Clippers Win by 18 Over the Lakers, Rondo Debut & Robert Flom joins the show

Clippers Talk with Adam Auslund after they win by 104-86 over the Lakers and Rondo plays his first game as a Clipper. Robert Flom joins the show postgame to talk defense, Rondo and more.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Get your fall. It's time toreact La Clippers Basketball. This is Clippers
Talk all the chat, reaction andanalysis hosted by Adam Osley. You know
he's feeling good. Take the showwith you anywhere you are and get the
podcast. I'm the iHeart Radio andnow your host. He makes everything happen,

(00:22):
Adam Mosley. The Battle of LosAngeles is ongoing, but clamp City
belongs to the Clippers. They winone oh four to eighty six over the
Los Angeles Lakers. They've now woneight of their last eleven games. Welcome
into Clippers Talk. I'm Adam Oslinto eight seven seven five two zero eleven

(00:43):
fifty eight seven seven five two zeroeleven fifty is the phone number if you
would like to get on. Comingup on the show and the very near
future, head coach Tilu will hearfrom him post game and the players.
After another really decisive victory, andit started with the defense. Finally,
we got forty eight minutes of greatdefense from the Clippers after their last two

(01:07):
games where they were just a littlebit inconsistent. They played great defense for
a half and then they would letup a little bit, or the other
way around. Against the Orlando Magic, they were very good in the first
half, not so good in thesecond half. Against the Denver Nuggets,
they were very good in the secondhalf, not so much in the first
half, and got too far behindThursday night to come back against a team
do good and afterwards coach lew said, they have to find a way to

(01:33):
be mentally locked in from the beginningof the game, from the opening tip,
and I thought the Clippers showed thattoday and today means it was an
afternoon game where the Clippers have alsostruggled over the years. The Los Angeles
Lakers apparently don't like playing them either, But the Clippers put up a twenty
seven spot and held the Los AngelesLakers. It's twenty points in that first

(01:57):
quarter, but over the next twoquarters the Lakers would combine to score just
thirty five points, eighteen points inthe second quarter, seventeen points in the
third quarter. They got off alittle bit in that fourth quarter with thirty
one points, but it was inconsequentialtime for the Clippers and Lakers there and

(02:21):
the Clippers only put up twenty sevenpoints eight seven seven five two zero eleven
fifties. The fall number screening yourcalls here on Clippers Talk. Clippers were
really good early in that third quarterwhen they needed to be. They led
by as many as twenty in thesecond, but it was just a fifteen
point game going into the half,and it reminded me a little bit of

(02:44):
that Orlando Magic game. And thingschanged. Obviously, Clippers led by as
many as sixteen. The Orlando Magicgot hot in the second half, they
brought the energy and they were ableto come back on the Clippers. Not
this time. Marcus Morris, whohad one of his better games of the
season coincidentally my player to watch.He had twenty two points on nine to
thirteen shooting, had eleven of thosepoints in the first quarter, got them

(03:07):
off to a good start, andthen did the same in the third quarter.
He had an early three pointer,had five more points then and the
Clippers were up by I want tosay twenty two headed into the fourth,
but they led by as many astwenty four. We wanted to see them
put teams away, and they've beendoing that. I don't believe the Lakers
got it closer than eighteen in thesecond half. After the first couple of

(03:30):
minutes of that third quarter, Clippersplayed some dominant defense, and they've been
doing that since the All Star Break. It's a huge development for this team
right now because they were really inconsistenton that end all season long, and
it didn't make a lot of sensebecause they have the personnel. They have

(03:51):
the roster and the talent defensively withguys like Kawhi Leonard and granted, of
course they are missing serge Or Boband Patrick Beverley right now, but they
still have enough guys and they haveproven that now since the All Star Break
to get it done defensively, andwhen their defense is this good, you
know how good they are offensively.Even though they only scored one hundred and

