Marreese Speights roster

Jay Johnson

LOS ANGELES – Ask DeAndre Jordan about Marreese Speights, and he’ll look up quizzically in silence, as if he’s never heard the name. Shortening it to “Mo Speights” elicits the same perplexed look.

It takes the full nickname to get Jordan to react like he’s heard of the man.

“Ohhhh, ‘Mo Buckets,’” Jordan says sarcastically. “Yeah, I love Mo.”

For a player who’s spent the last three seasons on the rival Warriors and two seasons before that on the rival Grizzlies, he’s managed to make a comfortable adjustment in just half a season with the Clippers, who enjoy having him around.

“It’s a long season, and you need guys who fit your team,” said head coach Doc Rivers. “You could put Mo on any team, and he would fit. He plays with joy. Guys love having him around. He’s a funny guy.”

Maybe that’s why, upon hearing Speights’ name, Austin Rivers’ first reaction is to grin.

“He’s just a great guy,” Austin Rivers said. “He’s also a hell of a player. Any time you have that kind of combination, it’s easy to cheer for someone like him.”

That’s exactly what the Clippers did Monday night, with the game already in hand.

Speights had 23 points and nine rebounds in the waning minutes of a thrashing against the Thunder, but was a rebound short of his third double-double of the season and his first 20 and 10 game since 2013.

With 1:38 left, Speights finally corralled the elusive 10th rebound. The Clippers’ starters - watching the rest of the game from the sidelines – erupted in cheers, throwing their hands in the air.

“This team and this city welcomed me with open arms, even though (we) used to be rivals,” Speights said. “It’s just been a blessing. It’s been great to be here, playing for the organization and the city and this team, being able to play with Doc Rivers and (Chris Paul) and all those guys has really been a blessing. It’s been fun.”

That has a lot to do with his production.

“Mo Buckets” has lived up to the nickname this season more than ever before. Barely past the halfway point of the 2016-17 season, he's already hit a career-high 61 3-pointers, two seasons after attempting just 18 3-pointers in the regular season for the 2014-15 Warriors.

Despite the vast increase in long-range attempts – rising dramatically each of the last three years – it didn’t take any nudging to get Speights to pull the trigger more from behind the arc, where he’s currently leading the way in efficiency for big men. Among centers who’ve shot at least 100 3-pointers this season, Speights holds the highest 3-point percentage in the NBA at 39.1 percent.

“He didn’t take 3s three years ago or two years ago,” Doc Rivers said. “He started taking them last year, and by the end of the year, he was taking a lot of them, so I think he was already on his way to being a 3-point shooting big. We’ve just taken advantage of his growth.”

Speights is averaging 1.4 made 3-pointers per game, and he finds himself in the midst of a 17-game stretch making at least one 3-pointer per game, the longest streak of his career.

In addition, his 10.2 points in 16.5 minutes per game this season gives him the highest scoring average of any player averaging fewer than 20 minutes per game.

“When he’s out there, it opens up the court so much,” Paul said.

Speights’ ability to score and stretch the floor made him an attractive option for the Clippers this offseason, but he’s been even more than the offensive sparkplug they hoped they were getting.

Known more for his offense than his defense, “Mo Buckets” has still managed to make his mark on the defensive end of the floor by taking “Mo’ Charges” than anyone in the league.

His 21 drawn charges leads the NBA, as his teammates are well aware.

“He talks about that all the time in the locker room – ‘I lead the league in charges, you know that right?’Sometimes, he’ll take a charge when he shouldn’t take a charge and you’ll be like, ‘Mo, what are you doing? He’ll be like, ‘Yo, I’m the league leader.’

“You can’t say nothing to him after he says that, man.”

It’s all friendly banter, with Austin Rivers adding how Speights’ charges often come at times in the game when Clippers need a stop most. Even the Clippers’ defensive leader respects Speights’ ability to get his body in position in front of players attacking the paint.

