Training Camp 2015

Robyn Dixon

behind-the-scenes-training-camp-at-uc-irvine

Behind The Scenes: Training Camp at UC Irvine

IRVINE, Calif. – With 36 years already under his belt as the “Voice of the Clippers,” Ralph Lawler has seen plenty of groups go through training camp.

However, he may never have seen one as talented as the Clippers assembled this year.

We caught up with Lawler, who gave his take after watching four days of camp at UC Irvine. Here are some of his thoughts.

Is this the most optimistic you’ve been about a team since you’ve watched the Clippers?

RL: “This is extraordinary. The last three years, it’s been pretty optimistic when we came to camp each year. But it’s just different this year. There’s a level of maturity, a level of focus, professionalism, determination that they’re here to win a championship. It’s been a really exciting week.”

Everyone keeps talking about how competitive it is. What’s that been like to see?

RL: “The second unit just give fits to the first unit every time they get out there in a scrimmage situation. You had a comment from Lance Stephenson who said it best, it feels like an All-Star Game every time they play. Compare it to last year where we thought maybe the second unit might be OK, it wound up not being OK at all…This group, they are really good.”

Apart from the improved second unit, what’s stood out to you most?

RL: “I think Lance Stephenson’s going to be an absolute monster. What he’s going to do to other team’s second units is almost unfair. He dominates. He makes so many great decision, he’s so athletic, he’s been shooting the ball well as well. If that happens, Katie, bar the door. He is special, and they’ve got the three ball-handlers playing together. Some people thought that might be a problem, but it really winds up being a strength, because how do you defend that group? Lance may initiate the offense, Austin Rivers might do it, it may be Jamal Crawford, and all three of them can make plays for themselves and other people. I think we’re on the brink of something really special.”

We’ve talked about the new additions at length. How has this helped the nucleus of stars?

RL: “Each one of them is going to wind up being better than they were last year or the year before that…I just can’t wait for it to start.”

camp-wrap-up-with-ralph-lawler

Camp Wrap-Up With Ralph Lawler

nbaplatformservices

training-camp-half-court-shot-contest

Training Camp: Half Court Shot Contest

day-4-training-camp-recap-9-29-15

Day 4 - Training Camp Recap | 9/29/15

training-camp-day-4-recap

Training Camp Day 4 Recap

IRVINE, Calif. – Branden Dawson’s the only rookie on a team full of experienced veterans.

He knows he needs to soak up all the information he can, and on the final day of training camp Tuesday, the advice came from Chris Paul.

“I talked to the rook, Branden, a little bit about paying attention and watching the guys in front of him,” Paul said. “We’ve got a lot of veteran guys here, and we get straight to it every day.”

We caught up with Dawson to talk about the experience of his first ever training camp:

Dawson: “It’s been great just being out here with these guys, just learning from the best. This is something that I’ve always wanted. It kind of goes back to when I was a freshman in college, just coming in and learning a lot of different things, learning from different guys. The first couple days of practice, I’m having fun playing with different guys.”

Dawson: “Just the pace of the game. It’s fast, but sometimes you have to just slow yourself down a little bit. Like sometimes on TV, it doesn’t look like the game is fast, but it’s a lot faster than college. Just coming in and keeping the pace, knowing where you’re supposed to be on the floor and knowing defensive assignments.”

What are Doc Rivers and the coaching staff asking of you?

Dawson: “For right now, Doc and the guys told me just don’t try to create all the time. Let my teammates create for me. We’ve been working on different things, corner shots.

How tough is it to pick up everything so quickly?

Dawson: “It’s definitely hard. I was just talking to one of my assistant coaches from Michigan State, and there are some drills that we did at Michigan State, but there were some drills we didn’t do. It’ just a lot, coming in and just learning. I think it’s better for me, it’s going to all pay off…It’s just learning and being patient.

The Clippers were careful throughout camp with Lance Stephenson, who tweaked his groin a month ago.

Rivers said the Clippers held Stephenson out of the 1-on-1 periods Tuesday, but they let him go once again for the scrimmaging. Even with limited reps to show what he can do, Paul said he loves what he’s seen from Stephenson on the court, and Rivers believes the forward is getting healthier.

“I think he’s pretty much out of the woods,” Rivers said. “I think Austin (Rivers) got hurt in the middle of practice. I don’t think it was bad. He still did the 1-on-1, but it was his ankle.”

Austin Rivers said afterward he’ll be fine.

“I just lightly turned it,” he said. “We were competing today. I’m good to go.”

Other than that, the Clippers appeared to get out of training camp unscathed.

Doc Rivers continues to switch up player groupings to be prepared for any situation, and that’s particularly the case for the forwards. 

On Tuesday, Wesley Johnson went back with the starters to get work at his normal position at small forward. Rivers hasn’t divulged whether Johnson or Paul Pierce will end up starting at small forward, and he said it could end up changing from night to night.

