Clippers 100, Kings 99: Which Cup Are You Drinking Out Of?

If Evans had used the backboard on that putback attempt, it more than likely goes in. That said, I finally actually enjoyed a 4th quarter of Kings basketball. Was encouraged by the play of Tyreke, though he did make some poor decisions with the ball, only 9 turnovers as a team is great. Forcing LA into 19 turns kept us in the game… Also loved watching Cisco get some quality minutes, all 8 of his shots were 3pt attempts… and he shot 50%!

The more I see opposing guards destroy us, the more I think that Beno’s offense isn’t worth the defensive liability. We NEED a PG who can actually play defense.

I enjoyed it and the energy, was a bit of a flashback… in the end I was not upset about the 3rd FT not going in since I felt the Kings caught a really lucky break with that foul… never the less this loss didn’t sting like so many others have.

I thought that Tyreke sagged on defense at times. I don’t blame him too much, since he was our main offensive weapon and Udrih couldn’t help guard LA’s primary ball handler (Davis/Gordon).

Cousins did a fair job with help defense, but there were a few possessions where it seemed like he genuinely didn’t know where he should be.

It seemed like Griffin had a relatively quite night, until I checked the box score. Only one highlight dunk (two if you count the fast break near the end of the fourth) when I was anticipating him posterizing our whole entire team. Speaking of which…how do you let a guy like him “dribble” from one free throw line to another, through five of our guys without stopping him? That was pretty disheartening for the crowd to see…

Team defense in general was either fair or horrible. We had one possession where Dalembert was running back on a fast break and didn’t even notice the guard that was attacking the rim until it was too late. However, there were also times when it looked like Westphal wanted immediate double teams on Davis and Griffin. Those seemed to work well the few times we tried them, but again, the Clippers moved the ball around and easily found an open man on the perimeter.

Ultimately, it came down to missed rebounds and the lack of defense on Gordon. I think most of the shots the Kings took were good, aside from the obligatory rushed Garcia three-pointer or Dalembert jumper (though he was 3 of 4 last night).A

Griffin is a MAN. I have seen him play before but that was very impressive. The array of skills that he has coupled with his nearly unprecedented strength/athleticism combo is going to be making the Western Conference a tough spot for a 4-man for quite a few years. Gordon is great also – and I was not an Aminu fan before the draft but he looks like a solid pick too.

Kings? OK. Tyreke has his only decent game in weeks and then talks about shutting it down. The starter-to-DNP-to-on-the-floor-in-crunch-time carousel continues. If not for the aberration that was Tyreke’s outside shooting, the team gets completely blown out.

Now that the “playoffs in 3 or 4 years while we lose every game this year” plan has been publicized, look for casual fan interest to really take off.

I am happy about Tyreke’s performance – but if he actually “shuts it down” this season goes into the wasted file.

Landry cannot play 36 minutes if he can only garner two defensive rebounds. Other than a questionable decision by Reke at the end, I thought it was a really exciting game to watch. I did really enjoy all 48 min of the SF position being played by Cisco/Casspi, I think the spread the floor well and its nice to have a good passer like Cisco on the floor with Beno. I like Donte, but he is the third best in this group. I think, too, the more Pooh plays, the more I see he is a spot player at best. We really do need a good third guard, or new PG so Beno can be the combo guard off the bench.

It’s a miracle DeMarcus got his hand on the ball at all. Griffin had his left arm clamped under his own, and then took him to the floor in the final second. It was dirty.

But, I predicted that last bone-headed 1 on 5 to the basket. He had no prayer of scoring. Everybody in the building – most importantly every Clipper – knew he wouldn’t pass the ball. Why PW doesn’t take more control in these situations frustrates me to no end. (And this is one his major coaching deficiencies.) We had a handful of guys shooting the ball decently last night. All Tyreke needs to do is drive and kick, and we have have at least two wide-open looks. But the guy doesn’t trust his teammates when it counts, and he ends up hurting the team in these situations when he could be using his skill to make his teammates better. I refuse to believe that the best play we can get with the game on the line is Tyreke putting his head down and running into a wall of the opposing team.