In Search of Glee: The Woeful Clippers' Climb To Greatness

[Tim Moungey]

omg, trading Blake?! Even for Curry... I could ALWAYS get Curry for not that expensive! IDK mate, I think scoring bigs are way harder to come by

Yeah it flies in the face of conventional wisdom, but Blake was just really inconsistent for me IMO. Not a guy I could rely on night in and night out. Admittedly that isn't fair for a guy in just his second season, but I just didn't feel like he was really the answer. Besides, I love Curry, and his A/TO ratio has markedly improved as he's adjusted to the team.

I feel like we're a lot better with the lineup we've got now, and finding another young scoring big won't be quite as difficult as it looks. Remember, Chandler and Curry are both $10 mil+ expiring contracts, and we should have a late lottery first round pick.

[Tim Moungey]

Trade Trade!

Atlanta Hawks receive
PF Carl Landry

Sacramento Kings receive
SF Maurice Evans
Atlanta Hawks 2011 1st round pick

What this means for the Hawks
Landry, 26, is still developing and projects as the future starting SF whenever Grant Hill retires. He makes a nice forward tandem with Josh Smith, but Atlanta needs to make sure Landry stays for this deal to be worth it - he's a free agent and, as a second round pick, unrestricted.

What this means for the Kings
Sacramento is one of the worst teams in the league, so another late first probably makes more sense than Landry, just in terms of setting the clock for their rebuild. Evan's a $2.5 million expiring bench scrub.

Winner: Sacramento
Even given it's a late first, the pick will benefit the Kings more than Landry benefits the Hawks, especially if Atlanta doesn't keep him.

Miami Heat receive
PF Rasheed Wallace

Sacramento Kings receive
PF Juwan Howard

What this means for the Heat
Sheed may be 35 and a horrible shooter, but the greybeard still packs a defensive wallop and immediately improves Miami's frontcourt depth, which was hideous behind starters Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem.

What this means for the Kings
Pure and simple tank move. Howard's 37 and is chained to the end of the bench.

Winner: Miami
The rest of the league is mad at the Kings for improving Miami's bench for free.

Dallas Mavericks receive
SG Stephen Jackson

Charlotte Bobcats receive
PG Jose Juan Barera
PF Brian Cardinal
PF Steve Novak*
SG Deshawn Stevenson*

What this means for the Mavericks
Dallas cleans out its bench and brings in a 24.5 PPG scorer and All-Star who also plays nasty defense. Who cares if Jackson is 32? This is a move that says the Mavericks want a title this season and Dirk Nowitzki is celebrating the added help on offense.

What this means for the Bobcats
Novak and Stevenson were cut, so this becomes a decent young reserve in Barera and a small expiring scrub in Cardinal. The real reason Charlotte made this move was to get out from Jackson's three year, $9 million and up contract. But really? To get nothing of value beyond cap relief? That's why they're 18-40.

Winner: Dallas
It's not often you get an All-Star so cheaply, but the Mavericks pull off the steal here.

Golden State Warriors receive
SF Rasual Butler

New York Knicks receive
PF Vladimir Radmanovic

What this means for the Warriors
Butler improves their swingman depth, but he's nothing special and 30. The strangest thing about Golden State right now is that they're using Blake Griffin as a 6th man, preferring David Lee and Andris Biedrins as their starting frontcourt. It's 22 minutes a game, but still brow-raising.

What this means for the Knicks
Scrub player is Mr. Radmanovic. This trade puzzles.

Winner: Golden State
A blah deal, but slightly less blah for the Warriors.

Atlanta Hawks receive
SF Grant Hill

Phoenix Suns receive
PF Josh Powell
C Jason Collins
C Etan Thomas

What this means for the Hawks
Whoops, we accidentally let the cat out the bag on this deal. Even at 37, Hill is a quality player and a capable fifth starter who will bolster Atlanta as they try to make a deep playoff run.

What this means for the Suns
Collins was released. The Suns are officially packing it in. None of these guys are worth anything and the best part of this deal was more minutes for Jared Dudley. The biggest time beneficiary was Hakeem Warrick, however. Good tank move.

Winner: Atlanta
It's the something for nothing special, although not nearly as drastic as Dallas's.

Miami Heat receive
SG Larry Hughes

Phoenix Suns receive
C Zydrunus Ilgauskas

What this means for the Heat
Having pumped up their frontcourt with Wallace, Miami felt free to further improve their bench with a solid all around swingman 6th man in Hughes. It's another terrific improvement for a shallow team.