(04:13):
four points in this game, theywent fourteen of twenty eight fifty percent from
three, still leading the league frombeyond the arc. But if the defense
is there, the offense comes.Defense leads to offense. We saw it
in this game, especially from AvizzaZoo Bots, who I thought, I've
thought all season long has just beenso good. But with the minutes uptick

(04:36):
without Sergeerbaka, now we're really seeingthe best of Avizza Zouo Bots. He's
never played better than this on bothends. Once again, he flirted with
fouling out. This has happened fivetimes this season where he's had five fouls.
Yet he's yet to foul out ofa game, though he knows just

(04:57):
how to ramp it down just alittle bit not pick up that six foul.
But he has been terrorizing teams atthe basket and I thought did a
spectacular job setting the tone defensively,and they just hadn't hadn't had that without
Patrick Beverley on the floor before andwithout Visas. Zuba's playing heavier minutes as
he has now this season, andyou wonder will he end up being the

(05:21):
starter even when Sir Jebaka is back. We'll see. He certainly has made
the case. I don't think hecares though. He just wants to win.
He's that guy, and I lovethe fact that he plays with a
nasty streak. Now. He playswith an attitude out there. He wants
to crush you and dismantle you.He had a big block on Caruso that

(05:41):
led to a three pointer in thefirst half. Then he had the great
pass to Kawhi Leonard for a verselayup. I believe that happened in the
third quarter. He got Mark Gassolto airball one, Kuzma to throw it
out of bounds to nobody with aturnover after he was trying to take a
Beza Zubots off the dribble. It'snot just even in the post where he

(06:04):
can wreck your offense. He hasshowed the ability going even back to last
season, at times against Luca Danteon the perimeter where it's tough to shake
him. He has quick feet,not happy feet, quick feet, and
he did so against Jamal Murray.He played him really well on the outside
the other night, and it happenedagain against Kyle Kuzma. In this game.

(06:26):
The Lakers leading scorer was Montrez Haroldwith nineteen points. There was only
one player, one starter for them, who was in double figures Marcus all
with eleven and Kyle Kuzma two forten, Dennis Shrewder three for twelve,
Contavious Caldwell Pope three for nine.The Clippers have absolutely been locking teams up

(06:50):
recently, and you can say,well, the Lakers, yes, without
a d without Lebron James, itgoes without saying they aren't even close to
the same team. They go froma championship contender to probably a lottery team.
Without those two guys, Kuzma,Dennis Shrewder, marcusol Monstrez. They're
all very good players, but inthe Western Conference, if you don't have

(07:12):
a superstar on your team, you'relikely not making the playoffs. And they
have struggled greatly offensively without those two. They're three and four now without a
D without Montrese Harold, but they'veturned into a bottom three offense. Defensively,
they've still been all right. Theywere top three still over their last

(07:32):
six games coming into this one,last six games without a D without Lebron
James. So they hold the Lakers, they hold your Clippers to one oh
four, and the Clippers still winby eighteen. You can rely on your
defense because it's mostly effort and it'sa mindset, and it travels. Good

(07:55):
shooting nights come and go. KawhiLeonard just eight of fifteen, Paul George
just fourteen. Neither of them hadeven twenty points in this game, and
it doesn't matter. That's a goodsign when you can rely on your defense
to this degree and still dominate teams. And during this stretch where they've won

(08:15):
eight of eleven and at one pointthey won six in a row, against
playoff teams the Bucks, the seventysix ers, the Spurs granted there at
at the bottom now of the West, or of the West teams fighting for
that a spot, the Atlanta Hawksand the Hornets, who lost Gordon Hayward
for it sounds like a month withan ankle sprain, but they have been
beating good teams. They recently beatthe Mavericks as well and holding the Denver

(08:41):
Nuggets to one oh one. Itwas their offense that failed them mostly in
that game, and just not lockingin defensively in the first half. Second
half they were great. They broughtthat same intensity in the first half you
might have had a result like tonightClippers win one oh four to eighty six
over the Los Angeles Lakers. Josein Southgate. Before we break here on
Clippers stock, is he already gone? First of all? Yeah? First

