I didn't even watch the game, but LOL at the reactions to Blake and Chris Paul

[tmacattack33]

So apparently Chris Paul is now the biggest choker ever, and Blake's stats are empty.

Even though in basically every playoff game I watched of theirs this year, they were both straight up BALLIN.

It is entirely possible that both of them played well, but their other 6 teammates (since they were using basically a 8 man rotation) and their coach are the reason they lost.

Basketball is a team game, and y'all are acting like Chris Paul and Blake lost a 2-on-2 series at the park against James Harden and Dwight Howard.

:facepalm

[ApexPredator]

Blake was winning without Paul, so this is just a Paul issue.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

"I didn't even watch the game"

Yes, go on ... :hammerhead:

[Marchesk]

That's why Wilt is BOAT.

[brooks_thompson]

So apparently Chris Paul is now the biggest choker ever, and Blake's stats are empty.

Even though in basically every playoff game I watched of theirs this year, they were both straight up BALLIN.

It is entirely possible that both of them played well, but their other 6 teammates (since they were using basically a 8 man rotation) and their coach are the reason they lost.

Basketball is a team game, and y'all are acting like Chris Paul and Blake lost a 2-on-2 series at the park against James Harden and Dwight Howard.

:facepalm

Sorry, but this year he does not get a pass. He's not as unclutch as claimed, considering i can think of a counter for each of his gaffes the past couple years. But his demeanor on the court, the flopping, and the Napoleon complex...maybe the best point guard who isn't a true leader to ever play.

He's still got years left, but he needs an attitude adjustment.

[salwan]

I don't like Chris Paul, but the series was clearly won/lost by the respective 6-10 rotations.

Anybody saying something else has clearly an agenda or is just being stupid.

[Orlando Magic]

I don't like Chris Paul, but the series was clearly won/lost by the respective 6-10 rotations.

Anybody saying something else has clearly an agenda or is just being stupid.

Are you kidding? The 6-10 rotations? The Clippers gave away the series in game 6. And in game 7, Blake Griffin was straight up FEARFUL of shooting the ball or making a play for about half of the game along with EVERY OTHER CLIPPERS player besides Chris Paul. It was the ENTIRE rotation minus Paul.

This series L falls on Doc Rivers for game 6 and every single Clippers player besides Chris Paul in game 7.

[kshutts1]

I don't like Chris Paul, but the series was clearly won/lost by the respective 6-10 rotations.

I agree with that.

The major difference in the series, in my eyes, was that the Clips didn't have a single role player step up. Their stars did their thing, but the role players were nowhere to be found.

Some argue the G6 collapse, and the lack of energy in G7... that can be partially attributed to lack of role players, still, in that the stars were likely more tired than their Houston counterparts.

As for the lack of energy in G7, Clippers have no "energizer bunny" kind of player, that just comes out and gets the crowd/team pumped. Dirty work, hustle plays kinda guy. Rockets have Ariza and Brewer and Pablo, Hawks have Carroll, Cavs have Delly and Tristan, Warriors have Green..
Barnes is supposed to be that guy for the Clippers, but he has taken a few steps back lately.

[WorldWarriors]

I agree with that.

The major difference in the series, in my eyes, was that the Clips didn't have a single role player step up. Their stars did their thing, but the role players were nowhere to be found.

Some argue the G6 collapse, and the lack of energy in G7... that can be partially attributed to lack of role players, still, in that the stars were likely more tired than their Houston counterparts.

As for the lack of energy in G7, Clippers have no "energizer bunny" kind of player, that just comes out and gets the crowd/team pumped. Dirty work, hustle plays kinda guy. Rockets have Ariza and Brewer and Pablo, Hawks have Carroll, Cavs have Delly and Tristan, Warriors have Green..
Barnes is supposed to be that guy for the Clippers, but he has taken a few steps back lately.


Okay this makes sense. I watched all of the games and Blake does well for about 3 quarters but then he disappears in the 4th. Game 7 he not only disappeared but he made some pretty costly mistakes. Maybe he was gassed or maybe he was shook. Whatever the reason, he was not playing like a superstar fighting for his playoff life.

