Got your fall. It's time to react to LA Clippers basketball. This is
Clippers Talk all the chat, reaction and analysis hosted by Adam Assley. You
know he's feeling good. Take the show with you anywhere you are and Golipper
Nation Baby, get the podcast. I'm the iHeart Radio while and now your
host. He makes everything happen, Adam Mossley. No, nothing quite runs
like a deer, although a Buck's pretty close. And they would go on
to win and run away with this one in the last four minutes where the
Clippers go scoreless. The Milwaukee Bucks win one zero five to one hundred over
your Los Angeles Clippers. Eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty. Eight
seven seven five two zero eleven fifty is the phone number coming up here on
the show, you'll hear from the head coach to Ron Loop post game Robert
Flam big shot Bob Flam Clippers analyst will be joining me as well. But
this was a game where the Clippers were up one hundred to ninety six with
four minutes left, four h one to be exact, and they played a
great fourth quarter. They played a great second half, all of well twenty
minutes of it. Was great. They were down by five at the half,
and they came out and they started to hit some three pointers. They
started off in the first half six of twenty one, and the Clippers were
down eleven early on the third quarter, but Serge Ibaka, after letting Jannissen
and Koupo get by him for an easy dunk, it seemed to wake up
search and he went had a surge of a scoring spree on his own.
He had twelve points in that third quarter, hit a couple of three pointers.
I think the Clippers were five of nine in the third from distance after
going six of twenty one in the first half, and they had a four
point lead headed into the fourth quarter. And there were some really good signs
early in the fourth because Marcus Morris, who in his past couple of games
was just four of seventeen from three, he started to get hot. He
would hit all three of his threes in this game. In the fourth quarter,
was just three of eight from downtown, but all three came at the
right time, and the Clippers at one point had a seven point lead.
But that guy Jannis Adeni Kompo, the Greek freak with his go go gadget
arms He's just a beast and the block he had on a Visa Zoo Bots,
who credit him for trying to throw it down with two hands, but
the reigning defensive Player of the Year, Jannic Sadena Kopo was able to get
the block on him. I felt like that was a momentum shift a little
bit. But the Clippers were still fine because as soon as they needed a
big bucket in the Milwaukee Bucks were starting to creep back into it. When
they were down by as many as seven in the fourth quarter, they just
went to Kawhi Leonard and he hit his first two when he re entered the
game in the fourth problem was he would hit their last shot. Their last
name is shot points in this ball game at the four oh one mark.
Clippers didn't score afterwards, that was it and the Milwaukee Bucks would end up
winning this game on a nine oh run in the last four minutes, where
the Clippers simply could not execute their offense. Here are some of the shots
and some of the possessions from the last four minutes. Paul George missed a
step back three, Paul George missed another three, Beverly a turnover, Kawhi
gets his shot blocked by I think it was Chris Middleton and then missed a
fadeaway. Paul George would miss a layup, Kawhi missed a step back three,
a tough shot, PG missed a three and down three at the end
when they still had a shot to tie the game with it was one three
to one hundred at the thirty five second mark, or no, it was
one oh one to one hundred at the thirty five second mark. Paul George
would take a tough three point or miss that, and then it was Kawhi
Leonard missing a twenty eight footer. Had one oh three to one hundred,
was seven seconds left, they would foul intentionally foul Milwaukee at Chris Middleton knocked
down both free throws. They go on to win one oh five to one
hundred. It was a brutal collapse down the stretch in the fourth quarter of
the likes we haven't seen this season from the Clippers, where they have been
okay closing out games. They closed out the Utah Jazz and one of their
best wins of the season, when Utah had won twenty of their last twenty
one games. Just about a week ago. They closed out the Denver Nuggets
on the road on Christmas. They closed out Phoenix on the road a few
games later with Nicholas Batoum hit in the Big Corner three and Nick Batoum.
