Talkin Ball panel says the Clippers are simply just the better overall team.

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The blazers are still establishing a flow. Last night against a very good team you could see this breakdown in overall team rhythm. But bigger than that the blazers simply missed a lot of wide open shots.
 
Paul is still better than Dame and it starts there. The had similar offensive nights but Paul guards Dame while the Blazers tried to hide Dame on someone else for most of the night. CP3 is one of the top offensive and defensive PG's in the league. Dame is one of the better offensive PG's in the league and both sides of the ball matter.

Until Vonleh or someone else can play real PF position, Griffin is going to dominate whomever the Blazers put on him. He is simply too big and too strong. Aminu didn't do a horrible job on him but then it takes away from his offense on the other end as he is expending so much energy on the defensive end.

The rest someone cancel each other out. Jordan is better defensively and on the glass while Plumlee is better offensively. CJ gets more production than Reddick but with much higher usage so it's tough to equally compare. Harkless had a good night and dominated Mbah A Moute who the Clips ask nothing from and ignore Harkless (and Aminu) most of the time because they pay so much attention to Dame/CJ so he should score more as he gets lots of open looks.

As for the injury thing, The Clips were up 2-0, then Paul gets hurt towards the end of Game 3 and Griffin goes down in Game 4. When both teams were fully healthy, the Clippers where undefeated. I love the Blazers but you take the best 2 players off of any team and you BETTER beat them. The Blazers barely won some of those games even after both of them were out. So in the last 3 games the teams have played against each other with a full roster, the Clips are up 3-0. Yes, sadly I think they are the better team.
 
I think the greater experience of the Clippers really showed last night in crunch time. The Blazers, IMO, were too amped last night from the jump. I think that they have heard more than enough talk about how they caught a lucky break to advance over the Clips last year and really wanted to prove that it wasn't a fluke. I thought that guys were not playing in the flow of the offense for much of the game. CJ, Turner, and Crabbe all were guilty of pushing up some shots where they were off-balance or contested instead of moving the ball to get a better shot. Dame forced some of his drives and paid the price by getting blocked or called for charging. The Blazers let the refs get in their heads. I can't remember a time when Dame has lost his cool like he did last night. That isn't going to win against a team like the Clippers. Are the Clippers better than the Blazers? Right now, I'd say yes, but the margin isn't very great. The Blazers can beat them, but they're going to have to play smarter than they did last night.
 
TBpup said:
As for the injury thing, The Clips were up 2-0, then Paul gets hurt towards the end of Game 3 and Griffin goes down in Game 4. When both teams were fully healthy, the Clippers where undefeated. I love the Blazers but you take the best 2 players off of any team and you BETTER beat them. The Blazers barely won some of those games even after both of them were out. So in the last 3 games the teams have played against each other with a full roster, the Clips are up 3-0. Yes, sadly I think they are the better team.
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You're rewriting history to suit your argument.

The Clipps were at full strength in Game 3. CP3 and Blake played the whole game and we beat them by 8.

In Game 4, we led the entire game, wire to wire and won by 14 points. The only tie was 0-0 and there were no lead changes. We controlled that game before CP got injured and left the game with 6:07 left in the 3rd quarter and continued to build on that lead until Blake left with 5:49 left in the 4th. Again note: we never trailed in that game. We would have tied the series at 2-2 regardless of the injuries.

You can argue that we would have lost the series going back to LA tied 2-2, but that's pure speculation. After losing the first two games by 20 points, momentum had shifted and Stotts had figured out how to beat the Clippers - at 100%. So, you can make whatever claims you want about what would have happened for the rest of the series, but it would be pure conjecture on your part. I can also make whatever claims I want about us beating a healthy Clippers team in Games 5 and 6, just like we did in Game 3 and for most of Game 4, but again, it would be conjecture on my part. What I can state with certainty is that the Clipper would not have beaten us in 5 games.

