Welcome into Clips and Dip. We get a special live for you. I'm
at a Maslim. We got Chuck Mockler and Will Updyke. It's season two,
episode sixty one. Coming up. On today's show, we'll give you
an update on where the Clippers stand in their own version of March Madness.
We'll also talk about the Blazers mini series coming up Wednesday and Friday, both
games in Portland. Let's start things off of this, Chuck, how are
we doing? Uh? I don't know. I'm still pretty upset about everything
that happened. Not everything, the main things we keep seeing over and over
happened again. But it was really nice today. I went for a nice
little walk before we're doing this live, which I think helped me cool down.
But I was fired up last night. I was. I was pissed,
and now I think I'm more just angry Big Will. How are you
feeling about It's Clipper's name just in general, but they may cross over.
I mean, like in general, I'm doing all right. It's been way
too long in the dentist today. It's just becoming a recurring thing, like
this is horrible. I'm not gonna name names, all right, I'm not
gonna name names because I'm sure they're they're lovely people. They just not good.
But when you think when you've an appointment at a given time, it's
usually not an hour later or more than an hour later in my experience.
But yeah, you have to take a number like the d MV like uh
no, you just wait in silence and then you ask multiple times. But
aside from that, I'm doing. I'm doing all right, man. Not
pleased with this team, not happy, not happy that we're doing this.
We can sink our teeth into what occurred last night. He look at this
guy. Oh, by the way, we have another sticker to give out.
Yeah, I don't know if we have a winner yet for our last
sticker that was available, But now we have the clips reds script here for
you in this live as people are starting to join here, I believe.
So, the Clippers just had their worst loss of the season, and I'm
going to say it's definitive, it's inarguable. How can you not think that
was the worst loss when what happened against Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Jordan that occurred
back in November, there were still sixty games left in the season. So
let's be honest about this losing a game which is fifteen games left in that
fashion to that team at home, considering what's at stake in the standings.
It is inexcusable and beyond baffling that the Clippers team can still have letdowns like
this in the two pin to three era when so much is riding on this
season, which we came into this year saying, hey, it almost feels
like a last dance type of situation with this Clippers team. So, Chuck
Will, whoever wants to start things off. I got to talk last night
on Clippers Talk plenty. We weren't able to get Will on, unfortunately,
so he's been stewing for a little bit. Why don't we start with Will
because this tends to be his area of expertise when it comes to bad Clippers'
losses. When Will doesn't want to come on post game because he only wants
to come on for a win when he has to, then that fuse is
really lit. When I'm forced, When I'm forced, look, man,
it's it's it's just it's ridiculous at this point. And I was talking about
this a little bit with you guys the other night. I mean, it's
not the coaching, it's it's like, I just don't know how these guys
can elect to not show up, And I don't know how if this is
the way you're looking right now, you even think you're getting out of a
first round matchup with the Pels because it ain't happening, buddy, I'm just
not seeing it. But aside from that, like, yes, there are
fifteen games, there's still a chance for these guys to turn around the ship
and get it right. But I gotta be honest, like, from what
we've seen, these guys either do not want it, they do not want
this, they do not care enough about this, or they already think that
they're good enough and they've proved enough and they're ready for the postseason. And
truly, after a game like that last night, which is worse, Like
truly, what is worse to you this team like just being so apathetic that
they don't even care to win a championship, or they think it's said and
done, they've done enough, they're good enough, they can beat anybody.
Because they're both so wildly disappointing. And the latter is so wildly delusional that
I would venture to say that that's even worse than if they were to say,
at the end of the year when they get bounced in the first round.
Oh yeah, you know, we just kind of didn't want it that
bad. That's OK. That's well put. It feels like one of those
two options and they're both bad ones. What's the other one? Like,
tell me one other option. I've heard a lot of tired legs talk,
but well, what I will use to push back against that is they were
playing with more of a spark once they were down by twenty nine later in
a game where you think they would be more gassed, but at that point
they actually did chow one second quarter of basketball. They got it to eleven.
It was a fake comeback. I agree with all of that. I'm
just saying, if you're gonna blame tired legs, then how were they able
to muster up later in a ball game where they should be more tired a
little little bit of a push? So I don't buy that either. Chuck,
where are you at? I mean, I kind of struggled to make
the outline for this episode because there's only so many times I feel like I
can read quotes from Tyleru about how the team needs to play harder, Paul
George talking about having more intensity and pride, and Kawhi like saying, oh,
guys are saying it, but it's time to do it, like it's
just the same thing. It's it's the same issues two one to three has
had. Tylu got pretty specific with it when asked by Justin Russo, who
did a great job asking a pretty but I mean a fairly diff one of
the more difficult questions you'll ask Kawhi or Paul George right like some for sure
the most difficult question you can ask. Can we we need to ask Russo?
Can you DM him and ask him if we can show that picture because
it is so great. Terminator was out. Oh Russou is out, dude.
Yeah. For those of you who don't know, Justin Russou, the
Fantastic Clippers writer sometimes has a scenario where he forgets his prescription glasses so he
has to wear his prescription sunglasses, which inside of Staples is very funny.