If you haven't seen their In Pursuit episode three, he was the one featured
and it's fantastic. Check that out on YouTube or just find the Clippers social
media channel on YouTube and on Twitter. But the Clippers did not generate enough
good looks. It was too much hero ball down the stretch. And while
sometimes in playoff games and in tight games even in the regular season, the
NBA can resort to that and you stop running your offense, but with four
minutes left, there's no excuse for the ball movement to just completely go out
the door. The Clippers have to be better than this. It can't just
be Paul George and Kawhi Leonard taking tough shot after tough shot and taking turns
taking tough shots because nobody else even got a shot up in the last four
minutes with Batoumb out there with Pat Beverly, two guys who were leafal from
distance, and meanwhile Janniss and a Koumpo had seventeen of his thirty six points
in that fourth quarter, and I thought, with the way the Clippers were
playing, this would be one of their best wins of the season, best
wins since the Utah Jazz victory, definitely, because the Bucks have now won
five in a row, but they had won four in a row coming into
this one, and they've been kind of uneven so far on the year,
where they've been up and down a little bit. We talked about this with
Noah Eagle in the pregame, but coach Bud, I think has been experimenting
more tweaking things defensively. They've slipped on that end their tenth and defense,
but they are number one in offense. So to hold them to one oh
five, you would think that would end up with the Clippers victory, but
not when you go that cold, ice cold in the last four minutes and
they just weren't getting good looks. And for a team that just had thirty
four assists Friday night, most they have had all season to finish with twenty
assists against the Milwaukee Bucks, that's not good enough. And once again,
they don't get to the free throw line enough, just seven attempts at the
line, and it was all Kawhi Leonard or sweet Lew Williams. I thought
sweet Low was also very good in this game. He had fourteen points,
had seven points in the last two minutes of the third quarter to help give
them a boost after Sir Jebaka did major damage in that third and that's also
a plus. This may have been his best game as a Clipper so far
with fifteen and eleven, three three pointers, but timely shots when they needed
them in the third quarter. But the Clippers were playing small down the stretch
and Jannis Dena Kompo was getting whatever he wanted. Even though at first I
thought a beats the Zoobots early in the fourth quarter, he stopped Yannis on
three straight possessions at one point, I believe it was he was a big
body that was having success against Yannis and Dena Koopo. It's hard. He's
as two time Ragining MVP in the regular seas in the reigning defensive Player of
the Year, and he showed that with multiple blocks in that fourth quarter.
He had one on Paul George as well. That was special as he is.
But the Clippers did enough, I thought defensively, but their offense is
what failed them, and they're the third best offense in the league. But
what did Paul George say after their victory Friday night? He was asked,
when is this Clippers team at their best? And he said, when they're
passing the basketball, when they're sharing the basketball, when they're spreading the sugar,
as Noah Eagle would say. And they went away from that in the
last four minutes. And to go scoreless like that on the road, they're
almost lucky to only lose by five. But this is a bitter pill to
swallow. This is a really tough loss. I know, Clipper Nation,
you guys are not happy with how this game finished because it was a playoff
like atmosphere. Early in that fourth quarter, great high level, elite basketball
was being played, great defense, great offense beating great defense, guys making
tough shots back and forth. And then the Clippers simply forgot who they were
in the last four minutes. And this is something. And this is the
midway point of the season. This was game thirty six the Clippers or twenty
four and twelve. And I do want to know what's your mid season grade.
We did it a quarter of the way in. What is your mid
season grade for this Clippers team. I'll give mine out a little bit later
in the show, but eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty eight seven
seven five two zero eleven fifty is the phone number. Clippers have to be
better though later in games. On the fourth quarter. In general, they've
been really good. They are one of the top teams on the third quarter,
and that's when they made their move. They outscored Milwaukee by nine in
that four or in that third to be up four going into the fourth,
but then they were outscored by nine points in the fourth quarter. Clippers just
put up nineteen points on the fourth, but for things to fall off the
way they did. I was work in the UCLA Bruins game last night and
they were in Colorado, and they had a lead at fifty seven to fifty
five, and in the last seven minutes they scored one point. This felt
a little bit similar to that. But you don't expect that from a veteran
laden team like this with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and for your two
superstars to not be able to get anything to fall late when they needed them
to, it's unexpected. It's out of character. I'm sure the Clippers will
be better than this moving forward. They have to be, but it needs
to start Tuesday in a tough game in Boston against the Celtics. Let's go
to Nick in Arcadia. Nicks start things off for us here on Clippers Talk
after they lose one oh five to one hundred in Milwaukee. High Nick,
Greetings, Adam h. Milwaukee Bucks. Best victory of the year possibly Anyway,
Listen, I got two things. I think we need a point guard,
you know, I feel like we lack a little direction. Hey,
I love Patrick Severley. Hey, I really love Terrence Man. It's back.
I love Terrence Man more than I liked SGA a couple of years ago.