(09:03):
of all, have me calm downfrom my family to yours. Happy Easton.
I'm not a mom's garage right now. I'm looking at a frame's pictures
has Corey mcgetty and Elton Brandon.It's signed by Kriy mcghetti. Right next
to it, we have a frameblue number three jersey. You know it's
not Chris Paul. It's signed byTimmy Richardson. Right next to that you
see lamar old him, and thenright next to that you have another thing

(09:24):
people say in the future is nowwhen lamar old him in the middle,
Davis miles to my left and EltonBank is his right. That being said,
I told my staid dad and butbut I'm you know, because of
my step dad. I'm a Kipperfriends. He came into my mom's license.
I was two years old. I'vebeen a Kipper fan. Let's go.
Anyways, that being saying, youwanted me to tell you the Leggs
were down. Some guys we weredown. Some guys we should have went

(09:46):
by forty. I don't kay ofwhat nobody says, Adam, thank you,
thank you, have a good day. It's a good little Eastern early
games. Manny, everybody else clickthe nation, let's go say thank you
for the phone call. Happy Easterto you and yours as well. An

(10:09):
eighteen point victory not enough when itcomes to Clippers Lakers. In that rivalry,
Clippers led by as many as twentyfour, though the game was no
longer in doubt at the eight minutemark of the fourth quarter. I did
notice it was interesting that Kawhi Leonardand Paul George were still out there,
and I'm wondering are they still workingon things because this is a big homestand

(10:31):
they've had more practices. Is TLUtinkering a little bit now? Coming up
here? Because one of the bigstories was Gen Rondo making his debut with
the Clippers. We'll talk about that, but also we will have postgame audio
from coach Lou. We'll get hiscomments on Rondo and the Clippers dominating victory

(10:52):
over the Lakers once again. Theywin by eighteen and they're starting a new
winning streak here. Portland Trail Blazersare. I'm an into town though Tuesday
night with Dame Dallas. CJ.McCollum is back. Norman Powell, they
made the moves to bring him himand Damian Lillard is finally getting some MVP
recognition. So a tough stretch ofgames against some of the top teams in

(11:15):
the Western Conference right now, butthe Clippers do get them at home more
than that as well. Right hereon the Patriot Am eleven fifty and you're
listening to Clipper stock and I'm AdamMoslin. This is LA Clippers basketball.
Cool why Leonard is a destroyer ofworlds? Right now on the official home
of your LA Clippers. Clippers winby eighteen over the Lakers with the final

(11:48):
score one oh four to eighty six. Welcome back into Clippers stock. I'm
Adam Oslin. You can get tome at eight seven seven five two zero
eleven fifty eight seven seven five twozero eleven fifty or at follow Adam A
on Twitter. I retweeted some videoof a play at the end of the
third quarter for my friend Jamal Christopherat Clippers two four seven on Twitter.

(12:11):
If you want to give him afollow. He comes on periodically here on
Clippers Talk. But it was withabout two minutes left in the third quarter,
and it was a stellar defensive playby your Los Angeles Clippers. And
it really started with a viza Zoobotswho jumped out on I believe Dennis Struder
who had a wide open three,and the rotations and guys covering for one

(12:33):
another after that is just a thingof beauty to see. They were so
locked in defensively and they end upholding the Los Angeles Lakers to just eighty
six points and over the Clippers lastthirteen games meaning out post All Star Break.
Since we came out of the AllStar Break, they are holding opponents

(12:54):
to one hundred and three points pergame. The worst offense in the league
for reference averages one hundred and twopoints per game the Clippers. Something has
changed on that end. The messagehas been received. We still need them
a little bit more consistency. AsI mentioned earlier, they still were locked
in for forty eight minutes their lasttwo games during that two game losing streak.