But he asked them. He asked tyleru if his confidence in the team sealing
waivers and all that, and Tyler got pretty specific. It's like, no,
if you're the low man, be the low man. When the shot
goes up, you have to box out. But this goes to Will's point,
this is simple stuff. There's not like a scheme issue. It's not
like it's too complicated or we're using this new terminology like we're saying basic things
over and over that the team isn't doing, and the roster is constructed how
it's constructed. If people are mad about how the roster is constructed, I
think there's much more immediate things to be upset about. So doesn't it start
with just effort and doing the little things right and just playing hard before we
get to any personnel issues for what might be happening. It's one thing if
they were doing all this or they were doing all the right things and they
just weren't able to get over the hump, then you could maybe zero win
on some flaw in the roster. But they're not even doing the basic fundamental
things of basketball. Like coach lu also said, crack back. If Big
zeus going for a block, then you have to crack back, like bucks,
guys out, what are we talking about. There's fifteen games left and
you look at the stats room last night, right thirty one to eleven and
fast breakpoints forty eight to thirty, points in the paint thirty two to seventeen,
and assists, which is insane, Like that is complete dog shit.
For lack of a better term, I know Norm was out. Someone in
the chat's asking any update on Norm. No real update on Norm. But
losing Norm really shows how little depth this team has for that game. Like
I do think there's a level of professionalism with Norm because of how tough he's
been and how hard that he plays that it is more than just losing one
guy, But no one guy is fixing what's going on with the Clippers right
now. I keep hearing from people, Oh, they're missing Russ's energy.
It's like, guys, they were three and five coming out of the Gramy
road trip with Russ. They gave up the twenty one point come back to
the Lakers with Russ. To act like that would change everything for the Clippers
right now is completely faulty at best in a flimsy argument. It makes zero
sense, Like I think it could help, of course, but it's not
about one guy right now. It's about this team playing terribly at the worst
time of the season. Will where are you at with this take from Adrian
Rivera, which I like, did Coffee playing well? Were they gonna make
an acquisition and Coffee starting playing well? And I'm so sorry, Like I
appreciate the question. I think like this, all this roster stuff is fucking
nonsense. We have four Hall of Famers, figure it out, like,
I'm so sorry, Like we have enough top end talent, we should be
good for the playoffs. But if this is the version of what we're getting,
like, no, it doesn't matter. Add whoever you want, add
to Jontey Murray at whatever ridiculous person that we can't actually get due to the
salary cap things. And I don't think it matters. I just don't think
that it matters. I see wami on here saying tired legs or old legs
regardless, if they're playing harder and bringing more energy later in a ball game,
how can that be the issue? I could see if they never were
able to get going, you could say, Okay, they're just too old.
No, they wanted to play harder and they were able to later in
a game when they should have been gassed. So no, I'm not buying
that. I'm not. I know the schedule's been unforgiving, especially in March.
But if they played with half of the effort and the way they played
in New World against the Pelicans, in a close game against Atlanta, they
probably win by ten or fifteen. They obviously were playing harder in that game
against the Pelicans they were against the Hawks. Yeah, very clearly, they
have a te ball schedule coming up after after two days of rest, they
have a t ball schedule, And if the starters are playing any minutes in
the fourth quarter and that stretch of games, like, I don't know.
I mean, I guess we're a little thin right now, so it might
just be out of necessity, but like if these are come like come from
behind games, I don't know, Like I don't even know what to say.
I had. I used the term in our group chat, the clips
and group chat that I've never used to describe the Clippers before ever will even
when we were doing shavings our first Clippers podcast, I never use it.
They're posers. They're posers right now, That's what it feels like. It's
the fake comeback. Right. A couple of games ago, Paul George made
those threes. I think it was like against the Bucks or something like that.
I was like, great, he went, he is playing better off
totally the offense, but nothing's happening on the other ends. Like the offense
is there, but now the defense is bad. And I don't think the
offense is there. I don't think. I thought last night was miserable offensively.
To me, it was the same process as the game against Reggie Jackson
and Jandre Jordan. Everything was just Kawhi is so early when he had seventeen
points in the first quarter and they still were down by two. And then
once Kawhi wasn't hitting or not in the ball game, they got down big
right away. They hardly ran anything. They were getting into the paint at
all. They had I think two points in the paint total. Are two
shots taken in the paint total in that third quarter, Like everything was just
swinging the ball around the perimeter and Atlanta was daring them to shoot. Their
coverage was good because the Clippers didn't get two on the ball, they didn't
get mismatches. They weren't working for it until very late in the ballgame when
they actually started cutting hard, when they actually started driving hard to the basket,
like they were so laxadaisical early on. It was It was tough to
watch. It felt like a regression to back to where they were early on
with James Harden. Zoo had one field goal attempt, which I know,
Adam, that's to absolutely and h that shit is insane. You're looking for
easy buckets from a team that doesn't get enough of them, doesn't get enough
shots in the paint at the basket. You have Aviatza, Zoo bots.
Cliff Capella was good yesterday, but they made things way too easy on him.
He's still older, Big Zoo should be able to exploit some of those
mismatches. And they didn't even give him the basketball. They played like a
team that's freezing Zoo out right now with coach lu just said before that game
in Chicago, we're gonna get him the basketball more. Since then, I
want to say he maybe has taken less than ten shots in the last three
games total. Is that possible? It's eleven? Oh eleven? Are you
kidding me? They made a concerted effort to get him the ball more,
and he's taken eleven shots the last three games. And you want him to
be the last line of defense all the time and make up for everybody else's
mistakes along the perimeter and you're not going to give that guy opportunities on offense.
