It’s yet to be seen whether Eric Gordon will survive the final roster trimming from 13 players down to 12 before the world championships begin on Aug. 28th in Turkey, but even if the experience were to end here, there’s a lot to take from Gordon’s play this Summer.
Watching Gordon develop as a player up to the this point has been an interesting exercise. While some of his fellow draft classmates, like Russell Westbrook, have made leaps and bounds since they entered the league, Gordon has improved gradually, not looking terribly different from the guy the Clippers drafted two years ago. Part of the appeal behind selecting Gordon was how NBA-ready he was, and throughout his short career in Los Angeles he’s proven to be one of the steadiest choices the draft had to offer.
I’m hesitant to proclaim Gordon hit a plateau last season, but the numbers do show that Gordon’s shooting percentages declined while everything else was identical to his rookie campaign. It’s definitely difficult to judge Gordon’s development when you consider the context – about 75 percent of the games he’s played in his career have been meaningless with the season already in the tubes. How can you judge a player defensively when some of the other players that share the court with him have already packed it in for the year? Can you really fault Gordon for not being more aggressive when just about everyone was gunning for a new contract late last year by taking whatever shots came their way? While the environment has been tough for Gordon to grow in, it’s been equally hard to get an accurate read on just how good Gordon really is, and just how good he may become.
In a lot of ways this is where Team USA steps in. We all know what Gordon can bring to the national team – accurate outside shooting and physical on-ball defense being the primary attributes – but what can Team USA do for him?
The most important thing about Gordon’s time playing for Team USA this Summer is the confidence he can gain from the experience. Gordon has largely been a hidden commodity in his first two seasons, but regardless of that he’s been tabbed by some of the best coaches and basketball minds in the world as one of the finest players the entire league had to offer. Take a look at what Coach K had to say to ESPN’s Chris Sheridan about him:
The coaches have been raving lately about Eric Gordon, who was on the cut bubble when the team held a minicamp in Las Vegas last month, “because we didn’t know him as well,” Krzyzewski said.
“He’s really had a terrific practice every single day, and every day he’s produced, he’s just been steady. And he’s a guy that doesn’t need the ball long. On our Olympic team, Carmelo Anthony didn’t need the ball long, and that helps. He’s been very good. Very good. I won’t say anybody’s made the team until we’re down to 12, but he’s been very good. I’ll leave it at that.”
It’s important for Gordon to hear new and prominent voices praising him, just as it’s important for him to share the court with superstars like Kevin Durant and savvy veterans like Chauncey Billups. Gordon has some deficiencies on the court, mainly his rebounding and ball-handling abilities, but a lot of what’s holding him back is being waged in Gordon’s own head. Often times he struggles with asserting himself into the offense, lacking an aggressive nature despite almost always being the best offensive option on the floor. It appears this Summer is helping Gordon realize that his play is reflective of his mental state, especially when you look at what he told ProjectSpurs.com:
“It’s definitely a great experience and I’m learning a lot about myself. I’m learning that I’m competitive and that I am one of the better ones out there. This is a good experience and it’s great to be a part of,” said Gordon to Project Spurs.
So what happens when Gordon eventually makes his way back to the Clippers? If you can step up and take shots when you’re playing with some of the best the NBA and the world has to offer, you can surely do it when you’re back with your own team. No offense to Ryan Gomes, who has certainly taken enough of a beating lately, but he’s not exactly Kevin Durant, know what I mean? If you can hang with the best, you should dominate the rest.
It’s going to take a lot of confidence for Gordon to evolve into a more aggressive scorer, but this Summer is helping in that regard even if Gordon is playing a complimentary role. While Gordon is about as stoic as it gets and is not a verbal leader by any means, his words do carry a little more weight because he speaks so infrequesntly. With that said, ask yourself this: Does Eric Gordon have the confidence to say this as a rookie?
…though Gordon’s tone changed a bit when I (ProjectSpurs.com) asked him about playing with Baron Davis, “It’s good. We just need to get him motivated to really play. We all know he can play. As long as he stays motivated we know what he can do to help us.”
Gordon may never blossom into a big time playmaker or an unstoppable scoring machine, but it’s important to remember that he is still developing. It may not be tangible quite yet, but this experience and the confidence gained from it should translate into something you’ll see on the court in the near future.
30 Responses
Always a great sign when your 3rd year player recognizes te leader is a lazy piece of garbage that needs to be “motivated” to try.
