FNG grades G19 vs. Clippers

[FNG]

Randle C+
Jaden C+
Gobert B+
Conley C
Ant C
Naz B-
Donte A-
NAW B+

The Clippers are very good defensively, so I somewhat give our guys a pass on offense. And at times we saw some defensive intensity, surprisingly even some from Julius. Still, it's hard to feel good about struggling to beat a team missing its high scorer and its best player. I need to see a lot more from this team before I can start believing again.

[60WinTim]

I like to think we experienced a turning point and the steady growth can begin. It will be well tested over the next 6 games: LAL, @LAC, @GS, @GS, NYK, GS. 3-3 over those 6 games would be just fine. Anything better would be a great sign.

[Wolvesfan21]

I think both teams were good defensively, making for a "sloppy" game. It was nice to see us play defense for once.

[FNG]

I like to think we experienced a turning point and the steady growth can begin. It will be well tested over the next 6 games: LAL, @LAC, @GS, @GS, NYK, GS. 3-3 over those 6 games would be just fine. Anything better would be a great sign.

I'd like to see it, Tim, and I hope you're correct. There were some "green shoots" that appeared last night in an otherwise discouraging game that could bode well:

-Randle reacted well in low man coverage, and actually seemed to be hustling back on defense,
-Donte (who finished 3rd in total 3-pointers last season) made 3 out of 5...need more of that
-Ant showed his on-ball defensive potential after his technical foul

And yeah, I agree that 3-3 would be just fine over the next 3. And I'd like one of the three wins to be a blowout...my heart can't take many more of these nailbiters!

[Q-is-here]

I think both teams were good defensively, making for a "sloppy" game. It was nice to see us play defense for once.

The Clippers played soft defense to start the game which we only mildly capitalized on. Then they came out in Q3 and put a lot more pressure on the ball and blitzed the pick and roll. We have been awful against teams that play a more aggressive versus bunker style defense and sure enough we coughed up the ball 5 times in the first three minutes of the 3rd quarter. Most of our guys have a total lack of composure when faced with ball pressure. It's not even limited to just one or two guys.

Alas, we also played great defense and it ended up winning us the game, so you can't fault our effort. But I really thought we could have blown the game open in the first half when the Clips played a more conservative defense but we are just too damn clunky and sloppy on that side of the ball.

And finally, that type of defense will be hard to sustain with an 8-man rotation. Rudy and Ant are having to play too many minutes.

[Wolvesfan21]

I think both teams were good defensively, making for a "sloppy" game. It was nice to see us play defense for once.

The Clippers played soft defense to start the game which we only mildly capitalized on. Then they came out in Q3 and put a lot more pressure on the ball and blitzed the pick and roll. We have been awful against teams that play a more aggressive versus bunker style defense and sure enough we coughed up the ball 5 times in the first three minutes of the 3rd quarter. Most of our guys have a total lack of composure when faced with ball pressure. It's not even limited to just one or two guys.

Alas, we also played great defense and it ended up winning us the game, so you can't fault our effort. But I really thought we could have blown the game open in the first half when the Clips played a more conservative defense but we are just too damn clunky and sloppy on that side of the ball.

And finally, that type of defense will be hard to sustain with an 8-man rotation. Rudy and Ant are having to play too many minutes.

Agreed on the 8 man rotation being difficult to maintain intensity. The thing I kind of like to think though is if you are pressuring on defense, they also get tired. You have to run and push transition though too if it's there. If you make them pay right away, then you can make them try to rest on offense. Kind of like how the Suns just totally collapsed due to the pressure they faced. Both teams were tired but we had the momentum and energy boost from being the enforcer and aggressor.

I also want to see Dilly get consistent minutes for the long term development. It seems the coaches are much more concerned on the here and now and who can blame them with how the team started the year. We are a long way from looking like a contender though with this squad as is. So my preference would be to get Dilly to develop quicker and maybe that pays off in the spring.

[Lipoli390]

Randle C+
Jaden C+
Gobert B+
Conley C
Ant C
Naz B-
Donte A-
NAW B+

The Clippers are very good defensively, so I somewhat give our guys a pass on offense. And at times we saw some defensive intensity, surprisingly even some from Julius. Still, it's hard to feel good about struggling to beat a team missing its high scorer and its best player. I need to see a lot more from this team before I can start believing again.

Just watched the replay, FNG, and I agree with your grades except I’d bump Ant up to a B-. He’s the only guy who scored 20+ points for us and none of his teammates came close. He wasn’t efficient but he produced buckets and we needed them.

I also agree it’s hard to feel good about this win. We were playing at home against a good but not great team missing its best player and that team committed a lot of unforced turnovers; yet we just eked out a win by only 1 point. While it was good to see our defense come to life, scoring only 93 points was simply a continuation of an anemic offense that will ultimately put this team in the lottery (for Utah’s benefit).

[FNG]

Randle C+
Jaden C+
Gobert B+
Conley C
Ant C
Naz B-
Donte A-
NAW B+

The Clippers are very good defensively, so I somewhat give our guys a pass on offense. And at times we saw some defensive intensity, surprisingly even some from Julius. Still, it's hard to feel good about struggling to beat a team missing its high scorer and its best player. I need to see a lot more from this team before I can start believing again.

