Fresh start: Clippers introduce new era in Los Angeles
PLAYA VISTA -- On Tuesday, the Clippers introduced the new additions to their roster. Aside from rookies Jawun Evans and Sindarius Thornwell, every new Clippers player was acquired in the trade that sent CP3 to Houston.
Alongside coach Doc Rivers and Lawrence Frank, VP of basketball operations, sat guards Patrick Beverly, Lou Williams, Thornwell and Evans and forwards Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell.
Doc Rivers is excited for what the new Clippers will bring, and even added a possible dig at the departed Paul in the video below.
https://twitter.com/FoxSportsWest/status/887364867312582656
Rivers, though, hasn't lost sight of what has made him successful as a coach.
"We wanted high-character, competitive players," Rivers said about the Clippers summers free agency goals, and continued to reiterate he wanted, "Hard working, tough-minded guys. And when I look around that's what he have."
Frank likes the 'chip on their shoulder' that players such as Beverly and Harrell use as motivation on a nightly basis.
In a league where the old school, tough-guy mentality is slowly dying, Rivers hopes to reinforce it in his team, and the Clippers organization is on board.
https://twitter.com/FoxSportsWest/status/887363088562888705
For the Clippers, this doesn't mean getting in the time-machine to the 'Bad Boys' era of the '80s, but rather incorporating this attitude into the 'small-ball', finesse, position-less, or however you may describe it era.
And the players love this mentality.
"I try to be a pest. Try to be annoying," Beverly said, "And it's my role to being out there and being the top defender."
Sam Dekker echoed this goal to be a pest: "The way we got here was being scrappy. Getting into fights on the court. Before the second unit [when with the Houston Rockets] went on the court, we'd say, 'let's go bring the dog out. Make them hate us.'"
https://twitter.com/FoxSportsWest/status/887365909848838144
Bringing the dog out in the new Clippers will be seamless as four of the six new players have played at least one season with each other. What's so special about this dog is its ability to bully and scrap, but also its ability to run and stretch the court.
Lou Williams summed up the new-look Clippers perfectly:
"I just hoop, man. I'm old school."
