Comments on: Preview and Chat: Los Angeles Clippers

By: anoni

anoni — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:14:25 +0000

Spurs didn’t execute. Suns played good defense…not great..they played as good defense as we do in the fourth quarter.

The one guy that has benefitted most from the Shaq trade has been Amare. If he can develop a better post game…watch out.

By: kwame a.

kwame a. — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:28:05 +0000

I dont have any new opinion of the Suns. They better pray they dont see us again.

By: drrayeye

drrayeye — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:24:21 +0000

(73) Well, Jones,

you went from moron to only slightly retarded.

Phoenix got the job done–and they did it with defense in the fourth quarter. Shaq was clearly one of the heroes (14, 16).

It puts the Lakers one full game ahead of San Antonio. Gives the Lakers a chance to have a true lead if they beat Sacto.

Wouldn’t it be nice for the Lakers to have home court advantage all the way through the playoffs?

I’ll be hopin’ and watchin’ tonight.

By: Derek Banducci

Derek Banducci — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:15:50 +0000

Count me among those who like the Shaq trade from Phx’s perspective. And I’ve never even been a Shaq fan. I always sided with Kobe b/c Shaq’s power game makes for ugly basketball and Shaq has always been a lazy oaf, imho.

The thing is, though, in the playoffs Phx needs a bigger presence at Center, they need to play Amare at PF, and they weren’t going to win a championship with their run-and-gun style. The Shaq/Marion move reminds me of Mark Cuban’s change in philosophy a few years ago when he let Steve Nash leave via FA and instead focussed on getting bigger in the middle with guys like Dampier and Diop.

Therefore, even if the Shaq trade has made Phx less impressive in the regular season it does improve their chances of ultimately winning a championship b/c it signals a change in organizational philosophy away from a style of basketball that simply is not successful in the playoffs.

By: JONESONTHENBA

JONESONTHENBA — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:13:39 +0000

I’m telling y’all, don’t count out the Suns yet. I’m one of the few that thought this was a good trade. Obviously, I look like an idiot at this point. But I still think it is going to work out for them.

By: Misareaux

Misareaux — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:41:30 +0000

Shaq just filled the space as Ginobli drove to the basket and took a charge. When did you EVER see him do that in LA…?

By: kwame a.

kwame a. — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:35:06 +0000

70-Usually teams dont go to there bench in the playoffs, but Phil has a long history of going deep into his bench. I remember in the ’93 Finals he went 11-12 deep, in ’96 9-10 deep. If he has the talent and feels the players are ready he will use them, thats why he never calls those timeouts when you want him to in the regular season, he’s gettin ready

By: Samy

Samy — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:16:55 +0000

How long would our bench be in the game in a play-off game, against any team?

I mean, would they ever be in there as a second unit?

By: Renato Afonso

Renato Afonso — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 15:42:15 +0000

62. 64.

I actually think that Coby can develop into one of those role players a la Jud Buechler as he gots more savvy. He’ll never be athletic or fast, but he has really strong fundamentals and he can hit the open three. You can pencil him for 6-10 mins per game and he probably get you a couple of 3-pointers, keeping up the scoring. And since there are others that will be demanding a double team when on floor (Kobe, Pau, Drew) he’ll get those open looks.

About the game, I absolutely loved the ball movement when the bench mob was in. They missed some shots, but everyone is willing to do the extra pass. Everyone is saying that the bench is giving a lesser contribution nowadays, but I actually disagree… We’re without 2 core members of our rotation (3 when Radman was out) and that takes its toll when it comes to scoring. However, the extra pass and the ball movement allows everyone to be less tired (dribbling is more exausting than passing) and you force the opposing defense to float more. Once you get the defense giving the 2nd and 3rd help, everyone is running from sideline to sideline, and therefore more tired.

Things are indeed good, at least for the regular season…

By: AM

AM — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 07:56:51 +0000

Too bad for Cal. Can’t take away from Love hitting the three after getting the ball knocked loose, and Shipp hitting the H-O-R-S-E shot to win it, but the non-call on the strip of Anderson and the Pac-10 head of officials saying that shooting over the backboard is actually an out-of-bounds violation (but that the “judgement call” by the ref as to whether that happened is non-reviewable) is a tough, TOUGH way to lose such a well-fought game. A bit of “Pauley magic”, as Steve Lavin would say …