Los Angeles Clippers: Stars Need Help!
The Los Angeles Clippers have had concerns with depth all season long. With a first-round matchup with one of the deepest teams in the Western Conference in the San Antonio Spurs, that concern has been magnified.
Tied 1-1, this series has featured plenty of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan, but not much of anyone else for the Clippers. J.J. Redick has been cold from the field thus far, and Matt Barnes‘ average contributions have turned to minuscule and inefficient ones.
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The contributions beyond the starting lineup get even more grim: Jamal Crawford showed up for game one, but not for game two. How can Doc Rivers game-plan when he doesn’t know what he’ll get from his offensive punch off the bench? The rest of the Clipper reserves have been so underwhelming and un-impactful that they’re not even worthy of having their names mentioned in the intro paragraphs.
Through the first two games, Blake Griffin alone has played a combined 88 minutes of a possible 101 (game two went to overtime) while the entire L.A. bench has logged a combined 96 minutes.
Eight minutes are what separate Griffin’s playing time from that of five different players who have played in this series off the Clippers’ bench.
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So why is coach Rivers riding Griffin and Paul so much? Well, for one, they’ve been phenomenal, but more than that, there’s nothing viable behind them or DeAndre Jordan.
Likely Doc Rivers‘ best defensive option off the bench is Glen Davis (it’s that bad). Davis is respectable in the defense of pick-and-rolls, but seems to lack the physical ability to play one-on-one on-ball defense for any length of time, and if you’re waiting for Davis to block a shot, you’ll be waiting for quite some time as he averaged 0.3 blocks per-game in the regular season. Davis will give you plenty of hustle on loose balls, and contested rebounds defensively, and a not-so-terrible mid-ranged jump-shot offensively, but beyond that, Davis has looked overwhelmed by the speed of this series.
The front-court problems go beyond Davis though, as Spencer Hawes — who didn’t play a single minute in game two and played just two minutes in game one — is an even worse option than Davis.
Although Hawes was a regular rotation player during the regular season, he has proved to be an unreliable back-up to either Jordan or Griffin, meaning unless we get a surprise appearance from Ekpe Udoh (maybe?) at some point in this series, Davis will be the lone front-court substitute to give any real minutes at all.
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Austin Rivers has failed to get much of anything going offensively, as he’s scored a combined six points through the first two games with one total assist. If Rivers isn’t giving anything offensively, his minutes have to be reduced to preserve the defensive integrity of an already not-so-great defense. Rivers is very close to being a non-option in the Clippers’ back-court, especially if he’s faced with having to guard either Patty Mills or Tony Parker, who can both easily brush off his lackluster defense in very different ways.
Jamal Crawford remains the Clippers’ best hope for production off the pine, but he will need to be more consistent.
In game one, Crawford was instrumental. With 17 points on seven of 10 shooting, and three of four from three-point range. Crawford — like he does so often — made up for his defensive ineptitude with efficient offense. In game two though, Crawford’s presence on the court — in the fourth quarter especially — was questionable as he finished with 11 points on four of 13 shooting and one of seven from beyond the arc. With no viable options at either wing position though, Crawford will still get his minutes as he is the lone wing-player off the bench capable of playing in these crucial games.
Beyond the bench, some starters haven’t exactly lit the world on fire so far in this series either. Namely, Matt Barnes and J.J. Redick.
As I said before, both have been cold from the field.
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While Barnes plays tough defense and usually puts in an average offensive contribution (10.1 points per-game during the regular season), Redick’s inability to fill up the scoring column in an efficient manner is troubling.
Redick is shooting a combined eight of 25 on the series. That’s just 32 percent. While his three-point shooting has remained solid at 40 percent for the series, Redick needs to find a way to score as efficiently as the Clippers are accustomed if they’re to have a chance at playing in the next round.
Despite all of this, the Clippers aren’t in bad shape. They have a legitimate chance at winning this series and advancing. If the production of their role-players can take a jump though, it would help tremendously in both preserving their stars’ energy and solidifying a rotation for the remainder of the playoffs — a must if they’re to make a run at a title.