Doc can’t go too small
In the preseason, teams have a chance to experiment using different lineups, see what rookies have to offer at this early stage, and try to structure rotations and combinations with new signings is perfect for this time of year. The only drawback is that sometimes these experimentations don’t always look too promising.
For the LA Clippers, that was the case when Doc opted to go super small.
A small-ball mindset with a five-man group of ball handlers and shooters is what Doc went for last summer when he signed Josh Smith as his backup center, before soon realizing that Cole Aldrich was the far better option backing up DeAndre Jordan.
Take last season, for example. The Clippers’ worst two lineups by a significant margin were small bench rotations.
The first: Rivers, Crawford, Johnson, Pierce, Smith — 73 minutes played together with a -34.9 net rating.
The second: Prigioni, Rivers, Crawford, Johnson, Aldrich — 186 minutes played together with a -16.6 net rating.
Doc shouldn’t slip into similar mistakes with his team for this season. Sure, there’s no Lance Stephenson or Josh Smith in L.A. as misused or puzzling fits, but we saw Doc use small lineups in the preseason featuring three guards with Wesley Johnson and Brandon Bass filling the frontcourt.
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As solid a defender as Bass may be, he can’t lock down the paint as Aldrich did and he can’t anchor the boards by himself. Surrounded by three guards and Johnson at power forward (who only averaged a modest 5.4 rebounds per 36 minutes last season) isn’t going to cut it, no matter the benefits of having a bunch of players who can shoot threes.
Opponents could quickly abuse the Clippers’ defense and outmatch them on the boards, and that good soon encourage the Clips’ offense to get impatient and lose its composure.
The same goes for lineups if Speights is the center; it’s hard to see such small lineups having much resilience defensively.
However, Doc was experimenting in preseason, because, well, it’s preseason. It doesn’t matter. We might not see these lineups being used too often in the regular season, and staggering Griffin and Paul helps lead the bench, too. This is something that was obviously limited in the last couple of weeks as neither players were being overused for meaningless games.
Next: Clippers Fantasy Basketball Preview
In all, there are plenty of positives to takeaway for the LA Clippers, and some adjustments to keep an eye on as we assess the strengths and weaknesses of this team going forward.