The Running Game, Part One: The Wings

The expected stylistic change brought on by interim head coach Kim Hughes raises an all-important question: Can the Clippers function effectively as a running team? I took the opportunity to watch a ton of game tape to get a better sense of the Clippers’ tendencies, strengths and weaknesses when they push the ball in transition. Let’s take a look and see who is fit for the running game.

The Wings: Gordon, Butler, Thornton, R. Davis

• Eric Gordon – Gordon might possess the least complex game of any guard in the league. The simpleness of Gordon’s game is particularly evident in transition. When filling the wing on the break, Gordon either spots up on the arc or makes a b-line straight for the rim. There’s no in between. Think about this: When was the last time you saw Gordon attempt a reverse? A floater? A shifty hop step and opposite hand finish? Gordon’s main tactic on the break is to go a million miles per hour towards the rim and attempt a right handed layup, contact and defenders be damned. In a way, Gordon reminds me of a top-end speedy sports car with bad tires in the snow: There’s a lot of power there, but it easily slips out of control. Gordon’s main problem is that he absolutely pounds the ball into the hardwood, almost as if he were playing with a flat ball on a dirt court. Gordon has a ton of time to progress towards harnessing his explosiveness and staying under control, but for right now he’s far from a polished ballhandler and playmaker on the wing. Verdict: Despite the likely increase in turnovers, Gordon’s increased free throw attempts and added scoring should make up for it.

• Rasual Butler - As the proverbial “3 and D” guy for the Clippers, Butler is essentially a specialist who does a few things very, very well. However, outside of perimeter shooting and on-ball defense, Butler doesn’t bring a whole lot to the table. As the wing man on the fast break he often shies away from filling the lane completely, and instead opts to back off and spot up for short to mid range jumpers, of which he shoots a pretty bad percentage (36% from 10-15 feet). The same aspect of Rasual’s game that can allow him to go off for 30 points will also likely keep him from being a great wing player in transition: Butler rarely ever passes up his shot, even if he’s gone cold. There’s a selflessness and playmaking ability necessary to consistently run a successful fast break , and I’m not sure Butler has that. When Butler avoids his natural tendency to spot up and fills the lane completely, he’s a subpar finisher unless the dunk is readily available. Verdict: An increased tempo means Butler will have the ball in his hands more often…which also means he’ll be liable to shoot some frightening PUJIT’s. He’s much better suited for the halfcourt.

• Al Thornton – Thornton’s role has diminished quite a bit this year, yet he’s still one of the better finishers at the rim on the roster. In theory, an uptempo game  should better showcase his talents and athletic ability. There’s a problem here though. Most 2 on 1, 3 on 1, or 3 on 2 fast breaks happen from blocked shots and steals. Rarely will you see a defensive rebound result in a mismatched fast break. The strong majority of transition opportunities actually come from your secondary break. The resulting looks from those secondary breaks? Spot-up jumpers. Ask yourself this: Do you really want Al Thornton shooting more jumpers? I’d be more inclined to predict success for Thornton in an uptempo game if: A. The Clippers actually caused turnovers and B. The Clippers secured long defensive rebounds more frequently. Verdict: Is a 20 foot Thornton jumper a better look than what the halfcourt offense could produce? Probably not.

• Ricky Davis – In Mike Dunleavy’s offense, Ricky Davis provided one key service: He stretched the floor. Ricky has actually been a pretty solid player in his limited time –he ranks favorably among the league’s other wings in field goal percentage and three point field goal percentage. Ricky’s transition opportunities have been limited, but he’s been less than impressive in his chances. Not surprisingly for a man with the nickname “buckets”, Ricky Davis is first and foremost a shooter. Nearly every one of his field goal attempts this year have been jumpers. Similar to Rasual Butler, if he gets an open look, he’s firing. Verdict: Ricky Davis can be useful in an uptempo setting, but his real value is in the halfcourt.

We’ve long discussed how the Clippers wingmen are terrible on the defensive glass, but this year they’ve taken it to a whole new level. Out of players who play at least 25 minutes a game, only four players in the entire league average lower defensive rebounding numbers than Rasual Butler, Eric Gordon and Al Thornton. Andre Iguodala (5.9 DRB per game) nearly averages more defensive rebounds a game than Butler, Gordon and Thornton combined (6.7 DRB per game).

