It’s still very early in the season and to put the Clippers’ poor start in perspective, let’s remember that the Cavs started last season with a 5-7 record before making it to the finals. Still, there is reason for concern. A roster like the Clippers’, with so much talent, should not have as much difficulty securing wins. After Sunday’s loss, the Clippers are 6-7.
There is plenty of blame to go around. After all, Blake Griffin, J.J. Redick, Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan and Jamal Crawford are all capable of doing more. The addition of Paul Pierce was supposed to bring a stronger mentality to the team, but we’ve seen the Clippers take opponents lightly and consistently get beat on the boards.
Few saw this sort of start for the Clippers, so here’s the topic for today: How will the Clippers finish the season? What is mostly to blame for the poor start?
Take to the comments section below to voice your thoughts and opinions, as well as to provide us with your best predictions. We look forward to what you have to say.
Having to play the Warriors twice hasn’t helped. I think they miss the defense and toughness that Matt Barnes gave them. Chris Paul and J.J. Redick have missed some time, and it doesn’t seem like Doc quite knows what he has with all the new pieces yet. They’ll get it figured out and finish somewhere in the top four of the West as long as they’re healthy.
The loss of Barnes was an under-the-radar move. Without him, the Clippers don’t really have a strong perimeter defender. That could be an area they decide to address before the deadline.
Who’s to blame? Easy, it’s “Mr Top 3 head coach” Doc Rivers. They still have no bench outside of Crawford and Smith, no legitimate backup to Paul, and for the 3rd yr in a row, no starting SF.
I will say the addition of Pierce for his strong mentality was a smart move, but with a soft (mentally speaking) as Paul Jordan and Griffin are, you need about 3-4 Pierces to deal with that. They’re just a fragile team and Memphis exposed them of that back in 2013
At times, too many ball dominant players on the floor together. Not much perimeter defense. Not as much shooting as they had previously on the floor at times, and they havent shot the ball nearly as well as they have the last couple of years b/c of it. Also, I have been confused by their use of their depth so far this year. Josh Smith should see more time to help them defensively . He can even protect the rim when DeAndre Jordan is on the bench
This roster is too talented to be playing this poorly without some major dysfunction involved. It’s hard to understand what Doc is doing with the rotation, and it’s also disconcerting that the defense is still disappointing after basically underperforming during most of the doc rivers era. This team will figure out the offense, there are just too many creative and talented players to not find a way to mesh. But they had better take defensive execution seriously throughout each game, or it’s going to be another sad clippers season.
Doc has been easily the most overrated coach in the league for the last few years. He should have used his credit from the Celtics success by now. The coaching job he has done since arriving in LA has been poor and this is an understatement. While other coaches get the boot for doing more, his power just get bigger. This team is going nowhere (meaning first or second round exit again) until they make a significant change.
I have been a Clippers fan and a season ticket holder for 12 years and it is the same old body language.