נאום MVP שלא היה כמותו שחובה, חובה, חובה לחזות ולהקשיב לו / מנחם לס

כשהרבע הרביעי התחיל לקליפרס היו 11% סכויי נצחון

 

כשהרבע הרביעי התחיל ביתרון 12 נק' (75-63) של הת'אנדר, לקליפרס היו 11% סכויי נצחון, בהסתמך על כל משחקי הפלייאוף ב-30 השנים האחרונות כשקבוצה אחת פתחה פער של 12 עם התחלת המחצית האחרונה.

אחכ:

11:34: 78-63, 9% נצחון.

9:58: 80-65,  6% נצחון.

9:19: 82-66, 2% נצחון.

זה לא רק ההפרש, אלא כמה זמן נותר במשחק.

לחזור ולנצח ממצב בו יש לך 2% סכויים לנצח הוא דבר כמעט בלתי אפשרי.

בהנהגת כריס פול, ללא ספק המנהיג מספר אחד בכל ה-NBA הקליפרס עשתה את הבלתי אפשרי.

 

 

The star was the unlikely Darren Collison, who scored 12 points in the fourth quarter. Blake Griffin, playing with five fouls, and Paul each had 10 in the quarter.

"Darren Collison was amazing today," Paul said. "If you see us during the game, probably saw me going nuts on him a couple times there at the end."

The Clippers took their first lead with 58 seconds to play on a basket by Collison. The lead increased to four with 32.8 seconds left on another Collison bucket. Russell Westbrook sailed easily for a layup to make it a two-point game with 28 seconds to play.

The Clippers then worked the clock to 7 seconds, when Griffin missed a shot. Westbrook then pulled up for a three-pointer with 2 seconds to play for the win but missed and Serge Ibaka then missed a put-back at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime.

It was clearly a game to remember.

"We've had wins like this throughout the season," Collison said. "We've been here before. [Coach] Doc [Rivers] has been telling us all series long, it's a long game. We stuck with it. The good thing about it is that even though we didn't play well throughout the game, we was able to get a win. That feels more impressive than anything we did."

Now, the Clippers still haven’t figured out stop Kevin Durant who scored 40 points on 12 of 24 shooting. He made 15 of his 18 foul shots. And Westbrook had 27 points.

Griffin was the leading scorer for the Clippers with 25 points. Paul finished with 23 while Collison and Jamal Crawford each had 18 points coming off the bench.

The large numbers for Collison and Crawford shows the Clippers still have trouble with a couple of starters. Matt Barnes missed all six of his shots and had no points in more than 21 minutes of play. J.J. Redick had only six points and missed six of his eight shots while playing 17:59.

So now its on to Oklahoma City for the game that is more a must win for the Thunder than the Clippers. But at this point of the playoffs, every game is a must win.

Thunder 75, Clippers 63 (third quarter)

Is there a Mother’s Day miracle in the Clippers? Probably not. But stranger things can happen in the NBA.

Things are pretty dire for the Clippers as a loss today in Game 4 would put them down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series heading to Oklahoma City for Game 5 on Tuesday. To avoid that, the Clippers will have to dig themselves out of a 12-point hole.

As usual, Kevin Durant was dominating with 30 points, 13 of those coming from the foul line, where he was 13 of 15. Russell Westbrook has 17 points.

Blake Griffin and Chris Paul both have 15 points for the Clippers.

The Clippers closed the deficit to eight points early in the quarter courtesy of a free throw by Paul after Westbrook was assessed a technical while leaving the court at the end of the first half. And then J.J. Redick made his first basket of the game and only his second in nine quarters.

But then the Thunder went on a 9-2 run that put the Clippers down by 15 points, forcing Clippers Coach Doc Rivers to call a timeout to try to settle his quickly sinking team.

It helped as the Clippers went on a 7-0 run on a three-pointer by Redick, a slam by DeAndre Jordan and two free throws by Griffin.

The Clippers had put together a good run but with 3:40 to play Griffin picked up his fifth foul, sending him to the bench for some major minutes.

The Thunder closed the quarter with a 5-2 run.

Thunder 57, Clippers 46 (halftime)

All things considered the Clippers are lucky to be down by only 11 points at the half.

Having dug themselves a 17-point hole after the first quarter, the Clippers started to creep back into the game, even closing the margin to four points on two occasions.

Sunday’s Game 3 is a must win for the Clippers, who do not want to go back to Oklahoma City down, 3-1, in the best-of-seven series.