What’s one solution for wings that don’t box out and usually don’t even come within 10 feet of available rebounds? Release. Close out on outside shooters, and then fly by and leak out. Camby and Kaman may not be Wes Unseld and Kevin Love, but they can deliver some decent outlet passes.  What’s the risk if the wings aren’t doing anything on the glass as is? Might as well try and get some easy buckets, right?

Even with all that said, the reality here is that the Clippers’ wings are shaky ballhandlers and even shakier decision makers. Since three of the four wings are jump shooters, speeding up the tempo will create them more open looks, but without Kaman or Camby underneath in prime offensive rebounding position. The mid-long range two point jumper is the most inefficient shot in all of basketball, yet the Clippers’ wings (primarily Butler and R Davis) use that as their main calling card on the fast break.

The goal of an increased tempo is to create easy looks. However with the Clippers’ current personnel on the wings, a running style might not accomplish that.

Why You Should Watch The All-Star Game

Need a reason to watch the All-Star game on February 14th? Look no further.

(Hat tip to Clipperblog reader JM for unearthing this gem)

Chris Kaman Named All-Star

From NBA.com:

NEW YORK — Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman has been named by NBA Commissioner David Stern to replace injured West All-Star guard Brandon Roy (right hamstring strain) of the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game in Dallas. Kaman will be making his first All-Star appearance.

Clipperblog originally concluded that Kaman being left off the original All-Star roster wasn’t much of a snub, but if Kaman was indeed slighted, it was rectified today by David Stern. With this selection Kaman becomes the first Clipper to play in the All-Star game since Elton Brand was selected back in 2006. Throughout the season Kaman has impressively battled through consistent double teams and a nagging lower back injury to post a career high mark of 20.2 points per game. His value to the Clippers goes much further than individual statistics, however. In games where Kaman was unable to play the Clippers went 0-6 and often looked completely lost on the offensive end. While he may not be the most talented or post the best numbers, Kaman is probably more vital to his team’s success than any other big man out West, and that in itself makes him worthy of his first All-Star selection.

With Kaman in the big game and Eric Gordon in the Rookie-Sophmore Challenge and Dunk-Off, the Clippers will be well represented in Dallas All-Star Weekend.

San Antonio 98, Clippers 81

Kim Hughes is a delightfully candid man. Not Stan Van Gundy candid, or even Gregg Popovich candid. It’s more of a plain-spoken Midwestern brand of candor.

As forthcoming as Hughes has been over the past 48 hours, his frank answer to the question, “Does the team have enough playmakers and ballhandlers to truly execute a running game,” was disarming.

“Perhaps not,” Hughes said in his first postgame press conference. “That was somewhat exposed tonight.”

I have no qualms with Hughes or anyone else knocking down some walls in the Clippers offense, but to mount a running attack just because Mike Dunleavy subscribed to a militantly structured offense seems rash, especially if you don’t have the personnel to execute that kind of game effectively. The Clippers simply don’t have the playmakers to be a transition-oriented offense. That requires wings who can handle the ball like points, and players apart from the point guard who can legitimately create for others.

The Clippers are built to be a half-court offensive team. Though he might not want to admit it, Baron Davis is no less a half-court point guard than he is a transition improviser. He’s best when posting up at the left elbow, where he can generate higher-percentage shots. So far as long distance goes, Davis is far more accurate off the catch-and-shoot (which generally occurs on a reversal or skip pass in a more deliberate possession) than off the dribble (something he’s tempted to do in transition). His incredible passing skills allow him to find angles in the half-court that few other point guards can.

I realize Baron has more fun running the break, but to suggest that the best way to maximize this particular collection of players is to unfurl organized chaos is preposterous. Stephen Jackson, Monta Ellis and Al Harrington aren’t walking through that door.

