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  • Oct
    16

    On the Clippers and Kings … but not Baron

    So, I trekked out to Stockton last night planning to sit down with Baron Davis before his Clippers played the Kings and discuss a few items, namely: how things are going with his new team, the departure from his former employer and his reaction to Monta Ellis’ remake of “Quadrophenia.”

    Then I got to University of the Pacific and found out he’d bagged on the trip to stay home because of the flu.

    That means you’ll be getting a story on the Kings and rookie forward Jason Thompson — the would-be Warrior, if you believe all the pre-draft talk — a little later today. But in the interim, some random thoughts from the Clippers’ 116-112 comeback win in the Spanos Center:

    ** Without Ellis, the Warriors are going to be hard-pressed to check Kings star Kevin Martin, who darted all over the floor en route to an extremely efficient 29 points (9-11 FG, 2-3 3FG, 9-12 FT). I like DeMarcus Nelson’s defense an awful lot, but I’m not positive he’s got the quickness to chase down Martin.

    ** Martin barely played in the second half (5:42) and not at all over the final 18 minutes, when the Clippers outscored the Kings, 55-34. Sacramento coach Reggie Theus rightly declined to bring a cold Martin back into the game to try and secure a meaningless victory, but it was kind of shocking to see how fast things slipped away from the Kings’ second unit.

    ** It would have been nice if Clippers rookie Eric Gordon would have passed the ball ONCE at some point during the proceedings (24 shots, zero assists). That being said, he proved he can fill it up in a hurry, with 21 fourth-quarter points and 33 on the night.

    “The play sets we were running were designed to get him shots, because he had the hot hand, and we go with whoever’s got the hot hand,” Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. “You know, he’s been injured for us, so he’s only had about three practices. Guys were joking around in practice when he was blowing by people; ‘Well, it should be like that. He’s been off for two weeks. He’s got fresh legs.’ I don’t think that’s going to be the case (anymore). He’s really talented, he’s great off the dribble, he gets to the free-throw line and he makes 3s. And he’s a good defender. We were dying to get him in the draft, and he played well for us.”

    ** Gordon aside, the real rookie revelation for L.A. was point guard Mike Taylor, the No. 55 overall pick who spent last season in the D-League. He had 21 points, nine assists and three steals and looked exceedingly poised throughout the evening.

    Given that they still had Baron and a healthy Monta on draft night, it’s hard to fault the Warriors for taking Richard Hendrix instead of Taylor or Chris Douglas-Roberts with their own second round pick at No. 49. But Taylor might very well be starting if Golden State had selected him.

    Dunleavy was asked if Taylor has been playing like this throughout camp:

    “Every night. Twenty against the Lakers, 14 last night against Oklahoma City but eight in the fourth quarter and made about four big plays down the stretch of the game: Picked a guy’s pocket in the backcourt, we get a layup off of it. Hits a jumper from 17. Goes down the middle and dunks on somebody on a pick-and-roll and then hits two free throws at the end of the game. . . . The question about him was, could he play point, and I thought he could.”

    So, can you get Baron’s money back?

    “I don’t think we’re ready to go there.”

    ** Chris Kaman (0-6, 5 fouls in 25 minutes) did not look spry, shall we say. Hell, he even made teammate Jelani McCoy (who I didn’t even realize had made it back onto a training camp roster) look good by comparison.

    ** I remember predicting the Warriors would take Donte Greene, who slipped to No. 28 before being traded twice and winding up in Sacramento. Based on last night (four fouls, two turnovers, two points in nine minutes), that would not have been the right call.

    – Geoff

12 Responses to “On the Clippers and Kings … but not Baron”

  1. Jon October 16th, 2008 at 2:06 pm

    Question for Geoff:

    I love the coverage (including this off-Warriors story), but how are you doing this? Are you still working for the Merc/Times/Trib group? Are you independent?

    I’m just curious, and again…I applaud your efforts for us fans.

  2. Ray October 16th, 2008 at 2:14 pm

    I’m surprised you mentioned Monta in the context that his defense will be missed. I think that is the one huge milestone that has been severely retarded by his foot injury. He couldn’t guard anyone last year and I was hoping he’d really develop in that area this year.

