Five Takeaways From LA Clippers’ Open Practice

On Tuesday the LA Clippers held an open practice for the public at USC’s Galen Center. Fans were invited to see a glimpse of how the Clippers are getting ready for the upcoming season.

As fans lined up to watch the Clippers practice Tuesday evening one thing stood out right away; there were A LOT more people at this year’s open practice than last year’s. Before the doors opened the line stretched two blocks with fans in Clippers jerseys anxiously awaiting to get in. Among all the Kawhi and Paul George buzz in the audience was one NEW topic that could be heard being discussed throughout the building. “DID YOU SEE THOSE NEW JERSEYS THOOOOOOOOO?!?!”. The fans definitely had an exciting day in Clipper Nation.

The team ran some non-contact defensive drills on the floor, shootarounds, 5-0 offensive drills in the half-court, and ended the evening with a 5-on-5 scrimmage. The following are five takeaways from what the team put on display.

1. Players Coaching

As the team split up into two teams to run a full-court 5-on-5 Rex Kalamain and Brendan O’Connor coached the Kawhi-led mostly starters unit, while Ty Lue and Sam Cassell coached the Lou Williams-led mostly bench unit. Doc loosely watched from the baseline where he was seated talking to Corey Maggette and Cuttino Mobley. Despite both teams having coaching staff over-seeing the players themselves seemed to be running a lot of the plays out of the stoppages.

Paul George was sitting with mostly the  second unit squad and had the whiteboard in his hands the whole time and was drawing up plays. He was having a lot of conversations with Terrance Mann in between plays as well. On the other end of the court, Patrick Beverley and Kawhi took turns drawing up plays for their squad. Seeing as how it’s just a practice this might not mean much, but it does show that the coaching staff is challenging the team leaders to think like a coach and learn how to make adjustments to the opposition. Something can come in handy down the stretch of game with limited or no timeouts left.

2. These Guys Like Each Other

I know, I know. No one has taken an actual loss yet that matters. But that aside, it really seems like these guys like each other. The chemistry was apparent at the practice on Tuesday. Not only with the celebrations of each other after a nice finish, but the communication was amazing. You could hear Beverley from the bench calling out switches and screens. The ball movement was that of a team that genuinely trusts each other. Most of all, seen over and over during practice, was the team laughing and smiling with each other throughout the whole evening.

3. Mo Is Looking Confident Behind the Arc

Maurice Harkless has a reputation for being a good defensive wing. He might even be the most under-the-radar addition to this team from this summer just for the addition of his defense on one of the best scoring benches in the league. Tuesday night, however, he showed that he has been working on the other end of the court as well. His movement off the ball looked good; he wasn’t just setting up base camp in the corner. He was coming off screens and keeping his defenders moving. With Lou drawing defenders because of his ability to get buckets and Montrezl drawing extra attention every time he rolls to the rim, Mo was getting some good looks from distance and looked very comfortable hitting catch-and-shoot threes. If that can translate over to actual games, then this bench just got a whole lot scarier.

4. Patrick Patterson Looks Serviceable

The NBA season is a long one. With minor injuries and load management playing a factor throughout the season, depth is the holy grail of treading water and surviving the regular season. The Clippers have been great in surviving some storms in the last couple of years with a strong “next man up” mentality and getting the best out of their bench. Patrick Patterson adds another layer to that. His experience and skill set not only helps the bench but also can slide into a starting position if the team needs it. He played minutes alongside Kawhi on Tuesday and showed his bag of skills.

The nine-year vet looked comfortable staying in front of his assignment on defense and was hitting contested shots on offense. Coming off a rough year in OKC, with averages below his career numbers in just about every category, Patterson looked like he might have a redemption year in his back pocket given the opportunity. He didn’t do anything that would draw your attention on a stat sheet, but he passed the eye test with flying colors.

5. The Point-Landry Experiment Continues

Landry Shamet played limited minutes in Tuesday’s scrimmage due to a minor wrist injury from Sunday’s preseason game. In his time on the court, though he played with Beverley, Leonard, Green, and Zubac. Almost every possession while Shamet was in he assumed the role of playmaker. Bringing the ball into the half-court while Beverley ran off-ball, the second-year guard looks to be very comfortable sliding into the point guard position when asked to.

Doing this allowed him to help set up his teammates as well as dump the ball, come off a screen and hit some open shots from the arc. Landry becoming a ball-handler also allows Beverley to save some of his energy for the other end of the court where he can really put his stamp on the game.