But I think we lacked a little direction down the stret Nick, let
me ask you this, though, let me ask you this to that point,
I'll let you continue. But who's a point guard that they could get
realistically, that would be on the floor, that would be on the floor
late in a game like this? Who would that be? You're You're absolutely
absolutely right, and we would have to give up pieces that I may not
be willing to give up, although there may be some available dudes. But
I agree with you're right. I mean, I don't know, Hey,
if I had my druthers, how about how about Drew Holiday? How about
how about something? You know, I don't think they're trading Drew Holiday.
They just traded a couple of first round picks for him. People bring up
Kyle Lowry, but he makes thirty millions. It's it's unrealistic. Yeah,
that's true. Hey, listen, I have another problem though. I remember
when Karl Malone used to take ten seconds at the free throw line, more
than ten seconds all the time. You know, I saw Montrese Harold Dude
the other night and tonight when the Clippers were up one hundred to ninety nine,
Lawler's law got busted. Tonight, Gianni Giannese gets the ball, he
takes more than ten seconds both free throws. Well, is that still a
rule in the NBA at him? I believe it is, but they so
rarely call it. It's just one of those things, Nick, where they're
not gonna make a critical call like that late in the game. And I
do remember Karl Malone doing that all the time. In fact, one time,
White Chocolate Jason Williams patted him on the butt during it, which was
hilarious. When he was with the Sacramento Kings, and I think Carl missed
the next one. Actually, he was a really good free throw shooter,
psych out stuff like the Jesus and the Big Lebowski. Clippers, though,
did not have a savior late. They lose one oh five to one hundred
in Milwaukee to the Bucks. In the honest Denna Coompo, who was out
of his mind. He had thirty six seventeen though of those points came in
the fourth quarter. We'll take a quick break, We'll come back. We'll
hear from the head coach tylu after the Clippers take one of the toughest losses
of the season. It's not like there's any shame in losing to the Milwaukee
Bucks. There's not. It's how you lost. It's not being able to
execute it all down the stretch. And I know what reminds some people of
what happened in that seven game series against the Denver Nuggets. And we're looking
for them to make the adjustments when they need to. But I thought they
got too much into one on one battles down the stretch where it was just
chawhir Pg taking really difficult shots. Not that they can't make them, but
when they run their offense when they're passing the ball, when there's more players
who are involved and more threats out there. That's when this Clippers team is
at their best, and they weren't obviously the last four minutes tonight. More
Clipper stock coming up next right here on the Patriot Am eleven fifty. This
is the official home of your La Clippers, spas and suppots, debates on
the rim, and the home of the Clippers. Clippers lose late, they
go scoreless in the last four minutes in Milwaukee when they had a four point
lead, and they would go on to lose one zero five to one hundred
to Jannasadena Koumpo and the Milwaukee Bucks. Welcome back into your Clippers postgame show.
I'm Adam Oslin. There were so many good signs in this one,
with the Clippers making adjustments coming out of the half. At one point early
on, they were getting doubled up on the boards. It was twelve six
in the rebounding battle in favor of the Bucks, and the Clippers actually finished
winning that battle forty nine to forty eight. They had five more offensive rebounds.
They ended up taking twelve more shot attempts It's tough to lose a game
when you are able to get that many more shots up than your opponent,
But the difference is going scoreless when they did. It was the bad timing
of it. And also the Milwaukee Bucks got to the free throw line.
They ended up taking about fifteen more throws then the Clippers, and they went
seventeen of twenty two. And I mean the turnover battle, it was won
by the Clippers ten to twelve. But Milwaukee, and we talked about this
in the pre game. They're good in getting out in the open court.
Run like a deer, run like a buck. They had twenty two fast
break points. They averaged sixteen per game. The Clippers just had two.
They're still not getting enough easy shots in transition now. Terrence Man, I
thought provided a spark as always. Early in the second quarter. He had
a quick four points. He had a tip in off I think it was
a Lou Williams miss, and then Lou Williams found him with a nice assist
as Terrence Man, I think this was their only two points and fast break
points. Terrence Man was running down the left side of the lane and got
an easy alley oop, but played just fifteen minutes, had four points to
assists four boards. The Clippers to write the ship with a three point shooting,
but they would go cold there late in the last four minutes too,
and there was just too much my turn, your turn shot attempt taking by
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and those two win over eight in the last
four minutes. Nobody else got up a shot. They didn't run their offense.
We're still looking for a head coach t loop post game audio. We'll
try to get that for you. But let's go to Mitch in New Jersey.