I do agree that the Clippers got nothing from their role players in the last 3 games. Barnes took a step back because he was starting. He is not a starter. He should be coming off the bench.

[kshutts1]

Okay this makes sense. I watched all of the games and Blake does well for about 3 quarters but then he disappears in the 4th. Game 7 he not only disappeared but he made some pretty costly mistakes. Maybe he was gassed or maybe he was shook. Whatever the reason, he was not playing like a superstar fighting for his playoff life.

I do agree that the Clippers got nothing from their role players in the last 3 games. Barnes took a step back because he was starting. He is not a starter. He should be coming off the bench.
1) I agree that in G7 the Clips as a whole didn't seem to be fighting for their playoff lives. Even my girlfriend made the comment, in the last two minutes, "They would have won if they tried this hard all game".

Being "gassed" is a legit excuse, but not one the viewing public wants to hear or consider

2) I can't think of any "costly mistakes" that just Blake made. He did get blocked by Smith on that one play, but that's not a mistake. Blocks happen. I doubt any player that gets blocked wants to be. Blake also had pretty poor PnR defense in G7. I guess that can be a mistake. And lastly, when the Clips were making their run, and were only down 8... Griffin passed up an open 18footer. He should have shot that. I think that, and the poor PnR D, are the only true "mistakes" he made.

Pretty much, it's not uncommon for a team to come out flat. For whatever reason, they don't have the energy or drive or determination... whatever the reason. And, more often than not, teams rely on a "spark plug" off the bench to bring that passion. The Clippers do not have such a player. They, as a team, came out unprepared and lacking energy, and no one was there to pump them up.

Falls on the coach, IMO. Pretty sure it's in his job description to be a motivator (among other things).

[UK2K]

So apparently Chris Paul is now the biggest choker ever, and Blake's stats are empty.

Even though in basically every playoff game I watched of theirs this year, they were both straight up BALLIN.

It is entirely possible that both of them played well, but their other 6 teammates (since they were using basically a 8 man rotation) and their coach are the reason they lost.

Basketball is a team game, and y'all are acting like Chris Paul and Blake lost a 2-on-2 series at the park against James Harden and Dwight Howard.

:facepalm

Blake Griffin in games 5, 6, 7...

+/-

-30

[Eric Cartman]

Blake got outplayed by Josh fricking Smith, dude was trash talking him saying he couldn't guard and Smith was right, Griffin let that dude straight punk him. Griffin has all the physical tools to be the dominant, dude showed it against the Spurs. You don't let your team lose a 20 point second half lead at home in a close out game to a less than stellar Rockets team, while pulling a Lebron 2011 disappearing act in the process.

CP3 was okay I guess, but not the best point guard, superstar type to propel his team to the next level, never has been though, so he gets a pass, cause he's not on Lebron/Durant/Kobe's level, he's a 2nd, probably 3rd option on a championship team.

[coin24]

You should have watched the game OP, the clippers got there shit pushed all the way in..:lol

What kind of a ball fan doesn't watch a game 7 of the playoffs anyway

[Mass Debator]

The Clips lost because of SF play and their bench performance. Crawford is a straight up chucker, and he's supposed to be their 4th best player with occasional #1 option duties. When he has shot over 40%, the Clippers have won in this series.

Switch Barnes with Ariza and this is a 4-1 series in favor of the Clippers. The Rockets role players were the difference. Good ups to Prigioni and Josh too. Believe it or not, I think the Clippers win it all with Ray Allen playing spurts at SF...unfortunately that wasn't the case.

And...I believe CP3 lost a lot of it in the 3rd. They were in the bonus with a little under 7 mins left in the quarter. He did not attack or draw fouls like how he's capable of. Instead, he kept feeding iso-Blake and iso-Crawford. CP3 did play his heart out in the 4th though neutralizing Harden on D, but it was a little too late. CP3 is absolutely a superstar on both sides of the ball. He just needed 1 or 2 more pieces...shooters and someone other than Spencer Hawes.