Just watched the replay, FNG, and I agree with your grades except I’d bump Ant up to a B-. He’s the only guy who scored 20+ points for us and none of his teammates came close. He wasn’t efficient but he produced buckets and we needed them.

I also agree it’s hard to feel good about this win. We were playing at home against a good but not great team missing its best player and that team committed a lot of unforced turnovers; yet we just eked out a win by only 1 point. While it was good to see our defense come to life, scoring only 93 points was simply a continuation of an anemic offense that will ultimately put this team in the lottery (for Utah’s benefit).

I'll accept your Ant upgrade, Lip, although I don't like his needing 21 shots to get his 21 points and having more turnovers than assists. But his defensive intensity after his tech was fun to watch (I don't know why he can't bring that more consistently though) and we might have lost the game without his dunk and 3-pointer in the closing minutes. He is such a talented player, but I continue to think his inconsistency is the biggest drawback to our contending...that's why I have a tendency to grade him harshly.

[Lipoli390]

Randle C+
Jaden C+
Gobert B+
Conley C
Ant C
Naz B-
Donte A-
NAW B+

The Clippers are very good defensively, so I somewhat give our guys a pass on offense. And at times we saw some defensive intensity, surprisingly even some from Julius. Still, it's hard to feel good about struggling to beat a team missing its high scorer and its best player. I need to see a lot more from this team before I can start believing again.

Just watched the replay, FNG, and I agree with your grades except I’d bump Ant up to a B-. He’s the only guy who scored 20+ points for us and none of his teammates came close. He wasn’t efficient but he produced buckets and we needed them.

I also agree it’s hard to feel good about this win. We were playing at home against a good but not great team missing its best player and that team committed a lot of unforced turnovers; yet we just eked out a win by only 1 point. While it was good to see our defense come to life, scoring only 93 points was simply a continuation of an anemic offense that will ultimately put this team in the lottery (for Utah’s benefit).

I'll accept your Ant upgrade, Lip, although I don't like his needing 21 shots to get his 21 points and having more turnovers than assists. But his defensive intensity after his tech was fun to watch (I don't know why he can't bring that more consistently though) and we might have lost the game without his dunk and 3-pointer in the closing minutes. He is such a talented player, but I continue to think his inconsistency is the biggest drawback to our contending...that's why I have a tendency to grade him harshly.

Unfortunately, Ant’s mouth has gotten ahead of his play. He’s talked about being an MVP candidate but he’s not even playing at a level worth of a top 20 rating right now. Is he truly committed to the game to the extent necessary to be great? I’m not sure yet.

[Q-is-here]

Just watched the replay, FNG, and I agree with your grades except I’d bump Ant up to a B-. He’s the only guy who scored 20+ points for us and none of his teammates came close. He wasn’t efficient but he produced buckets and we needed them.

I also agree it’s hard to feel good about this win. We were playing at home against a good but not great team missing its best player and that team committed a lot of unforced turnovers; yet we just eked out a win by only 1 point. While it was good to see our defense come to life, scoring only 93 points was simply a continuation of an anemic offense that will ultimately put this team in the lottery (for Utah’s benefit).

I'll accept your Ant upgrade, Lip, although I don't like his needing 21 shots to get his 21 points and having more turnovers than assists. But his defensive intensity after his tech was fun to watch (I don't know why he can't bring that more consistently though) and we might have lost the game without his dunk and 3-pointer in the closing minutes. He is such a talented player, but I continue to think his inconsistency is the biggest drawback to our contending...that's why I have a tendency to grade him harshly.

Unfortunately, Ant’s mouth has gotten ahead of his play. He’s talked about being an MVP candidate but he’s not even playing at a level worth of a top 20 rating right now. Is he truly committed to the game to the extent necessary to be great? I’m not sure yet.

Ant still has time to keep upping his game, but it is starting to become apparent that his ceiling might be as a 2nd or 3rd Team All-Star (top 10-20 type player) that can play like a top 5 star for stretches when appropriately focused and not out of gas. I said it before, but he was the second best player after Jokic in the playoffs through the first two series last season. Then he sort of faded in the Dallas series.

I think the biggest thing he lacks that prevents him from being a top 5 player is play making for others. Some of that has to do with his team mates. Jaden misses a LOT of 3s that Ant opens up for him. Rudy's bad hands limits the type of passes Ant can throw him. And Randle is more of an iso player. But he also just flat out misses open people a lot and rarely makes clinical passes that require a super high degree of skill and accuracy. He simply doesn't have the skill level of, say, LeBron, James Harden, or Luka Doncic.

Still, he's a hell of a player to have because he can impact the game defensively and offensively in crunch time. I think offensively he's somewhat stifled when playing with Jaden, Randle and Rudy. One of his greatest strengths is driving, but the paint is so damn crowded. I think he can be a better version of himself if he was on the floor at all times with at least three other legit shooting threats.