The Clippers got the margin to less than 10 points with 7:12 left in the quarter and then continued on a 9-0 run that closed the score to four, 39-35. The run was started by Chris Paul basket, followed by Jamal Crawford score, a three-point play by Blake Griffin and then two free throws by Crawford. It certainly brought the Staples Center crowd back in to the game.

It wasn’t long though before the Thunder had the lead back up to 11 points as Russell Westbrook continued to control the tempo of the game. Kevin Durant was the game’s leading scorer with 19 points and Westbrook had 15. The Thunder made 19 of 37 shots (51%).

The Clippers, after shooting 25% in the first quarter, were up to 40% by the half, making 19 of 48 shots.Paul led the Clippers with 13 points while Griffin and Crawford had 11.

A low point for the Clippers came with about four minutes to play and down by nine when DeAndre Jordan missed two free throws, the second an airball.

Thunder 32, Clippers 15 (end of first quarter)

Rarely will you see such a disastrous display of shooting as the Clippers put on in the first quarter of Game 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder this afternoon.

With 3 1/2 minutes to play in the first quarter, the Clippers had made only two of 15 shots from the field and found themselves trailing by 22 points. Now they did rally to close it to only a 17-point deficit by the end of the quarter, 32-15.

The shooting stats: Blake Griffin 0 for 5, J.J. Redick 0 for 4, Jamal Crawford 0 for 3, Matt Barnes 0 for 2. Total for the team: 6 for 24 (25%).

Chris Paul was the only Clipper to even know where the basket was, making three of six shots.

Meanwhile, the Thunder was on fire, making 11 of 17. Russell Westbrook had 11 points and Kevin Durant 10.

It certainly wasn’t what the Clippers needed in a must-win game. A loss on Sunday would put the Clippers down 3-1 and headed back to Oklahoma City for a Game 5 on Tuesday.

With just over seven minutes to play the Clippers found themselves down by 12 points, 15-3. At that point they were one for eight, including J.J. Redick missing all four of his shots. He was pretty miserable on Friday night when he scored only one basket.

The Thunder, at that point, were six for six.

Things didn’t immediately improve as Westbrook drove for a basket to complete a 13-0 run.

Another lowlight for the Clippers came a couple minutes into the game when Griffin took a right cross to the groin from Serge Ibaka when Griffin was going up for a shot. No foul was called but Griffin was hurt and the Clippers had to use a timeout to get him some recovery time.

Pregame

You hate to say this afternoon’s game is a must win for the Clippers, but, well, it is.

Losing Friday night to the Oklahoma City Thunder put the Clippers in a 2-1 hole in this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.

So far in this series the Clippers have not figured out a way to stop Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Durant is averaging 31 points a game in the series while shooting 51%. Westbrook is averaging 27.7 points a game on 58% shooting.

Clearly for the Clippers to win they need to get Blake Griffin into the offense. And you can always count on Chris Paul. But Friday, the Clippers got a miserable performance out of J.J. Redick, who made only one shot at the end of the game.

Jamal Crawford usually can pick up some of the slack if one of the starters struggles but he has been inconsistent with his shots in the playoffs.

If the Clippers are hoping to get any energy from the crowd they might be out of luck. It may be the weather or more likely Mother’s Day but Staples Center was mostly empty some 25 minutes before tipoff when the Clippers came out for warmups.

In about three hours we’ll know if the Clippers have made this a three-game series or if they’ve dug a hole from which they're unlikely to emerge.

Copyright © 2014, Los A

 

The Los Angeles Clippers' postseason has been defined by adversity. First, in the form of racist comments from their meddlesome owner that threatened to fracture the locker room. Then by a Game 7 with their season on the line against the Golden State Warriors. Sunday, adversity came in the form of a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit, down 2-1, to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Yet, these Clippers just keep fighting through it all.

Darren Collison hit two clutch layups in the final minute and Russell Westbrook's game-winning three-point attempt rimmed out as the Clippers defeated Oklahoma City, 101-99, in one of the more improbable comebacks in recent NBA playoffs history.

 

 

 

From the opening tip, it looked almost predestined the Thunder would take a 3-1 series lead heading back home. They raced out to a 17-3 lead in the game's opening minutes and kept Los Angeles at arm's length throughout, never leading by less than five and most of the time by double digits. A Reggie Jackson jumper with 9:18 remaining gave Oklahoma City an 82-66 lead—seemingly insurmountable given its success on both ends of the floor.