I just don't get it. It keeps happening, and I know a
lot of it. Yesterday was just James Harden didn't look right. He started
zero for seven. He looks slow out there till later on in the fourth
quarter, and he's the engine and catalyst to their offense. If you take
away James Harden, which is what I've been saying all season long, is
a little bit worrisome that he may not be the second most important scorer on
the Clippers, but he is probably the second most important player because he gets
them into their offense. He initiates things. So if you stop him,
do you stop the entire machine. And that's what it looked like last night
to some degree, and then it was just Kawhi Iso, give me the
ball, get out of the way. It looked very similar to that Denver
game against Reggie and DeAndre Jordan outside of the pick and roll down the stretch,
where if they beat the Clippers when I think they were down ten heading
into the fourth quarter. But this game last night was miserable on both ends
of the floor, and where like Clippers are a game out of fifth,
Like what is hey, guys, Russ is not changing things, Like one
guy is not changing things, saying they're missing his energy over and over again.
They were three and five the first eight games out of the Garmy road
trip with him. They blew the Lakers game with him. It's not about
one guy right now. So what I like it? You're fine, completely
valid and correct take. I wish it was one guy right Yeah. It's
just so overly simplistic that it kind of bothers me because so much is going
wrong with this team and to just say this is it if they had this
one guy right now, because he goes out there and plays with passion and
he was yeah, he was there. It's it's not that simple. I'm
sorry. So Clippers are a game out of fifth now. This is what's
so frustrating. Kind of what I was talking about kind of looking at the
outline is like, how do you fix this? You just we just have
to hope that guy's care on that night, and then we hope that that
happens again, and then we hope that that just becomes habit. Because like
right now, I think I said this on the last Live or something like
when you're a five hundred team, you play up and you play down,
right, Like, that's kind of how we felt since you know the Grammy
trip, really since that got over with, like will do we we just
have to hope that they do it basically, Yeah, I mean they're just
saying the same thing again and again, like and like Paul George's quote about
like a team without an identity, it's like, what, so what was
you had an identity for a period of time? You won ninth straight,
you had a great road trip. Can't you just go back to that did
you drop that? Did you carry that ID card? Just go pick it
up, go back to the DMV. Get it. They were just they
were just doing a bit. They were just doing a bit when they won
this nine game, right, it was just a bit guys. Honestly though,
even when they were rolling like that in one twenty six of thirty one,
what was their identity? Really damn talented? Like, what was their
identity? Look when Kawhi comes out and is saying after wins, we're getting
by too much on talent and not enough on execution, Well now they need
to get by on execution. And even in a game against Atlanta. When
they have the talent disparity in their favor, it doesn't matter because they're playing
like a team that doesn't seem to care out there, that can go through
the motions and feel like what Will was talking about earlier, that they can,
I guess, just flip a which it was talked about late last night
by Paul George a little bit. We've speculated do they think they're this team
that can just flip a switch and just figure it out when they want to?
Apparently, I don't know. I don't know in any other explanation.
It's so frustrating and so like this is this is I tweeted this out yesterday.
It's like, it's just not you can't project what this team's going to
do in a seven game series. We have no idea what this team will
look. I mean, we have some idea as of five point fifty PM
on March eighteenth. I don't like the idea of what I think we'll see
in a seven game series. But if this team doesn't have home court advantage,
I don't well, I mean, best case scenario, they're only having
home court advantage for the first round anyways, right right, I mean yeah,
I mean it would suck, it would not be It would obviously not
be ideal. But it's kind of like it seems more so we're gonna be
five. It seems more so we're gonna be five. But is four and
five that big of a difference, Yes, I mean home court, well
so for that for this team, because apparently we like need to they don't
look that good at home though, like it doesn't matter, but okay,
I will agree that it maybe in the on the whole, it doesn't matter
totally. But they had one chance to get out of this matchup, which
it's a really bad in the first round and an even worst matchup in the
second round, assuming Denver takes one, which they have the easiest remaining schedule,
feels pretty likely they may. But the okay See Thunder, they do
have the tiebreaker against them right now, and what they're a game up on
them, it's still possible okay See finishes number one, and then the Lakers
bounce them in the first round and you have home against the Lakers for whatever
that means. If you got past the first round yourself, I still think
having home court against the Pelicans could be the difference. They definitely need it
for sure to have any chance, because it would also be even more deflating
just falling all the way down to five. At least if you hold on
to four, you can say we were able to keep them at bay and
keep them a little bit behind us, which means you played somewhat better down
the stretch of the season. With fifteen games left, they need it,
They need four. They need to win maybe the next four games right now,
Hey to go four and one in the stretch that we talked about when
we did the line on Saturday before this all went even more. I asked
this question in our chat before, like are there too many personal individual agendas
going on with the team, Like when when a team doesn't play together the
way they haven't post Grammy road trip, you start to wonder these things,
like there's contracts up in different areas. There's a guy who basically was able
to get minutes by using the media as an outlet for his frustrations. I
don't know if that's a great thing that he was rewarded minutes because of that.
In PJ. Tucker, that could set the wrong example to certain I
don't think it was because of that. I think it's because we were like
severely shorthanded and needed something I hope. I mean, how many minutes did
Tyson Plumbley play last night? How many minutes? How many minutes do those
two guys get? And I'm not saying he's been the problem of why they've
lost the last two. Pj Is actually played decently, especially in that game
against the Pelicans. They combined for like just over thirteen They combined for just
over thirteen and a half minutes to Pj's twenty nearly twenty one. I just
they look like a team last night. I don't believe this because everybody is
seem to like he's each other, maybe too much sometimes, I don't know.
But they played like a team last night that didn't want to play together.
They looked like that. At times. They look incredibly frustrated with each
other. They played like a team that don't that doesn't get along last night.
That's that's what it looked like out there, and that's what the offense
looks like right now. It's like here, just you, why don't you
take it? Just take your turn? Well I don't think that's where it
is. But dime dropper, shout out dime had a take on Twitter that
I that I liked. He said, you guys know, I'm the biggest
Terrence defender on the app. But as he's been saying all season, he
doesn't think that your best point of attack defender on your championship team can be
Terrence, which I think is pretty fair. Kawhi is our true best.
