This is looking suspiciously like his last season with the Spurs. Pops looked just confused what to do with him and Pop is not a guy who will just play a guy if he is hurt (he sat Duncan in the playoffs once when Duncan wanted to play). He must not feel like his knee is right but the docs maybe having hard time what it is exactly.
They are a very good team for teams that are perimeter oriented. I’ve watched their games but they are really weak on their frontline and really susceptible to athletic bigs. They struggle to defend as Harrell is undersized and Zubac is too slow.
Ballmer only cares about getting a championship and trying to change the legacy of the blippers in Los Angeles. If that means letting kawhi rest as much as he wants so he’ll be fresh for the playoffs, then that’s what’ll happen. I think that’s what’s going on.
cLips are smart considering what the endgame is. Kawhi did this last season too with a strong enough team behind him and look what happened. They have had a tougher schedule than us, haven’t played their stars like we have, have just as many new faces as we do to calibrate their chemistry and they still 3 losses behind us. Again, f*** the regular season and f*** seeding...just get our stars to May in one piece please. #ProtectOurStarsLives #NoWonderFolksShadeJHartHigh5s
He won't play a single b2b game , same thing happened last season with Toronto and Floppers can afford it . His injury is chronic
resting him is obviously necessary. but despite the rest, kawhi slowed down as the playoffs went on and looked hobbled by the end. they definitely lose handily had gs not lost TWO all nba players for the series. that's ignoring that they required a lucky bounce to advance to the conference finals. in other words, the rest just keeps kawhi whole, but the playoffs are up to 4 rounds, and though there's no back to backs, there also aren't long rests unless you sweep and your propsective opponents have a long series. so, you can rest...but not forever. best hope it's enough.
Exactly! Plus, prior to playing with Toronto he had a lot of time off. No such luxury now. He just won’t be the same as the playoffs progress and the West will be tougher than the East.
As much as I hate to talk positively about the Clippers, man, they will be a problem. Watching AD vs the Pelicans, AD should have dominated the low post and shot at least 70% against that team. If he can't do it against the Pelicans, I'm not sure what we're going to get when he plays vs the Clippers. I hope it's a seasonal thing until the playoffs so he can preserve himself or maybe his shoulder hurts when there is contact but man... It would be nice if AD could start getting to the rim a bit more.
The continued emergence of Harrell is definitely an issue. I expected us to dominate inside, but although we are still superior... he has certainly narrowed the gap. Will be interesting to see the Christmas game.
Totally agree that the tactic of load management has its own caveats...however those dub injuries along with Embiid’s own injury management shows just how much the management of health + luck has towards one’s title contention. I’m happy we’re building a cushion during this portion of the schedule, but it’s just too much to hope for Bron/AD not to gas out eventually. For example, last night Bron once again had to toggle the switch, which is something I hope he has to do sparingly in the regular season, so that he’s got enough juice and isnt trigger shy to do it in the playoffs.
^^Kawhi and PG13 will definetely be more rested than our duo coming into the playoffs ( barring key injuries for us) and yeah this is a major concern . Lou and Harrell are so much better than our 3rd and 4th best player , they are the luxury we don't have ... and for 14 millions a year ! Kuz will have to walk the walk in the upcoming months and/or we will have to make 1 or 2 key adjustments on the trade/buyout market^. Hopefully luck will be on our side and not on the floppers one ...
Exactly...and it’s why I find it peculiar that folks trivialize the end of the bench and chalk it up to nitpicking. Due to our lack of immediate assets and lack of control towards our future draft picks, the most realistic way to bring Bron a playmaker and give proper depth to our forward rotation is to waive our dead weight and fill it with more capable players. Elmer and TreyD may be good dudes, but they have to be looked at as potential casualties if the motive is to prevent Bron/AD from becoming missing persons in the postseason.
