Could it have ended any other way?
The Clippers went 1-4 and had their issues as a team in Vegas, but there were some nice individual performances throughout the five games. Al-Farouq Aminu got progressively better as the week went on, capping off the trip with a 21-point performance. Willie Warren looked solid if nothing else, rarely forcing the action and shooting a high percentage. DeAndre Jordan had a nice performance in his final game, getting the better of Blazers big man Jeff Pendergraph in the post. Big Sofo didn’t do much in the box score, but he answered the two biggest questions surrounding his arrival by showing he was in shape and that he could rebound the basketball.
Here’s Kevin Arnovitz’s take on Eric Bledsoe after tonight’s game, via TrueHoop:
“After turning the ball over 28 times in his first four games, Clippers’ point guard Eric Bledsoe put together a heady, controlled performance against the D-League Select team. He changed speeds and read the defense beautifully off high balls screens from Rod Benson — bursting into the paint only when invited, and making smart passes or drawing contact when the defense converged. He scored 13 points (6-for-10 from the field), grabbed five rebounds, dished out five assists against three turnovers.”
Again, summer league isn’t about wins and losses. It’s about player development. Most of the young Clippers made some nice strides in that department, even if they weren’t setting the world on fire as a team.
33 Responses
Would love to see Sofo signed to a contract!
Posted on July 18th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Happy about our top two draft picks. I’m worried about Eric Gordon. Guy was so good first 1/3 of last year and then really faded. I think he have had a bad hammy (saw the game it happened) and I’m hoping that’s all it was.
Martin Reply:
July 18th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Gordon had a very respectable shooting percentage the last two seasons, and with Griffin commanding attention, he should get more wide-open shots. I’m excited about this team.
illastrate Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 10:54 am
You’re happy about our two picks, yet worried about EJ? Gordon is a bonafide starter, he’s proven his worth. Aminu/Bledsoe have a lot of work to do and no one knows if they can contribute this upcoming season. That has to worry you.
In actuality, Willie Warren went under the radar during SL. He had good percentages all around, played under control and didn’t turn the ball over.
EricGordonsLiveStrongBracelet Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Dude second halff of the season EJ was dunking or attempting dunks 2 or 3 times per game. Monster dunks in traffic. What games were you watching? He was the most aggresive of his career. His stroke wasn’t bad either, the team around him sucked and the coach(s) were HORRIBLE.
Posted on July 18th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Can we get some analysis on the coaching staff. it looks like after today, we have 3 assistants signed. thanks.
D.J. Foster Reply:
July 18th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
You bet — we’ll have a post on the new coaches very soon.
Posted on July 18th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
PAHAHAHA! THE D-LEAGUE REALLY??? Be prepared for a shit season.
Tino Reply:
July 18th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
@clippafan4life- you do realize we didn’t play ONE starter from our REAL team? Summer league records mean jacSh*t when it comes to determining the outcome of a full NBA season!
Five O Reply:
July 18th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
Here Here…..no one cares about the record when November arrives. The reality of the record is that Aminu and Bledsoe are both very young and talented. The flipside is patience is needed and fortunately for Bledsoe we have Davis as for Aminu??? Yes, we need one more key signing/trade for a verteran SF.
For what its worth Mike Fratello spoke very highly of the assistant coach that led our summer league team in addition to Del Negro’s coaching ability. I cant wait for the clipper season to begin.
clippafan4life Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 1:49 am
why do we play them if they mean nothing? granted we’ve done better in previous years and it never translated into the regular season, but all that means is now our rookies are way worse than before. Aminu and bledsoe aren’t ready for the nba and we could’ve got hayward and babbit and at least had some offensive contribution at the 3 spot now we have more projects, wooo hoooo!!! This is just more patching of the giant hole that exists in our roster. Bledsoe and aminu aren’t even backups yet and we gave up legit players like outlaw, blake, and gooden. This means we need to sign some more players or win 20 games this season.
eddie mack Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 10:44 am
and we lead most of the game but when you place ppl that have no chance of making the roster then yeah you can blow a 20pt lead but good effort
Posted on July 18th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
If this pre-season games dont count, Why does that 3 pt hurt so much? lol . True they’re to develop.
Its true we have a great player in erick Bledsoe thats for sure. Amuni… we’ll see what happens, hopefully we dont have to wait 3 years (as much as we’ve been waiting for DJ to develop (and we’re still waiting). I hope DJ comes ready for this season. He could potentially become that blocker that we used to have on Camby. Sofo wasn’t as impresive and at times (mostly) he looked lost.
I can only wish the clips luck and hopefully Blake Griffin is the answer to our prayers. Last year he led the preseason team to end with winning record like 4-1 i think. anyone remembers?
Posted on July 19th, 2010 at 12:38 am
I watched all of the summer league games. What I saw was a #8 who’s an athlete looking
for a sport, and a #18 looking for a handle. There may become a day when either or both
are able to contribute to an NBA team, but it won’t be soon. Meanwhile, NO may have saved his job by picking up Foye and (espcially) Gomes. Buckle up for a long season,
Clipper Nation.
Posted on July 19th, 2010 at 1:34 am
The improvement from Game 2 to last night is huge for Bledsoe and definitely a great sign of things to come. Aminu’s shot is better than I had expected, especially since he won’t be shooting 8 3′s in a night on a regular season game for now. Good summer league, minus the end results, but when the ONLY end result that matters in VSL is improvement it shouldn’t be looked any other way. Disappointed in the Debbie Downers who think the end record justifies their pessimism.