What this means for the Suns
Is there some sort of league conspiracy to give the Heat the title? We mean, seriously.

Winner: Miami
Call the antitrust lawyers! The fix is in!

I want to yell at Stephen Curry for his 10 turnovers, but his 36 points carry us to a 98-80 win over Sacramento, so it's hard to bitch too much. Joakim Noah gets the cheap 10 point, 10 rebound double-double.

23 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocks the next night for Joakim Noah and we sweep the doubleheader, 108-93 over Charlotte. Stephen Curry feels my waves of fury and posts 17 points and 11 assists, while Raymond Felton scores 26 and Eric Bledsoe rolls up 14 points, 7 assists, and 6 steals off the bench.

A break and we break the Spurs 119-100. Joakim Noah and Raymond Felton rip off 23 points, Stephen Curry busts it down with 20 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals, and Eric Bledsoe and Nicolas Batum pump up the reserves with 14 and 12 points.

We got a bunch of nagging little injuries against San Antonio, so it's no surprise when Memphis beats us 91-75. 24 points, 8 assists for Stephen Curry, but we played like **** and blew our losing streak.

A much needed couple of days off gets Nicolas Batum up to full health and he rocks the Pacers for 30 points in our 125-97 shelling of Indiana. 21 points, 8 assists for Raymond Felton, and 17 points, 11 assists for Stephen Curry. Oh, and Eric Bledsoe going off for 20 bench points.

I admire Cleveland's pluckiness in ALB 1, but Stephen Curry crushes the Cavs for 36 points, 12 assists and 3 steals in our 124-109 cruise. Great all-around game from Joakim Noah of 21 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals, and 4 blocks. Eric Bledsoe with 11 bench points as I continue to give much thanks to the prior regime for being smart enough to steal him in the last draft.

We stun the Nuggets 111-97 on their home turf led by all five starters scoring 12+ points. Stephen Curry leads the scoring with 26 points, Nicolas Batum is fine all around with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 steals, Joakim Noah does his thing with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Tyson Chandler chips in 12 bench points.

Defense destroys the Nets 91-74 on the back end of the doubleheader, and Joakim Noah is a one man wrecking crew with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Tyson Chandler keeps his hot hand with 11 bench points.

106-73 hammering of Golden State is up next and I can't stop grinning. 21 points Stephen Curry, 17 points, 11 rebounds out of Joakim Noah, and 10 bench points each from Tyson Chandler and Eric Bledsoe.

Back-to-back? Bueno, as Washington goes down 100-85. Stephen Curry is everywhere with 22 points, 13 assists, and 6 steals, Tyson Chandler picks up 10 points, 10 rebounds off the bench, and Ronny Turiaf is right there with 11 bench points of his own.

114-97 romp over Detroit, Stephen Curry with 28 points, 13 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Joakim Noah controls the boards with 11 points and 18 rebounds, Tyson Chandler just misses a bench double with 14 points, 9 rebounds, and Ronny Turiaf reprises his 11 bench points.

Toronto scares the **** out of us, but we trip them to come out 108-106 winners. Nicolas Batum steps up with 27 points, Stephen Curry's not far off the pace with 21 points, Joakim Noah bangs his way to 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks, and Raymond Felton and Timofey Mozgov pace the reserves with 12 and 10 points. Yep, that's right, Eric Bledsoe got the start while Felton dealt with back stiffness. Jarrett Jack torched Bledsoe for 31 points, too. Le eek.

The hangover from that narrow victory for our 40th win of the season is too much, and Boston bounces us 103-91 to end our winning streak the next evening. Man, I hate wasting Joakim Noah's 21 points, 20 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Another heartstopper on the road, 98-96 over New York. All five starters with 12+ points, Raymond Felton's 12 points and 10 assists and Tyson Chandler's 12 points, 7 rebounds with the second team our notable highlights. Oh, and Joakim Noah just missing 20 and 10 with 19 and 9 in points/rebounds.

A back to back to end the month. 98-85 win over San Antonio to clinch a winning record on the year. 25 points from Stephen Curry, 13 bench points from Eric Bledsoe, and Tyson Chandler's 10 points, 9 rebounds off the bench did it. Our sixth straight road game ends in a 117-94 rout at the hands of the Rockets. Eric Bledsoe and Tyson Chandler do it up with 18 points and 10 points, 9 rebounds off the bench respectively, but our starters played like crap.