Mitch, what's up here on Clippers stock without a maslin? Here on
the Patriot? Am eleven fifty? What's popping us? Adam? Thanks to
you were in the whole weekend. I give him any mine? Who interest
you've had? Patterson's said of haven't steam in the foss score foscore yet?
I give them any mine. It's been like a mansion O pageant, Doctor
Burns. Is any possibility they can move but tune out and put in a
boca and move put it in a bacca where they both starts. I know
he started, I mean zoo back. You want to see big Zoos starting
next to Sergebaka and in Kawai. Wayne would that that'd be a big lineup.
It would be Nicholas Batum has been a godsend match. I don't think
you want to move him at all. He's been one of the guys moving
the basketball. He's the reason most of the time they are a team playing
hot potato on the perimeter, and that leads to a lot of open shots.
He doesn't about little things. I notice he doesn't that school. He
does it thirty stuff. I wan thing. Do you think Lou William's being
the whole Fame and Men's Clipper Clippers Hall of Fames one? Well both.
He is an outside shot because he is the leading scorer off the bench in
NBA history. There's a chance it would help if he had a ring Clippers
trying to pull that off. Lou Williams finished with fourteen points. I thought
a really good ball game. Had four assists when they made their runs.
It was sweet Lou. He finished a plus twelve out there. He helped
the offense. Paul George for the most part did until the last four minutes.
I thought it was PG thirteens. One of his best games maybe his
best so far as a Clipper, facilitating wise, he had seven assists,
just three turnovers, and he was intent on getting into the lane and kicking
it out those driving kicks to corner threes. He was a big reason why
they started shooting better from the outside in the second half and had at least
two of his seven assists that were assisted to Marcus Morris in the corners for
three pointers on the fourth quarter. But for whatever reason, the Clippers,
they went away from what was working for their offense in the last four minutes.
And give Milwaukee some credit, they still are one of the best defensive
teams in the league, and they clamped down when they had to. But
I thought they played into their hand a little bit with the type of shots
they were taking, low percentage, high degree of difficulty shots. And I'm
not saying Kawhi Leonard and Paul George can't make those shots, because they can.
They're two of the best isolation players in the game. But when there's
this much talent on the floor and you're moving the ball really well to take
the lead and have a four point lead headed into the fourth quarter, if
it ain't broke, don't fix it. Stick with that and the hero ball
down the stretch. At times, it's not just a tough watch, it's
tough to get it to work for you because you're not generating enough open looks
and that's just not the way the Clippers normally play. Look, if you
go back to the game in Phoenix and why they won that game with that
Nicholas Betune corner three, it was PG attacking and kicking it out, and
we didn't see that in the last four minutes. It was either chair Paul
George thinking they had to hit the big shot to either counter what Jannison did,
a couple and the Bucks were doing. I don't know. Were they
getting into a one on one type of game. I'm not sure, but
I know you're not gonna win a ball game, a close, tight game
when you go scoreless the last four minutes, and you're not gonna win many
when you take those difficult shots. Now, they happen in the playoffs,
and I understand that the game slows down and that's where you want. Yes,
Kawhi Leonard in the mid range is an assassin. He's a master of
the mid range, and those are shots teams usually give up or they aren't
trained to defend because you're trying to stop layups. You're trying to stop threes
in this league today, and Kawai says, okay, I'll take the mid
range then, and I'll give you some ninety six MJ. But he didn't
have it down the stretch. I don't know if they were retired legs there.
Paul George only had two points in the second half, finished with sixteen
after he had fourteen in the first half, and those two came early in
the fourth quarter, and it was a really nice baseline jumper over I think
Chris Middleton. But the Clippers could not have any type of consistency late offensively,
and I think they went away from their identity a little bit and the
culture that they've been fostering this season, which is sharing the basketball. That's
what they do best, especially because when you have all these great three point
shooters, that's what leads to open shots from the outside. And instead it
was guys taking three pointers off the dribble late instead of catching shoot threes.
They lose one oh five to one hundred in Milwaukee to the Bucks. Two
more games left till the All Star break, and with the Clippers having played
their thirty sixth game of the season during a seventy seventy two game season.
