<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">NEW ORLEANS ? The Clippers have to get tougher for the playoffs. That was point guard Sam Cassell's message to teammates after Tuesday's 120-108 loss to the New Orleans Hornets. Although the Clippers have made strides this season, Cassell said, they won't last long in the postseason unless they toughen up. "To win in this league, you've got to bring it every night, I don't care who you're playing," said Cassell, who had 13 points and 11 assists. "That team had lost eight games in a row, so it's a pride factor. They beat us at just brute hustle. "They wanted the game more. They wanted the basketball game more. It's just that simple." It followed a defensive effort in Monday's 99-91 victory over the Houston Rockets that Coach Mike Dunleavy called among the best of the season. So, what happened Tuesday? "We've got to get tougher. I know we've got to get tougher," Cassell said. "We've got to be ready to bang the boards and play everybody. The way we played, we deserved to lose this game." Swingman Corey Maggette agreed. "There's only one word to describe what went wrong: Toughness," said Maggette, who scored a team-high 25 points off the bench. "We just didn't do what we have to do as a collective [group]. "We can't have this happen to us this late in the season. It's a team thing, and we've got to correct it as a team. With what we're trying to do as a team, we've got to play tougher."</div> Source
Clippers are soft, but that is mainly on the defensive end. They go on the road and try to out score people in their buildings you cant do that in this league against quality opponents, they seen that against the Suns and then the Hornets, they didnt play any D and got power slammed. The problem with Sam, and everbody knows that my man 100 grand, but he is apart of the problem on D. So inorder for guys to respect what he is saying he has to lead by example. Everybody knows he never was or will be a great defender...but Sam can give a more consistent effort then I seen from him in those two games. Anyway, the Clippers got to man up...everybody already talking about Dallas vs San Antonio in the 2nd round...pretty much disrespecting any chance the Clippers would have against either team in the 1st round, so if they want to prove people wrong, they have to work harder.
vs NOH, another, maybe even bigger problem was the 19 turnovers the team comitted. The Clippers are a good defensive team, they're in the Top 5 I think in the league defensively, and it's part of our game. When the team goes out there and tries to just score, even though they can, it takes away from that. The Suns, the defense was bad, though defending the Suns is never an easy task, but again in that game, 20-30 from the line,woeful shooting, I mean the rebounding difference was +12 for the Clippers, they had 12 more shots, but they shot 34.3% from the field.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">vs NOH, another, maybe even bigger problem was the 19 turnovers the team comitted. The Clippers are a good defensive team, they're in the Top 5 I think in the league defensively, and it's part of our game. When the team goes out there and tries to just score, even though they can, it takes away from that. The Suns, the defense was bad, though defending the Suns is never an easy task, but again in that game, 20-30 from the line,woeful shooting, I mean the rebounding difference was +12 for the Clippers, they had 12 more shots, but they shot 34.3% from the field.</div> That top 5 stat is misleading in my opinion, because if you watch the Clippers they give up so much penetration which Cassell is apart of that of course you bigs are going to get maybe 3 or 4 blocks a game..but that still doesnt account for all the other points that teams get from their break down in defense. And they are leaders in opp. Fg%, but they still sit around the middle of the pack in giving up points. And I think those defensive weakness show up alot on the road..........but we shall see how they preform against Memphis on the road tonight.
http://www.knickerblogger.net/stats/2006/d_de.htm Right now, they're ranked fifth in defensive efficiency (points given up per possession). I don't remember where they ranked earlier in the year, but it seems that they've slipped defensively from the games I've seen. They gave up like 130 points to an offensively anemic Houston Rockets team. On the season, they're top five in limiting eFG% of opposing team and also defensive rebounding%. But they're dead last in turnovers forced per possession.
Oh man, no one on the team can force turnovers, I think Brand is one of the team leaders in SPG, he's very close to Mobley who is at like 1.2. Also the perimter defense doesn't pressure to opposition enough to make mistakes, Q.Ross is probably the only guy. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">That top 5 stat is misleading in my opinion, because if you watch the Clippers they give up so much penetration which Cassell is apart of that of course you bigs are going to get maybe 3 or 4 blocks a game..but that still doesnt account for all the other points that teams get from their break down in defense. And they are leaders in opp. Fg%, but they still sit around the middle of the pack in giving up points. And I think those defensive weakness show up alot on the road..........but we shall see how they preform against Memphis on the road tonight.</div> I wasn't reffering to opp FG%, but they have been worse defensively lately. It started when Q.Ross first went out, and with Maggette and Vlad, more offense, but less defense.