He hasn't guarding the ball as much the last few months. Then the Love
of the Jam the Pod part of our parent corporation said, although Terrence is
all right at point of attack, he's the most physical of the clippers other
guards, but he's not great. Couple that with the fact that the Clippers
don't have any physical athletic wings as low men, and you have a lot
of rollover responsibilities that feel like they fall on Kawhi and PG. And I
think maybe we have that comment about the old or the tired legs, and
I think this goes into maybe trying to save some of that using the soft
switching and all this stuff that's been really frustrating. We got you to take
a load off, We got rid of a bunch of wings to take a
load off. You guys, like I just don't what else do you want
to Yeah, that's what's that's that's the like we just gotta we just kind
of add the yolkic stopper and then you know then PG Kawhi and Harden will
be fine. But and that's like what more do they what more do we
need or what more do they want? Has been like the thesis a little
bit of when things are going poorly for this two and three era, we
tried all the think we got like, I think we've exhausted every every combination
of possible roster moves around around these two guys to get yes overall. And
and not that this one can't work, and not that none of them could
have worked. I mean, obviously I think twenty one, you know,
things could have been a very different story. And this again, I don't
think that the roster is the problem here. I mean I think it contributes
to it some of the personalities perhaps, or as Adam said, some of
the agendas. But they got they gotta figure this, they gotta figure this
out. It's effort. How many times have we heard the word effort over
the last week from this team post game Paul George has said it every time,
kaw I said it last night coach Lu said something to the degree of,
you know, it's a consistent effort where we're not playing hard enough for
forty eight minutes, which I would say is more accurate. They just come
and go with it. That's been the two one three air. I think
flashes of the levels. Yeah, totally. The last live we did was
mostly me and Will Chuck came in for about ten minutes or so. I
talked about my theory on why you know they seem to have these letdowns,
and I think it's because there's a double edged sword to having all these comebacks,
and it is that you think you can flip a switch and turn things
around, and you've gotten too damn comfortable being down in games because well,
it's worked out for them for the most part, but it's a really bad
habit, especially in the regular season. Just choosing when you feel like playing
hard is not championship stuff whatsoever. I'll say this, though, some of
this can be rectified by one thing that has gone against them over the last
eighteen games post Grammy road trip, where they're eight and ten, they are
shooting just thirty five percent from three over this time. That sample is getting
larger. I saw you know in the Chicago game where they shot fifty percent
from three, I said, Okay, here it comes. They're gonna have
a little wave of games now where the Clippers are able to shoot lights out
because they are overdue. But it hasn't happened now the last couple it hasn't
looked like that still waiting. So is that just shooting variants or is it
because they're not running their offense well enough to get as many open shots as
they were earlier in the season. That's it. So I'm thinking I'm thinking
it's more of the ladder than it is just like, oh, now everybody's
shot isn't working. It's the quality of the looks that are being generated.
It's taking so long again to the offense still every single person, if like
if you watch if you watch ten games of the Clippers this year, or
if you just watched the last ten games, if you had not been watching
the Clippers, you can see a very clear issue is when the ball stops
and people just kind of wait, be that for the pick and roll,
or be that to even give it to Kawhi to just clear somebody out.
It's taking too long. The offense is just taking too long, which makes
like and Tyler's talked about it, TYLERU, if you want coaches to be
more like transparent about how teams are playing. Tyler has been wonderful with the
media the last couple of games, which is frustrating because it's because they're playing
so poorly that Tyler feels like he has to call maybe feels like he has
to call these specific issues out right, getting the offense faster, being knowing
you're the low man like these are. That's not a veiled thing. Anyone
who's hearing that quote, if you're on the team, should hopefully feel some
type of way about that, and you know, like that that's what's been
so frustrating, So like, yeah, it's getting into the offense quicker.
It's just it's just giving a shit more. Its god, and it's so
obvious when they take their time, when they don't take a shot within the
first twelve seconds. What he's talking about with pace isn't about being a great
coast to coast team or getting in transition and getting a bunch of fast break
points. It's just playing hard in your half court sets. It's just doing
things harder. It's moving quicker there now I will say this. I'm just
pulling up because I'm wondering about this three point shooting and how fluky it could
be in their last seventeen games. I don't know why it's given me eighteen,
but they are last in wide open threes a defender six plus feet away.
Like that seems a little bit fluky. That's not just them not getting
into their offense like they're missing wide open threes. They're let's see here,
I have thirty three point six percent on wide open threes a defender six plus
feet away. Were they getting Uh, that's pretty I mean, yeah,
that's fairing. Their frequency is sixteen, but that's about what it was all
season long on those shots. It's within the one percent of that. So
I don't know that that should change. It should It doesn't fix everything,
but you know, three point shots starting to fall for a team that relies
on them is meaningful. I want to point out this very funny comment from
Alfredo Rodriguez. Do we think this is the issue. It's nobody taking risks
or fear of getting ejected. Clippers are thirty five and seventeen before Tylu's ejection,
six and eight after. Do we think the Clippers should try and get
ejected more to see if that writes the ship something to think about it for
sure? Have we considered putting someone on Zoo's shoulders? Could Xavier Moon get
on Zoo's shoulders? They could change have six guys out there. I do
think it's worth talking about why the same message and the right message and everything
that coach lew is saying is spot on for what they need to do isn't
being received. Why is it still not happening? Is there a lack of
leadership with the players in the locker room outside of the coaching staff. There's
a lack of accountability for sure, Like somewhere, I just I don't know,
Like I I just don't know how you make the same mistakes again and
again and again, and there's and and you could look in the mirror and
say, yeah, I'm accountable for what I do on court. Yeah,
I don't understand how guys couldn't be more inspired with how hard Kawhi was playing
in the first quarter, and he's got his contract side, Kawhi is set
too, Like Kawhi has his ship locked up and figured out, and he's
the only one on this team who's done something. No disrespect to PJ.