Not that I care too much. We're 42-32, which puts us a half-game out of the #7/#8 seed, held by Portland/Golden State.

...Holy crap. We just might make the playoffs this season.

[K.J.]

Yeah it flies in the face of conventional wisdom, but Blake was just really inconsistent for me IMO.

Due to Blake's relatively low level of discipline, you may wish to reduce the defensive intensity to about 4 to preempt foul trouble. In addition, to ensure the greater involvement of Blake (and other bigs) in the offense, you may wish to reduce the pace to 5 or even lower.

[Tim Moungey]

Due to Blake's relatively low level of discipline, you may wish to reduce the defensive intensity to about 4 to preempt foul trouble. In addition, to ensure the greater involvement of Blake (and other bigs) in the offense, you may wish to reduce the pace to 5 or even lower.

Blake's no longer my problem.

But yeah, I'm aware of both those things. Slowing down the pace is something I'd never do, though. It requires you to have a good defense to win games, then, and it makes for much more boring basketball IMO. In DDSPB1, I alternate between 6 and 7. Any lower, and it puts too much pressure on the defense. Any higher, and it's an injury and turnover fest waiting to happen.

I haven't messed with the settings in DDSPB2, though. This is all whoever my head coach right now is - Vinny Del Negro, I think.

[Tim Moungey]

Eight games left to decide our fate.

Game #1
-119-102 win over New Orleans. Stephen Curry lights up Chris Paul for 27 points, 10 assists, and 7 rebounds. Joakim Noah abuses Emeka Okafor for 25 points and 16 rebounds. All five of our starters score 11+ points.

We're a full game behind Dallas, Portland, and Golden State now, even with the win.

Game #2
-121-110 win in Denver. We certainly haven't had an easy draw the first two games. Stephen Curry has the best game of a Clipper this season with 40 points, 10 assists, and 3 steals. 15 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks for Joakim Noah, and 20 and 11 bench points for Tyson Chandler and Eric Bledsoe.

Golden State loses and we're currently in a dead heat with the Warriors for the 8 seed. Dallas wins, putting the Mavericks ahead for the 6 seed.

Game #3
-Back end, so no surprise to see the Lakers win 109-102. 18 points, 13 assists by Stephen Curry, 16 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks by Joakim Noah, and 12 bench points from Timofey Mozgov.

We're back to a game behind Golden State, but now we're just a half-game behind Portland.

Game #4
-116-91 blowout of the Timberwolves. Stephen Curry is really starting to adapt to the Jestorball role - 19 points, 14 assists, 6 rebounds, and just 2 turnovers. Joakim Noah motors for 12 points, 12 rebounds, and Tyson Chandler (16), Timofey Mozgov (12) and [b]Eric Bledsoe (11) all score well in the rout.

Half-game behind Golden State and we've inched ahead of Portland for the 8 seed. We're still in this thing halfway through.

Game #5
-We dethrone the Kings 120-84. Raymond Felton takes over with 30 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 0 turnovers. Tyson Chandler and Eric Bledsoe do work with the second team, scoring 19 and 10 respective points.

Still a full game behind the Warriors, but the Mavericks have slipped a bit and now we're tied with Dallas for the 7 seed. Portland lost again and it appears the Trailblazers might be blowing it at season's end.

...And we play the Blazers tonight on the back end of the doubleheader. It's no lie to say this is the biggest game of our season. This one's nationally televised, folks.

Game #6
-Stephen Curry was pissed about Sacramento shutting him down, so he comes out with a vengeance in the national spotlight. 26 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and just 1 turnover to earn Player of the Game honors in the 104-76 statement win. Nicolas Batum hits 5 of 10 three pointers for 22 points and holds Al-Farouq Aminu to just 8 points. Bet Portland fans are feeling pretty damned salty over that deal now, my first with the Clippers. 12 bench points for Eric Bledsoe.

That victory clinches the playoffs for us! We're tied with Golden State for the 6 seed, even. Man, what a great feeling, especially knowing the Blake Griffin for Stephen Curry trade played a major role in our reversal of fortunes.

91-79 loss to Utah pretty much consigns us to the #8 seed when Dallas and Golden State win, I think. The Mavericks win their last two games to clinch #6, but things get interesting when the Warriors lose their last game and we win, beating OKC 100-82 on Stephen Curry's 23 points and usual suspects Tyson Chandler and Eric Bledsoe with 11 and 10 points.

