Last time that fine chains on my neck. It was no smart on my
rep last time. Clippers one twelve to one hundred to the Phoenix Suns and
they are down three one in this best of seven first round series. Welcome
back in this is Clippers stock here on the Patriot, Am eleven fifty.
I'm Adam Oslin. Game five is coming up Tuesday night in Phoenix. We
got Chuck Mockler online from Clips and Dip. We will get back to your
phone calls eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty eight seven seven five two
zero eleven fifty. Believe that we'll get back to them, but first Chuck.
Another frustrating one where I feel like the Clippers, you know, they're
playing at an a level, they just don't have the guys to get you
over the top because the talent disparity. I still don't feel like the Phoenix
Suns have played that great yet in this series, and that's part of what
makes it so frustrating. Yeah, I think the thing that's tough is that
you have guys who are playing at in a level. You have Russ and
Norm who are absolutely lighting it up. You know, Terrence and his limited
minutes has played great too, but then no one else is really kind of
on a medium to just okay level. You have a starting power board and
Marcus Morris who was removed from the starting lineup for very good reasons, and
then his replacement, Nick the Tomb, couldn't do well, and then you
kind of have this this subox drop off as well, where there's not a
lot of balance on this team right now in terms of the good and the
bad. It's just it's kind of a team of extremes. But you are
right, um, I think if you're a Suns fan, you're probably a
little worried about the fact that you know you're letting this version of the Clippers
team makes you really nervous a lot of the time. But you know,
I mean, I think I said on our last episode that the Clippers needed
to find a way to score one hundred and fifteen points and they couldn't get
that done tonight, which is unfortunate because we saw some great russ basketball and
you know, the rest of their thing. Again, they're still of frustrating,
but here we are getting a lot of calls on that ten three or
attempts to twenty seven for the Phoenix Suns. The last two games, they
have attempted seventy three free throws, doubling the Clippers, who are just at
thirty five. More than doubling. The output at the line from the Clippers
is frustrating, especially they scored more points in the paint than the Phoenix Suns.
You would think that would mean something. Russell Westbrook getting thirty seven and
not one free throw. It's tough to explain. I don't know what it
is right now, but you can't control that stuff. I guess you gotta
keep moving and just hope that you'll get some more other worldly performances from some
of the role players. But you brought it up. Marcus Moore starts,
it's a storyline in this one. I'm getting a ton of tweets my way
about it, and I don't get it either. I do not understand it.
Twenty five minutes minus nineteen. I understand starting him and trying something because
desperate times. But when he's a minus fourteen in his fourteen minutes in the
first half and the eyeball test completely matched it, he's not hitting shots.
He's not a good defender right now. I just don't understand. And they
have looked. Nick Blotombs played six minutes. I know he's not hitting shots.
He's also only taken I think nine so far in the series. But
at least he's giving you defense. Robert Covington is just more of an unknown.
What is he going to give you because he's played so little? Just
how do you feel about the four spot right now? The Clippers? The
fourth spot? Really? Since Robert Covington came back from that short stint,
I think it was how some safety protocolls his quote. I think that day
was something like he's looking forward to playing a lot of basketball. Pretty much
since that quote, he has stopped playing a lot of basketball. And we've
now gotten into a scenario where a team that was builled as being all in
on this wingstop thing and the personnel and the guys he brought in and on
paper looks so good. Think of all the five out lineups you could do.
Obviously, with quiet PG being out, that takes a large hit.
But the Clippers don't even really have a backup plan because of how the other
power forward rotations have been dealt with. Right like Tyler waited too long to
switch out but toomb for Marcus Morris and so now but two masks to get
used to playing with our new starting point guard Russell Westbrook in a very limited
amount of time to get playoff caliber ready, Well what were they But when
he's like like six and two, five and two, like it was,
it was good, Like there were results. Yeah, but now you get
to the playoffs and it's just Roco can't even play a game without having to
be on the bike because his body isn't use to actual NBA basketball. So
the management of the four position for the Clippers on this season is probably one
of the things that I'm most upset about taking Kwie and PG out of this
obviously because we know that there's spots are safe, but it's just been wonky
and at this point the five guard lineup feels a lot better to fans than
four guards. This Marcus Morris, which I think is kind of all we
need to know about the current state of the the power forward rotation. It's
been a mystery a lot of this season has been a lot of what ifs,
but not having Kawhi and Paul George right now it stands out more than
ever. It's just def con one. It's amazing to have both of them
out with the same right knee injury. Not the same, but it's being
called a right knee sprain. We don't know the extent of it really,
especially with Kawhi Leonard, but I am proud of this team. Like we're
seeing the resilient spirit of the Clippers once again. There's something to that.