Tucker. No disrespect to PJ. Tucker Edward. Edward has a good point
here. Once starts guarding the other team's best player night at night out,
good things will happen. I hope that happens in the playoffs. It has
to. I don't know. I'll say this for people thinking that what happens
now is going to translate into the playoffs, it's not necessarily the case.
Just going off. Okay, they're playing bad now the playoffs are getting closer.
That means this is how they're going to look in the playoffs. They
did not look good at the end of last season, and then in Game
one they did give full effort for every possession out there against the Phoenix Suns.
They look like a different team. They did flip the switch, so
I don't want to completely discount that possibility since we did see this last year.
The switch can go the other way, which I mean it is a
switch, right, It does theoretically get flipped. They looked more consistently inconsistent
last year, and they still found the switch. Once Game one started and
things tipped off in Phoenix, They'll have some rest come it up we're going
to talk more about the state of the Clippers. We're going to talk about
the clippers opportunity to start good habits up in the Pacific Northwest. If you're
watching this on the stream, thank you for hanging out. Got like three
hundred people in this thing. That's a good time. If you're listening,
thanks for listening. Uh. We're gonna put this out as audio two,
so if that if you are enjoying this on audio. The ads have been
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three two one, All right, welcome back into Clips and Dip. This
is kind of our clips state of the Union. Is that fair to say?
I think that is a perfect way to put it. But we'll also
talk a little bit about the Clippers taking on the Blazers in a in a
little back to back, well not a back to back, but they're just
playing twice head to head. Uh, but yeah, do you think they
can split this series? Sadly? Yeah, I think we can possibly go
five hundred against the Blazers. I've been waiting all day joke. Very sorry,
it was a very long day yesterday. Brogden's still out. Jeremy Grant
has a hamstring issue. DeAndre eight and recently revealed that him sleeping on an
air mattress is why he had a bad start to the season, which is
very funny. Doesn't think he have like a did he get a MAX extension?
Yes, he has enough money for a bed. There's no reason to
ever have an air mattress. You could pay someone to drive a U haul
wherever you go, like just when you leave the house with a bed inside
of it. He didn't know how he didn't have a bed. You know
what I like to think. I think he's I think he was on an
air mattress, but he didn't blow it up. I think that time he
couldn't get out of his driveway so he couldn't come to Yeah, so he
couldn't come to a game. So this is who the Clippers are playing,
mattress. We just want to see some good habits, right, Like,
I don't I don't know what else to say. Locked in play with hard
now we just feel like Doc now, I feel like everything Doc was saying
on the sideline, telling people to play hard was actually what they all they
needed to hear. We have to be us. That's something he would say
a lot. We gotta play our game. What is their game is getting
into their offense and starting things off with James Harden. Period. They either
get back to the high pick and roll running it consistently with he and Aviatza
Zubats which means getting Big Zoo involved like he was when he was getting like
thirteen and eleven over a month, month and a half, when the Clippers
team looked like a force offensively, when they were the best offense in the
league. It starts there. Paul George was playing like Michael Porter junior on
steroids with his hot shooting and catch and shoot stuff. Kawhi Leonard was getting
his buckets. Everybody was touching the basketball. That's it, because right now
I would love to just be able to say, oh, the offense is
great and they can just focus on the defensive end, because there are twenty
six defensively last eighteen games post Gammy road trip. But I think it starts
offensively for them, like that is what gives them a chance to be a
championship team. The defensive personnel. It's true about Terrence Man. But I
still think there's enough there to be a great defense when they want to be.
That will figure itself out eventually if they're playing hard. But I think
they need to see shots fall. Yeah, I hope it falls. I
mean there's so much shit we're fire shots wildly in the air. Have they
considered doing that? I have you talked about the offense, and you're right,
they do need to have the offense to be better. The Blazers are
so bad that this feels like a chance to get right right. Like I
said T ball games, Yeah, like it's it cannot get any easier this
unless you were to get to play the Wizards at home two times or something
like this team to to just jet to just jump off that T ball reference
right now, this team is the kid who hits the t and this is
this team is the kid who hits the tea and not the ball. And
then the coach has to jog out there and be like, hit the ball.
Tyler is the coach in both these scenarios. I I have a not
a high five, but I do have a clip at him if I can
borrow the trademark high five clips for the last night, I put on the
breakdown wasn't too depressing, and he didn't even depressing. I get it.
So here's what we got here. Just the title is, what a what
a piece of ship effort uh by James Harden, Thank you will to make
this full stream. What a bizarre defensive effort from l A. C.
Tonight from literally the opening tip. Quite concerning with the playoffs a month away.
Just watch James Harden here. He's the blurry man and the number one
Jersey. Just watch this. It's like the most o way thing like,
and he funneled him towards this big man. What do you mean? Yeah?
