Los Angeles Clippers: Something wicked this way comes
The Step Back has been born from the aesthetics and traditions of the Hardwood Paroxysm Basketball Network. In the past, Hardwood Paroxysm has produced a massive stand-alone season preview. This year, that preview effort has been rolled up into the launch of The Step Back.
The Step Back’s writers and illustrators have prepared a hefty deep-dive into each team, built from multiple smaller sections. This year’s theme is television comedies and each section is named after some of our favorite sitcoms. For links to all 30 teams, as well as details about the focus of each section, check out our guide on how to read this preview.
Community
By Kaveh Jam (@KavehsRoom)
It was not too long ago that the mention of Los Angeles Clippers triggered thoughts of persistent failure, organizational incompetence, and losing — lots of losing. With that came many high lottery draft picks and much fumbled decision-making. Those days have become an ancient memory, but another peculiar phenomenon keeps haunting the Clippers.
After ownership change revitalized the organization, an aggressive remodel from the ground-up took place unlike anything in their history. Trades were made, cornerstone players were brought in, and winning began to commence. All of this came together to catapult a dormant franchise tucked behind the noise of a big city squarely into championship contention.
Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan are entering their sixth season together — fourth under the guidance of Doc Rivers. It’s true that Rivers can be mawkish at times, but in coaching circles he’s part of an exclusive group holding NBA championship pedigree. It begs the question then, why these Clippers have failed to break through to the Western Conference Finals, let alone NBA Finals despite what has appeared to be a contending roster each season.
Fumbling away a series lead to the Memphis Grizzlies in 2013 and again to the Houston Rockets in 2015 are enough to crush a franchise. Add to that a bizarre Paul turnover in a series-shifting Game 5 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2014, and you begin to see remnants of a franchise ill equipped to deal with immense stakes. But these things usually don’t happen when your point guard is a steadying, think-first floor general like Paul.
If it wasn’t self-inflicted blunders that has become the Clippers undoing, it has been injuries. Last season, an enticing first round matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers warped into a preseason exhibition when Paul and Griffin were knocked out with playoff-ending injuries. Paul in particular suffered a freak hand injury that could convince you curses exist in sports.
There are still tangible areas where the Clippers will need to improve. Rebounding is of chief importance this season for a team that ranked in the bottom-third in overall rebounding. They were perpetually outworked on the offensive glass, leaving them second to last in that category. Execution in the clutch and winning the close games more often than not will be crucial for etching out extra wins when jostling for Western Conference playoff seeding.
While the Clippers have flirted with disaster and breakup before, this season feels like it will be definitive. At some point they will need to taste the sort of success that is only served in the months of May and June. Being overwhelmed by a superior opponent is justifiable and sane, particularly in a conference thick with contenders. In keeping the core intact, they are betting on a successful guard against further self-destruction.
It is simple for the Clippers now in one regard: They are fully aware of themselves and their capabilities. Their recent history has been rehashed many times and serves as an open wound. The Clippers mantra entering this season should be just win. The last five years have each produced abrupt endings shrouded in dark clouds of confusion, dismay, and flat out disappointment. When this happens every year, the regular season eventually becomes an afterthought — rendered inconsequential because we know what’s coming when the playoffs begin.
The Clippers will turn the page on another new season, but the era known as “Lob City” trudges perilously close to the edge. They have infused a fan base with excitement and become a perpetual highlight-reel producer. Paul-led fast breaks that conclude with human pogo sticks Griffin and Jordan on the finishing ends are nice. But what they do during this regular season will ultimately not determine their fate. It is what takes place once the real season begins in April.
Art by Daniel Rowell
Frasier
By Bryan Toporek (@btoporek)
In terms of talent, the Los Angeles Clippers have perhaps the second-best team in the Western Conference, trailing only the Golden State Warriors. Whether they make good on that promise and earn their first Conference Finals berth in franchise history depends largely upon Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan helping their teammates overcome the significant mental obstacles that lie ahead.
In a letter that Griffin wrote to Clippers fans on The Players’ Tribune in mid-September, he acknowledged the team’s ignominious playoff history:
"We all know the narrative going into this season. Everyone’s like, “Oh, they lose in the playoffs every year. Same old Clippers.” All I have to say to that is this: We’re the same core group that beat the defending-champion Spurs in seven games just 17 months ago. … With that in mind, our team has kind of embraced the public perception of who we are. For lack of a better term, we’ve adopted the philosophy of: F— it. Let’s just go out and play basketball."
