Five takeaways from the first day of the Clippers’ return to practice由卡哇伊爱小西瓜 发表在ClipsNation https://bbs.hupu.com/672
With the NBA moving to Phase 3 of its resumption of the 2019-20 season, the Clippers held their first media availability at a practice since the season shut down on March 11. For over 50 combined minutes, head coach Doc Rivers and guard Landry Shamet spoke to reporters over Zoom.
Here are six takeaways from the conference calls, with more to come over the next week.
Every Clipper is expected to be available in Orlando
The Clippers are expected to have all 15 roster players in Orlando, according to Rivers.
He clarified that “all indications” are that Lou Williams, who had said he was “50/50” on traveling to Orlando given the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement and social justice activism, is expected to make the trip. Rivers technically left some wiggle room for Williams to bow out before the team flies to Orlando on July 8, but the plan is for him to join them.
“As far as Lou, all indications are that yes, he is (in),” Rivers said. “I mean, obviously up until we get on the plane, anything can happen. But I do expect Lou to be with us. I would be very surprised if he’s not.”
This is a crucial break for the Clippers from a basketball perspective, as their depth certainly will be tested in Orlando given the uncertainty with COVID-19 and injuries. Having all 15 players available could be the difference between winning a championship and losing in the Western Conference finals.
“It is their choice, and we support that,” Rivers said. “There’s so many reasons for everyone to play, but there’s also very valid reasons for guys to opt out. I don’t think many will. I think they’re all invested in what we’re trying to do. But again, you don’t hold it against anyone on any team. This is extraordinary times, and we just have to support each other.”
Rivers also said that no one from the organization has tested positive for coronavirus to his knowledge.
“Not that I know of,” Rivers said. “Again, I wouldn’t even know that information, which is good. I think so far, at least in our homestead, so far, so good. Guys have done a great job trying to protect themselves, but this virus, he’s a mean customer. So we’re just doing our best here.”
The two priorities when play resumes
Rivers, an avid golfer, jokingly stated that the best golf courses and restaurants on the Disney campus would be his two priorities, before asserting that the team’s top two priorities were re-establishing continuity and conditioning.
He also said: “This is going to be a mental toll on everybody, and so I think once we get there, we’ll have a better chance of seeing the things that we’re going to have to combat to get our guys to create or keep their focus. So I would say those would be the most important things.”
Shamet agreed with Rivers’ assessment, citing that he has noticed an uptick in the team’s rhythm since individual workouts began a few weeks ago.
“I think it’s been a weird time for everybody, but that rhythm will come from this next month in Orlando when we get rolling a little bit with practices and whatnot,” Shamet said. “And even the last month or so since we’ve had the facility open, I’ve really been able to ramp things up, and I’ve started to try to relocate that game rhythm. It’s not a huge concern of mine.”
One of the primary challenges in Orlando will be trying to regain the momentum that the Clippers generated after the All-Star break, when the group was fully healthy and went 7-2 with a league-best +11.5 net rating.
Players have returned to Los Angeles and resumed practicing at the team’s facility over the past few weeks. However, the two-plus months off from basketball and the home workouts aren’t the same as normal training and practicing during the season.
The Clippers may have been one of the most active teams during the postponement, but they’re still behind where they would like to be.
“This is tough,” Rivers said. “This has not been an offseason. As a coaching staff, we’ve worked weekly through this entire break through Zoom. Our players have done the same thing. Offseasons, guys take vacations and take breaks. This, our guys have continued to work. We’ve done it through Zoom, on exercise bikes, on treadmills, through our vehicles with our strength and conditioning staff.
“But now they’re in the gym and they’re shooting. Most of our guys look really good. But that’s still individual, though. So until we’re together, I think the challenge will be for every team —until you’re together, you will find out what your rhythm is, how quickly you can get it back, how quickly you can get engaged and conditioned. I don’t care how much working out you’re doing, you’re not playing basketball, so that sets every team back.
“When we get to Orlando, that’s what it’s going to be about … continuity and rhythm and conditioning.”
Landry Shamet says the Clippers are regaining their rhythm. (Robert Hanashiro / USA Today)
How much from the first 64 games will carry over to Orlando?
Rivers believes that much of the experience and chemistry from the previous months will translate to the post-hiatus play, as he, his coaching staff and the players have been able to review and dissect the sample size of the season.
In April, Rivers suggested one of those changes would be downsizing and playing more small-ball at the five spot.
“Well, on the basketball part, I would just say yes, the 60-plus games will definitely — there will be a carryover,” Rivers said. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a chance after 60 games to take a three-month break, evaluate what we were doing well, what we were doing poorly, what we should have done more or less and then put it back together. So I think that’s to every team’s advantage. So yeah, I do think those games matter, though, because it does give you a window of who you were.”
