guys going to the hoop (shot charts and less than half the number of FTa's as opponents). That may come but right now it sounds like my fears were well founded that D'A was going to stick with his static perimeter offense + P&R.

 

[Dustbuster]

I thought we really missed Barbosa's penetration last night. He has the ability to get right to the hoop and score, which he did repititively against Seattle. Apparently he was suffering from the aftereffects of a blow to the groin.

He and Diaw may take the ball inside more than anyone for now. But I completely agree that we need a post presence. Our big men are all jumpshooters, which is nice in one way, but with no post presence we become much easier to guard as a team.

 

[elindholm]

Apparently he was suffering from the aftereffects of a blow to the groin.

That often results from excessive penetration.

 

[Kolo]

Apparently he was suffering from the aftereffects of a blow to the groin.

That often results from excessive penetration.

I don't know what to do with that one. So many possibilities.

 

[panfolk]

Your observations on Burke were a stab to the heart. Diaw's possibilities make up for it though.

 

[Errntknght]

Dustbuster, "I thought we really missed Barbosa's penetration last night. He has the ability to get right to the hoop and score, which he did repititively against Seattle."

Did Barbosa drive down the middle? All I recall him ever doing is driving on the outside and once teams start focussing on him they have little trouble forcing him further out so he goes flying over the baseline. Which, of course, gives him exactly zero decent passing angles.

 

[Neo]

Apparently he was suffering from the aftereffects of a blow to the groin.

That often results from excessive penetration.

BRAVO! I almost fell out of my chair on that one.

 

[Dustbuster]

Dustbuster, "I thought we really missed Barbosa's penetration last night. He has the ability to get right to the hoop and score, which he did repititively against Seattle."

Did Barbosa drive down the middle? All I recall him ever doing is driving on the outside and once teams start focussing on him they have little trouble forcing him further out so he goes flying over the baseline. Which, of course, gives him exactly zero decent passing angles.

I'm not aware of his passing out during the Seattle game, but on at least three occasions he penetrated and got right to the rim, where he finished every team. With the exception of one Marion dunk and a few putbacks, that was the only points scored in the paint at all. Barbosa was actually very good in the Seattle game, and it appears that he was playing hurt. KT actually mentioned having missed Barbosa against the Clips. He apparently thought that he was a factor. Take it for what it is worth.