The Clipboard Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 2:15 am
It’s about time EJ calls out BD for lackluster “motivation”. Not sure BD can really play that good any more though. He has flashes of brilliance but those are few are and far between. He usually shoots us out of the game and then it’s hard to play catch up with other prima donnas like Kaman pouting up and down the floor. The “pouty” sisters — BD and Kaman. We’re stuck with both for now. I think Kaman might play better when Blake gets in his grille for his lackluster “motivation”.
Chris. Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 10:38 am
How does Kaman get put into the same category as Baron? I call BS on that one. Hopefully Blake can motivate Baron too, he did apparently last summer give him hope.
brad Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 6:15 pm
I flat out call retard. How can you put kaman in the same class as baron…baron is a dog..he got his money…elton left him and now he is garbage…doesnt do a dam thing in the summer….kaman…lets see..all star…llead the team in points and rebounds….played hurt…comes to work early..stays late, puts the time..busts his butt…doesnt make ridiculous demands…and in the off season…..takes 4 weeks off…very well deserved……gets married…..and continues to work out 6 days a week 4 hours a day…flys the team trainers out to michigan for two weeks at a time to make sure he is doing everything correctly…continues to work hard…is a great teammate…does not embarass himself or the team publicly…and for what….to continue to lose…continue to be under used…and to be continuesly ridiculed on this web site….thanks alot clip nation….
Isaac Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 8:55 pm
can’t call out kaman being lazy.. he’s just not that great of a player.. i think as a 3rd option he can be great.
The Clipboard Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Ahhh…yur breakin’ my heart. Hey, maybe putting Kaman in BD category was too harsh. Isaac has it right — he’s just not that great. Maybe that’s what bugs me when he has a bad attitude, arguing with coaches, etc., which he has absolutely had many times over the last few years. I watch all the games, not just read the meaningless stats. He’ll never be an All-Star again. He scored a lot of points on a horrible team. The stat that counts is wins — Kaman MUST carry some of the blame for this team, he makes millions of dollars. Win games and I’ll love him. Continue losing and well, we can lose without Kaman or BD and any of the same losers. Clipper fans should expect more from these spoiled-$#@ athletes who are paid insane amounts of money and then just coast? Gimme a break. WHo says Kaman works hard? I’ve seen him dog it on the court many, many, many times.
The Clipboard Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Hey maybe we can trade Kaman for Carmelo right away? Kaman’s value will probably never be higher:
http://blogs.denverpost.com/nuggets/2010/08/23/on-trading-j-r-smith-and-more-melo/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=twitter&utm_content=Twitter
chris. Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 6:45 am
Don’t even go there with arguing with the coaches, at least he cares enough to argue where Baron just gives up. He made the freaking all-star team and you say he’s not that great??? Give it a rest dude and stop hating on one of our bright spots from last season. The team needs to change it’s loser mentality and hopefully it will include the spoiled-$#@ fans drinking the haterade too.
Posted on August 22nd, 2010 at 11:38 pm
I hope Gordon’s going to be a nightly 20+ ppg guy next year. I like that quote of him realizing that he’s ‘one of the better ones out there’.
AfishLClipp Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 1:09 am
I think he’ll realistically fall into the 12-20ppg range.
Posted on August 23rd, 2010 at 1:02 am
Gordon is always cited by the media as a surprise and too many comments about what he will not be able to do is a sad commentary for the media.
Gordon for the most part statistics exceed most of his contemporaries with his experience.
let us start to push him through positive comments to become the star that he will become
Posted on August 23rd, 2010 at 6:10 am
Denver is looking to trade JR Smith. I wonder what the Clippers would have to give up.
Chris. Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 10:40 am
nothing since he shouldn’t be on the Clippers with his attitude, tendency to chuck up the ball ala Baron and no need with Gordon.
Josh Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 1:23 pm
What would they have to give up? The last piece of front office dignity.
FD Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 3:24 pm
He’s more of a shooting guard, but he plays SF some right?
chris. Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 6:48 am
He’s not a SF, that’s out of position for him. Pair him & Gordon at the 2/3 and we are small and not helping out on the boards. Sure we can score more but we’d be playing Nellie ball basically and not working with a real SF.
I hope Aminu can surpass the low expectations people have for him. I’d rather have a PF/SF tweener than a SG/SF tweener.
Posted on August 23rd, 2010 at 9:32 am
Just the fact that Eric is still on the roster and they are throwing around the idea of dumping Westbrook or Curry is a huge sign and should boost EJ’s confidence. Honestly, given the talent they have, they probably should drop him. But just the fact that they cant make that decision yet says so much.
Glad we have Eric on the team, he and Blake are quality guys. The perfect 1-2 punch for our young core.