Well, this means they are at the midway part of the season. They
are at the midway point. We'll take your phone calls. You can give
your grade. We just heard from Mitchell New j Jersey. He's saying a
minus. I'll give my mid season grade. Clippers twenty four and twelve on
the year, still twelve and six on the road. Eight seven seven five
two zero eleven fifty eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty is the full
number. Clippers fall late in Milwaukee. They go cold, they lose by
five to the Bucks. More Clipper stock coming up here on the Patriot Am
eleven fifty ad. Honey, we help you get This is the official home
of your LA Clippers. Spitz and sup Bots debates on the Rim and the
Home of the Clippers. Clippers fall late in Milwaukee. They lose one oh
five to one hundred after they go scoreless in the last four minutes and Jannas
s Denni Coupo would lead the Bucks with seventeen points in the fourth quarter.
You finished with thirty six, fourteen and five. Clippers dropped to twenty four
and twelve at the midway point of the season. Welcome back into Clipper stock.
I'm Adam Oslin to eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty eight seven
seven five two zero eleven fifty is the phone number. We've talked a lot
about adjustments so far this year and how good overall head coach Strawn lou has
been with adjustments. Case in point, what happened from one game to the
next the very next night in Memphis where the Clippers lose by twenty eight,
and then they win by twenty and they dominate that same team the very next
night and they are six and zero in the second game of a back to
back. No other team can claim that, but tonight down the stretch for
whatever reason. Sometimes it is a maker miss league. Sometimes it is that
adage, that old cliche that people liked to use all the time. But
from what I saw with some of the shot selection out there, they were
just of a high degree of difficulty for the most part, and it was
just two guys. Can they make them? Yeah, Kawai and PG are
that good. But this Clipper's roster is talented enough where you could find Nick
Batoum or Marcus Morse or Pat Beverly or break down the defense and get it
to somebody in the post for an easy layup. And they were settling for
mid range shots and three pointers off the bounce, and that was their undoing,
that was their fate. They don't score in the last four minutes.
Can't believe I'm saying that tough one to swallow. But the Clippers do get
back after it. In Boston, they're taking on the Celtics. They still
have a chance to end this first half of the season before the All Star
Break at least strong. We're taking your phone calls here. I once you're
grade midway through the season on where you see the Clippers, and I'll give
mine out right now. I'm going B plus now. I had them as
a B or B minus earlier the first quarter of the way through the season,
and it was only because well, they have so much room to grow
and they can still get so much better. And that's what's scary about this
team. Their ceiling is so high, and I believe there's still number two
in the West right now, is depending on what happens later tonight with the
Los Angeles Lakers playing but they still have room to improve, a lot of
room. They're just midway through this season with a new head coach, a
new coaching staff, and two top eight rotation players, two guys that are
in the starting lineup now you can say in Nicholas Batoum and Sergeibaca, and
there have been great signs from them with the ball movement and adjustments overall late
in this one today, notwithstanding obviously, but I'll say plus because I don't
think they're there yet to play in their best basketball. They're not peaking yet,
which is a good thing. You want that to happen a couple of
weeks out of the playoffs, hopefully when they're firing on all cylinders. Luke
Kennard, who had another DNP in this game, has basically been out of
the rotation and this was one of your big pickups this offseason and hasn't played
well. Shot the ball well, just doesn't shoot enough. They can still
get better with him hopefully turning the corner and finding his rhythm and getting in
sync with the second unit in the second half of the season. Terrence Mann,
though it's tough to get minutes with how well he has played, being
that energy guy had two offensive rebounds, had two of the clippers thirteen offensive
rebounds. Patrick Beverly had all three of his offensive rebounds in the second half,
at least two of them in the fourth quarter. They were getting extra
possessions, they were making the hustle plays. They just couldn't get shots to
fall light. They lose one or five to one hundred in Milwaukee. Morris
in Long Beach, Morris, we need you. Yeah, well you got
me and my brother. I'm thinking of Utah. If Utah is the A,
and then I gotta go with it be for the Clippers. And I'm
gonna tell you something, if you told me, if you already tell me
Morris, Milwaukee's only gonna get one hundred and five points on Sunday. I'm
thinking we're gonna win that game. We're definitely gonna win that game. But
apparently they played some defense too, And I was quite surprised that the Clippers
got away. They must have lost faith. They got away from what they
was doing. When that ball was whipping around us both sides of the court,
they looked real good. And they're gonna have to trust the guy that's
open. We can't get it to the star players, because in the NBA
they can take the ball away from them, except for today. Gonna come
in the fourth quarter, but we gotta They should have kept that ball moving
around and if the Breverty's open, he gets it. If the tune's open,
he gets it. They just kind of got away. They didn't.
