We’re in for an exciting year. Here are four numbers from last year that could impact the coming season for the LA Clippers.
In case you weren’t aware, the NBA season is just a week away! LA Clippers’ fans have a lot of optimism about the coming year, and still a lot of questions about how everything will fit together.
I’m a big fan of looking at what data and numbers tell us. They can’t replace watching games, obviously, but numbers don’t get caught up in narratives like we are fond of doing.
With that in mind, I want to look at four numbers that I think are important for this coming year. In an effort to not be overly optimistic or pessimistic, I’m going to split it into 2 that are promising and 2 that suggest room for improvement.
The Recency-Primacy effect suggests that if I start and end with the good stuff, and put the negative points in the middle, you’ll remember the good stuff and will be less likely to think I’m just a hater, so we’ll do that!
Let’s jump on in; the first number I think will be important for the Clippers this upcoming year is…
25.8
Last year, the Clippers as a team attempted only 25.8 threes per game. This was 28th in the league, with the average NBA team attempting 32 threes per game.
In a league that is trending more and more toward the three-ball, the Clippers were an anomaly; they scored efficiently while attempting very few threes. And then you factor in their additions in the offseason.
Between them, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George attempted 14.8 threes per game – two guys attempting more than half of what the entire Clippers offense attempted. And they averaged 38.5% on those attempts.
While the Clips were able to put together an efficient offense without being a volume threat from outside, the addition of two guys who are that dangerous from three is sure to give the offense a dimension it was lacking before.