Rowan Kavner
CLEVELAND, OH – The Clippers departed for their third five-game trip of the season, after going 9-1 on their first two trips of this length. They head into the trip with some momentum, having won 10 of their last 11 games.
“Voice of the Clippers” Ralph Lawler, radio broadcaster Brian Sieman and Clippers.com’s Rowan Kavner are all on the trip and gave their thoughts on the team in a road trip Q&A, as the Clippers get set to face the Cavaliers, Knicks, Raptors, Pacers and Hawks.
What’s been the biggest key to the Clippers’ recent success, despite being shorthanded?
Ralph: Floor spacing has been excellent throughout with one big and 4 shooters on the court for the better part of the full 48 minutes. Also, the presence of Pablo Prigioni has freed up Rivers and Crawford to work w/o the ball.
Brian: Underemployment. Players that had smaller roles prior to Blake’s injury are now able to have a greater impact with extended minutes.
Rowan: How they’ve spread the floor with smaller groups for both units. The last 10 games, the Warriors are the only team that’s made more 3-pointers and shot a higher percentage from deep than the Clippers. What they’ve lacked in size they’ve made up for with ball movement and perimeter shooting.
Who or what has been the biggest surprise?
Ralph: The play of Cole Aldrich has been an eye-opener. His pick and roll play has added a new look and he rebounds and defends his position capably.
Brian: Cole Aldrich. Has played his best basketball in the NBA and a real asset now going forward. Pablo is a close second, both he and Cole have a tremendous synergy that dates back to their time in New York with the Knicks.
Rowan: It looks like we’re all in agreement here. The list of surprises is extensive, but Aldrich went from a player out of the rotation from the start of the season until shortly before the Clippers’ 10-game winning streak, to one that played well enough as part of the rotation to earn two straight starts when DeAndre Jordan went down, scoring 19 points in both of those opportunities.
What was the most underrated part of the Clippers’ recent 10-game winning streak?
Ralph: The team defense has just kept improving. It is there most games and almost always there at crunch time.
Brian: Their defense. While the bench really stepped up, to me the new schemes that the coaching staff put in over the summer have really taken. Their defensive efficiency during the stretch was 3rd best in the league. Even better than just those 10 games, dating back to Thanksgiving, they are the 3rd best defensive team in the NBA.
Rowan: The defense has picked up significantly, but I’m going to go with Paul Pierce’s work at the 4. His ability to space the floor with the starters has led to wide open looks for him at the top of the key, and he’s finally found some rhythm and looked more like the player the Clippers were hoping for when they brought him in this offseason. Since Blake Griffin went down, Pierce has recorded five games with at least three 3-pointers; that didn’t happen once in his first 30 games of the season.
What will be the biggest benefit down the road from this experience of the Clippers having to play without one of their stars?
Ralph: I think Cole and Pablo are in the rotation to stay and that might not have happened without the injuries. That can pay dividends well into the play-offs.
Brian: The bench really came to life, or more to the point the rotation is now solidified. Really interested in seeing the final 41 games healthy (hopefully)…
Rowan: It’s got to be the bench play. That’s the one part of this that could look basically the same once Griffin returns, now that Aldrich and Pablo Prigioni have shown what they can do in the rotation. Aldrich’s success in the pick-and-roll and Prigioni’s dish-first mentality at point guard have helped both Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford.
