Clippers: 4 takeaways from Jeff Green’s time in L.A. so far
By Tom West
He adds a new driving dynamic to the Clippers
Something the Clippers lack is the ability to successfully attack the paint and this is more glaring than ever during the absence of Blake Griffin. Without Blake, they have no post presence besides the very occasional hook shot from DeAndre Jordan or a pick-and-roll with Cole Aldrich. Even then the Clippers lack skilful and consistent interior scoring.
With their bench, the reliance on perimeter play is greater still. The Clippers’ second unit attempts more threes per game (12.7) than any other second unit in the league, and the fact they make just 31.4 percent of them makes it even worse. Outside of drives from Austin Rivers and some driving jumpers from Jamal Crawford, the team really doesn’t have the kind of weapons to penetrate the paint with their bench.
As of right now, Green has played with the starters each game since they came back from that memorable 22-point deficit to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 2. And now that Luc Mbah a Moute is back, Green has started at the four next to Luc at the three, giving the Clippers a fair amount of size for a small-ball lineup.
When Griffin is back, though, there’s a chance Green may take to the bench as Luc’s defensive presence has been so helpful at starting small forward. With this in mind, the kind of plays that Green demonstrates in the clip below, scoring 23 points on primarily drives and cuts to the lane, can help mix up the perimeter reliant scoring of other role players.
Yes, it goes without saying that Green can’t drive to the basket to great effect all the time. Sometimes he’ll take his man off the dribble and finish a layup through contact that looks impressive in comparison to what the team’s other wing players can do. And when he makes a sharp baseline cut for a quick dunk he’ll creates easy assist opportunities for Griffin and Jordan to dump the ball off to him. Yet, this isn’t always the way he plays.
As the Clippers get used to settling for Green’s lack of reliability, they can at least be thankful that he can add a different dynamic to the team’s core of perimeter players who love to keep shooting threes.
Next: He's streaky (as expected) from three-point range