LA Clippers: Terance Mann Should Start if Beverley is Out
The good news for the LA Clippers, including Terance Mann, going into their game against Minnesota is that Patrick Beverley isn’t listed as “OUT.” The bad news is that he’s only been upgraded to “QUESTIONABLE.” While he’s been out, we’ve been seeing a lot of Reggie Jackson as a starter while Beverley’s missed time.
It might be wise for that to change going forward, though. The Clippers’ starters don’t need another pure scoring threat in the lineup; a guy who’s more happy to play a secondary role might fit better next to Kawhi Leonard and Luke Kennard, who are looking to shoot.
The LA Clippers should look at starting Terance Mann instead of Reggie Jackson.
At the start of the season, we got a healthy dose of Good Reggie Jackson, but that hasn’t quite been the case lately. In the last three losses for the LA Clippers – all of which Reggie started – his plus/minus stats looked like this.
Against Brooklyn, Reggie was a minus 6 in a 4 point loss. Against Boston, a minus 5 in a 4 point loss. Against Sacramento, a minus 5 in a 3 point loss. For what it’s worth, Terance Mann did not play against Brooklyn, but he was a plus 2 against Boston and a plus 6 against Sacramento.
The plus/minus stats aren’t everything, but they do tell a piece of the story. That story is that Terance Mann has been playing relatively well for the LA Clippers recently, and he deserves the chance to see what he can do starting again.
The loss against Boston showed that Mann’s ability to do a little bit of everything might fit better than Reggie’s pure scoring among the starters. He only put up 4 points against the Celtics, but he also brought down 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a block in 19 minutes, while only turning the ball over once and not committing a personal foul.
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For a guy averaging 12 minutes per game, wading into the per 36 minutes or per 100 possessions numbers is a definite step into the theater of small sample size. So don’t take these numbers to be the exact stats I think he’d put up with a bigger role, but rather let them suggest that his all around contribution could help the starters.
Terance Mann per 36 minutes: 10 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.5 blocks, 1.8 turnovers, 3.6 personal fouls.
Terance Mann per 100 possessions: 106 offensive rating, 11.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.7 blocks, 2.4 turnovers, 5.0 personal fouls.
Again, take the numbers not as “I think Terance Mann will average 10 points and 8 and a half rebounds if he got 36 minutes.” But rather, he could contribute a bit of scoring, a solid amount of rebounding from the guard position and some decent passing while not making too many mistakes. I also trust him to generally make the right decisions, and more time with the starters could be a very good thing for his development.
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With Beverley and George missing time, Terance Mann has the opportunity to get some significant playing time without forcing one of our usual starters to the bench. I think this is the time to see what he can do.