Rivers believes the team’s play following their trade for Marcus Morris Sr. and the signing of Reggie Jackson is an indication of their potential — and where he hopes they can get back to.
“For us, with all the trades, I would say those last 10 games were an exceptional window for us to look at and how we were playing,” Rivers said.
The biggest difference will be fan-less games
Rivers has experience in Orlando, having coached there from 1999 to 2003, lived there for over 20 years and watched hundreds of basketball and volleyball games of his children at Disney’s Fieldhouse (formerly known as the Milk Barn). In that sense, Rivers feels comfortable coaching in Orlando and in that gym.
The biggest difference, aside from the threat of COVID-19 and the strict rules and measures in place, will be coaching in a setting without fans and in an environment with the ability to hear everything on the floor.
“It will be different, the no fans, and the fact that you can hear everything,” Rivers said. “I don’t think we need scouts right now because every time a coach makes a call, we’re going to hear it. We make one, they’re going to hear it. Even when a coach makes a signal, the players will yell it out. I don’t think there will be a lot of secrets, that’s for sure. I think players will hear things they’ve never heard before. Officials, unfortunately, will hear things they’ve never heard before.
“… I think for the fans who are watching, I think they will hear and learn things that they probably have never — I think there will be some neatness, some really interesting things that will come out of that from a fan perspective that will be enjoyable. It will not be obviously normal without the fan noise.”
Shamet, meanwhile, doesn’t think the change in environment will affect him or his teammates from a performance perspective.
“The ball is the same,” Shamet said. “Nothing changes.”
Gold star, not an asterisk
One of the conversations already taking place within the national media and on social media is the notion that this season’s champion will deserve an asterisk for a shortened season and multiple — if not most — playoff teams being shorthanded due to the pandemic, injuries or players not participating in the league’s restart. We’ve already seen teams like the Lakers, Rockets, Trail Blazers, Wizards and Nets take roster hits due to combinations of all three factors.
But Rivers disagrees with that line of thinking, instead claiming this season’s champion should be lauded for its resilience and mental toughness. In a conversation with NBA commissioner Adam Silver last week, Rivers said Silver told him this season’s champs should “deserve a gold star.”
“If you think about the mental toughness, it’s going to take to — whoever comes out of this, it’s going to come down to that,” Rivers said. “It’s going to come down to talent. It’s going to come down to teams trying to get back together and play together.
“But there’s going to be so many things that are thrown at us that we don’t even know yet that it’s really going to be a mental toughness challenge.”
With the NBA moving to Phase 3 of its resumption of the 2019-20 season, the Clippers held their first media availability at a practice since the season shut down on March 11. For over 50 combined minutes, head coach Doc Rivers and guard Landry Shamet spoke to reporters over Zoom.
Here are six takeaways from the conference calls, with more to come over the next week.
Every Clipper is expected to be available in Orlando
The Clippers are expected to have all 15 roster players in Orlando, according to Rivers.
He clarified that “all indications” are that Lou Williams, who had said he was “50/50” on traveling to Orlando given the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement and social justice activism, is expected to make the trip. Rivers technically left some wiggle room for Williams to bow out before the team flies to Orlando on July 8, but the plan is for him to join them.
“As far as Lou, all indications are that yes, he is (in),” Rivers said. “I mean, obviously up until we get on the plane, anything can happen. But I do expect Lou to be with us. I would be very surprised if he’s not.”
This is a crucial break for the Clippers from a basketball perspective, as their depth certainly will be tested in Orlando given the uncertainty with COVID-19 and injuries. Having all 15 players available could be the difference between winning a championship and losing in the Western Conference finals.
“It is their choice, and we support that,” Rivers said. “There’s so many reasons for everyone to play, but there’s also very valid reasons for guys to opt out. I don’t think many will. I think they’re all invested in what we’re trying to do. But again, you don’t hold it against anyone on any team. This is extraordinary times, and we just have to support each other.”
Rivers also said that no one from the organization has tested positive for coronavirus to his knowledge.
“Not that I know of,” Rivers said. “Again, I wouldn’t even know that information, which is good. I think so far, at least in our homestead, so far, so good. Guys have done a great job trying to protect themselves, but this virus, he’s a mean customer. So we’re just doing our best here.”
The two priorities when play resumes
Rivers, an avid golfer, jokingly stated that the best golf courses and restaurants on the Disney campus would be his two priorities, before asserting that the team’s top two priorities were re-establishing continuity and conditioning.
He also said: “This is going to be a mental toll on everybody, and so I think once we get there, we’ll have a better chance of seeing the things that we’re going to have to combat to get our guys to create or keep their focus. So I would say those would be the most important things.”
Shamet agreed with Rivers’ assessment, citing that he has noticed an uptick in the team’s rhythm since individual workouts began a few weeks ago.