(13:16):
But tonight they look great on thatend. Offensively, I just don't
worry about that as much, especiallywhen you put up just one O four
and still win by eighteen because yourdefense is that suffocating. Let's go to
Tagis in wall Nut. You knowwhat Tags. Before we get to you,
I do want to mention Gen Rondoplays thirteen minutes. His first outing

(13:37):
as a Clipper was on a minuterestriction, had four turnovers, two points,
three assists, two steals. Oneof them was on a pass from
Montrez Harold to Caruso as they weretrying to get a run out, and
one of his first assists as aClipper was a kick out to Nicholas Batoum
for an open three pointer. Hehad a couple of hockey assists though,
too, where you kept the ballmoving and got guys in the right position

(14:00):
to make that next easy pass.One of them was to Kauai, who
then eventually hit of Etsa zubos.He finished with six points and nine boards.
Kawhi Leonard, by the way,led them in rebounding with ten Boardman
gets paid. But gen Rondo lookeda little bit rusty to me, honestly
in his first game as a Clipper. Understandably, of course, he's just
being thrown into the fire there hewas coming off the bench, But as

(14:24):
the game went on and he seemedto get more in sync offensively, and
actually right before he exited the game, he had a nice underhand scoop floater
type of layup his only points.Now, there was a report out there
that he was talking to the trainingstaff after that. Andrew Greif reported this
from the La Times that maybe theywere thinking he tweaked something or he was

(14:48):
grabbing at that hip that had beenhurting him. But I haven't seen an
update on that. So right nowwe're gonna say he's good to go.
That he came out healthy, butplayed just thirteen minutes. Expect that to
ramp up. Pregame, t Lousaid he thinks it's going to take two
to three weeks for him to getup to speed with this team and really
be implemented into this team and justbe more comfortable out there. But this

(15:13):
is going to be a huge pickupfor the Clippers, as we have talked
about to Ages wall In that allright, here we go to Ags.
What's up, hey, Adam?Yeah, I was gonna talk about Rondo
as well. I think that oncehe gets some games under his belt and
he's back in rhythm, I feellike he's going to be able to help
Paul George the most, especially withPaul George being injured and playing through you

(15:39):
know, the injured toe, becauseright now you could see Paul George's struggling
having to make plays and finishing atthe rim. He's just having a lot
of turnovers. And I think it'sa combination of his injury and his confidence
right now. And I think thatPaul, I mean, I think Rondo
will help, you know, setthe table and help him just get open

(16:02):
shots where he can just catch andshoot. And I think that will be
a good starting point for him,just to get back in rhythm and easy
baskets. I think will be goodfor Paul George right now, so he
was not having to playmate and tryto explode off his foot and you know,
cause it to her more So Ithink less is more for Paul George
right now and just being a catchup, spot up shooter right now. Even

(16:25):
with that, I think we're wecan go pretty far, you know,
throughout the playoffs. Tage Adam,thank you for the phone call. Great
phone call, as always, Tages. He's a regular here on Clippers top
become one at eight seven, seven, five, two zero eleven fifty.
But yeah, he takes a lotof the burden of setting the offense and
setting the table and facilitating away fromPaul George and Kawhi Leonard and Paul George

(16:48):
did struggle with five turnovers, wassix to fourteen. The shot looked a
little bit better still, attempted justfour or three pointers, was two or
four, had sixteen points. Butyeah, that toe injury is concerning to
me. It is because I thinkyou need Paul George at his best in
the playoffs physically, but the factthat he's playing through it right now.

(17:10):
Tells me it's likely pain management,pain tolerance. And he looked a little
bit better than he did last game, where he obviously just had no lift
out there. You could see it. He was missing layups and he was
also missing some easy gimmes a dunklate against Denver in the fourth quarter.