 

 

 

Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and Collison weren't ready to roll over, though. Paul blew past the Thunder defense time and again on pick-and-rolls for shots near the basket, and in a move that will forever go on his playoff resume, began checking Kevin Durant on the other end.

 

 

 

Durant had 40 points on the night and some success against Paul, but the move helped stagnate the Thunder offense. They ran a series of plays designed to get Durant the ball in the high post, which slowed the flow and left Oklahoma City players ball-watching—allowing the Clippers to get out in transition on missed attempts.

In the wake of Jackson's basket, the Clippers went on a 28-12 run that culminated in a Griffin free throw to tie the game at 94-94 with less than two minutes remaining. A Jamal Crawford three gave the Clippers their first lead of the contest with 1:23 left and then the Collison layups helped seal the deal.

 

 

The win evens the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals series at 2-2. The two teams head back to Oklahoma City for Game 5 on Tuesday—a welcome return home for a Thunder team looking to recapture any semblance of momentum.

If anything, they can take solace in the fact they were the far better team for most of Sunday afternoon. They held Los Angeles to a 3-of-21 performance from beyond the three-point line, which is a problem Doc Rivers needs to fix immediately.

Equipped with arguably the league's deepest stable of bench wing players, the Clippers have not made more than a third of their threes since their Game 1 win in Oklahoma City. Matt Barnes missed all six of his shot attempts, while J.J. Redick wasn't much better in a six-point performance. It was Collison and Crawford who replaced the two struggling starters during the fourth-quarter run, and both guys finished with 18 points.

That lineup probably won't work over the long term—there is not enough defense on the floor—but one has to wonder whether Barnes at least has outlived his usefulness.

Durant's shot was not falling from long range, so he broke out his ever-improving off-the-dribble game to blitz the Clippers defense. Durant, who has gone for 30-plus points in five of his last six games, went to the foul line 18 times, making all but three.

 

 

 

Although he's a matchup problem for every team, Durant's all-out assault on the Clippers defense highlights their lack of an elite perimeter stopper. Barnes, at age 34, no longer has the lateral quickness to get the job done, but their other options are minimal. In Barnes' stints on the bench, Doc Rivers threw Redick, Griffin and nearly everyone on his roster Durant's way to little avail. Only when the 6-foot Paul took the assignment did Durant's momentum slow down in the slightest.

Sunday was the reigning MVP's first 40-point game of the postseason.

These are issues the Thunder exposed during the regular season. And when Los Angeles collapsed its defense around Durant, Oklahoma City would just swing it over to Westbrook, who was again excellent despite the missed game-winner.

The polarizing guard, so criticized during the Thunder's first-round series against Memphis, is in the midst of the finest stretch of his young career. Engaged on both ends of the floor, Westbrook pushed Paul to the limit and had 27 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

 

 

These games have served to quiet concerns about whether Westbrook and Durant could coexist to form a championship pairing. That criticism largely targeted Westbrook, whose aggression and self-confidence can sometimes manifest in the form of ill-timed jumpers and missed defensive rotations. Durant has been consistently supportive of his teammate—most notably in his MVP speech—but this version of Westbrook is decidedly different than the version we saw in the Memphis series.

"I got into a rhythm and I'm trying to get into a routine," Westbrook told reporters before Game 3, per Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. "I'm trying to balance my game and it's tough at times, but as long as we are winning it's all good."

The Clippers were the beneficiaries of more intermittent success from their "Big Two," but it came at critical moments. Paul spurred the Clippers run that brought them back into the game in the second quarter and was again a fiery leader in the fourth. In between was far less consistent, and Paul's prolonged hot streak from three-point land that began in Game 1 also came to an end.

Of course, shooting numbers don't tell the whole story.

Paul's 10 assists may have doubled had Clippers wing players knocked down shots they were accustomed to making during the regular season. He also slid over onto Durant defensively in the fourth quarter, a move made even more impressive by the fact he's been guarding Westbrook for most of the series. The narrative of Paul's playoff struggles has been long overblown, and if the Clippers aren't able to advance, his play against the Thunder will be a microcosm.

 

 

Griffin, who scored 34 points and was at times the best player on the floor in Game 3, dealt with foul trouble and an engaged Serge Ibakamost of the afternoon. He played most of his second-half minutes with five fouls after Nick Collison drew a charge with more than three minutes left in the third quarter. Nonetheless, Griffin managed to score 10 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter without fouling out.