...Wait a minute. Dallas, Golden State, Houston and us are all tied at 48-34. OMG, I've never seen this before in any basketball sim I've ever played. Holy cow!

West Conference Playoff Seeding
1. Denver Nuggets
2. Los Angeles Lakers
3. New Orleans Hornets
4. San Antonio Spurs
5. Dallas Mavericks
6. Houston Rockets
7. Golden State Warriors
8. Los Angeles Clippers

...What a ripoff. Well, we've proven we can beat Denver, so it's actually a fortunate drawing. Far worse would have been the Lakers. We've beaten the Hornets and Spurs too, so as long as we avoid the Lakers, it's cool.

East Conference Playoff Seeding
1. Miami Heat (61-21, only 60+ win team in the league)
2. Orlando Magic
3. Boston Celtics
4. Chicago Bulls
5. New Jersey Nets
6. Atlanta Hawks (45-37)
7. New York Knicks (39-43)
8. Indiana Pacers (37-45)

Sheesh. Lucky draw for the two Florida teams. The East is nowhere near as deep as the West, which probably means the Heat have a free trip to the Finals. Ugh.

[K.J.]

Slowing down the pace is something I'd never do, though. It requires you to have a good defense to win games, then, and it makes for much more boring basketball IMO. In DDSPB1, I alternate between 6 and 7.

Hmmm … I differ. By hitting a higher percentage of the shots by slowing down the offense and involving the bigs, the defense will be under less pressure to make stops. In addition, by converting a higher FG percentage, the team is under less pressure to go all out for offensive rebounds and averts the risk of the opposing fast break.

[Myles Nelson]

All-Star Game
Another fun scorefest, this one 144-136 for the East. 27 points for MVP Lebron James, who I sing "**** You" to under my breath as I watch the game on TV. No Clippers there, so I didn't feel like going in person.

Even though the game was at Staples Center this year? LOL

[Tim Moungey]

K.J.: That's the great thing about the DDSPB series - It's possible to win a lot of different philosophies and there's room for debate between systems.

th1th0nly: Bah, the place would be all Lakers fans anyway.

[Tim Moungey]

So here we are, in the playoffs in a year I didn't really expect us to make it, especially not after dealing away the Blake Griffin/Chris Kaman/Baron Davis trio.

Point Guard
Stephen Curry vs. Chauncey Billups
Rising young star Curry averaged 18.2 points, 7.8 assists, and 1.4 steals, shooting a combined 50.3%, 44.8% from 3 point range between Golden State and the Clippers. His numbers all went up dramatically after the trade and he appears to be a perfect fit for the Red and White. Can be caught turning the ball over too much, and still growing into the floor general role.

17.3 points, 8 assists, and 1.3 steals for the 33 year old Billups, who, while nowhere near as accurate as the young Curry, is a much more polished and rangy defender, and less likely to turn the ball over. This is going to be an excellent matchup.

Advantage: Draw

Shooting Guard
Raymond Felton vs. Arron Afflalo
Felton was a real revelation after being traded to the Clippers, first as an explosive point guard, then as a quality SG after the Curry deal. Very good defender who averaged 14.9 points, 6.6 assists, and 1.1 steals. Also a 3 point threat, shooting 38.2% from behind the arc.

43.5% from 3 point range is even better than Felton's, but Afflalo's shooting accuracy comes at a price - lackluster defense and nowhere near as polished as Felton in passing. 13.3 points, as a quality young fifth starter.

Advantage: Clippers

Small Forward
Nicolas Batum vs. Carmelo Anthony
The 21 year old Batum is the only Clippers starter to have played all his games with the team, having been a preseason pickup. 13.3 points on 49.6% shooting, 40% from 3 point range isn't even his real value - It's his lockdown defense and 6'8, 200 lbs body at the 3.

Only problem is, Melo's 6'8 too, and has 30 pounds on Batum at 230. The star of this surprising 1 seed Nuggets team, the one-time Syracuse star averaged 25.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in the regular season. One of the league's marquee players, he'll need to play fantastic ball if Denver wants to beat these underrated Clippers.

Advantage: Nuggets

Power Forward
Ryan Gomes vs. Al Harrington
Gomes was a great sub for the Clippers until Blake Griffin went to Golden State for Curry. Then again, he's playing 25 minutes a game, even as a starter. Really, the 4 spot is a rotational situation between Gomes, Tyson Chandler, and Timofey Mozgov.

