1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:03,399 Hey, welcome back into Clippers Talk. I'm out a mouseland eight sixty six 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:07,480 ninety seven seventy eight sixty six ninety eight seven two five seventy. We'll hear 3 00:00:07,519 --> 00:00:11,759 from coach Lou, but I do want to get to Will Updyke first. 4 00:00:11,839 --> 00:00:17,160 Who's joining us from C and D Clips and Dip podcast on a night like 5 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:20,440 this. Hey, Chuck has had to wear some tough losses on this show. 6 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:24,239 Will, it was your turn tonight. Thanks for doing it. Yeah, 7 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:30,480 absolutely my pleasure. It's normally a tradition you bring me on for a 8 00:00:30,519 --> 00:00:34,799 garbage game or a craft loss. Oh well you can start that up again. 9 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:43,320 Apparently, Uh, what what are you most contract? What are you 10 00:00:43,439 --> 00:00:47,320 most disappointed in right now with this group? Because I know you weren't on 11 00:00:47,399 --> 00:00:52,320 the C and D episode yesterday with me and Chuck, but I just kind 12 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:58,799 of laid out that I got real concerns about the roster construction. With having 13 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:00,679 four guys that are at their best when the ball is in their hands. 14 00:01:00,679 --> 00:01:07,599 It's not like any other big four that I think we've seen. Yeah, 15 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,760 I think that there is definitely issues in the roster construction. I think that 16 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,760 that is one of those problems that just with the sheer amount of talent that 17 00:01:15,879 --> 00:01:22,159 to me feels overcomeable just with some of just with some changes in the rotations. 18 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:26,040 Like I think there are ways to optimize that. Obviously. You know, 19 00:01:26,079 --> 00:01:27,959 the loss of Plumblee is huge. They're gonna have to address that right 20 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:30,120 away. They're gonna have to figure that out. You know, that was 21 00:01:30,159 --> 00:01:34,120 an unforeseen circumstance, but that is going to have to be addressed like immediately. 22 00:01:34,799 --> 00:01:38,359 I don't know how they can can continue without, you know, a 23 00:01:38,439 --> 00:01:42,560 true backup center. But I think the thing that has got to be most 24 00:01:42,599 --> 00:01:46,879 troubling to watch the Clippers lose four straight, especially the way they've lost this 25 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,840 last three, is like there is something rotten at the core of this team. 26 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:53,840 This team feels to me like they do not want to win. And 27 00:01:53,879 --> 00:01:57,239 we keep saying the same things every game, every loss, every season. 28 00:01:57,439 --> 00:02:00,920 Oh what's their identity? Oh, they're gonna find out their identity. Oh 29 00:02:00,959 --> 00:02:02,400 something was born out of this. The players come back and they say, 30 00:02:02,439 --> 00:02:06,120 we're gonna approach the regular seams more seriously, We're gonna do this, We're 31 00:02:06,159 --> 00:02:07,639 gonna do that, We're gonna play every night like it matters. And then 32 00:02:07,639 --> 00:02:12,039 they've dropped too, and then we hear Paul George run that back, and 33 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,560 it's just it feels to me, again and again and again like this team 34 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,319 does not really want to win. They do not really want it. You 35 00:02:19,319 --> 00:02:22,759 don't get that many points, you don't get almost get a one fifty dropped 36 00:02:22,759 --> 00:02:25,680 on you. If you want to win, you don't almost come back in 37 00:02:25,759 --> 00:02:30,719 the fourth quarter with half a quarter left, and the starters still don't come 38 00:02:30,759 --> 00:02:34,000 in because you know that they don't want it bad enough that they're not gonna 39 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,960 get over that hump. You've got to use your second and third stringers to 40 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,319 have even a little bit of spark of energy. Well, I'll say this, 41 00:02:39,479 --> 00:02:45,240 there have been a lot of setbacks and restarts, and it just feels 42 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:53,159 like since Collide towards ACL there's been zero continuity consistency out there basically, and 43 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:58,080 it always comes down to them just having to figure out who's available that night, 44 00:02:58,439 --> 00:03:01,319 how are we gonna play this night, where's the foundation that you fall 45 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:05,759 back on. And it's not like they haven't had great wins the past couple 46 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:09,199 of seasons, and they haven't had moments where they have you believing again. 