That was perfect. He did his part so many that stuff was happening
though, even when they were playing well, James Harden is going to have
some possessions like that against somebody like Jontay Murray. It's not good, but
you counter it because your offense is so god teer with him that it more
than makes up for a couple of those per game. That's fair. Yeah,
I agree, Yeah, God, it all sucks right now. It's
bad. It's bad. And considering how that game started, what that was
second quarter, like, that's pretty awful because they at least came out to
start the second half much more connected defensively, like they were making an effort,
they were playing harder. It was way too late for that, and
the offense never really truly turned around, so it didn't matter, but they
they should have been giving that effort early on in the second quarter. Yeah,
someone's asking if they can see that play again. No, you cannot.
You're never gonna do that. It's on la clips film Twitter, go
to burn the digital tape. Yeah, I've earned a lot of digital tape
last night. Yeah. I was looking at stats for the Pacers. They're
twenty third in pace, so they don't get a bunch of possessions. So
it's not like they're gonna maybe try and run the Clippers around. Scoot's coming
off the bench. Do you want to hear who their starting lineup was last
game? Yeah, Brogden's out right, Yeah, yeah, uh, Delano,
Banton, Ayton, Anthony Simons, Timani Kamara, Chris Murray Simons.
Can I've a few of those guys. You've seen Anthony Simons do damage against
the Clippers. And this is the thing that sucks. We have to consider
this now, we have to consider these really much more real possibilities that this
will this might happen. Every opponent right now knows how bad the Clippers are
playing as well. Guys like the tape is out, the book is out
on them. They're not playing hard. They're the one of the worst defenses
in the league over the last month or so. Everybody knows, like,
we have a chance to beat this team and get what could look like one
of our best wins of the season against them, considering where they are in
the standings as opposed to us. They're getting up for these games. The
Clippers, they've thrown the red meat out there, go get them. They're
not good. They gave up thirty fast um the waters. They chummed with
the waters. Good. Yeah, that's a good one. Thirty fast.
Almost twenty of the points scored by Atlanta were fast brick points. Yeah,
it's unbelievable. And now if Norm can't play, which again, no real
update on Norm's leg, the bench is incredibly suspect. We haven't talked about
it, but Bones was not good against the Hawks. He's had a couple
down games. Uh. I would like to see him play better. I
know the skeleton key holder would absolutely love to see Bones playing better, but
he's everyone's I would say the way Bones played yesterday as opposed to the Pelican
games, well, the Pelican game, he he didn't look great. He
had some up and down moments. His effort didn't look good either, which
is pretty alarming for a guy getting this opportunity he wastes. It's contagious though,
I mean, how is a guy, how is a guy who is
like in his I mean, he's not in the start of his NBA career,
but he is on this level team and to be this much in the
rotation, Like, if that's the energy that that you're receiving that other people
are putting out like you're supposed to be, You're supposed to be the tone
setter, Like I just think that that's maybe an unrealistic expectation. Well,
yeah, the same way about I feel the same way about coffee. Like,
yes, ideally, of course those guys come in, they can provide
some energy that can kind of turn things around, But it's a lot to
lift up the collective way of everyone, especially when you're in that position and
the guys who don't give a shit are in that position completely. He fell
in line based upon how the stars were playing on the team or some of
the you know veterans, and how little effort they were giving so bones.
You know he's gonna do the same thing. But I will say, with
him and James Harden playing that bad at the point guard position, that's how
you see an offensive performance like that from the Clippers yesterday. Yeah, yeah,
that's that's totally understandable. And his bad game yesterday was completely different than
the game he had against the Pelicans. I would say, yeah, new
ways to have bad games, fun, good, good ship. We're finding
out the Clippers have really been in the lab on this one. Bro.
Let them cook these shitty performances. Uh to bounce back from Yeah, man,
I uh, I want him to put up like one hundred and fifty
five points both nights here. I wouldn't feel it wouldn't get me back into
their good graces, but I would at least go, hey, good stuff.
Yeah. I wanted to be like the Harlem Globetrotters. They can't do
anything like they're in a no win scenario these next two games, because it's
like, you should, you should blow these teams, this team out twice.
Yeah, and if you don't do that, it's just gonna be like,
like, what are we doing here? I think even if they were
playing well, these two game mini series and how they have looked, it
can be difficult even against bad teams, just because you're playing the same team
and it feels like it's a little mini playoff game tape. You know,
we're studying the same habits from one game to the next. That's a unique
situation now in the NBA with these two straight games against the same opponent.
So saying that I think it could have been somewhat difficult if the Clippers were
playing well does not make me feel good about the chances of getting the sweep
and feeling like it's an automatic just because it's Portland. Seeing the same team
two games in a row is not that easy. Yeah, Simon's goes Off
is one of those games and he can sync them with the way they're playing.
Yeah, but if you I mean god, I feel like we generally
talk about how much short of the runway is getting all the time, and
it is weirdly they need a hairyer jet. There's not enough runway for weird
TV about the most dangerous airports, and we're at number four right now.
We're every game that gets closer that we creep up to that weird there's like
an airport somewhe where like you land like on the opposite slope, which is
like feels like where the clippers are at. It's that part in the film
at Pearl Harbor where they're practicing taking off shorter and shorter. Ye oh my
god. Rock asks if mussa so bad he can't even get a try in
year two? Yes, right, I don't know that changes nothing. Yeah,
I just I think it might be a little late. Yeah, I
don't know if it's he's so bad, But they do have regardless of how
well you think they're playing right now, they do have veteran bigs in a
rotation that should be getting minutes over him. It's been weird the tice plumbing
minutes. That has been a question mark too. That's something we have we
talked about a little bit last time we were we did a pod together.
