LA Clippers: 5 signs their season was just getting started

Finding their Identity

Basketball is a unique and special team sport in that no matter how much talent a team has, the individual players need to learn their roles and fit within the roster to find success. On an even deeper level, teams must find specific combinations of five-man lineups that work well together in the stretches of time they share the floor.

The Clippers have had a talented and deep roster all season long, but according to coach Doc Rivers, they were just starting to put things together and become themselves in recent games.

The Clippers’ head coach told reporters during a conference call “What I know for real was the last 10 games, we were turning into the Clippers. You could literally feel it. … We started understanding each other. … We were playing seamlessly through Kawhi and PG. It wasn’t forced anymore. Guys weren’t trying to stay out of each other’s way. You could feel the rhythm.”

The team was starting to develop the chemistry and teamwork needed to make a deep run into the playoffs. They started playing well together, falling into their roles, developing the rhythm that great teams must have.

The results were evident on the floor, in their recent record and numbers as well as off the floor in the confidence the team has openly displayed.

Clippers guard Patrick Beverley was recently asked if he thought the Lakers were the NBA’s team to beat in an Instagram Live feed. Beverly, not one to hold back from expressing confidence in himself or his team responded “No. I mean that with absolutely no disrespect. Not only to the Lakers organization but any organization.”

It’s evident that Beverley thinks that his own Clippers are the team the rest of the league will have to worry about when play eventually resumes. Their recent record on the court and self-discovery are certainly two signs that point to him being correct.

And we still have three more to share.