Rowan Kavner
IRVINE, Calif - Ask the starters, and they’ll say they won. Ask the backups, and they’ll tell a different story.
The one clear constant after the first day of training camp is the members of the first unit won’t be able to cruise through practice at any point this year.
“It was a really good practice,” said head coach Doc Rivers. “You can clearly see that we have a lot of talent. It was very competitive. The second group today in the scrimmage, they were tough. They were really tough.”
Rivers said some of the college coaches who attended the practices last year as well noted how much more talent was on the floor. He added that there were times last year the first group could goof around, but that can’t happen anymore.
The team is deep enough that Rivers can switch out players on the first and second units from day to day, depending on what he wants.
On the first day of training camp, Rivers said the backup unit included Lance Stephenson, Austin Rivers, Jamal Crawford, Wesley Johnson and Josh Smith. Tomorrow, he said Stephenson, Rivers and Crawford will stick with the backups, but the other spots could change.
Rivers now has the luxury to go small, which he did Saturday. While the backups still need to learn the sets, he said their ability to go downhill and space the floor created issues.
“It makes both sides better, because there’s no days off in practice,” said Crawford, who’s used to playing around new backup units year-to-year with the Clippers. “We know they’re coming with it and they know we’re coming with it. We’re still figuring it out, but it was a good day for us.”
For Johnson, in his first practice with the Clippers, he noted how fast everyone moved. He said that was particularly the case for a second unit stocked with players who could guard multiple positions. While the answers varied, Johnson left no doubt on whether he felt the backups beat the starters.
“Of course,” Johnson said with a smile. “That’s the talk of the practice right now, but I think they’re going to have a little chip on their shoulder going into tomorrow’s practice.”
DeAndre Jordan told a different tale.
“I mean, they beat us one time,” Jordan said. “But it’s competitive. All our practices are competitive. When it’s like that and we have such a deep team, it makes everybody better.”
The fact there’s any question which unit played better speaks to the potential of a Clippers group which lacked this kind of depth in the past. It makes the newcomers on the backup unit excited, but it also has the starters thinking about the possibilities.
“The talent is definitely different,” said Blake Griffin. “Not to say we weren’t talented last year, we did have talent, but it’s different. Now you have one through five coming off the bench who could possibly go somewhere else and start.”
Who's handling?
One of the benefits to having so many versatile backups is the ability to get a rebound and having anyone take the ball up the floor.
Rivers said Saturday that Rivers and Stephenson handled those duties primarily, but the Clippers also want Crawford to be comfortable bringing the ball up the court.
“He’s done that before,” Rivers said. “We don’t want any of them thinking they’re the primary ball-handler. We want those three to feel like whoever has it, whoever’s closest, they push it up and the other two fill the space.
“That’s going to take time. You can see today there were two times Austin and Lance and Jamal ran out and Josh was sitting there with the ball and had to bring it up…Once they get it, it’ll be good.”
Notes:
- Doc Rivers said the Clippers are being careful with Stephenson because the versatile guard tweaked his hamstring or groin a month ago. Rivers said Stephenson played the first half of practice, then sat out a while before finishing out the practice. The team otherwise seems healthy.
- Doc Rivers said Paul Pierce, Johnson or Stephenson could end up starting at small forward, but he’d prefer to keep Stephenson with the second group. Pierce worked with the starters Saturday.
- Griffin said he thought everyone had a good practice, but he noted how well Pierce worked in with the starters. It was obvious to Griffin how well Pierce knew Rivers’ offense, which should help him seamlessly adjust to his new team. “Paul knows our basic offense, he knows the sets we run,” Griffin said. “So our first unit was moving like we were kind of midseason just really moving the ball. We all kind of knew what to expect.”
- Quote of the day comes from Johnson, whose face lit up when asked his initial impressions on the team: “We’re good. We’re really good. The talent on the team is incredible. Once we figure it out and put it all together, it’s going to be scary.”