Los Angeles Clippers’ State of the Season
- Updated: January 29, 2015
I know most would wait until the All -Star break to do a midway address but we’ve already passed the midway point game-wise and I never had the greatest patience so lets kick this off. At this point the Los Angeles Clippers are 45 games in to the 82 game season sitting at 31-14, and they’ve struck a wide range of emotions with the fan base at this point. We started watching Matt Barnes struggle during the preseason and questions of who would be the answer at the small forward arose. The answer, Matt Barnes. Reggie Bullock is in Phoenix and Chris Douglas-Roberts is in Boston so Doc answered that one for all of us. Lucky for the fans, Barnes has really turned it on as of late and his preseason inconsistencies have been long addressed with him averaging 9.8 points shooting 47% from the field. But of course the most important part to Barnes’ game isn’t written down on a stat sheet as his defense is why he starts day in and out.
Blake Griffin struggled to grab boards early on in the season but has started to come around with 7.6 per game now to go with a career high 5.1 assists. Chris Paul has remained the “Point God” we all know him as he is incredibly close to averaging a double-double just by stepping on the floor with 17.4 points and 9.8 assists per game. J.J. Redick is shooting 44% from three which if that holds would be the best of his career (As a side note lets thank the basketball gods that he is finally in the three point contest this year). However for the most part these three have done what most of us expected, only one player has risen to superstar status this season.
DeAndre Jordan has become a monster in the low block. I’ve been saying since Doc came to LA that Jordan had the best chance of anybody to thrive in this system and there is no doubt now that he is. A league leading 13.4 rebounds per game to go with 10.2 points and 2.4 blocks per game. Best part, those are not the most impressive stats for DJ. A league leading 73.1% field goal percentage is what stands out. It’s very easy to sit there and say, he doesn’t ever shoot from outside the paint and that’s the reason why. Just to put this into perspective the next closest field goal percentage is 67% by Tyson Chandler, another center who typically doesn’t ever shoot outside of the painted area. Also until you get to sixteenth on the field goal percentage list, all of the leaders in percentage are Centers or Power Forwards who for the most part live in the paint. Lets just say DJ picked a great season to have a career year with his contract being up at the end of this season.
However even with all of this, questionable management by the multifaceted Doc Rivers has left many of us scratching our heads at times. Trading the aforementioned Bullock and Douglas-Roberts for his son Austin for example has most of us still wondering what is going on in Doc’s head. But let me say this, Doc is just a few moves away from all of us praising his abilities as a general manager. Alright so praising may be a strong word but what if Doc does indeed bring in the rumored veterans in Nate Robinson and a veteran small forward or even Jermaine O’Neal?
The addition of Dahntay Jones has been much more important than I think most of us could have imagined as the team’s chemistry seems to have improved dramatically since the veteran journeyman’s arrival in Los Angeles. With the chemistry builder in Jones, the addition of an emotional player like Robinson and another strong veteran presence could be all that is necessary for the Clippers to hit their stride at the right time. The resurgence of “A tribe called bench” could do wonders for this team and after watching that Nuggets game there is no doubt Spencer Hawes and Jamal Crawford are ready to get that second unit rolling again.
With the Western Conference being so tight right now between just about everybody except for Golden State who is five games ahead of Memphis for first place, even the smallest of moves could help the Clippers stay in that top four and get the ever important home-court advantage for the playoffs. Currently the Clippers stellar record leaves them at 4th in the Western Conference just even with Houston. The truth is no matter who the Clippers play in the first round is going to be a tough opponent so making matters slightly easier by playing the majority of games at home should be the top priority for Rivers. Now it’s time to see if he makes the moves that can make that happen.
Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Clippers and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time!
Related Posts
About Connor Aylward