They stopped trusting and they stopped passing that ball. But I'm not ready going
to know defunctory. They lost to Milwaukee. They didn't lose to to the
Wolves, suspective Minnesota. But anyway, I'll see it the next game in
Boston. Adam, thanks for taking a call. I like it. Morris,
thank you for the phone call. Losing to Milwaukee is going to happen.
They're that good. They're a contender in the Eastern Conference. They've had
the best record in the East the last couple of years, but they have
petered out in the playoffs. They've underperformed there. The problem is this is
reminiscent of problems from last season for the Clippers. You start to think back
to that series against the Denver Nuggets and not being able to close. And
the Clippers are just five and seven in their twelve games that they've played so
far this season where it's come down to being in the last five minutes within
five points, and they're five and seven in those scenarios in those parameters,
that's crunched time. That's clutched time. It's an actual stat now kept in
the NBA. So they do have to get better there, and I think
they will. And they have had good moments this season, but this was
not one of them. Clippers lose one oh five to one hundred in Milwaukee.
Will come back one more segment, will preview Tuesday's game. It's an
early one that'll be on a M five seventy LA Sports. We'll be back
there on Tuesday, tip times at four thirty in Boston. We'll have your
Clippers Countdown free game show at three thirty. Coming up next, I'll have
Robert Flam on Big Shot Bob Flam Clippers lose by five. They go scoreless
the last four minutes of the game. You're listening to Clippers stock here on
the Patriot AM eleven fifty. This is the official home of your LA Clippers,
pizza suppots, debates on the RIM and the home of the Clippers.
Clippers lose one zero five to one hundred in Milwaukee somewhere. We were playing
the sad music. We played this during the last segment of Clippers Stock every
time, so you're conditioned enough to know that this is the last segment of
the show until Tuesday. They are in Boston taking on the Celtics. This
is Clippers Stock here on the Patriot AM eleven fifty. Tuesday's game will be
on AM five seventy LA Sports. Welcome back in. I'm Adam Oslin coming
up. We do have audio from the head coach, and I think it's
encouraging. We'll hear this from head coach Toehron Loup post game. But first
I'm want to get to Robert Flam, who is at two one, three
hoops. That's who he covers the Clippers four. He's fantastic. Also get
to him at Rich Homie Flam whenever it's an earlier weekend game because he's on
the East Coast, I try to get him on. He's one of my
favorite Clippers analysts. Robert quite simply, what win awry in the last four
minutes of this game for the Clippers? How did you see that? Yeah?
It was it was really offense, you know. The defense I thought
was mostly fine. The small lineup did not deal with Jannis particularly well,
and I wasn't a huge fan of going stall for that reason. But it
was really it was offense. The Clippers kept running either isolations with Kawhi Leonard
and Paul George or doing Kawhi Leonard Paul George picking rolls, which wasn't really
effective because the Bucks had their two best perimeter defenders in Chris Middleton and Janis
Kumpo on those guys, and you know, switching Paul George John to Jannis
or Kawai on to Middleton doesn't really do a whole lot. They were weirdly
not going after guys like Pat Connaughton or DJ Augustine who were also on the
floor, And yeah, it was just a very perplexing offensive strategy. And
even considering the fact that they were doing this, Kawai and Paul George weren't
making shots anyway. So not only was the execution bad, well, the
bad the execution was bad as well. It was really just one or the
worst four minutes of offense the Clippers have had all year. Came at a
really bad time. You mentioned them going small late, and we've seen them
do this before it was successful against Rudy Gobert, not in this case against
the more athletic Janniss in a kompo. How much do you think is that
head coach tehront Lu, who is really an offensive mastermind. Is him just
tweaking with things and seeing what works and what doesn't and him still playing things
close to the vest because we are only at the midway point of the season.
Yeah, I think there's certainly some of that. You know, Tylu
has been very open about experimenting and wanting to try different things, and I
mean I think that, as you said that the small lineup has worked well,
so going to it is not a bad decision. It wasn't like you
know, some of Doc Rivers lineup decisions which just really didn't make any sense,
you know, the much discussed mantras Harold against Nicola Yo Kitchen the playoffs
and all that kind of stuff. It's not like that. But with how
Janice was playing in that fourth quarter and really all game of each of Zubos,
the best defender that the Clippers had on him, he did the best
job at limiting Ganis, and Gannas did get him a couple times with dunks
and little up and under Booze and stuff. He was doing the best job
on him, and Serge Ibacca was also playing really well. So I just
think in this case, you know, maybe it was an experiment. Maybe
Blue just really thought that the small lineup was was going to work better at
spacing out and giving the Clippers better offensive looks. But it did not work.