That’ll be easier said than done, especially once the playoffs roll around.
Two years ago, the Clippers held a 3-1 lead over the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Semifinals, with all three of their victories having come by at least 16 points. Even after the Rockets thrashed them in Game 5, the Clippers returned to L.A. up 3-2 with a chance to clinch their first-ever Conference Finals berth at home. The Clippers held a 19-point lead with less than two-and-a-half minutes in the third quarter, but the Rockets finished on a 49-18 run, forcing a Game 7. In that decisive contest, Houston seized the lead for good less than four minutes in, sealing the Clippers’ monumental collapse.
Heading into the 2015-16 season, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers admitted to Grantland’s Zach Lowe that time could be running out on the Paul-Griffin-Jordan era, particularly after Jordan nearly joined the Dallas Mavericks in free agency that summer.
“We’re right on the borderline,” Rivers told Lowe. “I have no problem saying that. I’m a believer that teams can get stale. After a while, you don’t win. It just doesn’t work. We’re right at the edge. Oklahoma City is on the edge. Memphis, too. We just have to accept it.”
The Clippers started the year 17-10, trailing only the Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, and Oklahoma City Thunder, but Griffin suffered a partially torn quad tendon on Christmas Day. Less than a week later, he broke his hand by punching an assistant equipment manager, sending L.A.’s season spiraling. Trade speculation quickly began swirling around the big man, but Rivers and the Clippers stood pat, figuring it best to give this core one last crack at a deep postseason run. Instead, Griffin aggravated his quad injury in Game 4 of L.A.’s first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers, and the favored Clippers would go on to lose in six games.
In May, Rivers backed away from the comments he delivered at the beginning of last season, telling Lowe, “I feel like the best thing for the team right now is to keep [Paul, Griffin and Jordan] together. Can that change? Of course it can change. But I don’t think it will.” He added, “We felt really good going into the playoffs. My only concern was how quickly we could get Blake back right.”
While Rivers teased at 2015-16 being the Paul-Griffin-Jordan trio’s last stand, this upcoming season has the makings of just that. Both Paul and Griffin are all but certain to decline their 2017-18 player options after this year, making them both unrestricted free agents in July. Given the gargantuan salaries each are likely to command, it may be financially unfeasible for the Clippers to retain both. That long-term uncertainty will loom large over the L.A. locker room this year, as anything short of a Conference Finals berth may lead to the demise of the Clippers’ Big Three.
So, a team that has a devastating history of playoff misfortune — one with a curse named after it — must now reel off the best season in franchise history or likely get blown apart. The Clippers may need the world’s supply of sports psychologists on speed dial this year.
Third Rock from the Sun
By Brendon Kleen (@BrendonKleen14)
There are 15 players on the Los Angeles Clippers’ roster. Two of them are better than Blake Griffin: DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul. Therefore, Griffin is the third-best player on the Clippers of Los Angeles. The reason this is a true fact has everything to do with role, and the passionate embrace thereof.
Griffin is a matchup buster at power forward, who ought to run the break, handle the ball, shoot jumpers, and play center some to be most effective. Simply by way of his having only two hands, two feet, and 35.3 minutes per game, he can’t do all of that at once. And there lies the point I’m making here: By making 70 percent (!!!) of his various dunks and dumps, rebounding the heck out of the basketball, and improving on defense each year, DeAndre has lifted himself into the two spot in the Clippers power rankings.
Griffin was an All-Star in each of the first five seasons of his career; Jordan has never been an All-Star. Blake dunked over a Kia in February of 2011; to my knowledge, DAJ has never dunked over any type of car. Blake made efforts to rekindle the flames of the United States’ Cold War victory by dunking atop Russia’s Timofey Mozgov in the first month of his rookie season; Jordan simply beat a team full of -Vic’s to capture a gold medal in Rio during an easy international year.
Yet I’m maintaining my stance here that DeAndre is more valuable to the Clippers than Blake.
Role doesn’t just mean the duties you have on the basketball court — it describes the place you hold in the sphere of a team game. DeAndre doesn’t punch equipment guys, he rejects the official-hating culture that Doc has instilled in Los Angeles, and he revels in an unglamorous role. Would Paul Pierce ride an emoji rocket ship to keep Blake in L.A.?
The answer is no, and seeing Jordan swing from “that guy L.A. matched on because he’s Blake’s bestie” to bona fide superstar in his own right has been fantastic. As his hair has grown, so has his reputation. He doesn’t necessarily earn the Bill Russell comparisons his coach tosses to the media, but he’s earned his place as true second banana on a Clippers team that needs him now more than ever.
