Clippers Slack Chat: Positive early season impressions, fashion and more

Discussing the Patricks

Kenneth Hawkes: Do any of you think Pat Bev has lost his confidence?

Ryan Snellings: Never.

Logan Rapp: I don’t think so, Kenny. I think especially last game it had a lot to do with Pat being 6’1″ and Rudy Gobert being 7’onehundredmillion”

Garrett Chorpenning: I think the opposite, actually. None of his shots have been falling from outside but he’s still putting up like 3-5 per game. He knows he’ll start hitting eventually

Logan Rapp: Their focus has been on ball movement and getting open perimeter shots. What’s been turning some of these games into gritty, 90’s style play is A) the shots aren’t going in, and B) refereeing has been calling an ungodly amount of fouls across the league.

Nathan Jacobo: I wouldn’t attribute his slow shooting start to confidence.

In 2017, he came out firing from deep, shooting around 40-50 percent from three before getting season-ending surgery.

Last season and this season are similar as he has started slowly shooting beyond the arc.

It’s a matter of just getting more reps and learning how to play alongside guys like Kawhi and Paul.

Logan Rapp: For context on fouls:

Kenneth Hawkes: Yup just a question, I think Pat Bev’s overconfident.

Ethan Smith: Bev’s confidence comes from his elite defensive play though

Nathan Jacobo: There was a stretch during that game where Donovan Mitchell had like 5-6 consecutive trips to the free-throw line in the 4th.

Logan Rapp: And Pat Bev has been the annoying presence he always is defensively, Ethan. So there’s that.

Ethan Smith: Oh yeah. And it gets him in trouble sometimes but in the playoffs, it’s awesome as he proved against Golden State

Randi Geffner: Being at the game it was just painful. Every three seconds we were just sitting there watching D Mitch shoot free throws. The Chick-Fil-A cows looked exhausted from all their trips back and forth in the fourth quarter

Especially the little one.

Logan Rapp: I was watching with the Utah announcers, and even they were joking about that.

Even on the opposing side, they were just fed up with the calls on both teams.

Randi Geffner: It’s a thankless job.  Being a giant fake cow at an NBA game.

Logan Rapp: Which brings me to my theory on Patrick Patterson — as it stands now, without PG13, I’m convinced that Patterson is starting because he A) theoretically can shoot, though he’s been in a slump like everyone else, B) is not a negative, if not a total positive, and C) can absorb early fouls and keep Harkless and Green out of early foul trouble while the refs get whistle-happy.

Garrett Chorpenning: I agree. I’ve actually been really impressed with PatPat so far, even with his latest slump. I don’t think any of us expected him to come firing out of the gate as he did, and he’s had some solid defensive efforts here and there as well

Kenneth Hawkes: I like that ^ D) Is someone people don’t drive on, rather step back threes are his weakness on defense

Ethan Smith: It’s nice to have a shooting big, I feel like we haven’t had multiple in a long time

Nathan Jacobo: I agree with all three points there Logan. Maybe adding a D) would be him gaining his confidence back like how he played with Toronto.

The coaches told him to just let it fly and so far he is looking like that Pat Pat instead of the one we saw in OKC.

Logan Rapp: Not a perfect plan, but I see the method to Doc’s madness. (Unlike, say, his method with regards to a certain guard last season who’s no longer on the team.)

Nathan Jacobo: Un-statable.

Logan Rapp: Because you want Harkless and Green opening up and going full-on in the second half. It becomes much more difficult when they have three or four fouls to start the second half.