Lastly, the real choker is Doc Rivers. He just has that panic vibe about him and it doesn't seem like he holds his team accountable. Always at a disbelief with refs making calls that doesn't go his way instead of stepping up to the plate. All-time great motivator, but I don't know about the Xs and Os part of his game...especially in the moment. I give CP3, Blake, and Deandre huge credit. They played their part, but the role players just couldn't hit shots. JJ Redick...come on man! 6/26 in the last 3 games from downtown???? :facepalm

[WorldWarriors]

1) I agree that in G7 the Clips as a whole didn't seem to be fighting for their playoff lives. Even my girlfriend made the comment, in the last two minutes, "They would have won if they tried this hard all game".

Being "gassed" is a legit excuse, but not one the viewing public wants to hear or consider

2) I can't think of any "costly mistakes" that just Blake made. He did get blocked by Smith on that one play, but that's not a mistake. Blocks happen. I doubt any player that gets blocked wants to be. Blake also had pretty poor PnR defense in G7. I guess that can be a mistake. And lastly, when the Clips were making their run, and were only down 8... Griffin passed up an open 18footer. He should have shot that. I think that, and the poor PnR D, are the only true "mistakes" he made.

Pretty much, it's not uncommon for a team to come out flat. For whatever reason, they don't have the energy or drive or determination... whatever the reason. And, more often than not, teams rely on a "spark plug" off the bench to bring that passion. The Clippers do not have such a player. They, as a team, came out unprepared and lacking energy, and no one was there to pump them up.

Falls on the coach, IMO. Pretty sure it's in his job description to be a motivator (among other things).


A couple of things you missed on Blake. He let Rockets PG beat him to a rebound and kick it back to someone for a made 3 pointer.

Right after that he committed 2 consecutive turnovers.

And since we're talking about Blake. He made his first and only 2 free throw attempts in the 4th quarter and missed one on top of that.

You can't have your superstar power forward not going to the hole and drawing fouls.

But I don't want to be too hard on him because if like you said, he was really gassed and could do no more.

[kshutts1]

A couple of things you missed on Blake. He let Rockets PG beat him to a rebound and kick it back to someone for a made 3 pointer.

Right after that he committed 2 consecutive turnovers.

And since we're talking about Blake. He made his first and only 2 free throw attempts in the 4th quarter and missed one on top of that.

You can't have your superstar power forward not going to the hole and drawing fouls.

But I don't want to be too hard on him because if like you said, he was really gassed and could do no more.
Missed rebounds and turnovers happen. They're not mistakes, IMO.

A mistake is something you have full control over.

Edit: Not to mention, I'm pretty sure that rebound was a blown box-out by Austin

[WorldWarriors]

The Clips lost because of SF play and their bench performance. Crawford is a straight up chucker, and he's supposed to be their 4th best player with occasional #1 option duties. When he has shot over 40%, the Clippers have won in this series.

Switch Barnes with Ariza and this is a 4-1 series in favor of the Clippers. The Rockets role players were the difference. Good ups to Prigioni and Josh too. Believe it or not, I think the Clippers win it all with Ray Allen playing spurts at SF...unfortunately that wasn't the case.

And...I believe CP3 lost a lot of it in the 3rd. They were in the bonus with a little under 7 mins left in the quarter. He did not attack or draw fouls like how he's capable of. Instead, he kept feeding iso-Blake and iso-Crawford. CP3 did play his heart out in the 4th though neutralizing Harden on D, but it was a little too late. CP3 is absolutely a superstar on both sides of the ball. He just needed 1 or 2 more pieces...shooters and someone other than Spencer Hawes.

Lastly, the real choker is Doc Rivers. He just has that panic vibe about him and it doesn't seem like he holds his team accountable. Always at a disbelief with refs making calls that doesn't go his way instead of stepping up to the plate. All-time great motivator, but I don't know about the Xs and Os part of his game...especially in the moment. I give CP3, Blake, and Deandre huge credit. They played their part, but the role players just couldn't hit shots. JJ Redick...come on man! 6/26 in the last 3 games from downtown???? :facepalm

Reddick, Barnes and Crawford were just awful.

[WorldWarriors]

Missed rebounds and turnovers happen. They're not mistakes, IMO.

A mistake is something you have full control over.


I disagree. The effort was missing.

[Mass Debator]

A couple of things you missed on Blake. He let Rockets PG beat him to a rebound and kick it back to someone for a made 3 pointer.