It hurt them on defense, and I actually think it might have hurt
them on offense too because Avaca had been so good in that third quarter,
and Zoo also brings offensive rebounding, which would have been helpful. You know,
if Paul Georgian choir missing shots, at least, you know, having
Zoo in there, it gives you a better chance of getting an offensive rebounded
new possession. So yeah, I just it was a fine gamble. I
think it just didn't work out. And yeah, I think to some extent
it's it's him experimenting and trying different things. I imagine if the Clippers played
the Bucks again, he might play Zoo and Surge a little bit more in
that game just because of how this went't shaped out. He's certainly proven to
be very flexible with matchups and roster changes in lineups and is looking for the
mismatches and I love that. But there's something interesting with this team, and
it was talked about after they lost in Brooklyn late and that was a really
well played game down the stretch, back and forth, and the Nets hit
some really tough shots in that one. But when you're a team whose identity
is passing and making the extra pass and getting hockey assists, but then you're
also trying to balance that along with taking advantage of mismatches, it seems like
it's two contradictory things going on there at times, or it's just tough to
balance when to go against the mismatches. Mismatches and went to get everybody involved
and keep that ball humming. Do you see that at all with this Clippers
team? A little bit? Yeah? I think that, you know,
the problem really isn't that they were hunting miss matches. That they weren't hunting
mismatches. You were hunting that the matchups that the Bucks wanted them to get.
But I think your point is correct in that, you know, generally
speaking, mismatch hunting doesn't lead to a lot of isolation. Basketball leads to
a lot of one on one where you know, you have Kawhi on a
smaller guy, or Paul George on a big man or whatever it is.
But sometimes that can lead to ball movement, right like I think actually the
couple of minutes in the fourth quarter right before the Clippers once small, the
Clippers were getting Kawhi Leonard in the post against guys like Pat Conaton, and
he was the Bucks had to send help, and Kawhi was moving the ball
early and getting the ball to Marcus Morris who had a couple of nice corner
threes and or just other people. And then from there when the Bucks scramble,
the Clippers would keep moving the ball and then attack them. So I
think you can if you attack the right mismatches and you know, teams like
the Bucks or whoever do send help, that can create a lot of ball
movement as long as you're passing out of those opportunities and the doubles help and
stuff. So I think it can work. It's just the Clippers weren't getting
any advantages in their mismatches tonight, and when you don't do that, that
is when it results in a lot of really stagnant isolations and contested jumpers.
So yeah, I mean, I think there is a bounce to walk there.
I'm not opposed to I'm hunting mismatches, but tonight just was not.
They were not doing it correctly at all, I thought. And he was
good in this game, and he's been good really over the last three weeks.
But Terrence Man, he just injects life in more actions and more ball
movement and also some downhill play, which this team sorely needs at times,
and he helps create easier shots for himself and sometimes for others. But he
had four points. He came in early in the second quarter, late in
the first quarter, but he had those four points early in the second and
they were tippins and one of them was an alley you from Sweet Low Williams.
But it always felt like before with him, offense is just a bonus.
But now he's kind of finding him self in this second unit and where
he fits in and how he can get his own offense next to Sweet Lou
Williams and guys like that. Yeah, he looks really, really comfortable out
there. This wasn't as good a game as he had, you know,
some of his games over the past few weeks. But he only played fifteen
minutes and I thought he was quite good, you know, as you mentioned,
he had those points and that was kind of the standout, especially that
dunk. But he also did bring in four rebounds, which is good.
He's a very good rebounder, and he had a couple of stifts. As
you said, he's very willing to move the ball. He makes very quick
decisions, and yeah, I mean, I think his stock is just continuing
to rise. And it was notable in this one that not only has surpassed
Luke Kennard in the rotation, but he has passed Freggie Jackson as well.
Reggie just played three minutes at the end of the second quarter when Paul George
had to come out for a rest break just due to his minutes restrictions.