 

 

 

With Paul, Griffin and role players coming through down the stretch, the Thunder needed an answer. They didn't get one. Reggie Jackson and Caron Butler were only moderately effective, while Ibaka exhausted most of his energy locking down Griffin on the defensive end. The Thunder bench was outscored, 40-19.

That said, there were a ton of positives to build on for both sides. The Clippers still cannot stop Westbrook or Durant, while one has to assume L.A.'s three-point shooting will only improve.

Neither side came in thinking this would be an easy out. The Clippers' comeback Sunday proved that to be true.

 

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מנחם לס

מנהל הופס. הזקן והוותיק מכולם בצוות. מנסה לכתוב יומית - כל זמן שאוכל!

לפוסט הזה יש 36 תגובות

  2. ד"ר רזי הופמן

    7 מאי 2014 12:40:15

    Like בגדול
    אני אשמח לראות אותו לוקח פעם את אליפות האן בי איי. כשמראים אותו ביחד עם אימא שלו רואים שזו אהבה אמתית!

  3. יניב

    7 מאי 2014 12:43:52

    בן אדם גדול לא רק שחקן גדול(ד"ש ללברון)אבל הנאום המרגש הזה משום מה רק מחזק את ההרגשה שלי שהעונה הזאת הוא כיוון רק לMVP וזה בא על חשבון היכולת שלו בפליאוף

  4. אדיר

    7 מאי 2014 13:01:16

    אמא שלו נראית הכי שפיצית בעולם. לפעמים באמת צריך לעצור ולהעריך את האנשיפ האלה. לא מגיעים לפסגת העולם בלי עבודה קשה מאוד הרבה זמן וכל הזמן. ריספקט.

  5. דנסקי

    7 מאי 2014 13:07:45

    יפה שהזכרתי את דריק רוז, גם הוא גדל בתנאים קשים, גם הוא זכה בתואר. ושחקנים אחרים – מליונרים ומפורסמים – שגדלו בצל אלימות, בעוני, בגטאות. סיפורים אישיים מדהימים ומעוררי השראה. כמו הנאום הזה.

  7. נתן

    7 מאי 2014 13:15:17

    קוראים לזה הכרת תודה. יש לו את היכולת להכיר במקום שהוא נמצא בו ולהודות לאלה שהביאו אותו לכאן. הוא גם אמר שההשפעה האמיתית שלו לא תימדד בתארים, אלא ביכולת שלו לתת השראה לאנשים שגדלו כמוהו, להיות טובים ומצליחים כמוהו (בתרגום מאד חופשי) הוא מדבר כמו אדם חכם וגדול, ואין הרבה אנשים מצליחים כמוהו בכל תחום שהוא.

  8. צביקה

    7 מאי 2014 13:22:07

    זה נאום הנהגה אדיר. אם הקבוצה תשחק אחרת במשחק הבא נגד הקליפרס זה הרבה בזכות הנאום הזה, ואם הם יזכו באליפות זה גם יהיה בזכות הנאום הזה.

  11. עידו גילרי

    7 מאי 2014 14:06:20

    ההתנהלות של דוראנט הייתה תמיד שונה.
    ב-2010 בזמן שפסטיבל ה"החלטה" של לברון היה בעיצומו דוראנט הודיע במפתיע על חתימה מחדש באוקלהומה לחמש שנים. איך הוא עשה את זה? בציוץ בטוויטר, בלי ראיונות ובלי פסטיבל תקשורתי.

    נראה שיש לו את התכונה המוזרות הזו שנקראת נאמנות. בתמורה הוא מקבל השמצות בעיתונים. יש לי הרגשה שזה לא יפריע לו גם את החוזה הבא לסגור ב-OKC.

  12. מנחם לס

    7 מאי 2014 14:11:26

    לא יאומן, ושובה לב לראות ספורטאי גדול, הגדול ביותר בתחומו, המסוגל לדבר ככה. אני מנסה לדמיין את מסי או כריסטיאנו נואמים ככה, וזה לא נראה לי אפשרי.
    משום מה להרבה ספורטאים אמריקאים ישנה היכולת הזאת. אולי בחלקו, העובדה שקורס ב-"SPEECH" הוא חובה בתיכון, עוזר להם.
    בינינו, אני גם לא יכול לדמיין כדורגלן ישראלי מדבר ככה.

    1. צ'ונסי

      7 מאי 2014 14:20:27

      אני לא חושב שלכדורגלן ישראלי יש אוצר מילים כל כך רחב בשביל ליצור נאום כלשהו בין 3 ל 5 דקות. ככה שזה לא פייר.

