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E-News Sign UpMatt Pinto’s Pre-season Preview
The team’s front-office offered the opportunity for an essential element to team success in the NBA, CONTINUITY, by re-securing catalyst Sam Cassell from last season’s playoff run and augmenting the team’s offensive versatility by signing free agent 6-10 forward Tim Thomas.
Second round draftee Paul Davis, a 6-11, 270 pound solid rebounder capable of becoming a pick and pop shooting option and veteran free agent addition 6-9 rough house low-post defender and rebounder Aaron Williams will provide solid front-court depth. The only off-season departure of substance was Vladimir Radmanovic’s move cross-town to the Lakers, otherwise the gang’s all back a year wiser and hungry to build upon the taste of success enjoyed advancing to the conference semi-finals in last season’s playoff run.
Optimism abounds because this team is uniquely capable of playing any style of basketball very effectively. If opponents want to run the Clips have the brawn inside in two-time All-Star Elton Brand and blossoming fourth year center Chris Kaman to clear the board and trigger a fast break attack that features push it point guards Sam Cassell and Shaun Livingston with Corey Maggette flying in off the wing as one of the game’s best finishers at the rim. Want to play a slow-down grind? Good luck handling the low-post and mid-range prowess of Brand (career high 24.7ppg, 10.0rpg and 2.5 blocked shots) defensively, with Kaman plowing in the pivot and Cassell and Cuttino Mobley drilling jumpers from outside. Head coach Mike Dunleavy, at the wheel for his fourth campaign, orchestrates it all magnificently diagramming offensive sets that truly make this team a bear to guard. And when it comes to the defensive end of the floor, the Clippers are without peer rebounding, limiting opponents to 43.5% field goal shooting and a mere 95.6ppg last season. Livingston, swing man Quinton Ross and Mobley comprise a trio of long armed, quick lateral defenders that can reek havoc diving into opponents passing lanes to disrupt and force turnovers, while Brand and Kaman both ranked NBA’s top 25 blocking shots. When assessing this roster top to bottom it’s not surprising that numerous pre-season national publications have the Clippers selected second in the Pacific Division (behind only Phoenix) and a top five finisher in the Western Conference by season’s end.
The club will play a total of eight pre-season games before opening the regular season November 1 in Phoenix. Two of those happen in Russia before the team returns for a mini six day version of training camp in Santa Barbra before diving into exhibition games in earnest. Only one of those games will happen away from Staples Center in Los Angeles which should enable the Clippers to fully recover from any lingering jet-lag from time spent in Europe in early October.
Some of the objectives of the pre-season? First and foremost STAY HEALTHY! Sure, Mike Dunleavy will be looking for the team to gain a sound grasp of the team schemes both offensively and defensively, overall cohesiveness and chemistry along with establishing loosely defined individual roles but the undercurrent of all of it will be placing a premium on team health gearing for opening night in Phoenix. That said, this team’s ability to take that next step to join the Mavericks, Spurs and Suns as a truly elite Western squad may well be determined by the continued development of youngsters Shaun Livingston and Chris Kaman. Solid play at the point and in the pivot are essential to post season success, both of these guys have shown flashes of brilliance in the past and will be looking to solidify and cement themselves as consistent game turners this season. So, monitor the play of each with a keen eye this pre-season.
How will the multi-dimensioned offensive force that is Tim Thomas be showcased and utilized in the Clippers offense? We will begin to get a sense of that answer during the pre-season. The club really believes that it upgraded in the free agent swap of Thomas for Radmanovic due to Tim’s overall athleticism, ability to rain three pointers and post-up offensively and guard anyone from small forwards to centers depending upon match-ups. It will be fun to watch Thomas get comfortable with Brand and Cassell during the course of pre-season.
Keep an eye on the pre-season play of Corey Maggette and Cuttino Mobley as well. Both struggled individually at times last season. Maggette missing a total of 50 games due to a serious left foot injury and was in and out of the starting line-up. Mobley followed a season in which he finished third in the league in three point accuracy (43.9% in ’04-’05) by knocking down just 33.9% from long range last season in posting the second lowest scoring total of his eight season career (14.8ppg). Both are proud vets with plenty to prove this season. That effort figures to show with both in a big way during the course of the pre-season.
And how about the wild cards in the mix? How might Quinton Ross (off of an outstanding summer of strength building), guard Daniel Ewing (a Las Vegas summer league All-Star averaging 14.4ppg and 4.0apg), forward James Singleton (Las Vegas summer league leader in rebounding-13.2rpg and blocked shots-2.6), and new addition Aaron Williams fit on a very deep squad? Pre-season play will begin to shine some light in answer.
Enjoy the pre-season with an eye towards how developments on the court (not necessary game results) will influence and impact this team’s ability to take it to the next level during the regular season and beyond.
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