Coach Blake Griffin sighting at Oracle Arena

Lou goes for 50, CJ Williams gets hurt, and the Clippers beat the Warriors, but something else happened; Coach Blake Griffin made an appearance.

I was one of the lucky few Clippers fans that was able to watch their win at Golden State on Wednesday night.  With all the excitement of the night, historical for both teams, I couldn’t help but notice Blake’s contribution off the bench.  No, he wasn’t active, but he was very lively nonetheless.

As a fan, and someone who fancies himself an analytical hoop nerd I tend to watch games in an unconventional manner.  If I’m being honest I only looked at the score twice during the game; at halftime and at the end.  I didn’t actually know the Clippers were up until Oracle got pretty somber and quiet in the fourth quarter.  In a season riddled with injuries I have taken my sights off the playoffs and even wins and losses.  Instead, I’m focused on development.  In contrast to previous Doc-Era Clippers seasons the team has been putting meaningful minutes on rookies and deep rotation players.

My favorite way of analyzing the development of a team and players is watching the game focused on everything EXCEPT THE BALL.  Watch how players on the court are moving off the ball, watch what the other defenders on the court are doing when not directly engaged in a play, and watch the bench.  On Wednesday one thing really stood out to me; Blake Griffin being extremely verbal during any kind of stoppage.

Any moment there was a time out or free throws he was pulling players aside and talking to them.  Especially with the bigs; Montrezl Harrell and Willie Reed seemed to be getting most of Blake’s off-court lessons.  From where I was sitting it looked like he explaining defensive schemes and how to exploit them.  I saw him even imitate the Dream Shake at one point with Harrell.

All this makes me think there’s a silver lining in all the injuries to the key players.  This season isn’t just developing a deep bench, it’s a film session for our stars.  Blake was getting a view he couldn’t have in the heat of a battle and was able to analyze what was happening on every play. Just take a look at what injuries did to the IQ of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid in Philly.

Maybe, just maybe, this team comes out of this dark period not only deeper, but smarter.  That could really make the next couple seasons very interesting for the Clippers and their fans.