Right after that he committed 2 consecutive turnovers.

And since we're talking about Blake. He made his first and only 2 free throw attempts in the 4th quarter and missed one on top of that.

You can't have your superstar power forward not going to the hole and drawing fouls.

But I don't want to be too hard on him because if like you said, he was really gassed and could do no more.
Blake's really gotta work on his face up game. Backing up Smith wasn't really working and he had nothing else to resort to except from CP3 assisting his jumpers.

[kshutts1]

I disagree. The effort was missing.
I fully agree with that. And I edited my post to include Rivers missing that box-out. And you admit blake was "gassed" so why doesn't that apply to the rebound?

That was one of those moments where you just knew the Rockets wanted it more, or rather the Clips didn't want it at all, and the game was fully over.

[brooks_thompson]

Missed rebounds and turnovers happen. They're not mistakes, IMO.

A mistake is something you have full control over.



No, an error made when in full control of a situation is negligence.

[kshutts1]

No, an error made when in full control of a situation is negligence.
Pretty sure both terms apply.

I just can't call a Rockets player stealing a dribble or pass a "mistake". Unless it was clear before the play that it would not end well. Examples of that would be throwing a cross-court pass to a covered player, etc.

[WorldWarriors]

I fully agree with that. And I edited my post to include Rivers missing that box-out. And you admit blake was "gassed" so why doesn't that apply to the rebound?

That was one of those moments where you just knew the Rockets wanted it more, or rather the Clips didn't want it at all, and the game was fully over.


LOL I said "if" he was gassed like you said. I have no proof that he was but its a possibility. But still either way I saw no effort.

It doesn't matter if Rivers missed the box out. He's not a star, he's a scrub who got hot a couple of times.

Blake is the star of the team and he was right there by the ball.

But whatever. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

[kshutts1]

A couple of things you missed on Blake. He let Rockets PG beat him to a rebound and kick it back to someone for a made 3 pointer.

Right after that he committed 2 consecutive turnovers.

And since we're talking about Blake. He made his first and only 2 free throw attempts in the 4th quarter and missed one on top of that.

You can't have your superstar power forward not going to the hole and drawing fouls.

But I don't want to be too hard on him because if like you said, he was really gassed and could do no more.
I need to work on my reading comprehension.

[jzek]

Better to have CP3 than NoWill.

[salwan]

Are you kidding? The 6-10 rotations? The Clippers gave away the series in game 6. And in game 7, Blake Griffin was straight up FEARFUL of shooting the ball or making a play for about half of the game along with EVERY OTHER CLIPPERS player besides Chris Paul. It was the ENTIRE rotation minus Paul.

This series L falls on Doc Rivers for game 6 and every single Clippers player besides Chris Paul in game 7.


This is typical skip bayless stuff.

The Clippers had a gruelling 7-game- series in their legs while playing with a 7-men-rotation. And their 6th and 7th men were just heat check guards playing bad defense. I mean, Austin rivers was their 7th man for crying out loud. And big baby got some mins as their bench big :oldlol:
All that while cp3 missed some games/minutes and played with a bad hamstring.

On the other hand, the Rockets had guys like Brewer, prigioni and Jones balling. Heck, even josh smith was draining 3s like nothing :lol and they had basically a walkover in the first round.

Obviously, Jj wasn't Jj, Barnes' jumper went at the worst moment and even Blake played bad defense and was certainly tentative in the closing minutes of games. And they certainly should have put game 6 to bed.

But don't you think it had more something to do with their lack of depth, the number of games and minutes on their wheels, than just simply proclaiming they choked? And you have to give credit to the Rockets for stepping up as a unit. Also, they put Dwight on Blake in stretches and his defense was great.

I mean, I just can't understand how anybody can take something else from this year's Clippers' playoff run than that they need to upgrade their bench and get more wing 3-and-D guys.

Even doc the coach, I think, took this team to their limits.
Doc the GM, on the other hand, failed miserably.