47 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:15,159 But right now, I know Clipper Nation is down, and so is Paul 48 00:03:15,199 --> 00:03:19,439 George. The last three games now with James Harden fourteen points per game, 49 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:24,520 shooting twenty seven percent from the field, seventeen percent from three, been a 50 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:29,759 minus twenty eight. That was from Joey Lynn on X. But to me, 51 00:03:30,199 --> 00:03:32,280 what was alarming was, okay, great, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden 52 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:37,599 have it going in the first quarter and Paul George and Russell Westbrook combined to 53 00:03:37,639 --> 00:03:42,120 go zero for five. They have no rhythm. How do you balance that? 54 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,360 How do you figure that type of thing out? As Paul George finished 55 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,919 three of twelve and I know Russ had some inconsequential layups in the third quarter, 56 00:03:47,919 --> 00:03:52,680 it looks a lot prettier now five of eleven with fourteen. But Paul 57 00:03:52,719 --> 00:03:55,599 George is too important to this team and was getting off with such a great 58 00:03:55,639 --> 00:04:00,199 start. I gotta think there's a connection and there the last three games with 59 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:03,000 how bad he's been playing, and it seems to be since they brought in 60 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,240 James Harden. I'm not saying it's his fault. I'm just saying this transitional 61 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:13,240 period is really taking his toll on Paul, which makes like I have to 62 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:15,439 be honest with you, that seems to me like a like more of a 63 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,800 Paul George mental thing, because fit wise, basketball court wise, he makes 64 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:25,839 the most sense around James Harden or James Harden and Kawhi than any of the 65 00:04:25,879 --> 00:04:29,399 other players. He's you know, he's used to you know, he's used 66 00:04:29,399 --> 00:04:33,079 to playing off ball. He's used to like being a little more malleable offensively. 67 00:04:33,439 --> 00:04:36,600 And you know, we heard in the Doc Rivers area it wasn't necessarily 68 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,480 his favorite. He wanted to handle the ball more. That didn't work out. 69 00:04:40,519 --> 00:04:45,439 We've been We've sought every single possible point guard. I don't think that 70 00:04:45,519 --> 00:04:47,319 this is a hard I have to be really honest with you. This is 71 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,920 not a Harden issue to me. No, these games are not a hard 72 00:04:50,959 --> 00:04:56,560 an issue to me. If the answer was that simple, then I don't 73 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,199 think we would have had three straight losses with garbage time minutes and all of 74 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:03,800 them. That's not one person. One person on a team of fifteen guys 75 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:09,120 doesn't throw the entire game away. I don't know what happened at the end 76 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:13,839 of that first quarter, but that lineup out there with Russell Westbrook next to 77 00:05:13,879 --> 00:05:17,199 Bones Highland and Norn Powell and Terrence Man and PJ. Tucker. Maybe I 78 00:05:17,199 --> 00:05:21,680 do know what happened. They went so small and in a minute and a 79 00:05:21,759 --> 00:05:29,759 half they just got destroyed by Kyrie Irving going off and they lost all momentum. 80 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,519 A twelve point lead in the first quarter. Kawhi coming out cooking like 81 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,480 he was against the Lakers, looked great. Harden had fourteen in the first 82 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:43,120 quarter, and they just gave it all back. And I don't understand that 83 00:05:43,199 --> 00:05:46,959 lineup, and I don't understand what is going on with so many guards playing. 