But like, the backup center situation is so weird. The small Ball five
lineups suck, and now our backup center situation is like it's just kind of
a crap shoot, which does not feel good. I mean, like it
I guess that stuff I feel like you still like the versatility for you know,
theoretically the versatility of some of those matchups. So I can get I
can kind of get with or understand that stuff not being set in stone.
It's just really tough because both Plumley and Tye have had some stretches where they
have really not they have not lived up to the moment. Can I play
some audio also from something on Twitter that I posted. I want you guys
to react to it. From something Coach Lou said last time? Yeah,
song? Can I can we hard pivot real quick? I foind a great
I find a bop I want to play. It's not I'm so happy.
It's definitely not that. Uh. This I pulled from Coach Lou. This
was last night and I thought it was the most interesting thing he said.
It's a thirty second clip. And I want you guys to play a Coach
Lou interpreter here. When you have so much talent and you have guys that
can do it so easily, they don't understand that your talent is great,
but you need the talent's gotta be for the team as well, And so
those are important, Like just because you work out hard individually and you do
things hard individually, like you gotta do it for the team, and so
we do it and it's just inconsistent. So maybe I gotta do something a
little different, you know, maybe it's me, you know, maybe I
gotta do something a little different to make sure that we're doing what we're supposed
to do. So on the front end of that, George As I didn't
hear any of the audio, but he's talking about individual play versus team play,
sacrificing for the betterment of the team, Like you can do all the
individual workout stuff you want. Are there too many guys like that on this
team that you know are isolated? And that has led to it's almost like,
I don't know, some tacit locker room issue, Like it's not outwardly
obvious. They like each other, but they're not connected. It just didn't
look like that, Like I just don't understand, Like I mean, I
guess losing just sucks and not playing well sucks, and I think that that,
like I think that that can have a locker room, you know,
go to shambles. It just hasn't looked like this all year, you know
what I mean. I think that's what's so troubling about this stint is it's
kind of like, well, what the hell happened? Because, I mean,
you clearly had something figured out. Sure there was some easier marks in
the schedule. Sure it wasn't as compressed as the month of March is,
but still, like you, I mean, just on court and like personnel
wise, it seem like you had this kind of stuff worked out. What
about the back end of that? Chuck Cary says, maybe I have to
do something different. Basically, what do you think that would entail? I
don't know if it would. I don't think it can come to this.
But in my demented mind, at six twenty pm the day after, the
Clippers were down thirty points to the Hawks without Trey Young, some fucking starting
lineup change or something crazy, like, I don't know what's gonna get it
through these the the one guy I'm talking about is Paul George, Like,
what do we what's gonna get through these guys? To be like, you
need to start playing, You need to do what the fuck you're supposed to
do, Like and you're not doing it, and you're yeah, and your
your other guy has everything's locked up contract wise, like you should maybe want
to play a little more locked in all this, Like I don't know,
I don't think it will happen. I'm not saying that or you know,
Salli, we've heard anything anything like that. But what else can it be?
What's like to me, it sounds like he's been beating his head against
he feels like he's been beating his head against the wall, and he's not
really sure what more or what else to do? You start? He sucks,
start up. Put PJ in there instead of Paul George just to send
a message, just lose a game to the fucking Blazers, just to be
like, is this what y'all want? Because this is where we're at.
I don't know. I hate that I had to say that. But what
do you like? What do you think it means? I don't like.
It's like there's not much it can mean, because it's like maybe I need
to do something different, Like it definitely seems like a bit of a shake
up or tougher practices again, like we are you gonna go back to gassers
like in the training camp until you guys get the message, like some people
have said, you know, coach lose to buddy buddy with this team.
He's too nice, he's too much of a player's coach. I don't know
if that's true or not, but he is more calm and measured and even
said postgame, I don't overreact to s Basically he had to cut himself off
from swearing. Yeah, I don't overreact to shit, and he hasn't,
And there's a benefits to that. Are we seeing a downside right now where
they maybe do need someone to light more of a fire underneath them, and
that's what he's talking about there. Maybe he needs to be more stern with
his approach, more hockey lineup shifts, five guys at the time, get
everyone off the damn court. It's not like we haven't seen guys get pulled
early before when they're down big and starters just to get completely against Atlanta in
the something was born out of this night game. When they were down twenty
two, that's what happened. They pulled all the starters. He eventually put
him back in late and they can help get him the victory. But man,
I wouldn't be shocked if they got off to a slow start in the
first quarter against the Trail Blazers. Yeah, you see some wholesale changes.
So who will who's your Kawhi Leonard player at the game? Pick for this
this Pacific Northwest mini series. I'm gonna go bounce back for Terrence turn out,
Okay, Adam, I'm gonna go with the Visa Zubots. Get him
the damn ball, get him opportunities on offense, because if you are getting
him the ball, that likely means you're running pick and roll with him and
James Harden and that's when the Clippers were at their best. All right,
Zoo, I'm going it has it has to be James Harden. I know
he's been playing a lot, but let's see, let's see the great assistant
turnover ratio. Let's see some pick and rolls initiated sooner, maybe guide that
you're guiding to the big man a little more committedly like that clip we watched
a little bit ago. Yeah, and then just I hope, I hope
Norm's okay. Also, we're not going to talk about too much before we
get our news on it, but uh, coming up, we're gonna do
one more ad break and then we're just talking the sticker giveaway if you missed
it, and the march Madness Update. The ads have been a little bit
loud for some people if you're listening, which we thank you for listening,
and we thank everyone for watching. Go ahead and turn it down. We
got ads and then a quick March Madness overview in three two one, welcome
back in it's clips and dip. I'm Adam Oslin. It's season two episode
sixty one. Here after the Clippers suffer their worst defeat of the season and
really have put us in a bit of a tailspin. Sky is falling like
podcast mode for you. We're listened as a podcast form. This was a
YouTube live Chicken Little is everywhere at the moment. Yeah tailspid oh tailspid uh
So a March update not great after a nice start, I really thought I
need to change my prediction. I'm like eleven and sixty, dumbass, You're
gonna look like a fool at them. And now are they gonna win eleven
games in March? They're five and five? Currently they are five hundred.