[ninephive]

I'm good with not putting the loss entirely on Chris Paul...this is a team game. But then we need to be honest and admit that Chris Paul doesn't have a big enough impact on the games to carry a team deep in the playoffs. Blake Griffin played outstanding, Deandre does his thing, and Reddick played good. Crawford struggled, but other than that Chris Paul had the help he needed to move on. He didn't do it again, so let's just drop him a tier and move on. In his career he's an elite statistical point guard whose skills don't transfer to team success for one reason or another. His passing game is overrated because the lobs overinflate his numbers and the flashy passes make us think he's amazing. But he doesn't do two things that a guy like Tony Parker does for you: (1) Move without the ball. Parker is running through sets of screens all game long, getting bumped and exerting a ton of energy to get the offense moving. (2) Suck defenses in by driving. Too often Chris Paul stops and tries the 15 footer. It's not a bad shot because he's pretty efficient at it, but if he could get in the lane more often and be more of a scoring threat inside, it would open up the shooters or get the ball swinging.

The Parker-run offense that we saw in 2014 did exactly that and it was basically unstoppable. People on here say that you could just switch them and that the Spurs would be just as successful, but unless Chris Paul learned to move well without the ball and had the ability to suck an entire defense in, I don't think we would have ever seen that 2014 team, which was one of the greatest passing teams in NBA history.

[sd3035]

You should have watched the game OP, the clippers got there shit pushed all the way in..:lol

What kind of a ball fan doesn't watch a game 7 of the playoffs anyway


Lebaldo stans

[WorldWarriors]

Blake's really gotta work on his face up game. Backing up Smith wasn't really working and he had nothing else to resort to except from CP3 assisting his jumpers.

Someone said he needs to create space.

[k0kakw0rld]

So apparently Chris Paul is now the biggest choker ever, and Blake's stats are empty.

Even though in basically every playoff game I watched of theirs this year, they were both straight up BALLIN.

It is entirely possible that both of them played well, but their other 6 teammates (since they were using basically a 8 man rotation) and their coach are the reason they lost.

Basketball is a team game, and y'all are acting like Chris Paul and Blake lost a 2-on-2 series at the park against James Harden and Dwight Howard.

:facepalm
Who are people going to blame? You are the leader of the team, you take the blame, it is that simple.

Clippers lost by 13 points, it just means that CP3 & Blake should've scored 14 more points in order for their team to win. I don't care if you score 50 or 60 points. The points is they shouldve scored or assisted for 14 more points in order to win against the Rockets and they didn't. Empty stat$/fail whatever you wanna call it.

[HOoopCityJones]

Lmao at CP3 needing even more help.

[Big Cheese]

This is typical skip bayless stuff.

The Clippers had a gruelling 7-game- series in their legs while playing with a 7-men-rotation. And their 6th and 7th men were just heat check guards playing bad defense. I mean, Austin rivers was their 7th man for crying out loud. And big baby got some mins as their bench big :oldlol:
All that while cp3 missed some games/minutes and played with a bad hamstring.

On the other hand, the Rockets had guys like Brewer, prigioni and Jones balling. Heck, even josh smith was draining 3s like nothing :lol and they had basically a walkover in the first round.

Obviously, Jj wasn't Jj, Barnes' jumper went at the worst moment and even Blake played bad defense and was certainly tentative in the closing minutes of games. And they certainly should have put game 6 to bed.

But don't you think it had more something to do with their lack of depth, the number of games and minutes on their wheels, than just simply proclaiming they choked? And you have to give credit to the Rockets for stepping up as a unit. Also, they put Dwight on Blake in stretches and his defense was great.

I mean, I just can't understand how anybody can take something else from this year's Clippers' playoff run than that they need to upgrade their bench and get more wing 3-and-D guys.

Even doc the coach, I think, took this team to their limits.
Doc the GM, on the other hand, failed miserably.

you make a good point about fatigue being a factor. I was listening to a basketball podcast that reiterated those same points. A difference between the first 4 games and the last 3 that alot of people dont mention was the amount of hacking.

During the first 4 games both teams were hacking like crazy, which allowed the clippers to rest on a ton of possessions. They went away from that during the last 3 games.

you could tell that their fatigue was affecting them in those last couple of games because their 3 point percentage went shit.

Game 1 41% game 5 25%
game 2 24% game 6 23%
game 3 44% game 7 25%
game 4 41%