84 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:49,360 I guess it's a necessity at some point now because of the trade they 85 00:05:49,439 --> 00:05:53,399 made. But I'm sitting here thinking, you know, Mere Coffee is still 86 00:05:53,399 --> 00:05:56,240 on the team, and he's a wing, and he has done very good 87 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:00,120 things for this franchise. The past couple of seasons had some nice flashes in 88 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:04,720 the fourth Yeah, cook, cook on that because some of those guys they 89 00:06:04,759 --> 00:06:10,079 look like they had more continuity and rhythm, guys that have not played probably 90 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:15,360 together or at least significant minutes at all this season, and they looked. 91 00:06:15,399 --> 00:06:20,160 Okay, I give them credit. Yeah, no, I agree that. 92 00:06:20,399 --> 00:06:26,839 Yeah, that unit that was out there with bones and terrans and a mirror 93 00:06:27,319 --> 00:06:30,439 and brown and diabaate. I mean that was lively. Like, look, 94 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,360 man, if we had taken three straight losses and the team looks like that 95 00:06:34,519 --> 00:06:38,759 on the floor, like there was that kind of energy, Uh, this 96 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:42,319 would be totally different. I Like, it's not just that they're losses, 97 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:46,959 it's that they're blowout losses with garbage time minutes and like it does, it's 98 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:50,839 not looking any better. And you know, still only three games. This 99 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:57,000 sky hasn't completely fallen yet. But man, I mean you just look ahead 100 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,439 of the Clipper schedule and it's it's just not looking very friendly. You know 101 00:07:00,519 --> 00:07:08,560 what else the guy who's probably disappointed me most because he's been so consistent and 102 00:07:08,759 --> 00:07:13,759 so reliable, and he has been there no matter who is playing next to 103 00:07:13,879 --> 00:07:17,600 him, he performs and holds it down. It's been Big Zoo, and 104 00:07:17,639 --> 00:07:21,839 he's going through one of the worst stretches since he's been a Clipper. Right 105 00:07:21,879 --> 00:07:27,399 now, he just looks lost and doesn't have the same bursts. I don't 106 00:07:27,399 --> 00:07:30,199 know if he's hurt, but something's going on with Big Zoo and we know 107 00:07:30,279 --> 00:07:34,240 how important he's been to this team. Yeah, yeah, I mean that's 108 00:07:34,279 --> 00:07:38,639 that's the thing too, is like defensively, like we knew that they would 109 00:07:38,639 --> 00:07:43,759 take a step back. Obviously we got rid of so many wings who had 110 00:07:43,759 --> 00:07:46,399 their own limitations. But yeah, I mean with the injury to Plumbley, 111 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,959 like Zoo can only do to do so much, and I mean you brought 112 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:54,079 up a possible injury. I really hope that that's not the case, because 113 00:07:54,079 --> 00:07:56,399 if that's the case, like, I don't see how this team is not 114 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,319 dead in the water. So that second quarter, I mentioned the end of 115 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,839 the first quarter and who was in it was Russ, Bones, Norm, 116 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:07,680 Terrence, PJ. Tucker. The only thing that changed to start the second 117 00:08:07,199 --> 00:08:11,160 and going off the game log was Paul George came in for Bones, so 118 00:08:11,199 --> 00:08:16,639 it was PG, Russ, Norm, Terrence, PJ. Tucker. I'm 119 00:08:16,639 --> 00:08:20,879 not saying I hate that lineup, but with the way Paul George is playing 120 00:08:20,959 --> 00:08:24,959 like he obviously just has to be better in those minutes, that was his 121 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:30,279 time to start to catch a rhythm and a feel for the game out there. 