(17:32):
Paul George, it's weird to sayto this for a superstar because normally you're
talking about that third player or fourthplayer, or a guy with intangibles.
But Paul George, to me,is the X factor. To me,
is the ceiling raiser for this team. If he plays at his best in
the playoffs, if he plays tothe level he's capable of playing at,

(17:52):
the Clippers can beat anyone, theLakers in the seven game series, the
Brooklyn Nets in the seven game series. So him dealing with this injury that
flared up again, it's a concern, but you got to look at it
as a good thing right now thathe's able to go out there and play
through it and still be effective.He was a plus fifteen tonight for the
Clippers. Let's go to Chad andkay Town. Chad, what's up,

(18:18):
you're on Clippers soft without I'm astinyea, Adam, thanks for taking my
call. Happy Easter. I justgotta say, twenty year Clipper fan,
and this year has been very interesting, I think mainly from this long the
regular season has been, but alsothe residual trauma coming out of the bubble.

(18:40):
But I've been watching the games andI do have to say, you
know, today was a little bitmore relief than joy. I feel like
that's how some of these wins go. But sometimes when you have a team
like this, Chad, when youhave a team with championship expectations, a
lot of it's just relief whenever youwin. Yeah. And you know what

(19:04):
though, I will say two yearsago when we had that underman, kind
of gritty team with no real AllStars per se, I mean that was
the most enjoyable season as a Clipperfan that I've I've had, you know,
which kind of leads me to mypoint here, which is, you
know, the pressure is high.I think that the all the games before

(19:26):
the All Star Break was probably theworst stretch we've seen all season. It
was really hard to watch those games, going up against these Eastern Conference teams
and just looking really exposed, youknow. But my point is that ever
since Lou went to the guys inAtlanta and we had that turnaround. I
just think that empowering these young guysCanard Ibaca Coffee and then obviously Terrence Mann,

(19:51):
who's been a revelation like this iswhat we need as as an organization
and as a fan base, becausea lot of these established properties and these
guys as we've gotten, have justnot given us some spite when we need
it, you know. And andI just I like the fact that these
young guys are really carrying the torchright now for us when when you know,
things aren't looking looking really that exciting. So that's one thing I just

(20:14):
wanted to point out. And I'mI'm kind of back in again, Adam.
Just when you thought I was out, you pulled me back in Clipper
Nations. Chad, we need youcome on. This is one of the
better phone calls I've heard in awhile. Here, man, become a
regular. I will, I will, and I appreciate all your guys work,
So thanks so much, and keepthe faith. Especially on Easter Sunday.

(20:37):
Clippers win by eighteen over the Lakers. We'll take a quick break,
we'll come back. We'll hear fromtlu. We'll still have Robert flam on
Clippers analyst. But that was theturning point of the season. You heard
Nicholas Batum talk about it recently.Something was born out of the midway through
that third quarter against the Atlanta Hawks, where coach Lew had had enough and

(21:02):
made a stand and took out allthe starters and put in the backups and
they rallied down twenty two and gotthe victory in that game. If this
Clippers team goes on to do whatClipper Nation has been hoping they would do,
it's moments like that that I thinkyou'll look back on during a long
regular season. All Right, moreClipper stock coming up next right here on

(21:26):
the Patriot Amlift, Did you saveyou? Vilest? Loop it outside end
Golf by Leonard to steel for theman who's number two in the NBA that
category down the right alley. Hegets all the way to the ram head,
slams with the right hand Kawhi Leonardelevator to the top floor for two.
Oh. I was kind of hotwith the music there, Zach.