Perfect Strangers
by Matt D’Anna (@hoop_nerd)
Ten Word Analysis: With less elbow grease this chart would be almost perfect.
TeamSPACE charts are based on mapped clusters of shot activity. These areas are affectionately called Hunting Grounds, because they are the areas on the court where a player hunts for shots — and successfully scores most often. TeamSPACE takes the Hunting Grounds of all five players in a lineup and puts them on the court together — because, you know, they have to share that physical space, and there is only one ball.
In the past, it was one color per player; which meant that blending colors represented overlapping spaces for shot activity. But this time around, these are not your ordinary TeamSPACE shot maps. Each lineup is analyzed in the aggregate — one color! — and that unit is compared that unit to the rest of the league. So you will see a persistent red layer on every chart, highlighting the league’s Hunting Grounds from last season. The most prolific locations should come as no surprise: the paint, the corners, most of the top of the arc, and a couple of dabs at the foul line and top of the key.
So…how were these lineups chosen for each team? In the past, it’s been about projecting the starting lineup, estimating the most used lineup, or even designing the “most favoritest” lineup. This year? It’s the these charts represent the “most interestingly feasible” lineups….what? That’s a loaded phrase, so let’s unpack it a bit.
The goal is to identify the collection of five players on a team that could potentially play together, and if they did, the offensive results could be glorious. Ideally these lineups aren’t too far-fetched, but also slightly off-kilter and confusing to an opposing defense. While this type of analysis is not conducive for assessing defense, somewhat reasonable decisions are attempted to be made. So while it’s tempting to just put all the best shooters together…how realistic is it (outside of Houston, at least)? And, full disclosure: I favor some stretch in my lineups. It not only provides plenty of high-octane potential, but getting stretchy is also on par with current league-wide trends.
Each TeamSPACE chart has a couple of other sitcom-related features:
Family Matters: You’ll notice a series of Jaleel White’s across half court. Each lineup is scored on a scale of 0-7 Steve Urkels for how well it matches league-wide trends. Remember, there’s seven league Hunting Grounds (right corner three; at the rim; left corner three; foul line/top of the key; right wing; middle 3pt; left wing). A lineup gains points for matching each area; it loses points for messy excess shot activity.
Odd Couple: “Most interestingly feasible” is obviously debatable, so in order to account for some of those decisions, you’ll see Oscar and Felix on each chart. Often, there are players that are in the lineup…and maybe/probably they should not be. They get the Oscar label. And, there are those players that are out of the lineup…and maybe/probably should be included. They are the Felix for their team.
And briefly, a word about data. These strange visual displays are based on last season’s shot data, weighted by made buckets — so rookies and season-long injuries are sadly excluded. This analysis is nothing without the help of Darryl Blackport, and the research materials available atBasketball-Reference and NBA.com. Further, these charts feature some of the best logo re-designs I could curate from the ol’ Information Superhighway, including Dribbble.com and Pinterest. I made none of the logos; I merely selected some of my favorites. Enjoy!
Everybody Loves Raymond
By Jaylyn Cook (@yasiin_jay42)
Remember when everybody loved Blake Griffin? You used to not be able to go five minutes without seeing his smiling face hawking everything from Kia cars to Subway sandwiches. It was also pretty hard to avoid the various viral dunk highlights that popped up on social media every time he sought to send an opposing player’s confidence to the Shadow Realm. (Rumor has it that Pau Gasol weeps blood every time he hears Griffin’s voice.)
Nowadays, that fan fervor has all but disappeared and the excitement over the Los Angeles Clippers’ star has transformed into endless discussions of whether or not he should be traded elsewhere. I’m no NBA insider, but it’d be safe to assume that much of this is a direct result of the whole assaulting a dude in Toronto thing, combined with nagging injuries that will probably only grow in frequency as he continues to grow older.
So, now that Griffin has somewhat lost his place at the top of Clipper fan favorite-dom, who’s next in line to take his place as the most likable player on the *other* L.A. team’s roster? Simple: Paul Pierce. Why? Well, if you’ve seen The Truth play basketball during his long and storied professional career, then you really shouldn’t have to ask why.
Pierce is a living legend. He’s an All-Star, an NBA champion, a Finals MVP, a record-setter, and a complete SAVAGE when it comes to the hopes and dreams of others. However, the most endearing thing about the man has to be the resilience and passion for the game that he openly displays both on and off the court.