No such uncertainty in Denver, where Harrington's 10.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and steal per game won the starting job in the last half of the season. On the other hand, that starting only came because Kenyon Martin broke his nose so badly, he could be out the rest of the season. He's also extremely inconsistent, and it's difficult to say if him as the starter, or Los Angeles's rotation is better.

Advantage: Draw

Center
Joakim Noah vs. Nene Hilario
So what if he's due to earn $10 million next year and $14.2 million by his 6th year? Noah gave the Clippers toughness, defense, and rebounding inside, averaging 11.4 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in the regular season, a different sort of player than the Griffin/Chris Kaman offense-oriented duo the Clippers started the year with.

12.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks make Nene nearly as fantastic a defender as Noah. Although he's not the rebounder that Noah is, he's got excellent intangibles and the Brazilian is in his prime.

Advantage Draw

Bench
The Clippers rely on Tyson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, and Eric Bledsoe as their main bench. Ronny Turiaf is another part of that deep, multi-faceted big man rotation.

Denver's second unit consists mainly of J.R. Smith (11.6 points a game) and the emerging Ty Lawson (team high 2.8 A/TO ratio). But unlike the versatile, deep bench of the Clippers, Denver has almost no frontcourt depth, other than one-note defensive specialist Chris Andersen.

Advantage: Clippers

Overall Thoughts
This is how talented the West is - the separation between #1 and #8 is a lot smaller than it looks on paper. Batum is a dynamite defensive matchup for Melo and he should be able to slow Anthony down. You have to love the matchup at PG and C, and it's those two that could decide the series. In the end, though, the Clippers' depth should see them pull off the upset.

Prediction: Clippers in 6

Gee, nothing like pressure.

Game One
Say hello to Chauncey Billups, who tears us up for 44 points and 4 steals. Add in J.R. Smith's 17 bench points and all five Denver's starters in 10+ points, and it's no question we got destroyed. 20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 8 turnovers for Stephen Curry, 14 and 11 bench points for Tyson Chandler and Eric Bledsoe.
Final - Clippers 90 Nuggets 129

Game Two
Repeat of Game 1's blowout, only this time Carmelo Anthony's doing the damage with 36 points and 13 rebounds. J.R. Smith again destroys us from the bench with 26 points, almost singlehandedly outpointing Tyson Chandler and Eric Bledsoe's matching 14 bench points. Stephen Curry does better, but only marginally - 20 points, 6 assists, and 7 turnovers. Raymond Felton's 25 points were great.
Final - Clippers 94 Nuggets 121

Timofey Mozgov gets hurt again. Sprained toe for about two weeks. We'll probably get swept anyway.

Game Three
Hell of a lot closer. But Chauncey Billups and Stephen Curry neutralize each other with 32 points, and Raymond Felton's 26 points can't counter Carmelo Anthony's 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 asssists, and Nene Hilario's 12 points and 16 rebounds.
Final - Nuggets 103 Clippers 92

Game Four
I'm predicting a sweep. Carmelo Anthony bangs in for 29 points and 11 rebounds, Chauncey Billups just misses the double-double with 23 points and 9 assists, J.R. Smith fires off 22 points from the bench, and Anthony Carter comes up with 10 bench points. But then Stephen Curry has his best game of the playoffs with 32 points, 16 assists, 8 rebounds, and 2 turnovers, Nicolas Batum finally comes alive with 25 points, Tyson Chandler beasts for 20 points and 8 rebounds off the bench, and Eric Bledsoe adds 10 bench points. And so we manage to avoid the sweep, at least.
Final - Nuggets 119 Clippers 126

Game Five
Back to Denver and it's a wrap. Stephen Curry scores 33, but he and Eric Bledsoe (13 bench points) were the only two Clippers in double-digit scoring. Given that, Carmelo Anthony's 26 points, Chauncey Billups's 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists, Arron Afflalo's 20 points and all the Nuggets' starters with 15+ points was more than enough to overwhelm us.
Final - Clippers 91 Nuggets 114

Very disappointing to see Joakim Noah just disappear this series after he was such a big part of our regular season success.

[K.J.]

I am sorry to hear about your premature exit from the playoffs.

In any case, Stephen Curry could be better suited for shooting guard, similar to combo guards such as Rose and Westbrook, due to his average handling and relatively high usage.