Posted on July 19th, 2010 at 4:55 am
Still, one of the most memorable scenes in Las Vegas came when Clippers president Andy Roeser scolded the franchise’s most passionate fan for heckling John Wall during a summer league game.
Darrell Bailey, more commonly known as “Clipper Darrell,” has attended 385 consecutive Clippers games and even has his BMW painted in the team’s red and blue colors. Still, that didn’t keep Roeser from admonishing Bailey and asking him to stop heckling Wall.
http://yhoo.it/bma9eB
================
I have been a Clippers fan for a long time and something like this is another reason why their management just sucks.
Look if Roeser wants to become a Wallnut that is his insanity but to blast Clipper Darrell for heckling a “rookie” is the height of stupidity and totally classless.
Josh Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 9:01 am
That’s terrible. That’s a slap in all of our faces. Should any Clippers rep ever chastise me for anything non-profane I say at a game, it will be the last game I attend. Darrell deserves an apology. Besides, it was all in good fun, and Wall seemed to enjoy it in a good natured way. The only one who didn’t get it is Roeser.
NRM Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 10:29 am
SMH… CD should be given a management level position with the Clips… he’d be the only one who gave a shit and is very fan orientated. Then he could hire (not that hes hired) me to replace him as Clipper Neil. A louder, low brow humor version of himself, with slightly better health.
Dreams sometimes come true right?
FD Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Yeah they should. CD get’s paid by the Clippers and they gave him the BMW. CD can say what every he wants, but if he wants a paycheck he better listen to Roeser.
Oh and I agree, summer league isn’t the place to be yelling, U-L-G-Y… at players trying to make a roster, on games that don’t matter that much. I posted earlier, I’m all for crowd yelling, but not at the summer league, it’s embarassing. And the stuff he does yell was fresh about 20 years ago.
Josh Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Is he on the payroll or not? And sure, his material is lame, but it’s satire.
FD Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
I don’t know his exact paycheck or the gifts he gets from the Clippers, but I’m sure he would legally have the claim the stuff the Clippers give him on his taxes. Mark Cuban offered to put him on the payroll in dallas, so probably the Clippers pay him check wise also.
His material is beyond lame. Same 2 or 3 things people said 20+ years ago.
‘Let’s go Clippers’ is fine, no problem with that. The wave isn’t satire, it’s just stupid to do at a basketball game. U-L-G-Y… is kindergarten stuff, he says to everyone shooting a free throw. MVP Chants for BD at the start of his first season?
Oh and yelling ‘Over Rated’ at John Wall? He didn’t stink up the summer league or anything, and summer league isn’t the place to do it. If you’re going to yell at players, do it right.
Posted on July 19th, 2010 at 5:43 am
How did Aminu look getting his 21 points? They run him at the PF again? Mostly around the rim or did his shot fall?
pez Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 9:18 am
4/13 I see…got most of them from the line then. Pretty crazy end to a game. No volume here….nice highlights though.
Posted on July 19th, 2010 at 9:12 am
Why didn’t sofo play in the last game?
FD Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
ah, on his webpage it says he needed to fly back to greece to join the national team.
Josh Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Because he’s not an NBA player.
Posted on July 19th, 2010 at 11:22 am
I’m certainly looking forward to Griffin this year, but I’m worried that he alone will not improve the team much. Basically, he’s replacing Camby. Camby was good, Griffin could be great, so that is an improvement. But it may be the only improvement.
I’m still holding out some hope Willie Warren will be good, especially on pick and rolls with Griffin. The two were good together in college, so maybe they will be good together in the NBA. Maybe there’s something about Griffin’s game that brings out the best in Warren.
I don’t see how Aminu is an improvement over Thornton.
If Bledsoe turns out to be average at point guard, then that will be an improvement over Davis.
The biggest improvement the Clippers can make this year is if they luck out and dump Davis for a second round pick, and then move up Bledsoe and/or Warren to starting point guard.
Josh Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Bledsoe, as much as I love him, is not ready to start yet. He is good enough to be electrifying in spurts and hopefully motivate BD.
Posted on July 19th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Aminu sucks. Shouldve drafted Paul George. Hopefully he is ready to play in the NBA once the regular season rolls around, but I’m very unimpressed based on summer league. Not only can he not shoot, hes not even the athlete we were sold on.
I like Bledsoe, we stole him. He should develop very nicely. Dont like the turnovers, but hes young and hasnt had much floor time even while in college.
Warren also very surprising. We lucked out with him as well.
Lot to look forward to and a lot to worry about. Kind of a mixed bag this offseason for the Clipper so far, lets just hope we’ve turned the corner and are on our way to building a contender in the future.
Posted on July 19th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
End of summer and we,re talking about Clipper DArrell! That sums it up for me.
FD Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
With all the empty seats there will be this year, Clipper Darrell’s voice becomes louder, so it is a big concern.
Posted on July 19th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
I don’t see why anyone wants Haywood. I see him as a player who is as good as he’s gonna get while Aminu has tremendous upside. Give the kid some time.
I also think Eric Gordon is going to have a monster year. You don’t think all the practices and scrimmages with Team USA aren’t going to benefit him a ton? Every day he’s with the best of the best and watch how much this improves him.
I don’t think this season will translate into a lot of wins but I sure think the future looks bright.
Posted on July 25th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Trackbacks