Clippers Start Preseason, Here’s How To Forget It

By Connor Aylward
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Updated: October 5, 2016

Welcome back Clipper Nation to another season of Los Angeles Clippers basketball! So much to look forward to in what we all hope is the start of a season that ends with a Larry O’Brien Trophy.

My assignment for the night was to cover the team’s first preseason game against the Warriors in Oakland. However as I’m writing this the Clippers are down by fifty points in the third quarter, that’s not a typo that’s 50. Since it seems to only be getting worse let’s flip the script a bit since just peering at my TV screen right now is giving me headaches.

There are though some things that don’t look too bad, though that’s hard to believe right now:

Blake Griffin is back and his jump-shot looks like it hasn’t lost a beat. All offseason Clipper fans have heard how Griffin has been working on extending his midrange game. So far he looks as comfortable with that shot as he was prior to his injury laden season last year, but has he extended his range to the three-point line? At his best, Griffin was a 40% three-point shooter during the 2014-15 season. A season where he only shot a total of 25 three pointers. Last season the league leader for power forwards in three-point percentage was Luis Scola who shot just over 40%. The main difference between his 40% and Griffin’s in 14′-15′? Scola shot 161 three points shots. If Griffin can find a way this season to remain consistent from long-range while shooting a higher volume of those shots, the five time NBA All-Star will be harder to stop than ever.
Mo Speights will be instant impact off the bench. I know I just blew the roof off of this whole season. What?! The team’s biggest offseason addition will make an impact, no way?! But for those of you who aren’t aware, this guy was the biggest impact player the Warriors had off the bench in that championship season they had in 14′-15′. He averaged 10.4 points per game while only getting in on the action for 15.9 minutes per game, that’s a remarkable scoring rate. The best part though, his effectiveness from deep. He immediately entered this putrid preseason game off the bench and dropped in two consecutive threes for the Clippers, name the last big in this uniform to have that kind of deep ball threat off the bench. If you answered Spencer Hawes or Byron Mullens go home, you’re drunk. Last season saw Speights shooting 39% from deep and he shot 62 of those shots, no doubt this team could use that type of production.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is going to start at small forward and I’m cool with it. Luc is a hell of a defender. In a conference that will see the Clippers matchup with the likes of Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Gordon Hayward just at that small forward position, defense will be very necessary. Not to mention in a talented scoring offense with J.J. Redick, Chris Paul, and Griffin his shooting won’t be needed all too much. Just ask DeAndre Jordan how much extra offense this team needs. Would it have been nice to bring in a splashy name that we couldn’t afford? Sure. But there wasn’t any reason to. With a scoring backup behind him like Wesley Johnson or Jamal Crawford the production on offense will come at that position when needed.

All in all Clipper fans, promise not to look at the score of this first preseason game to avoid depression and if you do reread the above three points to remind you it’s just preseason and we do have some things working in our favor.

Glad to have you all back with us for another Clipper basketball season, can’t wait for the games to actually matter. Hopefully they go better than this one.

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