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hobojoe · 12-22-2007, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weasel

Got to give the Clippers huge credit for only losing by 9. At half I thought they would lose the game by at least 30. Kaman who had a terrible 1st half actually ends up with a good game and Thornton's play was beautiful. I hope he continues to play like and that this game gives him a lot of confidence. Though they lost I got to be proud of Clippers for hanging in tough and making a game out of it.

I think Al needed a game like this. His confidence is important for his game, and it's taken a bit of a hit as he's struggled early on this year. He's really hard on himself, and while he's still been looking for his shot, he hasn't been patient and letting the game come to him which is why his FG% has been bad. He's been trying too hard to do too much in an effort to get more PT, but in reality it's just hurt him. He got the start tonight and played almost the entire game and let the game come to him. Look at the difference not only in the shooting percentage, but the quality of shots he took. He knew he wasn't just in there for a 5-6 minute stretch that could be it for him all night. With the Clippers record what it is and the injury situation being what it is, there's no reason Al shouldn't see consistent time in the foreseeable future.

**yamaneko** · 12-22-2007, 08:54 PM

yup. One of the reasons why i said from the get go thornton was going to have problems, aside from him just not being as good as the guys we thought would be ahead of him on the roster, was dunleavvy.

Dunleavvy has a history of strange minutes distribution, substitutions, and no doubt this can mess with someones head, especially a rookie. If we still had brand, patterson, davis, thomras, maggette, etc. etc. you can be guaranteed thornton would be getting about 5 minutes a game, if that, just like singleton. And with the injuries, even before we saw thornton getting inconsistent minutes as well, rushing almost all of his shots, biting on every fake known to man, just playing terribly...who knows how much of that is because of being scared of being benched.

However, this game, dunleavvy had NO CHOICE. Thornton knew that...he still had a number of questionable shot selection, even the ones he made, but you could tell he was playing less tense. He didnt have to look over his shoulder.

Now, if maggette is back right away, we might not see the ful potential, but with davis AND thomas out, thornton should have most of the PF minutes for himself. Dunleavvy has no choice, he has to give thornton tons of minutes.

The ONLY thing i worry about is a repeat of last year....clippers start picking up scrubs and giving them minutes over thornton (like what happened with singleton last year). If we DO get another roster spot, i dont want to see dunleavvy giving some washed up guy minutes over thornton, unless were talking someone like webber, which wont happen.

hobojoe · 12-22-2007, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yamaneko

yup. One of the reasons why i said from the get go thornton was going to have problems, aside from him just not being as good as the guys we thought would be ahead of him on the roster, was dunleavvy.

Dunleavvy has a history of strange minutes distribution, substitutions, and no doubt this can mess with someones head, especially a rookie. If we still had brand, patterson, davis, thomras, maggette, etc. etc. you can be guaranteed thornton would be getting about 5 minutes a game, if that, just like singleton. And with the injuries, even before we saw thornton getting inconsistent minutes as well, rushing almost all of his shots, biting on every fake known to man, just playing terribly...who knows how much of that is because of being scared of being benched.

However, this game, dunleavvy had NO CHOICE. Thornton knew that...he still had a number of questionable shot selection, even the ones he made, but you could tell he was playing less tense. He didnt have to look over his shoulder.

Now, if maggette is back right away, we might not see the ful potential, but with davis AND thomas out, thornton should have most of the PF minutes for himself. Dunleavvy has no choice, he has to give thornton tons of minutes.

The ONLY thing i worry about is a repeat of last year....clippers start picking up scrubs and giving them minutes over thornton (like what happened with singleton last year). If we DO get another roster spot, i dont want to see dunleavvy giving some washed up guy minutes over thornton, unless were talking someone like webber, which wont happen.

That's another thing. Thornton's playing out of position, he's not a PF. He's a SF for sure, he's not big enough and his game doesn't warrant him playing PF. I'd still like to see Al playing better team ball. He's more than capable of it, and he should know Dunleavy's reputation. Thornton's getting most of his shots off isolation's that he's calling for himself to impress the coach. He doesn't understand that that's not what Dunleavy wants to see -- he's seen enough of Al already in practice to know he can do that. He needs to see that Al can do the little things and help produce as a team, not just individually. It's frustrating to me because I like the guy a whole lot as you can tell, and I know he's more than capable of running plays, passing the ball to the open man setting picks instead of just standing around waiting for the ball. This is more of a general complaint than to just tonight obviously since he played well. But last night in Dallas for example, I've never been more frustrated with him. Yeah he scored 8 and shot the ball better than he had most nights this season, but when he didn't have the ball he wasn't doing anything. It's not the Al Thornton I know, and it's not the Al Thornton that helps the team win games. It honestly looked to me like he was in the way more than anything when the ball wasn't in his hands. And when it was, he was taking quick, difficult shots. Yes he's talented as hell and made some extremely tough shots, but it's not what Dunleavy wants to see (or any of us for that matter). I'm telling you guys, it wouldn't frustrate me so much if I knew that he's not like that. He just has the wrong mindset right now, he thinks that if he makes those shots and lights it up a few times he'll get more PT, but nights like last night in Dallas only hurt. He had an awful game outside of shooting the ball. I hate to say it, but consistent PT would solve these problems. It's not the way to teach him a lesson, but it'd work.

ElMarroAfamado · 12-23-2007, 12:28 AM

how is it people dont beat the Spurs if they only beat the clippers by nine ****ing points?

**yamaneko** · 12-23-2007, 12:47 PM

Quote:

That's another thing. Thornton's playing out of position, he's not a PF. He's a SF for sure, he's not big enough and his game doesn't warrant him playing PF.

Because of his rawness, i think he has to be an NBA PF for now. Just like singleton last two years was most successful playing PF. The weakneses on the defenseve end are more pronounced when thornton plays agasint faster SF's, as opposed to getting pounded by larger PF's. Also, thorntons strength on offense is better when he is GUARDED by slower PF's as opposed to faster SF's. Thornton could never be a 17 and 10 starting PF in this league, but he can more than hold his own at that position, compared to the SF.

PAIDNFULL23 · 12-24-2007, 12:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yamaneko

Because of his rawness, i think he has to be an NBA PF for now. Just like singleton last two years was most successful playing PF. The weakneses on the defenseve end are more pronounced when thornton plays agasint faster SF's, as opposed to getting pounded by larger PF's. Also, thorntons strength on offense is better when he is GUARDED by slower PF's as opposed to faster SF's. Thornton could never be a 17 and 10 starting PF in this league, but he can more than hold his own at that position, compared to the SF.

Yeah I agree with your assessment of Al's game. He doesn't have the ball handling skills and the laternal quickness on defense yet to be exclusivley a SF, and right now he seems to play better when he is at the 4 spot than the 3. I think he actually got a good chunk of his points in the 2nd half last game when guarded by Bonner, until they put Udoka on him. He still had some success against Udoka, but not nearly as much as he did against Bonner.

But when/if he improves his ball handling, becomes more comfortbale with the ball in his hands on the perimeter and learns to score without the ball, he can be a very good 3, which I hope happens for the Clippers sake.

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