(21:47):
I'll quality I'd use that for mynext pregame mashup. No Eagle on the
call Kawhi Leonard there two of hisnineteen points plus two steals. Clippers win
by eighteen over the Sandels Lakers,the final score of one o four to
eighty six. Welcome back into Clippersstock. I'm out of Maslin eight seven
seven five two zero eleven fifty eightseven seven five two zero eleven fifty Clippers

(22:12):
defense. Now they are top tenin defensive rating, where they were a
bottom ten defense a lot of thisseason. As Noah Eagles said earlier,
they were just so inconsistent. EvenI think at about the All Star break
they were fifteenth. But since thenthey've been playing like a top five defense,

(22:33):
and they have the talent, theyhave the guys to do it.
Even being undermanned right now, theystill can be so good on that end
with feisty play like that with KawhiLeonard the claw. But about Nicholas Batoum
with a huge block, and Ithink it was Alex Caruso in the second
half, just no easy buckets,and when of Viza zubots is playing like

(22:55):
that in the paint and just wreckingteam's offense all by himself, the one
man wreck Zoo. It's inspiring.I'm sure that type of play is infectious
out there. CJ and Alhambra.What's up here on Clippers? Stop without
im Auslin? Hey, hey,Adam, a great game. Before I
get to the meat and potatoes inmy call, I just want to say
that the dinosaur known as the zoomorisneeds to be stomping out as starters at

(23:22):
three, respective five, and four. This is no knock to Ibaka,
but zoobots and Morris have a connectivitythat that data back to mid season last
season, and we need to keepthat. Second second bullet point was that
that the boogie down DeMarcus Cousins isa great signing. I think it's very

(23:45):
shrewd. His connectivity with Pat Patalong with Rondo is going to help.
And Rondo actually, you know,pleasantly surprised me. And this is my
last bullet how about that CJ coaround already, Okay, look at us,
look at us. I'm mister amister Austlin, you know, I

(24:07):
you know, considering that it wasunder thirteen minutes, I thought he put
in some nice scratch marks in thestat box and kept the state statistician's hand
busy. So I was a littleimpressed. But the main point that I
want to get to though, isthat I think, considering the timeline of

(24:27):
a lot of our main components,thy Lou may have purposely kind of executed
a game plan where it's don't exertyourself, compliment and get better at the
three, work on our ball handling, and come postseason, we're going to
see like an all around team that'sgoing to claim the championship. And that's

(24:52):
my piece, man, that's mypiece, Austin, I love it.
CJ. Thank you for the phonecall. And Rajon Rondo showed that burst
still even at the age of thirtyfive. His attempts were at the basket.
His one that he got to gowas that little flip shot, and
he improves their pace of play,one of three areas we've talked about all

(25:12):
season long, along with getting tothe free throw line more often and more
paint scoring. He's going to reallyhelp this team in big situations. Playoff
Rondo is a real thing. Idon't know how you can still be a
doubter after what happened last season withLos Angeles Lakers, when their own fans
were clowning Rondo for two seasons andthen he goes off in the playoffs,

(25:33):
and was one of their more importantplayers. All right, let's hear from
t Lou post game after the Clippersbeat the Lakers by eighteen, here was
head coach Loose speaking with the media. Hey, Ty, congrats on the
win. First off, Rondo playedthirteen minutes tonight. I had a couple
of steals, a couple of assists. What did you make up his first

(25:53):
first action out there? I'm justtrying to fit in and getting the time
and no little rusty. I geta couple of turnovers early on, but
I just you know, you couldjust tell his pace brings a different a
different something to our team. Andoffensively getting an outlet, you know,
close to half court before the firstpass is made. That generates pace for

(26:14):
us and we need that. Soit's gonna be good for us in a
long run. Just good to seehim out there, and you know,
just trying to give back on mayto what we're trying to do. You
think that something guys have to adjustto, Like, like you said,
when he's up on the court,you're gonna push the pace and and really
run out. Is that something guyshave to adjust to? Yeah, for
sure, I mean have slow threeround of times you know, it's definitely
gonna be something we gotta adjust to. But I think he makes the game
easier. You know, you getout and running transition, a lot of

(26:37):
teams can't get back and give match. So we're gonna get open shots,
and you know, with him generatingthe pace, it's gonna be good for
us. Thanks. Next we'll goto a lot saying on Rondo. So
how was it for you as adjustingto him, you know, being his
coach, trying and to figure outhow the rotations were gonna work, Just
trying to figure it out now,you know, just trying to teach it

(27:00):
together, you know, with youknow, with him being on the restriction
and just you know, can't playa long stance, just trying to figure
it out, just figure out wichations. I thought tonight would did a
good job with that couch to Stabuladid a good job of just you know,
keep lay in the messages to mewhen God speosed to come in and
come out, which is a toughpart of the game. And then just
you know, I thought, youknow, tonight, defensively we were great.

