Patrick Beverley has earned the reputation of a defensive pest who can get under the skin of his opponents and the Clippers are glad he is on their side, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes.
Beverley has the unenviable task of being one of many reinforcements for a departed Chris Paul. Despite the lofty expectations, Beverley’s defense and overall demeanor through his first few preseason contests have made him popular with teammates but not changed his approach.
“I try to set the tone defensively,” Beverley said. “That helps the rest of our team. I understand I have DJ [DeAndre Jordan], but I don’t want to rely on him too much. At the same time, I want to be able to still do my thing within the defense.”
Last season, Beverley averaged 9.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 4.2 APG, and 1.5 SPG for the Rockets last season. If he replicates the on-court performance and retains his outspoken style, the Clippers should be set at the position, according to his coaches and teammates.
Below you can find other news coming out of the Pacific Division:
- Willie Cauley-Stein is entering his third NBA season at a time when third-year players are expected to develop into mainstays. However, a tumultuous period in Sacramento with roster, coaching, and front office turnover will make it a possibly difficult adjustment for Cauley-Stein, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes.
- Bogdan Bogdanovic has spent limited time in the United States but he cannot contain the excitement for his NBA opportunity with the Kings, Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee details.
- The Lakers have hired Jason Rosenfeld as Director of Basketball Analytics, according to the team. As ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link) noted, the Lakers’ signing of Rosenfeld is crucial as the team has been criticized for its lack of analytics use.
With Teodosic’s passing ability and Beverley’s defense, the improved depth, and the better ball movement, I think the Clippers can easily be a 5th seed this year
I don’t think it’ll be easy but probably will be way better than people think. But to be the 5 seed in a conference with the Warriors, Spurs, Rockets, Thunder, Timberwolves, Jazz, Blazers, and Nuggets isn’t something that can be done easily.
There was a lot of roster turnover, not just CPaul, and even Griffin may change his role. I can see some dry spells and a barely-in finish. The FO made a good recovery from Paul’s loss considering they didn’t know what sort of rebuild would be necessary. Turns out they’re still potent!
You mention the jazz and trail blazers but leave out new orleans. Ok
Yup. Mention playoff teams vs lottery teams seems pretty normal to me