BNM
 
Fez Hammersticks said:
We're a (legit) 3rd scorer/alpha dog away.
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Yup. We just don't have a legitimate 3rd option big piece right now unfortunately.

I agree with you there. But what we do have is a big two and solid depth
 
Blazer4ever said:
Yes but you're not just asking him to gel with the team, you want him to play not his strongest position to fit with the depth chart and then you're disappointed in him.
If we play him as a 2nd guard he wouldn't be as good and the team wouldn't be as good than if he played SF.
We need to find a better solution to maximize our potential.
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What is it about him that makes you say he can't be the 2 guard? He's not a great shooter and needs to play with another wing who can shoot but I think he's got the tougher skill to find in that he can be the secondary ball handler and creator. And he's quick enough and has size to guard to guard 2s. I'd think finding a 3 and D wing (or maybe Crabbe is that guy) is more important and easier that finding a legit off guard. I'd think that Vonleh or Davis' development is the most important factor for you. Probably Vonleh becuase, from what I've seen, he's got more potential to be a guy who can create his own shot, not just score on offensive rebounds.
 
Nikolokolus said:
If Vonleh can really grow up in a hurry he might be that guy. He's shown remarkable growth from last year, but what I'm talking about is not his move from "Barely Worthy to Competency" but "Competency to Really, really good"
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Vonleh's got a long way to go. He had a good first game, but was pretty much lost in space last night. 1 for 3 shooting, no rebounds, no assists, 3 fouls, and a plus/minus of -12.
 
Boob-No-More said:
You're rewriting history to suit your argument.

The Clipps were at full strength in Game 3. CP3 and Blake played the whole game and we beat them by 8.

In Game 4, we led the entire game, wire to wire and won by 14 points. The only tie was 0-0 and there were no lead changes. We controlled that game before CP got injured and left the game with 6:07 left in the 3rd quarter and continued to build on that lead until Blake left with 5:49 left in the 4th. Again note: we never trailed in that game. We would have tied the series at 2-2 regardless of the injuries.

You can argue that we would have lost the series going back to LA tied 2-2, but that's pure speculation. After losing the first two games by 20 points, momentum had shifted and Stotts had figured out how to beat the Clippers - at 100%. So, you can make whatever claims you want about what would have happened for the rest of the series, but it would be pure conjecture on your part. I can also make whatever claims I want about us beating a healthy Clippers team in Games 5 and 6, just like we did in Game 3 and for most of Game 4, but again, it would be conjecture on my part. What I can state with certainty is that the Clipper would not have beaten us in 5 games.

BNM
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Not re-writing history....just got the games injured incorrect. However, it is just as much speculation and conjecture to say we would have beat them if they were completely healthy. So that would adjust the 'completely healthy' record to 3-1 in favor of the Clippers since last year's playoffs. I love the Blazers as much as anyone but it seems too many people think somehow that winning 1 game at home after getting blown out twice on the road had us having momentum. It would be just as easy to say that the Clippers let down thinking it would be an easy series. Not taking anything away from the Game 3 win but it's difficult to gauge much accomplishment when 2 All-NBA players are missing from the other team for a good portion of the series. Remember how close Portland came to losing Game 6 at home without both of them and then they would have had to win a Game 7 in LA to move on.
 
TBpup said:
Not re-writing history....just got the games injured incorrect. However, it is just as much speculation and conjecture to say we would have beat them if they were completely healthy.
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Which is exactly what I said.

TBpup said:
So that would adjust the 'completely healthy' record to 3-1 in favor of the Clippers since last year's playoffs. I love the Blazers as much as anyone but it seems too many people think somehow that winning 1 game at home after getting blown out twice on the road had us having momentum. It would be just as easy to say that the Clippers let down thinking it would be an easy series. Not taking anything away from the Game 3 win but it's difficult to gauge much accomplishment when 2 All-NBA players are missing from the other team for a good portion of the series.
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No, but you are taking something away from the Game 4 win. In fact you are completely discounting it, like it didn't happen. As I stated, we never trailed in that game. We led and were in control when LAC had their 2 All-NBA players and ended up winning by 14. Yet, you overlook that game completely when you say we are 1-3 against them in the last 4 games when they were healthy. By my count, we are 2-2. You can blame the Game 5 and 6 wins on their injuries, but if you do so, you should also give us credit for the Game 4 win.

