PLAYA VISTA, CA – The Los Angeles Clippers are on a mission not only for their first NBA championship in franchise history, but also to be a defensive nightmare to their opponents this season.
The tenacity of Patrick Beverley now aligned with the intensity of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, the energy of Montrezl Harrell, with an ingredient of the swift scoring and play making ability of Lou Williams along with the rest of the team makes the Clippers look they have formed Voltron over the NBA.
“With myself, Trez, Pat, Kawhi, Sham, Mo, we really got a chance to do something special on the defensive end,” George explained at Media Day on Sunday. “There’s a lot of guys committed to playing on that side. Players can guard bigger, go smaller, or guard multiple positions overall.”
What gets the crowd revved up is offense, yet this season with the depth the Clippers have on defense and the ability to interchange players at whisk of the hand from head coach Doc Rivers, much like a maestro conducts a symphony. The Clippers will be a scary defensive juggernaut, and they aren’t backing down, yet are welcoming all challengers. If you missed out on the entire season last year, observing this team would make you think these are the defending NBA champions and not the Toronto Raptors. With grit, confidence, and a ostentatious swag, you finally see the vision that Steve Ballmer had from the moment he bought the team until present.
The vast majority of contending teams for championships are top ten in offense and defense, this squad has a prolific opportunity to be in the upper echelon of both categories.
“As far as the way I play, how physical I play around the basket, I don’t look to change nothing,” Harrell firmly said.
Many of the players echoed those same sentiments including Beverley, who’s high basketball IQ and a grit that is unmatched by many in the league, is taking no shorts.
“The same scrappiness attitude, but on steroids,” Beverley said.
Training Camp began on Monday in Los Angeles just before the team heads to Hawaii to complete the camp before returning back to Los Angeles in a couple of weeks.
