RFH Collective: Clippers

Showing posts with label Clippers. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

What Do We Think of the Amnesty Clause?

Rashard Lewis: Potential Amnesty Candidate

I wrote the following for ClipperBlog, and while it's about how the amnesty clause relates to the Clippers, I'd love to know everyone's thoughts on the proposed details (as described in the post), possible candidates, implications, whatever...

The notion of an amnesty clause is exciting to many fans. Most teams have at least one “bad” contract — many have more — so it figures that people would embrace the opportunity to see the franchise for which they cheer drop the most undesirable in favor of a roster spot and cap space for a potentially better player. But it also portends more player movement, which we as fans also tend to enjoy, especially in a time when barely anything basketball-related is happening at all.
While opposition to it based on the somewhat hypocritical message that some individual owners will be sending by simultaneously crying broke and angling for a new way to spend money (much more on that here) appears futile, the whole idea is incredibly unfair to teams that have been successful at not handing out bad contracts. Like the Clippers.
Even if there are provisions to give such teams the chance to amend a future mistake, as backwards as that may be, you can’t help but wonder just how drastically the advantage accrued by managing the cap responsibly will be slashed.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Of Clippers and Thunder, Gordon and Westbrook

In Part Two of at least a two-part series I'm doing at ClipperBlog, I looked at the importance of Westbrook and Gordon to their respective teams. As it turns out, looking at the disparate recent success of the two franchises and the raw production of Westbrook tends to mislead, at least as a predictive tool for the Clips.

Westbrook had career highs in: points (21.9 per game), assists (8.2), and steals (1.9). He became an All-Star for the first time thanks to increased efficiency from the field (44 percent), from the line (84 percent) and even beyond the arc (33 percent) — up from only 22 percent in his second season. Still not a strong shooter, he showed promising signs by playing to his strengths, getting a quarter of his looks (6.8/game) at the rim and converting those at a 60 percent clip.

What may not be so encouraging for Thunder fans were instances down the stretch where Westbrook struggled to stay under control. For all his power and quickness, the guy whose 316 turnovers led the NBA by 32 over the next highest total underwent a very public battle over his decision-making and execution. He found himself on the bench during the playoffs in favor of Eric Maynor because Maynor took care of the ball, and he seemed to struggle, at times , to understand why. Unlike fellow 2008 draftee Derrick Rose, he is not designed to be the primary option on his team — that’s Durant. And unlike Gordon, he seemed unable at times to defer to his star teammate...

Even in a down year, Gordon is the better shooter by far, and it is the area in which he figures to have the biggest advantage going forward. He is a natural shooter with the athleticism and strength to get to the hoop, whereas Westbrook is a penetrator by trade taking jumpers when defenses give him too much space. If Gordon can even return to his career form of 37.5 percent from downtown — and he should continue to find openings as teams focus on Griffin — it shouldn’t be a surprise to see his numbers jump into All-Star territory. For whatever that’s worth.

What makes Westbrook’s journey through last spring even more interesting to Clipper fans is what it can teach us about Eric Gordon. We saw what Westbrook could do – both good and bad — over a season in such high usage, but to this point Gordon has not had that opportunity. He may not be the primary ballhandler next season, but he does have a clear opportunity to assume an even more prominent role with Mo Williams playing to his strength off the ball as a spot up shooter.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Vinny Del Negro and an Exercise in Coach Evaluation

It's difficult to isolate and evaluate the performance of a coach, as I found out trying to do just that with with Del Negro and the Clippers this year. So many moving parts, especially in this coach's first season that included, among other things: injuries, big personalities and plenty of roster turnover. In the end, I feel pretty much how I expected we'd all feel from the beginning. From my piece at Clipperblog:

The thinking went: if Vinny could preside over Blake Griffin’s imminent launch to superstardom and facilitate the transfer of playmaking duties from Baron Davis to Eric Gordon, the rest of the team would follow their lead, thus transforming the culture of the organization, both on and off the court. No longer would Clipper teams start out strong and show promise, only to degenerate over the courses of injury-riddled, losing seasons.

Never mind that Rose, like Griffin, was probably bound for greatness no matter which coach he played for, the key would be fostering an approach that emphasized player development and would aim to compete in and hopefully win games with the support of veterans like Baron, Chris Kaman, Ryan Gomes, Randy Foye and Craig Smith. It would not matter to the Clippers if the young players developed because of him or in spite of him, as long as they progressed...

In his first year, Vinny Del Negro won exactly one more game (32) than former Clippers coaches Mike Dunleavy, Alvin Gentry and Mike Shuler did in their first seasons. Only Paul Silas had more in franchise history, 36, while the team was in San Diego. Considering the dismal start to the season, that’s something. What became clear over the course of the season is the unprecedented potential for the franchise. For Del Negro and his staff, their true value will show in what they do from here, amidst the elevated expectations that come with such promise.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A little diffculty in telling the truth about Blake Griffin

You may not have heard of Randy Hill. I haven't either.

But apparently he has been covering the NBA for 25 years "as a beat writer and columnist." Judging by his latest work, I'd imagine he has done so without quite as much concern for the details as we might hope for from our national columnists/beat writers.

I wouldn't normally find my way towards his work (or to that of his contemporaries at the Fox Sports site, for that matter), but a friend suggested I take a peak at this guy's take on the Clippers season. Considering I watch every game, read nearly everything written and even occasionally write about them myself, I was interested to see what this guy had to say. As it turns out, said interest was not warranted.

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