“I can’t do it,” said Jordan, who could only recall two charges he’s ever taken – one on Shaquille O’Neal and the other on Dwight Howard.

“One was an offensive foul, so it wasn’t really like it was a charge. But any time you take an elbow to the neck on Shaq, that’s a charge. So, that goes down in my career as a charge. That’s a long way for me to fall. So, I don’t like doing that, I’d rather just contest a shot…But Mo is very good at it.”

The addition of Speights, Raymond Felton and Brandon Bass have transformed the Clippers’ backup unit into one of the more formidable backup groups in the league, giving them much more offensive firepower beyond Jamal Crawford isolations and Austin Rivers attacks to the rim that had sometimes defined the offense of reserve groups in the past.

As Speights continues to get more and more comfortable as the year progresses, he’s just grateful to be somewhere where he’s given a chance.

“Usually when I’m playing good, sometimes I have to look (over) my shoulder not knowing when I’m going to play again, but Doc’s given me an opportunity and players have welcomed me and helped me out,” Speights said. “Like I said, it’s a blessing.”

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Speights Feels Grateful As Career Year From Deep Continues

Joseph Ibarra

LOS ANGELES – Blake Griffin walked up to his spot at the post-game podium. A few seconds later, Chris Paul did the same. While that’s a nightly occurrence, with the two Clippers often the standouts of their wins, what Paul did next isn’t typically necessary.

Paul moved a few feet to his left and made room for someone else to take center stage Friday night, sandwiched by the two Clippers superstars.

“I ain’t used to this,” Marreese Speights said, shuffling his way to the postgame podium after his fourth-quarter jolt gave the Clippers what it needed to get over the hump and come back from 19 points down to finish off the team’s biggest come-from-behind win of the season.

Seconds earlier, Griffin wrapped his arm around a smiling Speights with less than a minute left in a tight game against the Bulls as the two big men walked back to the Clippers’ bench with a five-point lead. Speights waved his arms in the air to pump up an animated STAPLES Center crowd after “Mo Buckets” did more than just score 11 fourth-quarter points to finish off the comeback victory.

With an early 19-point deficit, it was the type of night that called for the unconventional – a night head coach Doc Rivers said he had to throw out the coaching book and try out combinations he’d never used before until something clicked. Part of that meant late minutes for Austin Rivers, Raymond Felton and Speights.

Before the game started, Doc Rivers talked about how this summer he wanted to get as many veterans who were “over themselves as possible.” By “over themselves,” Doc said he was referring to the type of player who was ready to win and cared less about his minutes and touches and more about being part of something bigger than himself.

It’s the type of player who can get over four largely unproductive minutes in the first half, then forget about it and be the hero in the second, the way Speights was Friday. It’s the type of player who can sit most of the night, then explode for five points in three minutes in the third quarter and score another 11 in the fourth, the way Speights did Friday.

And, maybe more importantly, it’s the type of player whose biggest play isn’t necessarily any of those 16 points, but the willingness to grab an offensive rebound to keep a possession alive in the final minute, the way Speights did Friday as he recovered a Jamal Crawford miss, then found Crawford again for a reverse lay-up to put the Clippers in control in the final minute.

“Congrats to Mo, because he hung in there,” Doc Rivers said. “He could’ve easily been upset. I gave him four minutes, didn’t think he was playing well, yanked him out, then bring him back early in the third and keep him there for the game. That was a great example of – you just got to figure it out. There’s nights like this. When you win games in nights like this, it makes you feel good.”

Doc Rivers rewarded Speights with minutes, and Speights made good on each of them in the second half, spacing the floor in a seldom-used lineup that allowed Griffin to roll and Speights to pop.

“He gets buckets,” Griffin said, alluding to Speights’ nickname. “But, he knows when to make the next play, when to take a shot, when to be aggressive, when to draw the foul. He makes the game easier for us.”