(27:22):
I thought we set to talk earlier. Defensively, I thought we were
physical, We got into bodies.All that I didn't like. We got
twenty turnovers and you know that's that'ssomething we got to clean up with.
He'd been good at uh you knowlately, but tonight we've just got two
many turnovers. Thanks. Next we'llgo to Miriam. Hey time have easter
Wynn when when that's the markets.Obviously he looked great out there today.

(27:45):
Must have been a special experience forhim too, to come and have such
a good game against Marquis. Yeah, I know the game stuck yesterday about
it. You know, if hedidn't want to start up with his brother,
if he didn't want to do it, let us know now, you
know. But uh, he saidwhatever we gotta do to win. And
you know he came out, youknow, first half of wasten the tone
force offensively. I will get agood job moving to basketball. And he
benefited from you guys attacking the pain. He's sharing the basketball early on.

(28:08):
Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotah the Morris brothers today and this one
Marcus got the best of Mark kiefThe Clippers got the best of the Lakers.
They win one o four to eightysix. There was t loo post
game. Let's Just look at thisfor a second. The Clippers had ten
fast break points. All ten camein the first half. Rondo played the

(28:32):
majority of his thirteen minutes in thefirst half. Coincidence, I think not
more Clippers Stow coming up next,big shot, Bob Flam. Robert Flam
will be here next, right hereon the Patriot amleven fifty. This is
LA Clippers basketball. Cool? WhyLeonard is a destroyer of worlds? Right
now on the official home of yourLA Clippers. Clippers win one O four

(28:56):
to eighty six over the Los AngelesLakers. Welcome back in the Clipper stock,
I, Madam Moslin, happy tobe joined right now by Robert Flam
covers the Clippers or has done itfor Clips nation in the past? Does
it for two one three hoops nowat two one three hoops or at rich
Homie Flam Robert, Let's get rightinto it. Gen Rondo made his debut.

(29:17):
What do you think is the biggestthing he can provide this Clippers team
that they're looking for from him?You know, I think the thing that
he provides and a couple of Clippershave mentioned this is pace. I don't
I don't focus as much about theplaymaking and passing and stuff about. There's
also been talking about him setting upKawhi Leonard and Paul George, and you

(29:37):
know that's all well and good,but that's not really what the Clippers need.
You know. Something that they've lackedall season is pace. They're an
old team, they're a slow team, and while they can be methodical,
you know, being able to pushthe pace can be really advantageous at times,
especially since now the Clippers defense issurging and has been since Alsta break.
When you force this is or getturnovers. You know, being able

(30:00):
to really gun on offense is abig thing. So having a guy like
John Rondo who's always looking to pushthe pace, even though he's older himself,
is really nice. You know,if you have, if the Clippers
are a real top ten or topseven or top five defense, they will
need to push the pace a littlebit more to take advantage of those those

(30:22):
miss shots from the opposition. SoI thought that was something he provided.
He did look to push the pace, it didn't result in too many good
looks. There was the past niptune for a three at the end of
the first quarter, but it wasnoticeable in his thirteen minutes, said he
was really looking to up the pacewhile he was in I love that point.
If you're producing more miss shots outthere, you have more opportunities to

(30:42):
get into transitions, so the defensecan certainly affect those fast break points.
Also in this one. You know, I talked about this a little bit
earlier. Paul George sixteen points onsix or fourteen shooting, didn't take a
lot of shots, looked better thanhe did the other night against the Denver
Nuggets. But how much is thattoe injury a concern in your mind?