  17. s

    7 מאי 2014 16:06:33

    איזה נאום מרגש, והיה יפה לראות גם את ההתייחסות שלו לווסטברוק שהוא דיבר על כול שחקן והשאיר אותו לסוף, ודיבר על הביקורות שהוא חוטף ועל כמה שהוא אוהב אותו.

  18. האווי לאסוף

    7 מאי 2014 16:19:55

    לא שאני רוצה להוריד גשם על המצעד של מישהו (ובמקרה אני גם מאוד מעריך את דוראנט), אבל אין מצב שמישהו אחר כתב לו את הנאום?
    הרי גם לראש ממשלתנו, איש בעל יכולת ביטוי מוכחות, יש כותבי נאומים מקצועיים, ואילו מרבית חבריו של ק"ד (השחקנים, לא שאני רומז על משהו עדתי או משהו….) צריכים עזרה כדי לגמור את קורס ההדרכה על הספרייה בשבוע הראשון של הקולג'

  19. שליימה

    7 מאי 2014 16:29:15

    הנאומים המתבכיינים האלה הם מיטב המסורת האמריקאית… מה נסגר?? איי תנק יו איי תנק יו גם כן חבורה אחת גדולה של אנשי יח"צ…

  20. יובל מהינמי

    7 מאי 2014 16:37:48

    מנחם כהרגלו כותב כאוהד חדור התלהבות.
    מה שמרגש זה סיפור חיים של עוני, אבל לא צריך לבלבל את זה עם יכולת נאום או יכולת התבטאות, מדובר בשני דברים שונים.
    בצד החיובי, יפה שהוא הודה לאנשים שסייעו לו.

  23. Hunter

    7 מאי 2014 19:11:56

    יכול להיות שחלק מהכוונה של KD בנאום היתה להכניס מוטיבציה בשחקנים, אחרי שהוא אמר אישית לכל אחד מהם כמה הוא משפיע ועוזר, זה יכול לתת זריקת מרץ שאין כמוה.

    אגב, עוד שחקן שהוא נואם בחסד זה מג'יק, מדהים לשמוע אותו מדבר.

  24. רועי ויינברג

    7 מאי 2014 19:55:02

    מגיעה לו אליפות, אם היו פוינט גארד ומאמן נורמלי הוא היה במצב הרבה יותר טוב (תארו לכם קבוצה עם רונדו, ווסטברוק, דוראנט, איבאקה ופרקינס, אם זה איכשהו מתאפשר כלכלית). לצערי הרב עד שהקינג יפרוש יהיה לו קשה מאוד לעשות את זה, אלא אם כן יעבור למיאמי

  27. אופיר נ

    7 מאי 2014 21:59:10

    נאום מרגש מאוד.
    לא צריך לשמוע אותו נואם, על מנת לראות שבהתנהלות שלו מדובר בשחקן צנוע.
    אני מאחל לו שיזכה לקחת לפחות אליפות אחת.

  28. דובי

    8 מאי 2014 05:34:56

    אליפות לא תכתיר את החיים שלו בהצלחה וחסרונה לא יגרום להם להיות כישלון.
    קווין דוראנט כבר הצליח וניצח בעצם הגעתו למקום בו הוא נמצא.
    יותר מזה, הוא הצליח וניצח באי הגעתו למקום אליו היה צפוי להגיע, לדבריו.
    אמא שלו ניצחה בכך שתפסה אותו באוזן ושלפה אותו מהרחוב, שלשם הוא כבר החליט ללכת.
    אליפות זה סמל הצלחה חלול וטפשי.
    אני מאחל לכולנו להעריך את דוראנט בזכות הדרך שעשה, המקום אליו הגיע והמרחק של המקום הזה מהמקום אליו אמור היה להגיע.
    כמו דוראנט יש רבים אחרים, בליגה וסביבנו, שראויים להערכה דומה.
    יש רבים עוד יותר שלא הצליחו, והם שווים שיחה נפרדת.

    1. זיו

      8 מאי 2014 08:29:09

      דובי, לחיי הדרך והתהליך!
      אנשים טועים פעמים רבות כשהם מסתכלים אך ורק על השורה התחתונה.[מי אמר טייקונים ולא קבל…]

      היה לי בראש שקראתי פעם כתבה שהאבא כן היה בתמונה ושהוא גדל יחסית בתנאים נורמטיבים.

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