As the Clippers continued to cut the Bulls’ lead but failed to break through and tie or take the lead the majority of the night, Speights said Crawford was on the bench telling the reserves all it would take is a bucket and a stop from them to provide the spark.

“I feel like we did that,” Speights said. “That’s what we’re on the bench for, to look at the game and see what we can do better.”

The reserves did that again late Friday, the way they’ve done the majority of the year.

And no one appreciates that more than the two stars surrounding Speights in that postgame press conference.

“We have a great locker room of vets and guys who have been through so many things,” Paul said. “We have pros, guys that take care of their bodies and do their work, because we haven’t had an opportunity to practice. It’s a mindset. When guys are down, we pick each other up. It’s fun right now with us…Anybody in our locker room, you can feel it right now.”

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Marreese Speights Provides Fourth-Quarter Jolt To Finish Off Bulls

Robyn Dixon

Los Angeles – As the Clippers’ backups continue to pick up where the starters leave off defensively, Marreese Speights is also spacing the floor the way the Clippers had hoped when they signed him this offseason.

“Mo Buckets” is averaging 10.5 points in 15.7 minutes per game, and as he continues helping out the second unit, he also helped out Clippers.com this week by answering fan’s mailbag questions.

The questions were submitted on Facebook and Twitter using “#LACmailbag” after the question. Here are Speights’ answers.

FACEBOOK
Stevie Gonzales – You were such a great pickup for this Clippers team. How is team chemistry so far and where would you say your comfort level is with the team? #LACmailbag

MS: “Team chemistry is good. Still a process, still getting better. My comfort level is always good. It doesn’t matter if I’m on the bench, on the court, walking around, my comfort level is always good.”

Devon Maisonneuve – As a Clipper fan, I was so excited when they signed you. What factors led to you signing with the Clippers? #LACmailbag

MS: “Having a chance to play for a championship caliber team with a good coaching staff, and the opportunity to play consistently every night and have a bigger role here coming off the bench.”

Denis (@denisv_) – What has been the best moment of your career so far? #LACmailbag

Bryan (@ClipperB23) – Pac or Biggie? Also, who was your favorite NBA player growing up? #LACmailbag

MS: “I’d say Pac. I listen to some Tupac. Then, I’d go Rasheed Wallace, Hakeem Olajuwon and a little Kevin Garnett.”

Kys (@SweaterGawwd) – What’s your favorite part about playing with the Clippers? #LACmailbag

MS: “just getting to know these players. Playing against them, you really don’t know them like that. But it’s fun playing for Doc (Rivers), and it’s fun being here.”

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Mailbag 11/10: Speights Answers Fan Questions

Anthony Davila

LOS ANGELES – Harrison Barnes started to crack a smile at a Team USA practice in Las Vegas once he heard Marreese Speights’ name come up.

Barnes and Speights served as two of Golden State’s complementary pieces on a Warriors team that won a title two years ago and set a record for wins last year before signing with the Mavericks and Clippers, respectively, this summer.

“Love Mo,” Barnes said. “He was right next to my locker every day at Golden State. He’s a great guy. I love the energy that he brings to the game.”

Speights was never afraid to mix it up, but as Barnes will say, he was more than just a burst of energy off the bench.

“He’s a sneaky offensive rebounder, now a great 3-point shooter,” Barnes said.

The latter attribute took some convincing.

Speights took 281 shots between 16 feet and the 3-point line in 2014-15, hitting 42.7 percent of such shots. But he only took 18 3-pointers.

“You have to start shooting threes,” Barnes said his teammates would tell the big man. “He used to shoot that like 18(-footer), I’m like, ‘Mo, just take a step back.’”

The reliable mid-range shooter stepped back and took 62 3-pointers in the regular season last year, at least double the amount of any previous season, and hit 38.7 percent of them. His numbers behind the arc got even better in the postseason, as he went 18-for-43 from 3-point range.

