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

By Gaia Rhodes

September 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) greets guard Jamal Crawford (11) and forward Brandon Bass (30) during media day at Clipper Training Facility in Playa Vista. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
September 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) greets guard Jamal Crawford (11) and forward Brandon Bass (30) during media day at Clipper Training Facility in Playa Vista. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 18, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Maryland Terrapins center Diamond Stone (33) watches his team warm up as he serves a one game suspension against the Minnesota Gophers at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 18, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Maryland Terrapins center Diamond Stone (33) watches his team warm up as he serves a one game suspension against the Minnesota Gophers at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /

The rookies

I was impressed with the play of the rookies. Diamond Stone has good size, can move well, and has a nice soft touch around the rim. Brice Johnson has a great looking shot and seems to be in the right spot all the time.

He does, however, need to gain some weight if he’s going to bang with the big boys in the NBA. This was made extremely obvious when Brice foolishly tried to block a Blake Griffin dunk. Blake went right through the rookie and hammered it down so hard it surely would have been the top play on Sports Center.

The fans wanted to know if Blake was going to be healthy coming into this season. He answered that question emphatically with one dunk.

Blake’s dunk may have been the highlight of the scrimmage, but DJ was the star of the show. There’s a lot of excitement in the LA Clippers organization based around Jordan. He’s coming off his best season yet as a pro, and had a great summer playing for Team USA at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. An even better season in 2016-17 could be on the way.

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During the scrimmage, DJ took every opportunity he could to interact with the fans. After being called for a foul on a driving Raymond Felton, DJ turned to the crowd under the basket and yelled with a big smile, “was that a foul?” He would regularly pass the ball to the kids in the baseline seats before inbounding it. At least three of his sweat towels ended up in the stands.

DJ made the experience very special for a lot of the young fans at the Bren Center.

The scrimmage ended with Jordan hitting a free throw with just four seconds left to break the tie. That’s right. DeAndre Jordan won the game with a made free throw. A clutch free throw. If that isn’t a good omen for the upcoming Clipper season, I don’t know what is.

Finally, it’s time for some fun with the rookie dance off.

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