Regarding momentum. After losing Games 1 and 2 by 20, we won Game 3 by 8 and never trailed in Game 4, winning by 14. If that's not a shift in momentum, I don't know what is.

And as much as we all hate injuries, they are part of the game and part of that roster. Their core players are getting older and both CP3 and Blake have a history of injuries. Unlike Pop, Doc rides his stars hard in the regular season, to secure the highest seed possible, and then they end up falling short in the playoffs. Everyone talks about how lucky were were last season with respect to injuries, and an injury can happen to any player at any time, but in general, older players get injured more and take longer to recuperate than younger players. We had the youngest team to make the playoffs last year and I think that had as much to do with our "luck" as anything.

BNM
 
riverman said:
Half our shooters couldn't make a bucket....if they did, we would've won this game. We have the talent to beat them but Dame and Mo can't win alone.
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Well at least your not blaming the refs. There was some bad calls but that didn't blow the game.
 
BigGameDamian said:
Well at least your not blaming the refs. There was some bad calls but that didn't blow the game.
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I think people severely underestimate the impact of refs bad calls. It gets into your head. It makes you question your game your playing for fear of being called on a BS call again.

There is a point where one bad call might only equate to 2 points plus or minus, but the overall mental impact can cost double digit points.

No, players should not let bad calls get into their head, but we are all human, and you can only hear that whistle so many times before your play becomes hesitant instead of steadfast.
The refs 100% had an impact on the game in the 4th quarter.
 
Not just the fourth quarter. Aminu had to take a seat with three fouls early in the game. Two of those fouls were complete bullshit. I don't recall the third. On one, Griffin grabbed Aminu then jerked his arm through and flailed. It was a foul on Griffin, but the ref (who couldn't actually see what had happened) called a foul on Aminu. The other was the Chris Paul push off that sent Aminu to the floor. Again, foul on Paul, that went against Aminu. Horrible, horrible call. It never helps when one of your starters has to sit for early foul trouble.
 
BBert said:
Not just the fourth quarter. Aminu had to take a seat with three fouls early in the game. Two of those fouls were complete bullshit. I don't recall the third. On one, Griffin grabbed Aminu then jerked his arm through and flailed. It was a foul on Griffin, but the ref (who couldn't actually see what had happened) called a foul on Aminu. The other was the Chris Paul push off that sent Aminu to the floor. Again, foul on Paul, that went against Aminu. Horrible, horrible call. It never helps when one of your starters has to sit for early foul trouble.
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Your right and I don't disagree, its just that things that happen in the first half I think can be overcome, but the 4th quarter is do or die and when the refs are still making bad calls, you have no time left to make up for it.
The whole game start to finish was extremely poor officiating, but the icing on the cake was the Plumlee Griffin issue and I think we got derailed from there and the head games began.
 
HCP said:
If we are going to win SIXTY games like you say, how many will the Clips win, just curious.
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When Blake Griffin finds someone to punch out again they'll come back down in the standings again....are they a playoff team? Sure....We're only winning 54 games....don't know where you get that outrageous homerish 60 from
 
We needed to get into the Clips heads...instead, they got into ours...
 
Can we please trade Daddy Warbucks from the talking ball crew for someone who doesn't talk like he just smelled a fart all the time?
 
Are the Blazers even good enough for these two teams to be even considered legit rivals.
 
Wow. I'm speechless. I just turned on the game; didn't know what the score was.

What the holy hell happened here? 50-93? Are you kidding me?

Stotts needs to answer for this.

And oh yeah: CLIPPERS BETTER TEAM. And if you doubt that, you are out of touch with reality.
 
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