122 00:08:30,319 --> 00:08:33,720 There was no Kawhi, there was no James Harden. That's just okay, 123 00:08:33,799 --> 00:08:37,399 you guys took over the first quarter. Tag us in it's our turn, 124 00:08:37,519 --> 00:08:41,519 it's Russ and it's Paul George just start to impose their will and they 125 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:46,159 had two points through the first six minutes of that second quarter. To me, 126 00:08:46,639 --> 00:08:50,279 that's where the game was lost right there. Yeah, yeah, I 127 00:08:50,279 --> 00:08:54,159 mean you have to be able to do more with that. I mean, 128 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:58,519 like I thought when we first talked about this game one, and I wasn't 129 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:01,200 that a about the loss of the Nick. So it's like, this is 130 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:07,039 gonna be a great situation for norm Like things are gonna be easier for him, 131 00:09:07,039 --> 00:09:09,360 and he didn't share the end up sharing the floor with Harden. But 132 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,799 we need more from him. We definitely need more from Paul George and I 133 00:09:13,159 --> 00:09:20,440 don't know they like it's only it's only three games, but man, it 134 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:24,080 has been just a miserable it has been an absolutely miserable three games. It's 135 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:28,799 been about a bad of a start as you could ever in the worst fevered 136 00:09:28,919 --> 00:09:35,600 nightmare type dream could foresee after bringing in James Harden. That's just why it's 137 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:41,360 so alarmed. But like it's not and it's not, No, I'm with 138 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:46,559 you about James. It's not James. Like he's actually looked relatively pretty darned 139 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:50,440 good out there, considering this was just his third game played. No training 140 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:54,480 camp, no preseason, no games with Philly since last may you know, 141 00:09:56,399 --> 00:10:00,480 yeah, absolutely, and it already looks like, man, he's he's trying 142 00:10:00,519 --> 00:10:03,159 to take more catch and shoot, he's trying to set his teammates up. 143 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:07,799 You know. I again, only three games, but it seems like he's 144 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,799 at the point in his career where he is willing to do the things that 145 00:10:11,879 --> 00:10:16,840 take to make the team win. It just it It isn't coalescing. I 146 00:10:16,879 --> 00:10:20,720 guess the real question is are the pieces there? They just have to be 147 00:10:20,799 --> 00:10:26,200 reconfigured for this team to click in. Do you believe the pieces are there 148 00:10:26,639 --> 00:10:30,720 and there is a team that can get on a roll. They just have 149 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:37,120 to find the right rotations in lineups and continuity barring injuries. Yet, like 150 00:10:37,279 --> 00:10:41,200 right now, even down Plumbly, I don't think that they don't. I 151 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:45,360 don't think that they have enough pieces defensively, and they can't really cover up 152 00:10:45,399 --> 00:10:50,440 with it on that second unit. Yeah, they're getting destroyed on the boards. 153 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:52,440 It was I know, you look at the box score afterwards, and 154 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:56,559 because of the second half, it's very much skewed. But they gave up 155 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:01,080 nine offensive rebounds in the first half of this game, and they had nine 156 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:05,639 turnovers in the first half when it was still somewhat in the balance. So 157 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:09,399 it's kind of a tough game to evaluate in the final box score because it's 158 00:11:09,399 --> 00:11:13,039 not indicative of how this game went whatsoever in the first half when it was 159 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:18,039 still in the balance. He is Will Updyke of C and D. I 160 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:22,600 think we're going to have a tripod on Sunday after the Clippers game against the 161 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:24,919 Memphis Grizzlies. Maybe we'll do it live. We'll have some fun with that. 162 00:11:26,399 --> 00:11:28,080 Will, thanks for coming on tonight. Thanks for the epic grant. 163 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:33,360 Appreciate you man, my friend. Absolutely I wish I was on under better 164 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:37,159 circumstances. I hope you leave these fine posts to something more positive than I 165 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,200 brought to the table today. Hey, you made a better circumstances tonight here 166 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:45,159 on Clippers Talk. That's all I can ask for before we get out of 167 00:11:45,159 --> 00:11:48,879 here. Three things. First, final call, brad mission, Vajo, 168 00:11:48,039 --> 00:11:48,480 what's up.