Granted the schedule eases up, are they gonna actually take advantage of it?
Though it eased up last night and they didn't, So Chuck, how are
you feeling about the IDEs of march as we are in the middle of it
now. I don't like being right about this stuff, but it feels like
I was not that it was a galaxy brain take to say that seventeen games
in a month is hard, but they gotta do what. They gotta go
five and two to get to ten and seven, which is what I said.
I I said I wanted ten and seven in good process. We are
miles away from that right now. Will do you still think they can win
their next four to win the four out of the five that we talked about
last time? I mean I think they can. Will they will they that
I'm not so sure about. Yeah, I hope they stay. I just
hope they stay the four seed. I guess I would, just my expectations
have been beaten down into let's just stay the four seed. After this book,
there's no reason to think that what happened last night is finally the breaking
point and they're going to turn things around, because we've said that a few
different times with this team needing to have that wake up call. Yeah,
yeah, but I do think there were a time to be born, for
something to have been born. It's crying on the floor in its own afterbirth
right now. I just would love if they had or they use this as
an opportunity to give that one last kick in the ass, to have a
sense of urgency and play with some desperation right before the playoffs start. With
fifteen games left, it would sure be nice if they came out and just
slaughtered Portland in both games. Yeah, three hundred points over these next two
games. Spread it on. It's possible. It's we've seen this team at
their best of this season and what they can do. It is a focus
thing, it is, and because of the situation now where you're just one
game up on the Pelicans and that light of fire finally, is that what
it is going to take for this team to care for forty eight minutes?
I don't know. As doctor Epdyke said, it's been born, there is
something there. Is it going to end up at you know? The fire
stationer is gonna end up back home? We don't know, but it's an
issue now. No one in the chat seems confident they're going to go ten
and seven. What happened to the guy that said like fifteen and two?
What happened to that guy? Hey, the undefeated in March crowd had a
Goodrey five and five. So I don't think we gotta pull receipts on that
guy. Yeah, yeah, we do. Adams gonna show up at that
guy's job. Do I need to get back to pulling receipts in how about
this? You know what happened the last time one of the times we had
a guest on this show, and then the Clippers went, all right,
we need to get Rod back in here. We get in here the fucking
game before the playoffs starts. Good luck rest of the league, let us
know in them. That's twelve doub Have we spared the rod and spoiled the
child? Is that what this is? We might have? All right?
Uh? Adam? Can you can you break down the sticker giveaway again?
Some people might have just hopped in. We're given away a sticker that will
this will make everything better? I mean it is Clippers, right, Yeah,
this is gonna be given away in the comment section. Best comment on
this episode of Clips and Dip will win. This sticker that right now is
in reverse, but that's how things work on the camera and it's a nice
one. Clips in red so a sign of things to come with those jerseys
coming back when they're run into it Dome. Kind of a big deal for
Clipernation. I yeah, find us on Twitter at us and we'll get you
the sticker. Maybe we'll see you in a game. I tweeted last night
that they should stop construction on into it, which some people had strong thoughts
about. But that's how poorly the Clippers were playing. I think it was
a fair take at the time. Yeah, we're gonna have some double tear
it down. We're gonna double dips after the Blazers game, which is always
a fun time. Not always a fun time, that's a lie. Hopefully
it's a fun time. It's not a fun time when they lose. I
hope Will has to go on both and talk about how scoring two hundred points
an NBA game isn't something to sneeze at these days. How about a percentage
chance on them getting the Portland sweep? Do you want a percentage chance?
Yeah? I want a percentage chance that they win both of these games as
of March eighteen, six, twenty nine pm. Always time Stamper takes people
or else, I will definitely find them seventy seventy four percent. Wow,
you're way more optimistic than me. I was gonna say sixty percent where you
are? I mean, I'm gonna say eighty percent, but it still feels
slow. I feel like, oh, that's very low. Yeah, it
should be. We should be at ninety eight. Sad state, sad state.
We're gonna have double dips after those. Hopefully it's more fun episode on
Saturday or something like that. The week's moving weird. Thank and everyone who
watched and listen will Where can people listen to this if they want to re
visit it? You know audio form? You can check this podcast out audio
version wherever you get your podcasts. If you listen over on Spotify or Apple
podcasts. If you leave us a little rating or review, really help us
out. We'd appreciate it. You can also catch us over on YouTube.
That's YouTube dot com slash at Clippers podcast. We'll be around. It will
be around. Adam, can we get one? Do you have something in
you? You know you don't have a if you're new to the show.
Usually Adam says the positive thing at the end, but that's been the hardest
job lately. What do you got, Adam? I'll say this for a
team that's having an identity crisis with fifteen games remaining. The One thing you
can fall back on is things look pretty damn dire when they lost six games
in a row and the offense looked completely broken with James Harden, and they
pulled out of that, and they won twenty six of their next thirty one
games and looked unbeatable. They can still find a way out of this too.
There we go, that's the positivity we needed. We thank you everyone
for hanging out and watching on the stream. We thank it everyone who's gonna
listen to this, and we will be back with some mini Podstrea after those
Blazers games, and as always, let's go Clips.