Pierce’s innate ability to bounce back from struggle is incredible, like after he was stabbed 11 times before the NBA season began. He still started all 82 games that season. It was not a dream — it really happened. Another example: During Game 1 of the Boston Celtics’ 2008 Finals series against the Los Angeles Lakers, Pierce went down with an injury that was so bad, they had to carry dude off the court because he couldn’t walk. Yet, lo and behold, he did his best Willis Reed impersonation and came back to the court, dropping 15 points to lead the Celtics to a victory.
Pierce and the Celtics ultimately won that series 4-2. As a Laker fan, I’ll forever hate that man for being so good at what he does. However, I can’t deny how easy it is to fall in love with his determination to overcome any and all obstacles. That willingness to prevail is also a testament to how much he truly loves what he does for a living, and no matter what color jersey he’s got on, that flame will never be extinguished.
This season will be Pierce’s last. At 39-years-old, he probably won’t see a lot of time on the court, and the right moves are already in motion for him to end his career as a Boston Celtic — which is really the way it should be. Despite all of that, he’s going to be the best player on the Clippers’ bench this season. No matter what happens, he’ll be there for his teammates, he’ll be there for his coach, and he’ll be there for his fans.
How could you not like a guy like that?
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Boy Meets World
By Trevor Magnotti (@IllegalScreens)
On a veteran roster, it’s a challenge to make an impression as a young player. You’re fighting for playing time against established veterans who are both more familiar with the day-to-day grind of the league and are likely more skilled than you. When that team has a lot of continuity in philosophy and on the roster, that task becomes even harder. It’s suddenly not enough to just play well. You have to show an understanding of the game at a higher level than if you were working in a new system, and you have to do that against guys who in some cases have been doing this since you were in middle or high school.
Xavier Munford is that exact situation with the Los Angeles Clippers in training camp. As a D-League veteran who’s played just 14 regular season games, he faces an uphill battle for minutes in a veteran Clippers backcourt. As a combo guard, the deck is stacked against him from a minutes perspective. He has to go to war every day with the best point guard of the last decade. At the two spot sit the reigning Sixth Man of the Year and one of the best pure shooters in the game. In fact, five of the six guards the Clippers have brought in on their roster have been in the league since at least 2006.
The sixth is the coach’s son.
However, this isn’t going to stop Munford from trying. He’s one of the poster children of this D-League generation, a guy who has worked his tail off through the NBA’s minor league to earn a shot at a permanent NBA spot, when he may not have even gotten a sniff at the NBA when some of his teammates came into the league. After a college career split between the junior college ranks and the University of Rhode Island, Munford was a virtual unknown in the 2014 draft process. He instead went to the D-League Draft, where he was selected by the Maine Red Claws, and then traded to the Bakersfield Jam. It was here that Munford began a transformation from high-volume chucker to skilled pick-and-roll point guard.
Munford has consistently added pieces to his game over the last two years. In 2014-15, it was his free throw shooting that saw the most improvement, as he went from a 70.7 percent free throw shooter to 78.2 percent for the Jam. In 2015-16, though, he expanded his range and his distributing ability. The result pushed him over the edge into being a real NBA prospect: He averaged 20.4 points, 6.4 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game, and improved from 31.6 percent to 41.2 percent from behind the arc. Over the course of a year, he went from a 6th-man type undersized two-guard to a versatile on-and-off ball threat at either guard spot. The Grizzlies noticed, and he became one of the first guys to go directly from the D-League to playing major minutes for a playoff team thanks to Memphis’s injury woes.
This year, Munford has the chance to take the next step and fully secure a roster spot from the beginning. He’s been working on developing his game further this summer (focusing on defense and playmaking), and has had a decent training camp so far. And while the backcourt is crowded, with rookie Brice Johnson’s injury, Munford has a chance to stick around as one of the last few guys on the roster. And if he can, he can easily get a chance to show his stuff if there’s an injury to one of the Clippers’ old guard, like Jamal Crawford or Raymond Felton.
Munford’s been building to this point for the last two years, and given the situation he’s in, it’ll be impressive if he can land a full-time spot on the Clippers, due to the competition he’s facing. If he sticks, we can know that he’s definitely earned his place on this roster.
Of course, this is all totally irrelevant. Exactly 19 minutes after this section was submitted, the Clippers cut Munford because Doc Rivers doesn’t suffer youth. Still, Xavier Munford is fantastic and someone should be giving him a chance.