2022-23 Team Developments: News / Trades / Free Agents / Rumors

I agree with Stephen A

 

SAS speaks like someone who really hasn't watched russ play in a while. and then he lists his availability as a key factor.

he is right that he'll be extra-motivated to do well in that specific place just to stick it to us, though. worst possible spot for us, and i'm positive that factored into his decision.

still pretty dubious about the actual fit, though.

 

Yeah but same typical take that usually came from the old school color guys and play by play on TNT and ESPN watching our games …. all this deference to the player he was and his reputation and very little nuance to most games actual performance and the also “now” negative aspects of his performance that just as often as not cancel out the positive. “He’ll be there (show up) when Paul George is out.” Yeah …. so? He showed up when LeBron and/or AD didn’t here as well. Not saying he “can’t” play better for them but if he does it will have NOTHING to do with him not having been given the same opportunities from 2 different coaches while with the Lakers, with the caveat we did not have the shooters Clips have.

 

a dead giveaway is saying "the athleticism is still there". i mean, it most definitely isn't. during his 8-10 year prime, he was one of the most athletic players in nba history. he's a below-average nba athlete now, imo. no way you can watch him play and miss that.

yeah, i realize SAS doesn't make his money being a logician, but that made no sense. he didn't help us win any games without our stars, and he probably won't help them win games without theirs, either.

 

he's barely more athletic than me tbh

 

He did some …. this year help win a game or 2 without our full contingent of Bron and AD but as well contributed toward the loss of momentum at the worst times and losses in other games.

 

I think we do agree here.

To try and clarify quickly, I see the same problems for them that you do. Particularly your a and b points.

i think they have a better overall team but that we can beat them if we show up. That’s the main problem I always see when we play them even when their stars are hurt. They play like their lives are on the line and we play like we just found out there was a game 30 minutes before tip off. Yes, I’m exaggerating but I think you get my point.

 

oh yeah, marcus morris and reggie jackson have had multiple out-of-body experiences against us, and there's obviously high motivation on that side to beat us every time out and very little motivation on our side. i fully expect a loss in our remaining meeting this year.

but much like our title year, i don't think the gap is as big as it looks based on the results, and in order for the teams to meet in the playoffs, they'd probably both have to advance, which really isn't a given in either case (the clippers don't get to play us every night!).

 

Maybe Russ benefits the Clippers or maybe he doesn't, I really don't know. Their roster is more conducive to his play style than ours was IMO. That said, taking minutes away from Bones f***ing Hyland is not one of the reasons why this is a bad move lol. Bones Hyland is a second year player with a negative BPM that can't defend anyone and forced his way out of the team with the best record in the conference. The Clippers traded for him because he is a 22 year old with some talent that was remarkably available at the deadline for second round picks, not because he was going to be some key part of their championship push. Signing Russ and seemingly promising to start him after you just signaled you would play bigger by trading for Plumlee, that's the part that doesn't really make sense.

 

i just think it's interesting to trade for a guy who was frustrated with his role and minutes only to...give him even less of a role and minutes. and it's not like russ has been setting the world on fire himself. he, too, has a negative bpm.

 

Westbrook is basically like Wall for them again. They'll soon realize they're much better with him on the bench so I doubt he plays much of a role by the end of the season.

 

That's fair. I see them trading for Hyland similarly to our trading for Rui; its more about using your limited resources to lock in a younger player for the next few years. I could see him being their regular starter at PG next season, but I don't think he's ready for that yet.

 

And he’s easily offended

 

He will find a more supportive and graceful environment with the Clippers. Just because it did not work with this toxic environment alongside Lebron, doesn't mean it will be the same on the other side. He will be productive and supported there, and that will make a huge difference in the results.

 

Oh BS. Your LeBron hate colors most of your comments. Toxic environment because of LeBron is what derailed Westbrook here.

For bleeps and giggles check the comments on a Clippers site .... pretty much the same mixed but mostly negative expectations as wound up being the facts of the situation here. He had plenty of opportunities both coaches to "be Russ".

https://clippertalk.proboards.com/thread/2044/comes-westbrook

 

i mean, lebron and AD were all smiles when russ got here, too. just like pg is now. again, not saying it can't work, but betting on its likelihood...

 

Man..Russ is going to do well over there and I hate to say that, because that doesn't look good for our chances of beating them. They were already a problem if healthy, and Russ and Plumlee just adds to it.

Their team fits his game better for several reasons. They have shooters..they shoot 38% from 3 as a team. That team has 5 guys that shoot 38% or better from 3 with over 200 attempts. We have 1 and that's D'Angelo.

Russ is a facilitator, he gets people the ball. This dude avg 12.5 assists in Washington, the assists are going to go down playing with Lebron, but he was still the top assists man off the bench in the league here. His MO is to attack the lane, and either feed the bigs easy looks, or kick it out to shooters. He did both here, but our shooters missed a ton of open looks. Zubac and Plumlee finish well at the rim, and the Clippers have shooters in abundance.

The environment is also different, pass first PG are going to have a problem playing with Lebron. He's a high end PG himself, and he prefers his guards to be shooters, because that doesn't interfere with his preferred style of play. George and Kawhi are scorers, that don't want the responsibility of being facilitators, and they obviously didn't have any confidence in the guys, that they already had in that regard. It's a much better fit for Westbrook over there. I don't want to see those dudes at all, if possible in the playoffs. However Kawhi and PG3 are more brittle than Lebron and AD. If it was in the Conference Finals, it's a reasonable expectation that one of them is going to be hurt and not at 100%, possibly both. I like our chances better in that scenario.

 

Russ was Lebron's 3rd choice, I believe Anthony was way more pro Westbrook than Lebron ever was. The problem is AD missed more games than Lebron. Still they only played 44 games together and went 22-22.

 

2 more he will miss free throws
He will brush you off and go to ball control mode