Clipper mollywhopped Lakers last nite

[JR Giddens]

I kno preseason means very little. But a 27 point defecit is pretty big. I didn't watch the game but if you did what did you think. I say their tall lineup makes them too slow

[Redz]

Well, a 27 point loss is an improvement from Game 6

And I'll throw a TP at you for the "mollywhopped" usage

[ACF]

TP for mentioning this.
I thought about this but
I've been busy drinking beer 

[Emperor Young]

Baron Davis looked great. he's worth every penny they paid him.

[Who]

Bah, humbug ... I wrote a long post on the game and it got lost. Let's see what was I rambling on about, oh yes ...

(1) The Lakers didn't show up for the game, they had no interest in being there or competing. They didn't play their usual games, the best of their main players coasted, the worst well did something worse. None of the main Lakers came to play.

Lamar Odom was awful, he didn't even play basketball last night, just went out for a jog. He went scoreless and he barely shot the ball all night, didn't involve himself at all on either end. Kobe Bryant came out and acted as a decoy or playmaker throughout, didn't try to score, used the game as an opportunity for the younger players to show their talents. Gasol had himself a solid game in limited minutes. Bynum had a difficult night offensively and was making a lot of silly mistakes, wasn't concentrating, he did rebound the ball well though. Fisher did very little also.

Only one player gave a truly good account of himself and that was Trevor Ariza, and he couldn't throw the ball into the ocean last night, but he found other ways to impact the game. The rest of the bench were inconsistent throughout the night but most of them had their moments. Ariza and Farmer spearheaded a Lakers rally late in the third, early fourth quarters that saw LA pull back an 18/20 point deficit to 4-6 points. They did a lot of their work on the defensive end and quick breaks. It was a good run, then the Clippers led by Mike Taylor's scoring got back on track. Another bench player, Coby Karl, he had a shocker, normally an intelligent and skilled player but he was very poor last night.

Radmanovic was the best veteran on the team. He's truly making a greater effort defensively and on the boards .... but he's still lousy on that end of the floor. It's nice to see the effort though and odd good play. Radmanovic had one great play where he laid out Mike Taylor with a screen at midcourt, like KG on Zaza, none of Taylor's teammates called out the screen, he never saw it coming and it looked painful. Clippers down a man defensively, Vlad spots up top of the key and drains a three. It was nice sequence for Radmanovic.

(2) Anyway .... the Lakers defense was horrific, absolutely atrocious and hugely below their normal standards. Another sign of their non-competitive attitude in the game. They gave the Clippers easy shot after easy shot, easy shots in transition, easy shots in the paint, wide open jumpers for their best shooters. It was terrible. The Lakers defended the post horribly and sent double teams everywhere, giving the Clips opportunity after opportunity to punish them. Awful display.

(3) Like I said earlier, none of their main players played the game like they normally would and because of that it's hard to read anything into the performance.

So how their big lineup performed is of little consequence .... but they were poor. Very weak ball and player movement. They played through the post and if that didn't come off they were in trouble, didn't know what to do next. That wasn't helped by Kobe not attempting to score or Lamar not playing basketball, or Fisher having a quiet night. Very stagnant and all the players off the ball were easy to defend against. Also Bynum was struggling offensively so the post wasn't much use for him. Gasol looked dangerous as usual when he attacked his defender.

I don't think we're going to see anything from this Lakers team until the regular season starts. They're not approaching these games with any seriousness .. and not using them to learn. They're just bad walk-throughs which they're being forced to play.

[YouveBeenPierced]

can you say mollywhopped on a messageboard?

[Lucky17]

can you say mollywhopped on a messageboard?

LOL, I came here to say that. Someone's been channeling the ghost of Lewis Carroll.

[cordobes]

Bah, humbug ... I wrote a long post on the game and it got lost. Let's see what was I rambling on about, oh yes ...

Great report. Very much appreciated. I saw them playing Utah and it was pretty much the same thing.

Can you drop 1 or 2 sentences about the Clippers? Are they running or playing at a slow pace? Have they showed some kind of chemistry?

[Who]

Bah, humbug ... I wrote a long post on the game and it got lost. Let's see what was I rambling on about, oh yes ...

Great report. Very much appreciated. I saw them playing Utah and it was pretty much the same thing.

Can you drop 1 or 2 sentences about the Clippers? Are they running or playing at a slow pace? Have they showed some kind of chemistry?

The Clippers were running every opportunity possible. Dunleavy is definitely preparing them to be an up tempo outfit. They were passing the ball very well, spacing offensively was good when the starters were in. In typical Dunleavy fashion they still looked to post up inside, Kaman struggled, but their wings and guards provided a threat. They looked a well oiled machine considering it was their first preseason game and all the changes they'd just been through.

There was one main reason for that and his name is Baron Davis. He was superb and looked in great shape physically. He got them going in the open court, kept them organized in the half court, and got good shots for all the role players. Baron ran the show and was the most impressive player on the court from either team. He looked unstoppable, the Lakers tried but couldn't slow him down.

It's hard to say too much about the Clippers because (1) Camby and Gordon didn't play. Gordon because of injury. Camby dressed but spent the night on the bench, never played, they must have been resting him. (2) The Lakers defense was horrific and the element of the Clippers I'm most concerned about is their offense .... so how well do they do against a decent defensive performance?

Ricky Davis played very well. Hit a bunch of long shots, was the team's high scorer until Taylor took over in the fourth while the starters were resting ... Ricky Davis looked at home as the Clippers sixth man. Brian Skinner was his usual steady self in the paint and added four blocks for good measure. Cuttino Mobley looked slow and old alongside the quick legs around him on the perimeter, but still capable enough and likely the Clips best perimeter defender after Baron. Thornton had a quiet night after a quick start (6 quick points, then nothing for a long time), but looked dangerous whenever he wanted to attack.

Without Camby the Clippers used a lot of small ball lineups, mainly with Tim Thomas and Steve Novak, so they spread the floor very well on the offensive end. Novak came in and was gifted three open looks from three point range on consecutive possessions (Lakers defense was awful) ... his shot is freakishly beautiful, the ball never looked like hitting the rim, like the basket was three times the size of the ball. Pity Novak can't find another way to help his team outside of perimeter shooting.

[cordobes]

Thanks for responding my question, Who. Very good, thorough and comprehensive post. I like the fact that Dunleavy is allowing his team to run.