  3. Geoff Lepper October 16th, 2008 at 2:38 pm

    Jon: No, I am no longer part of what I affectionately refer to as The Dean Mob (so named in honor of Dean Singleton, CEO of MediaNews, which ultimately owns the controlling interest in the Bay Area News Group - East Bay). I was laid off (along with 28 others) from BANG-EB on July 2, three weeks after a successful unionization vote that I strongly supported and management even more virulently opposed. The National Labor Relations Board is attempting to determine how much linkage there is between those two incidents.

    As for being independent, the Google Adsense terms of service limit what I can put here, so suffice it say that advertising from the site, along with free lance writing, are my primary forms of income at the moment.

    Ray: In retrospect, you’re probably right; Monta had a huge problem getting through screens last season — well, his entire career — and the Kings can run Martin off almost as many picks as Detroit sets for Rip Hamilton. It’s just that Monta is the only guy on the roster with the raw speed to chase Martin, IMHO. I guess Martin’s just going to be a problem, period.

  4. Jon October 16th, 2008 at 2:45 pm

    Geoff,

    Amazing that you’ve found a way to combine your passion and your profession through this blog; I know that a number of the reporters, including some that cover Bay Area teams, aren’t fans of the teams they cover and probably wouldn’t continue to do so even after experiencing a situation such as yours.

    Please let us know if there’s any way to make donations to help keep this blog going!

    As for Ellis’ defense, I must agree that for all his immense talent, his defense is being held back by the mental aspect of the game- taking better routes around screens, anticipating moves…essentially, learning how to use his raw abilities on the defensive end. When it comes to Kevin Martin, I think our answers are going to be Nelson or Watson. You’ve already mentioned Nelson, but Watson might have a little more pure speed.

    Martin has a clear height advantage (over 6′6 to CJ’s 6′3), but Watson has shown that he can be an active defender and uses his quickness well. In the first half against the Bucks, I believe he picked off or at least deflected a couple passes just by anticipating and reading the play. That’s not the same as chasing a guy around screens, but I like the awareness. I’ll have to watch Watson’s play defensively more tomorrow night and see if he ever gets matched up on Michael Redd or another jumpshooter.

  5. Raider-Roy October 16th, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    My cousin went to that game because he goes to UOP and he said Martin was jin a zone. He could do anything he wanted and made it look so easy. He said with this Kings new offense of running, will give Martin a chance a leading the NBA in scoring. He also said Hawes and Thompson looked good but Donte struggled.

  6. Geoff Lepper October 16th, 2008 at 4:00 pm

    RR: Hawes did look good offensively, but he had six TOs and was part of the defense that uttely collapsed at the end of the game, which is why his +/- was a team-worst minus-27.

  7. VZA October 16th, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    Geoff;

    You got great coverage and as a hardcore fan and not being insider, the insider info u provide is fantastic.

    Thanks again for the great work…

    http://montasmoped.blogspot.com

  8. Raider-Roy October 16th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    true about Hawes turnovers but the low post moves he puts on players, is fun to watch. In 28 mintues he had 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Pretty solid numbers.

  9. CL October 16th, 2008 at 7:04 pm

    Jon,

    I would venture a guess that anyone who visits Google’s ads from Geoff’s website would help support his efforts.

  10. joe October 16th, 2008 at 10:33 pm

    Geoff;

    Given how PG centric the NBA has become, I could fault the GSW for picking a PF mid-late in the 2nd round at the expense of a another PG.

    Baron’s health over 82 games is always questionable and Ellis is a converted SG.

    While trading Smalls for Bigs is hard and GSw needs a PF, there are more Doc Rivers than Carlos Boozers selected in the 2nd round, the odds of getting a good PG late in the 2nd round are greater than a usable PF. Recall Ellis’ draftmate was a once highly regarded PF, named Chris Taft.

    I’m not a Hendrix fan.

  11. dan October 16th, 2008 at 10:36 pm

    Greene reminds me of the “dog” Robinson. Same kind of walk, same head poping back and forth…etc….I did not want him.

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