It was fun, but in the end, the Clippers’ motley assortment of role-players couldn’t overcome the Warriors’ league-ruining assemblage of talent. Their players are good, some really nice pieces there, but when your go-to scorer is a 6th-man midget chucker AND that midget chucker goes 3-21 in an elimination, that’s a recipe for getting bounced in the first round. Good news, though: Kawhi Leonard is coming in the offseason, and he’s pretty good. But I’d pass on Kyrie Irving, because I don’t know why you’d want ANOTHER midget chucker as a PG when you already have a young, tall dude acting as floor general who already sorta plays like a veteran despite being a rookie.
It’s sad, in a way, that this is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s final game as a rookie. There’s a certain excitement that comes along with being a rookie that is now gone forever for him. Next year, there will be a whole new class of exciting rookies, and SGA risks fading into the background of the NBA as a sophomore. Just another good young player who plays for an okay team. I’ll keep flying his banner high, but Clippers fans will be too busy flying the banner of Kawhi and rookie fans will be too busy flying the banner of Rui Hachimura.
I hope Gilgeous-Alexander was taking notes while Kevin Durant dominated him and everyone else on the team. He has the same sort of body profile as Durant, maybe not as smooth with his movements, and obviously his jumper (though successful in the middle range) is a mangled abomination compared to Durant’s innate shooting stroke, but he’s closer to doing the same kind of things as Durant than someone like Brandon Ingram.
Okay, I’m being too positive here. Too much pandering. Let’s just say what everyone is thinking, and has been thinking the whole year: this dude is a total bust. Busty bust bust bust. Busteroni and cheese. I’d rather have half of a Jerome Robinson than him. That’s how big of a bust he is.