“I think it’s been a weird time for everybody, but that rhythm will come from this next month in Orlando when we get rolling a little bit with practices and whatnot,” Shamet said. “And even the last month or so since we’ve had the facility open, I’ve really been able to ramp things up, and I’ve started to try to relocate that game rhythm. It’s not a huge concern of mine.”
One of the primary challenges in Orlando will be trying to regain the momentum that the Clippers generated after the All-Star break, when the group was fully healthy and went 7-2 with a league-best +11.5 net rating.
Players have returned to Los Angeles and resumed practicing at the team’s facility over the past few weeks. However, the two-plus months off from basketball and the home workouts aren’t the same as normal training and practicing during the season.
The Clippers may have been one of the most active teams during the postponement, but they’re still behind where they would like to be.
“This is tough,” Rivers said. “This has not been an offseason. As a coaching staff, we’ve worked weekly through this entire break through Zoom. Our players have done the same thing. Offseasons, guys take vacations and take breaks. This, our guys have continued to work. We’ve done it through Zoom, on exercise bikes, on treadmills, through our vehicles with our strength and conditioning staff.
“But now they’re in the gym and they’re shooting. Most of our guys look really good. But that’s still individual, though. So until we’re together, I think the challenge will be for every team —until you’re together, you will find out what your rhythm is, how quickly you can get it back, how quickly you can get engaged and conditioned. I don’t care how much working out you’re doing, you’re not playing basketball, so that sets every team back.
“When we get to Orlando, that’s what it’s going to be about … continuity and rhythm and conditioning.”
Landry Shamet says the Clippers are regaining their rhythm. (Robert Hanashiro / USA Today)
How much from the first 64 games will carry over to Orlando?
Rivers believes that much of the experience and chemistry from the previous months will translate to the post-hiatus play, as he, his coaching staff and the players have been able to review and dissect the sample size of the season.
In April, Rivers suggested one of those changes would be downsizing and playing more small-ball at the five spot.
“Well, on the basketball part, I would just say yes, the 60-plus games will definitely — there will be a carryover,” Rivers said. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a chance after 60 games to take a three-month break, evaluate what we were doing well, what we were doing poorly, what we should have done more or less and then put it back together. So I think that’s to every team’s advantage. So yeah, I do think those games matter, though, because it does give you a window of who you were.”
Rivers believes the team’s play following their trade for Marcus Morris Sr. and the signing of Reggie Jackson is an indication of their potential — and where he hopes they can get back to.
“For us, with all the trades, I would say those last 10 games were an exceptional window for us to look at and how we were playing,” Rivers said.
The biggest difference will be fan-less games
Rivers has experience in Orlando, having coached there from 1999 to 2003, lived there for over 20 years and watched hundreds of basketball and volleyball games of his children at Disney’s Fieldhouse (formerly known as the Milk Barn). In that sense, Rivers feels comfortable coaching in Orlando and in that gym.
The biggest difference, aside from the threat of COVID-19 and the strict rules and measures in place, will be coaching in a setting without fans and in an environment with the ability to hear everything on the floor.
“It will be different, the no fans, and the fact that you can hear everything,” Rivers said. “I don’t think we need scouts right now because every time a coach makes a call, we’re going to hear it. We make one, they’re going to hear it. Even when a coach makes a signal, the players will yell it out. I don’t think there will be a lot of secrets, that’s for sure. I think players will hear things they’ve never heard before. Officials, unfortunately, will hear things they’ve never heard before.
“… I think for the fans who are watching, I think they will hear and learn things that they probably have never — I think there will be some neatness, some really interesting things that will come out of that from a fan perspective that will be enjoyable. It will not be obviously normal without the fan noise.”
Shamet, meanwhile, doesn’t think the change in environment will affect him or his teammates from a performance perspective.
“The ball is the same,” Shamet said. “Nothing changes.”
Gold star, not an asterisk
One of the conversations already taking place within the national media and on social media is the notion that this season’s champion will deserve an asterisk for a shortened season and multiple — if not most — playoff teams being shorthanded due to the pandemic, injuries or players not participating in the league’s restart. We’ve already seen teams like the Lakers, Rockets, Trail Blazers, Wizards and Nets take roster hits due to combinations of all three factors.
But Rivers disagrees with that line of thinking, instead claiming this season’s champion should be lauded for its resilience and mental toughness. In a conversation with NBA commissioner Adam Silver last week, Rivers said Silver told him this season’s champs should “deserve a gold star.”
“If you think about the mental toughness, it’s going to take to — whoever comes out of this, it’s going to come down to that,” Rivers said. “It’s going to come down to talent. It’s going to come down to teams trying to get back together and play together.
“But there’s going to be so many things that are thrown at us that we don’t even know yet that it’s really going to be a mental toughness challenge.”
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