You don’t have to run a half-court offense as Mike Dunleavy did. Hundreds of professional coaches have designed schemes that don’t grate on their players. I suspect Kim Hughes could find opportunities for Chris Kaman, Eric Gordon and Davis to get open looks at the basket. But to say that “you want to run” just because, as a tactic, you sense it represents a 180 departure from what wasn’t working, seems silly. Sometimes life requires only a 75 degree adjustment, at least schematically. If you want to completely flip things tonally, then go right ahead. No complaints here.

In short, assess the personnel, and figure out some stuff that gets your scorers space. Sometimes those opportunities will come in transition. But often they won’t, particularly for this collection of talent.

Excerpts from my piece on the game at ESPN Los Angeles:

“It wasn’t a whole lot of fun,” Hughes said.

The Clippers’ desire to refashion their offense as an up-tempo outfit overlooks a key problem: The roster might lack the personnel to turn that vision into a reality. Hughes conceded that possibility when asked if he had the playmakers and ball-handlers to truly execute a running game.

“Perhaps not,” Hughes said. “That was somewhat exposed tonight.”

Next door in the locker room, the Clippers’ players were of a different opinion. To a man, they regarded the blowout loss to San Antonio as nothing more than basketball throat-clearing.

“It’s going to take some time,” Davis said. “We’ve all been playing a certain way for a year and a half. It’s just a matter of time before we all get together and start clicking.”

In his new role, Davis was shaky in 28 minutes. He scored eight points, dished out nine assists but turned the ball over eight times. Still, he was in decidedly good spirits after the game and bullish on the path set out by Hughes. After Davis finished his formal session with the media, he ambled over to the other side of the locker room to offer encouragement.

“We’re gonna be alright,” Davis said to some teammates. “I’m not trippin’. We just got to stick with each other and change our mentality — not turn the ball over and get shots. If we can get our turnovers down to 10 or 11 a game, we’re going to be alright.”

… On a night when the Clippers sought to ignite the fast break, their most successful offense came in half-court sets run through Kaman. He led the Clippers with 21 points on eight-for-16 shooting from the field. Encouraged by his new coach to move the ball when confronted by double teams, Kaman delivered some nice passes, including a pretty kick-out to Gordon in the far corner that led to an old-fashioned three-point play…

The Clippers are a team in transition, engaged in a dialectic between the more formal offense of Dunleavy and the run-and-gun style professed by Hughes. But the recipe for this loss was all too familiar: The team coughed up the ball on 21 of their 97 possessions.

Whether you play in transition or move more deliberately in the half court, wins are hard to come by with that kind of carelessness. The stylistic argument is merely academic.

Game Thread: San Antonio at Clippers

Game 50

7:30p PT

Fox Sports Prime Ticket

980 AM

Baron Davis: Man on the Spot

Conclusion from a post of mine over at TrueHoop:

For Davis, Hughes’ vision couldn’t be more inviting. When Davis is happy, he’s very politic with the media. He managed to heartily endorse Hughes’ goals without evoking any residual qualms he had with Dunleavy’s system (and praised Dunleavy’s legacy at every opportunity).

“We should try to play in transition where we can all benefit from our talents,” Davis said. “I think it’s going to be up to me to manage the game — who gets the ball, how we play.

“We definitely want to run more,” Davis continued. “I think the element of fun and excitement were far and few in between.”

Davis’ funhouse opens on Saturday night as a struggling Spurs team, losers of seven of their last 11, comes into Staples Center. The Spurs rank 24th in pace factor. The matchup seems like an optimal opportunity for Davis to initiate his unshackled transition offense. That may mean fewer touches for Kaman, who has stated repeatedly he performs best in Dunleavy’s pre-ordained sets, deliberately picking apart slower big men on the block en route to the basket or with kickouts to stationary shooters.

Whether Davis orchestrates an open court free-for-all, or merely splits the difference between Nelson and Dunleavy with some early offense that utilizes Kaman on quick pick-and-pops from 17 feet, one thing is certain: The success and failure of the Clippers from now until April 14 rest on Davis’ shoulders. With his former coach now upstairs busying himself with scouting the incoming draft class, Davis can’t gripe about the playbook weighing down his knapsack.

He wanted his freedom and now he has it.