LA Clippers: 3 Things We Loved in the First Half of the Year
We’re firmly in the All Star Break, and the LA Clippers have made it through the first half of the season relatively unscathed. Much has been made of the Clips’ performance in the first half of the season, both good and bad.
The latest talk around the internet is on the LA Clippers’ performance in the clutch, and if that’s a problem. Here at Clipperholics, we tend to think those issues are real, but probably exaggerated a bit by the media.
There’s been plenty to love, too, about the LA Clippers in the first half.
It’s easy to get wrapped up in the negatives and forget about all the promising signs we saw in the first half of the season. With that in mind, let’s count down, from 3 to 1, the things we loved the most about the LA Clippers in the first segment of the year.
LA Clippers First Half Loves #3: Terance Mann
For the LA Clippers, Terance Mann has been a much-needed revelation. For a team that’s had limited draft success lately and that doesn’t have many ways to acquire young talent in the near future, having a young guy performing is important.
Doubly so when you consider that Luke Kennard was supposed to be a contributing piece off the bench, but so far hasn’t found a consistent way to help the team. He’s had his games, but his timidness and occasional lack of confidence hurts.
That said, Terance Mann has really stepped up to fill some of what we hoped we’d get from Luke. In the past ten games, Mann has found himself on the court for the LA Clippers for 20.6 minutes per game and putting up a per-36 statline of 13.1 points, 6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and just 1.2 turnovers per 36 minutes.
Also. The LA Clippers’ future is in good hands with Terance Mann & Amir Coffey. light
He’s picking his shots well, too. Nobody will confuse him for a number one scoring option, but in his last ten games he’s shooting five times from the field and 1.4 times from deep, hitting on 55% overall and 57% of his threes.
Again, he’s not a sniper, and if his role increases I fully expect those shooting numbers to drop, but to me that says that he knows when he’s got a shot he should take, and he’s hitting on those.
He also helps the LA Clippers run more than they usually do – per the NBA, Mann’s got the third highest pace on the team, just behind Lou Williams and Kennard. That energy helps when the team starts dragging, and you can see Lue starting to realize that he can treat Mann as a “BREAK GLASS IN CASE OF LOW ENERGY” weapon.
Mann’s got great rebounding skills for his size and position, so if he can keep being a low-volume high-efficiency scorer while snagging some of those rebounds and continuing to learn from Patrick Beverley on defense, we could look back on this season as the time Terance Mann proved he can be a long term rotation piece for the LA Clippers.