LA Clippers' Defensive Problems Start with Communication, Not Personnel
The Los Angeles Clippers don't look like a championship-caliber team at the moment, and the defense isn't helping their cause.
The Clippers rank 18th in points allowed per possession after finishing seventh in that category a year ago. Even at 8-5, the Clippers just don't guard as smoothly. Team communication has vanished.
They outscored the Charlotte Hornets by 13 during the fourth quarter of Monday evening's 113-92 victory, but even while rocking the artists formerly known as the Bobcats, they showed off the defensive issues that have been on display all year.
One of the biggest weaknesses on this defense is navigating picks. It doesn't even matter which unit is out there for the Clips. They simply struggle with screen action, mostly because their biggest defensive problem is a lack of communication.
On this fourth-quarter play from Monday's game, watch three defenders head to Al Jefferson after Big Al receives a pass from Gerald Henderson, which gives Henderson a wide-open lane to cut to the hoop.
This is a classic communication issue, especially considering Charlotte's particularly poor spacing on this screen-and-roll.
Look how scrunched Henderson, Marvin Williams and Jefferson are when Williams comes over to set the ball screen:
Williams doesn't even have anywhere to roll. This shouldn't have been such an easy score for Charlotte, but in a game that still had a single-digit margin with 6:30 remaining, the Clips broke down.
Jefferson is a massive threat in the post. No one would argue that. But the Clips sent everyone eligible at him, and when I say everyone, I mean that almost literally.
Somehow, they end up in this back-breaking position:
A triple-team? That's not intentional, and not one defender has an eye on Henderson. But it happened, because the Clips ball-watched and didn't communicate.
Someone had to stay with Henderson, but since no one did, LA gave up a free lane to the basket. Even DeAndre Jordan, who is supposed to be the team's anchor, strayed far from the paint to man Jefferson.
Drifting away from the rim has become somewhat of a habit for D.J. this year. That's another issue for the Clippers and a possible reason why they allow the seventh-highest opponent field-goal percentage at the rim.
It's probably not a coincidence that Griffin is involved on this play. His poor communication and late rotations have been real problems on this defense all year.
It plagued the Clippers only a few possessions before the Henderson dunk, as well.
On the following play, the Clips once again fail on a doubling of Jefferson in the post. This time, it's Big Al on the left block, and it's Jamal Crawford doing the doubling.
You almost have to double Jefferson in the post. He's too dominant not to make that move. But you also have to rotate quickly once he passes out of the double. The Clips don't do that here, eventually allowing a Williams three from the corner:
The turning point on the play comes at this moment:
Instead of closing out on the shooter, J.J. Redick tries to intercept or deflect the pass from Jefferson. That opens up a driving lane and gives the Hornets an easy three-on-two on the right side of the court.
The Clips overload the strong side of the floor, but success with such a strategy depends on actually hitting your rotations on the other side. Once Redick gets caught out of position, Griffin rotates toward the paint to get in the way of the dribble penetration. But Crawford doesn't recognize the rotation, holds up and leaves Williams unguarded in the corner instead of closing out on him before the ball gets there.
Someone had to get out to Williams, but Griffin doesn't even speak during this interaction. Again, it's a communication breakdown—something offenses better than the Hornets' can exploit with relative ease.
It's because of these communication issues that the Clippers rely on Jordan so much. When you're often out of place, the garbage man increases in importance.
There's a good chance Jordan gets maxed out when he hits the opening market as an unrestricted free agent this upcoming summer. The Clippers are now stuck in somewhat of a predicament, having to ask themselves if he is the guy they want in their frontcourt moving ahead.
He may have finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting a season ago, but through 13 games, the 26-year-old, who was expected to take another step forward this season, has actually regressed on the defensive end, as has his big-man partner, Griffin.
The Clips may not have dominant wing defenders, but the crux of their issues are about the rotations in the frontcourt. Jordan is often rotating late. Or Griffin isn't getting to spots on time. And neither is helping the helper particularly well—something that's especially true for Blake.
The communication has vanished.
The Clippers are consistently showing the same issues on defense. They haven't mattered much against the teams with less talent. Even with those mistakes against the Hornets, LA pulled out a 21-point victory.
But they mattered against the Memphis Grizzlies. They mattered against the San Antonio Spurs. They mattered against the Golden State Warriors. They mattered against the Chicago Bulls.
The Clips have enough talent to mask their issues against the bad. But there aren't many teams in the Western Conference who fit that description, and they're going to fall far short of preseason expectations if they don't fix these issues down the line.
Fred Katz averaged almost one point per game in fifth grade but maintains that his per-36-minute numbers were astonishing. Find more of his work at WashingtonPost.com or on ESPN's TrueHoop Network at ClipperBlog.com. Follow him on Twitter at @FredKatz.
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are current as of Nov. 25 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference and NBA.com.
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