Diagnosing the Flaws of LA Clipppers Defense and How Doc Rivers Can Fix It

With a 109.4 offensive rating, according to NBA.com, the Los Angeles Clippers are a juggernaut when it comes to scoring the basketball. The additions of J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley have helped to spread the floor with shooters, Chris Paul is carving up opposing point guards and living in the paint and Blake Griffin is once again making strides in the post, demonstrating an improved repertoire on the block.

On the other end of the floor, things aren't going as well. The league's second-best offense is paired with its third-worst defense, with a defensive rating of 105.7, according to NBA.com. This comes as a surprise now that Doc Rivers has installed his defensive system, one that has spread like wildfire throughout the league. 

But a coach is always limited by his personnel.

Dudley has never been much of a perimeter defender, and DeAndre Jordan—despite his length and athleticism—is still lost in backside rotations. On the bench, Darren Collison, Ryan Hollins, Byron Mullens and Jamal Crawford have never been known as stoppers. Though the team has good defenders in Griffin and Paul, all it takes is a momentary lapse or blown off-ball rotation to give up an easy basket. 

The crux of the Clippers' defensive issues remains in an area Rivers simply can't teach: denying ball-handlers access to the paint. It's up to the individual, as a one-on-one defender, to contain his man and keep him in front. The second the offensive players gain an advantage and draw help, a defense gets in scramble mode and requires near-perfect execution to recover.

The best defensive teams are those where perimeter players can keep ball-handlers in front. Even if a rotation or pick-and-roll hedge is overaggressive or not quick enough, there's still a player between ball and basket. 

Defensive schemes are only meant as a safety blanket—how to rotate, how to discourage penetration and so on. Due to the NBA's strict rules governing contact, however, they're always necessary. It's easy to gain an offensive edge, and then it's up to the defense's execution after the initial blow by that determines the outcome of the possession. 

For Los Angeles, the penetration is simply too easy. Instead of a stunt and recover—which gives the initial defender enough time to slide back between the ball and his man—interior defenders are in full-fledged help mode. This naturally leaves other men open, and three- or four-pass ball swings are dissecting them with ease. 

On this play, all it takes is poor hedge by Byron Mullens and a mental lapse by Collison to leave Kevin Love wide-open for a three-pointer. 

As Minnesota's J.J. Barea grabs the dribble handoff from Dante Cunningham, Collison does a poor job locking and trailing—that is, staying attached to Barea's hip and following him around the screens.

Mullens hedges on the handoff but does a poor job as well. The key to a hedge is to force the dribbler to circle completely around, making any cross-court passes difficult. At the very least, a hedge should block the ball-handler's vision and make him put his head down for a split second. Neither happens here.

So, fine. The defense screwed up, but Collison can still shoot the gap and recover to Barea. He can, at the very least, recognize that Mullens' show is weak, and Barea will be turning the corner.

Except Collison is late and Mullens follows Barea. Hollins, who's the last man protecting the rim, leaves his man, Love, who drifts out to the perimeter. Now there are three guys shadowing Barea, and he has an easy pass to Love.

A bunch of little mistakes add up to three guys covering one man. This is a recipe for disaster and is particularly painful because it leaves one of the NBA's best shooters wide-open on the three-point line.

Crawford has been especially atrocious in these situations. Clippers lineups with Crawford and Byron Mullens have a defensive rating of 120.6, Crawford and Dudley, 116.4 and Crawford and Collison, 108.6. These awful numbers continue with the rest of the roster. 

He's the main perpetrator of the containment problem. Check out his coverage on Kevin Martin pre-pick-and-roll: He's guarding him straight up with his back bent over, two errors in guarding technique that decrease reaction time and mobility.

When Martin uses the Love pick to drive middle, Crawford is stuck in the mud. Love's pick isn't all that strong, yet Crawford still gets caught up in it.

The next issue is Griffin's hedge. Like Mullens' from the previous example, it serves no purpose other than putting himself out of position. Martin never alters his path toward the paint, and Griffin is left backpedaling trying to cover both Martin and Love.

Martin pulls up from the free-throw line, and Griffin's unbalanced feet prevent him from contesting in any way. And to make matters worse, nobody blocks out Corey Brewer, who tips the ball in on the miss.

These are all problems Doc Rivers can point out on film and teach in practice, but ultimately it's a matter of execution by the players in the game. When Crawford gets nailed by a screen in the play below, the Clippers go through a bit of cross-matching that eventually lands Paul on Nikola Pekovic.

The mismatch is problematic, and Love looks to enter the ball into the post. Paul, however, calls for an immediate switch with Crawford; Crawford is slow to get into position, and Pekovic catches the ball and lays it in before Crawford can even contest.

Crawford is certainly to blame for his slow reaction, but Paul is the one creating the scoring opportunity for the Minnesota Timberwolves. While Crawford is certainly the taller player, he is unlikely to fare any better against Pekovic. The switch is therefore useless, and all it does is expose the Clippers defense for a split second. But in the NBA, that's all it takes. 

The Clippers don't need to be a spectacular defensive team to make a run in the playoffs. Having a great offense and an average defense is equally effective as a great defense and an average offense. The key will be for the offense to outpace the defense and for Doc Rivers to influence his players enough to get key stops down the stretch of playoff games. 

If that happens, the Los Angeles Clippers will be contenders for a Western Conference title and an NBA championship.