Barnes said that consistent outside shot should be able to help the Clippers.

“He stretches the defense,” Barnes said. “There’s not a lot of fives used to guarding a guy like him on the perimeter who’s just going to knock down that shot. They’ll be very happy to have him.”

Klay Thompson, who described Speights as a great teammate who “never had a bad day at the office,” would agree.

“Mo genuinely loves the game of basketball,” Thompson said at Team USA training in Las Vegas. “I’m going to miss playing the pick-and-roll with him. He’s so easy to get an assist; just throw it to Mo. He’s got such a great jumper. There’s not many 6-11 guys who’ve got a shooting touch like he does who shoot it 40 percent from deep.”

The Warriors departed with a handful of valuable assets to bring in their prized possession in Kevin Durant this offseason, and while there may be other more high-profile players getting pricier deals elsewhere, Thompson knows he’s going to miss Speights for a variety of reasons.

“He’s true to his roots,” Thompson said. “He’s never going to change who he is, and that’s what makes him so special. I’m going to miss his personality, and I’m going to miss being out there on the court (with him). He’s such a great player. The Clippers got a good one.”

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Warriors Players Know Speights Will Be Missed

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Top 10 Games Of The Year: Marreese Speights

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New Additions: Marreese Speights

PLAYA VISTA, Calif. – Marreese Speights saw the impact Cole Aldrich made off the bench with the Clippers last season and felt he could provide much of the same.

That played a role in Speights’ decision this offseason, leaving Golden State after three seasons with the Warriors and officially signing Tuesday with the Clippers, helping them fill the void left by Aldrich in free agency.

“Seeing what a guy like Cole Aldrich did last year, get a role like he had, get a chance to play every night and get a chance to be an impact player on this team…I feel like this is an opportunity right here that’ll prepare for me the future,” Speights said.

Speights said he talked to Clippers head coach Doc Rivers “a lot” throughout the free agency process, and that Rivers stressed the kind of effect Speights could have with the Clippers’ second unit, using Aldrich as an example of a center who helped himself out by coming to Los Angeles.

“Doc was a big key of this process,” Speights said. “I’m going to have an opportunity to come here and play and be consistent every night.”

“Consistent,” after all, might’ve been the word most used to describe Aldrich’s play last year. 

Whatever role the Clippers needed from Aldrich, the backup center proved more than capable of filling it. That even meant the occasional start, which he always seemed to take advantage of, averaging 15.8 points and 11 rebounds in his five starts. He make an immediate difference once joining the rotation in late December, and by season’s end, Aldrich averaged a career-high 14.8 points per 36 minutes.

“You look at that,” Speights said, “especially a situation like my situation, not knowing if I’m going to play every night. But when I do play, I see other teams, like, ‘Man, this guy’s doing all this and all that, I could be in that position.’”

Speights described himself as a big basketball fan, so he looks at players at his position across the NBA. He’s particularly familiar with the Clippers’ roster, having played for rival teams in recent years in Golden State and Memphis.

He was on the Grizzlies when they played the Clippers in the 2011-12 postseason and the Warriors when they played the Clippers in the 2013-14 postseason, so he admitted it’s “going to be a little bit different” playing for instead of against the Clippers.  

But, as strange as it may be, Speights said he looks forward to starting this chapter in his career.

He could be in for an uptick in playing time after averaging 7.1 points per game in 11.6 minutes per game last season with the Warriors. That came after averaging a career-high 10.4 points in 15.9 minutes per game two seasons ago.

Speights said he feels there’s more to his game than everyone sees, and he thinks he’ll have an opportunity to show that with the Clippers. He also hopes his championship mentality after winning a title with the Warriors can help a Clippers team looking to get over the hump, and he’s excited about the looks he’ll get with as many capable passers as the Clippers have, calling Chris Paul “the best passing point guard in the league.” 

“It’s going to be fun playing with these guys,” Speights said. “Can’t wait.”