(31:03):
It's interesting, I mean, becausethe Clippers have not been super clear.
I guess on what the injury isearlier is labeled than a demon. I
believe it's some kind of like bruisewith swelling, but it's it's unclear whether
it's really just painful or if it'spotential to be more serious. The guess
is that since they're playing him,and they're playing him big, then I

(31:25):
think he played thirty two minutes inthis one, even though it's basically a
blowout, that it's really a paintype of thing but not really a you
know, it could lead to amore serious injury that would keep him out
for an extented time type of thing. So I guess, you know,
the fact that he's playing on itand is maybe learning how to play with
some pain is a good thing forthe short term. I mean, obviously
it's not good that he's in painand as this injury, but if they

(31:48):
don't think it's going to clear upby the time the playoffs happen, you
know, it just it requires aton of rest and a full off season
of recovery than him being able toplay thirty two minutes and looking, you
know, pretty good while playing throughthat pain is a good thing. So
yeah, I mean, my guessis that it's just like kind of a
pain management type thing for him.And he still hasn't looked super aggressive going

(32:10):
to the basket like he has attimes earlier this season, but you know,
he was out there taking shots.He didn't get to the line a
couple of times, and yeah,I mean, I thought he looked pretty
good a couple of back turnovers,but he had some really nice rebounds in
traffic and he did make two threeand that's good to see because he's been
a little pulled from three way late. Robert flam is my guest here on
Clippers Talk. Last one for youhere, Robert is they're making me get

(32:31):
out. But you mentioned the defenseand the difference defensively from this team post
All Star Break. It's Tlu.It's him demanding more out of these guys
in that defensive mentality and benching thestarters in that third quarter against Atlanta,
but also without Patrick Beverley out there, without Sir Jebaka a visa, Zoobots

(32:52):
has just taken his game once moreto another level out there. Yeah,
I mean, I think that's reallythe biggest thing. I think there is
more acountability. I think there ismore effort and energy on that end,
up and down the roster. Butreally it's it's playing Zoo more. You
know, Surge has been out,he's been getting at least thirty minutes almost
every game, and Zoo is thisHe's a really good defender at this stage

(33:14):
of his career. He's a betterdefender than Surgebaka. He's a better rebounder
as well, which again can helpleads those transition buckets. You know,
he's better around the basket. He'smore of a room protector, and as
we've seen increasingly over the past monthor so he's pretty good switching out on
the perimeter. He had a reallynice defensive possession as Kyle Kuzman today.
He's had some other really good onesin recent games. So yeah, I

(33:35):
mean, I think that's really thebig thing. And you know, ky
Lewis and the rest of rosters praisedhim a lot. You know, even
if surge does start when he returns, I think it's gonna be very hard
to not keep playing Zoo big minutesbecause he's just been that good and that
much of an impact on the defenseend. He is Robert Flam follow him
at Rich Homie Flam on Twitter.He covers them for at two one,
three hoops. Robert, thanks somuch for coming on. Yeah. Thanks,

(33:59):
He's always pregnant. All right,we are out of here. Before
we do leave you, I wantto thank the Clippers organization, Noah Eagle,
Brian Semen, Ralph wall Are,Big Brother, Jake Warner. Back
here in Burbank, Zach l Caldyuntil Tuesday night with the Clippers back at
Staples Center taking on the Portland Trailblazers. Tip time at seven pm, Clippers
countdown at six pm. I'm AtaMaslin. We'll talk to you then,

(34:22):
homeless churcher a US joy. Thishas been Clippers Tall on the Clippers recap
of all the Clippers action on theirofficial home Dynasty says he'll miss a single
show every day. Hear anything youmissed. I mean, I heart radio.

(34:44):
What is amazing, man, I'mhappy to be part of it.
Joined us. Next game, I'myour home for LA Clippers basketball. Okay
great, See you later. By