So I mean, I think that the coaching staff is clearly showing that they
trust Terrence, and his teammate seemed to as well. As the ball finds
him a lot, and he's able to either attack, shoot or make the
or make a quick path, and that's what you need. You know,
He's never going to be a guy who probably probably never give you a guy
who I would just you know, twenty points a game, maybe never even
double figures. But if he's a guy who can just work within an offense
and not hinder spacing, you know, teams seem to be respecting to shot
a little bit more. After he's made a few over the past couple of
weeks, you know he's going to be an NBA player for a long time,
and it's it's just great. It's been great to see him developed this
year. He is Robert Flam follow him on Twitter at rich Homie Flam.
So we are at the midway point of the season for the Clippers. They
are at thirty two games, there are thirty six games, they're at twenty
four and twelve. What would be your mid season grade for this team,
Robert, I'd say B plus. I think I think, honestly, you
know, most of the players on the team have been pretty good, you
know, when you look at when you break it down individually, the one
guy who I think you can point to as being disappointing is Luke Kennard.
I think Serge Ibaka has been a bit up and down. Guys like Lou
Williams and Zoo got off to slow starts but have come on pretty strong lately.
So I think, really just that's the one players you could give a
below average grade. So I think everybody else is getting positive grades to really
high grades. And as a team, you know, twenty four and twelve
isn't an amazing record, but it's still good. It's it's good enough for
you know, a home court advantage spot in the West. And they've also
dealt with some injury issues they had, like that brief COVID contact tracing scare
with Kawai and Paul George where they both missed a couple games. You know,
Beverly missed a handful of games, Marcus Morris missed some games to start
the year. You know, They've had key players missed, you know,
quite a few games. And the fact that they're twenty four and twelve,
have had several nice wins and have overall, just individually and as a team,
have played pretty well, I think is really good. I can't quite
give them, you know, an a grade just because I think one the
Luke, it is just disappointing, how you know, unimpactful. He's been
for a guy who's there one of their big offseason acquisitions and who they gave
a big extension to and you know, the record, I don't I don't
think it's quite good enough for them to be, you know, getting an
A grade. But yeah, I mean I think it's a B plus.
There have been some disappointments, you know, some of these late game offensive
executions have not been good U and their defense has been a big hit or
miss. But on the whole, it's it's hard not to be happy with
how the season has gone. And it must be said, Tyler has you
know, they're always going to be decisions that look didn't look great in hindsight.
But on the whole, I think he's been really good to start the
year. And that one was the biggest off season acquisition or you know,
offseason Rug was trading Doc Rivers for Tyler and he's been really good so far.
Yeah. I gave him and his coaching staff and a plus. And
when you consider that they have missed Kauai and Paul George for seventeen games combined,
it's twenty four and twelve not too shabby. He is Robert Flam,
big shot Bob Flam. Follow him at Rich Homie Flam. He versus the
Clippers at two one, three hoops. Robert, I appreciate you coming back
on Clippers talk today. Absolutely I'm always a pleasure. While we have a
moment, let's pause ten seconds for station identification. Here on the Patriot AMLEM
fifty, this is LA Clippers Basketball AM eleven fifty KADIV, Los Angeles,
an iHeart radio station. Clippers lose by five in Milwaukee. Their next game
is coming up on Tuesday in Boston against the Celtics, and we have some
postgame audio for you. This was head coach Tehron Lou. I want to
hear from him, get some wisdom from him, and want you guys to
hear from him before we ended today's show because I felt like, and I've
only seen the quote, I haven't heard it, but I feel like this
is encouraging after a really rough, difficult, frustrating loss like this. Here
was t Lou postgame on it just lost the game. Well, we made
fourteen. I thought we had a lot of great lists that we did made
the best way. I thought we were pretty good on sign of the transition
that we lost the game. Okay, and he's right, this isn't Sky's
falling. We're at the midway point and they can learn from this. And
they did miss a lot of good shots, especially early. They went through
a stretch where I think they were one of twelve from three and they were
missing shots they just normally make. So Clippers expect them to bounce back in
Boston on Tuesday, especially because they have leadership like that. They're not gonna
worry too much about this loss and what happened down the stretch. Adjustments will
be made before we get out of here. I do want to thank the
Clippers organization, Noah Eagle, Brian Seaman, Ralph Lawler back here in Burbank
with the music, with the audio with the game highlights. It was Zach
Elcaldi. Thank you Zach. Thank you guys for listening in your phone calls
until Tuesday back on NAMP five seventy LA Sports with your pregame starting at three
to thirty in Boston. I'm at a Maslin. We will talk to you
then Amos Churches are I was you join