“We’re versatile enough to be able to do that,” Rivers said. “With matchups, Paul’s age, a lot of things. You can look at a lot of things.”

In a short amount of time, Johnson’s made an impact on his new starting point guard.

“Wes is an amazing player, great defender, can really shoot it well,” Paul said. “That athleticism is going to be something I think will help us a lot.”

Doc Rivers said one of the aspects he likes about this team is that each player seems to understand and be accepting of the fact he won’t play the same minutes or get the same shots that he’s used to. He said that’s the only way the Clippers will make it work this year.

camp-day-4-rookie-diary-injury-update-sf-news

Camp Day 4: Rookie Diary, Injury Update, SF News

Marcus Fong

IRVINE, Calif. – Austin Rivers was serious about working on his mid-range game this summer.

With a master of the art on the coaching staff, it only made sense to get in touch with assistant coach Sam Cassell, who flew out to Orlando and put Rivers to work.

“I’m talking about non-stop,” Rivers said. “Instead of working on everything, we worked on the things I wasn’t good at or the things that could take me to the next level, and that was the mid-range jump shot.”

With Cassell and assistant coach for player development J.P. Clark by his side, Rivers lifted, got stronger and worked almost exclusively on the mid-range game. That’s how Rivers spent his summer, and upon returning to Los Angeles, the same work continued.

“To his credit, he gave me all he got this whole summer,” Cassell said. “That’s just one of my guys. Doc (Rivers) asked me before we made the trade for Austin, like, ‘You can work with him, right?’ I was like, ‘My pleasure.’ One thing he needed is something I mastered when I played, a 15-foot jump shot with confidence.”

Austin Rivers had been all over the map in that regard during his career. He hit 38.9 percent of shots from 10 to 16 feet out as a rookie, but that number fell to 23.1 percent a year later and was at 27.5 percent last season.

His percentages were considerably better on shots from three to 10 feet away, getting up to a 41 percent mark on such shots last season. But the mid-range game needed work, and Austin Rivers knew the person he wanted by his side while he put it in. 

Cassell shot 45.4 percent from the floor during a 15-year NBA career that included three titles and an All-Star appearance. He was a mid-range master, shooting 48.2 percent on shots from 10 to 16 feet the final eight years of his career, when he’d perfected that part of his game.

Austin Rivers wanted Cassell to push him, and he did. Rivers joked toward the end of training camp that he’s sick and tired of Cassell because he’s seen him so much.

Every time Rivers would make a shot at camp, he said Cassell would be there celebrating it. Rivers said it’s as if Cassell has been his personal coach, and a lot of that stems from their work together this summer.

“You focus for an hour, we go hard, no water breaks, we just go, straight focusing on mid-range,” Austin Rivers said. “I had to make a certain amount to get the next drill, this-out-of-this. It was just very, very competitive. What it did is it got me through that hump of me being comfortable with that shot, and now I feel I’ve mastered it.

“Now, it’s about perfecting it. That’s what Sam said. He said you’d make 10-of-11, you’ve mastered the mid-range shot, now it’s about perfecting it and putting it in the game. In pickup, I’d shoot and make it and I’m like, ‘Man, I’m really getting it. This mid-range is really coming along.’ It’s going to open up my game so much more, because when guys go off that screen, I’m going to take that shot.”

Austin Rivers said Cassell told him even if he misses the shot, defenders will have to respect the fact he’s shooting, which should allow him to get to the basket more often and create for teammates.

That’s where he thrived most during the playoffs, going 21-for-36 during a breakout postseason on shots from inside five feet last season. He said last year’s playoff experience helped everything click.

“Once it started clicking, it was over,” Austin Rivers said. “What I mean by it was over, you just start being who you are. That doesn’t mean you’re going to have 30-point games every night, but it just means you’re done thinking and making it more complicated.”

He’s making the game simpler, and Cassell can see the results.

“The day we got him to where he is now is like night and day,” Cassell said. “He doesn’t mind coming off and taking that 15-foot jump shot, because he has the confidence he can make it. It’s all the set-up. It’s all the speed into the shot.”

Austin Rivers has carried that to training camp, where Doc Rivers has said Austin is looking more like he did in the playoffs on a consistent basis.

“We believed that’s who he could be,” Doc Rivers said. “He just had to get there confidence-wise. I think he’s there now. He comes down and makes a shot or misses a shot, there’s no reaction anymore.”

Austin Rivers saw his field goal percentage last season go from 38.7 percent in 35 games with the Pelicans to 42.7 percent in 41 regular season games after the trade to the Clippers. During the playoffs, Austin Rivers only took 12 shots between 10 and 19 feet, but he hit five of them and shot 43.8 percent from the floor in his first postseason.

With an improved mid-range game, Cassell expects a good year from the guard he helped all summer.