What’s in a Shot Chart: The Clippers Reserves
Newcomers
Spencer Hawes
The addition of Spencer Hawes had plenty to do with his ability to mix and match with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. With Griffin he’s able to play the center position and with Jordan, Hawes will be able to play spot minutes a the power forward. Either set of power forward-center combinations, one thing will be evident: Hawes will be a huge threat from the three-point line, freeing things up for everyone else.
Last season, Hawes put on an all-time season in terms of three-point shooting. In NBA history, only three 7-footers who qualified for the 3P% leaderboard have shot over 40% from behind the arch: Dirk Nowitzki (40%, 41%), Spencer Hawes (41%), and Andrea Bargnani (40%). Considering how the Clippers were an average team in terms of 3P% last season (finished 22nd overall at 35.2%), Hawes’ will be a healthy addition.
Unfortunately, Hawes doesn’t provide much elsewhere, shooting few corner threes, middling out in mid-range and struggling in the paint amongst the trees. With Blake and DeAndre in the picture those factors may not matter, but if he can improve in those three areas as well as remain an extremely efficient three-point shooter, where he’ll likely retain the bulk of his three-point attempts due to being a pick-and-roll threat, the big man trio of Hawes-Griffin-Jordan will be the best the league has to offer.
Jordan Farmar
Farmar’s shooting chart is a bit similar to Spencer Hawes’: excellent on the outside, but streaky on the inside. This is where Farmar and former Clippers point guard Darren Collison differ.
As mentioned under Hawes’ shot chart, Jordan Farmar provides a healthy boost to the Clippers’ three-point shooting, having shot 43% from three last season. But everywhere else, Farmar struggled mightily. A cause for concern is his ability to finish at the paint, but even that may be written off as an anomaly. Per Basketball-Reference, Farmar shot 45% within 3 feet of the rim, easily the lowest percentage of his career. For his career has shot 57% from the distance of 0-3 feet. Suffering several leg-related injuries could have had a huge effect on Farmar’s ability to finish at the rim. If/when he’s healthy, that issue ceases to exist, a positive for Clippers fan.
With a healthy balance between outside and inside shots, Farmar’s mid-range attempts come far and few between–as seen above, but it’s not an area that can be labeled as a weakness, another great sign for Clippers fans. Running the pick-and-roll with the likes of Griffin, Hawes, Jordan, and Davis, mid-range attempts will be readily available.
It’ll be up to Farmar to knock them down.