It reminds you why you're a fan of them, because they continue to battle
no matter what the odds are. It's feeling like twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen
again. It's feeling like the twenty sixteen first round series Blazers and Clippers when
they lost CP three and Blake Griffin after the first two games. It's unfortunately
classic Clippers in some ways. But there's also you know reason this to hold
your head high? Sure, I mean, I'm sorry, yes, we
can hold our head high. You're just over it. I get that side
of it too. I don't know if I'm over it. I just mean,
right now we're staring at three one right like it's not it's just a
little tough. They have played great. They haven't rolled over. That's something
they've had to do. Even in the regular season when we were led by
Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris a couple of seasons ago. You know, that
mentality has always been there, so it's great to see that mentality there.
It's just difficult that that mentality usually should be kind of the second dary if
we need to tap into this thing, But because of the key absences,
it's now just kind of the Clipper's identity of fight very valiantly but come up
short, partly because of things that are totally out of your control. So
maybe I'll probably feel better tomorrow. I'll feel better when we're doing the tripod.
But right now, man, I don't know how many we fought valiantly
as I got in me today, typically completely understand it. The moral victories
are ringing hollow with some right now is completely understandable. What do you think
with their backs against the wall, officially they have to win or their season
is over. On Tuesday night, let me just ask you, what would
you go with rotations wise in that ball game. The thing that's tough about
that is that time's kind of exhausted every possibility. I guess I'm really hoping
that Zoo can step it up. We a couple a week ago, we
were talking about how great zoo is and now we are eating some of those
words because he just hasn't looked himself. What we're gonna see, I think,
is more of the same from Russ, which is unparalleled hustle, you
know, passion, whatever of those words you want to use. He has
been phenomenal with that. He's gonna you know, Russ is gonna have to
be efficient. He's getting He's going to get yet again, twice as many
field goal attempts as anyone else on the Clippers. We need Russ to be
ah, we need I guess let's start Robert Covington. Nko hasn't had it,
Morris hasn't had it. Roco hasn't exactly had it either. But I
don't really know what we're waiting for. Or let's see what Terrence Man can
do in the starting lineup. I don't understand what Terrence has to do to
get more meaningful minutes to maybe start a game. But we're gonna see a
bunch of weird stuff. I think Tyler is going to be hopefully and you
know, fun tinkering time mode. But we got to hope for more of
this, you know, some efficiency from Russell Westbrook and just you know,
we need everyone else to be just as good as they were in Game three,
and hopefully we get a little bit of help, or not even help,
hopefully we just get a normally rest game down in Phoenix. Yeah,
I would start Terrence Man if there's no Kauhi, if there's no Paul George,
and I would let him go for forty minutes because he's played, he's
earned it that, he's earned it for a while. And you know they
made the run after giving up a on the first quarter. Terrence Man comes
in, it's just so plainly obvious that they're better with him on the floor.
Oh that's another head scratcher for this entire season. All right, Chuck,
I appreciate it. Man. Not an easy one to come on post
game after, but it's in your contract. You have to do the losses,
will has to do wins and moral victories. So thanks for doing this,
and we'll have the tripod coming up soon on Clips and Dip with all
three of us. Charles, we'll talk to you soon. Absolutely. Hope
everyone has a good weekend, Yes, sir, More Clippers stock coming up
next. Final segment eight seven seven five two zero eleven fifty eight seven seven,
five, two, zero eleven fifty Back to your phone calls next,
Plus we'll hear from coach Lou postgame. Clippers lose Game four one twelve to
one hundred in a must win situation on Tuesday in Phoenix. This is Clippers
stock here on the Patriot emblem. Fifty. Hey, I want to hear
from callers post game who want to blow it up yet don't always have actual
ideas or solutions of how to make this team better by trading their two best
players. Well, just check out the Clippers Talk podcast. There were a
lot of good calls to I would say overall it was heartening, encouraging,
but Clippers down through one. Oh that was a tough one. Clippers Talk
check it out.