LA Clippers: Key observations from L.A.’s open practice

The team scrimmage

The team scrimmage tipped off with the starters facing off against a second unit consisting of Austin Rivers, Jamal Crawford, Wesley Johnson, Brandon Bass and Marreese Speights.

Paul Pierce came off the bench, as did Raymond Felton, Alan Anderson, Dorell Wright, the two rookies, and training camp invite Xavier Munford.

Here are some of the things that stood out to me during the scrimmage.

The starters’ defense was intense and smothering. Mbah a Moute has unbelievably quick feet for a man his size. According to the team, Mbah a Moute has been working on his outside shot all summer. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to see his newly improved three-point ball during the scrimmage, providing the shot is coming along.

Blake Griffin’s shot looks even better then it did last year. He was shooting the mid-range jumper with great confidence, and there was no hesitation if he had the space (a maddening habit of his last year).

Brandon Bass loves to shoot that little 10-15 foot baseline jump shot, and he hits it really consistently.

(Footage from last week in training camp, not Saturday’s practice).

Brice Johnson also has a really smooth mid-range jumper. When you add in Marreese Speights, you have the best collection of jump shooting big men the Clippers have had in a long time.

Chris Paul looked fantastic. He was hitting virtually every shot he put up, and had a nasty crossover that left Raymond Felton with sore ankles.

Austin Rivers looks hungry this year. He was getting after it on defense and was being very aggressive on the offensive end, something we started to see more last season. We could be in line for a breakout year from the young Rivers.

Paul Pierce didn’t play much in the scrimmage and missed the only shot he took. He was also running with the third team during the drills. A lot of fans, myself included, think Pierce will bounce back from his disappointing season last year. But it’ll be interesting to see how many minutes he gets in his final season on a stacked LA Clippers roster.

Now, let’s take a look at how the rookies got on.