Posted on August 23rd, 2010 at 9:35 am
Gordon is going to be an excellent player, but he is wrong about Davis. He’s way too optimistic about Davis when he says, ” . . . We just need to get him motivated to really play. We all know he can play. . . “. That’s the trap people fall into with Davis. They think he is a good player when he’s motivated and the only problem is that he’s often not motivated enough, so the faulty thinking goes that all the Clippers have to do is get him motivated and he’s be good.
No way. The truth is that Davis is not good and it goes far beyond his not being motivated. He waves around his lack of motivation in everybody’s face so people will think that’s the real problem. But it’s not. He’s just using that as a mask to hide behind. The truth is that he’s not any good period, and he’s trying to keep people from know it. He’s a horrible shooter. He’s slow, old, and incapable of playing any kind of defense other than matador defense.
Add to it that he’s a lazy dog who wants to undercut the team to make himself look better and then that makes him far worse. But being a lazy dog is not the real problem, only a diversion from the real problem. The real problem is that he’s not good.
Davis is a PR wonder. There’s been this PR image built up around him that has little to do with reality.
The best thing the Clippers can do is dump him, for anything they can get. If they don’t dump him, he’ll further infect the team.
AfishLClipp Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Wow, you really don’t know what you’re talking about. BD can handle any PG in the league, except for some reason Billups seems to always get the better of him, but thats it, maybe deron every once in awhile.
The Clipboard Reply:
August 23rd, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Baron can’t guard anyone anymore. Too fat and slow. He really is very over-rated. He’s shooting percentage is awful. Turnovers are god awful. Problem is, we’re stuck with his contract because no other team wants to waste cap space on BD.
chris. Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 6:51 am
I’d agree that he is over-rated outside Clipper Nation but he’s not that bad. He’s not what we were hoping for when we got him but he is still a serviceable PG with flashes of brilliance and more flashes of bad choices (chucking up the 3 ball he got used to playing with GS). Hopefully he has learned more wisdom and can allow others to score and be the distributor that he can be because he is an amazing passer and great on the fast break.
Posted on August 23rd, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Anything short of a top tier PG will not average 8 assists per game. Although BD is not scoring 21.3 ppg like he was with the Warriors, He is still a suitable distributor.
If only he would limit his shot attempts, embrace the distributor role and only shoot when it’s a high percentage shot. A lay up for example. Give up the 3 point shot.
Posted on August 23rd, 2010 at 5:23 pm
It is not important that Gordan become a big time scorer on the Clippers. Blake and Chris will be the main go to guys
What is important is that Gordon continue to improve his defense and his efficiency on offense.
Posted on August 23rd, 2010 at 6:00 pm
I was a huge EG fan going into last year. He started off the first 1/3 of the year great too. Really continuing his quest and mark. Then I’m pretty sure he got injured (a hamstring) I believe bc I was at the game and it was toward the end and I saw him come up lame. It wasn’t talked about really at all though I remember. He never returned to form after that. No, I don’t really know it was that for sure, but I do know (bc I go to most games) he fell way below the level he was playing at the rest of the year. FG% first, then shot attempts etc. Anyway I was a big fan and hope it was an injury and seems like it was from his offseason progress.
Really excited about him and Blake and do strongly dislike BD too. This is a great forum and I usually agree with a lot that’s said. BD should not shoot.
Posted on August 23rd, 2010 at 9:00 pm
He’s shooting percentage is awful. Turnovers are god awful. Problem is, we’re stuck with his contract because no other team wants to waste cap space on BD.
Posted on August 24th, 2010 at 7:59 am
Did anybody read Hoopshype.com last night. Carmelo coming to the Clippers is a pretty good possibility..Him and his wife would be much better off in LA because of her career.
that would be real nice
http://hoopshype.com/rumors/tag/los_angeles_clippers.
Posted on August 24th, 2010 at 10:08 am
Rondo withdrew himself from Team USA so looks like EJ made the cut. I’m happy for him and I home he gets some valuable PT
First2One00 Reply:
August 24th, 2010 at 11:26 am
*hope
Posted on August 24th, 2010 at 11:25 am
While I COMPLETELY agree with all the BD bashing going on, I did see him at the Clippers training facility when they unveiled their new uniforms and he looked to be in great shape. Certainly the best I’ve seen him as a Clippers. It certainly gives me hope that he’s trying to do the right thing and come back from two subpar seasons.
Posted on August 24th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Eric has been one of the better players lately on Team USA. Great to see.
Posted on August 25th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
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