Doc Rivers still OK with Las Vegas, Blake Griffin situation notwithstanding

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Clippers sign Doc Rivers to contract extension

Doc Rivers, left, and owner Steve Ballmer/Staff photo by David Crane

 

Coach Doc Rivers on Thursday was queried as to whether he might re-think having his team play in Las Vegas again in the preseason on the heels of Blake Griffin being charged with misdemeanor battery on a man at Tao Nightclub inside the Venetian in Las Vegas. The alleged incident took play on Oct. 19, hours after the Clippers played Denver in an exhibition game at Mandalay Bay on Oct. 18.

Rivers politely scoffed.

“There are situations in life, I’m sure you guys have some,” he told reporters ahead of practice in Playa Vista. “We just don’t get to read about them; I wish we could. But, really, things happen. I don’t think anyone – I know on this team – intends for them to happen. But a lot of our guys are young and they learn and you look at it as a positive thing, where we all learn from it as a group. … But, no, I think the game we play there is a very good game for our organization and we have a great relationship with Mandalay Bay, so we’re not going to stop going there.”

Doc Rivers: Give Steve Kerr some credit, but don’t give it all to him

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Steve Kerr

Steve Kerr/Photo by Associated Press

 

One reporter asked Clippers coach Doc Rivers following his team’s 121-104 butt-kicking-loss at the hands of Golden State on Wednesday night in Oakland if first-year Warriors coach Steve Kerr has changed that team. Rivers doled out kudos to Kerr, but to others as well.

“I think that he’s changed them, but I think that after losing last year, they’re coming with anger,” Rivers said, alluding to the hotly contested first-round playoff series between the teams this past season won by the Clippers in seven games. “So you’ve got to give Steve some credit, but I don’t want to take credit away from Mark (Jackson) or anyone else. They came here to kick our butts. (Warriors forward) David Lee looked like he worked out for a month just to get back to this game.”

Until this season, Jackson had coached the Warriors the three previous campaigns.

 

Doc Rivers: Players blew smoke up each others’ …

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Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

 

Blake Griffin scored just 14 points and pulled down one lousy rebound Wednesday night in the Clippers’ 121-104 loss at Golden State; the Clippers trailed by as many as 29 points in the third quarter. Doc Rivers addressed reporters after he spent a good half an hour in the locker room.

He was asked what he said to his players, and this was his response.

“I didn’t say much,” Rivers said. “I just let them blow smoke up each others’ asses. That’s all they did, in my opinion. But I let them just talk it out. But listen, I just think if you’re going to talk, you’ve gotta be real. I’m not a big fan of group meetings. Unless they’re real group meetings.”

Perhaps, Rivers is right, based on what Griffin told reporters a few minutes later in the locker room.

“We talked about some things and everybody said positive things,” Griffin said. “We knew Doc was going to be emotional and we were all emotional. We were passionate about what we were saying and some good is going to come from it.”

 

 

Doc Rivers about as upset as he can be with his players after rout

How mad was the normally good-natured Doc Rivers after his team was spanked 121-104 by the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night at Oracle Arena in Oakland?

First, it took him half an hour to emerge from the clubhouse instead of about 10 minutes. Then, as he talked about a game in which his team trailed by as many as 29 points in the third quarter, he seemed to get more and more steamed as he went through the process of pointing out every which way his team was beaten. Then, he got to the absurd notion that his team committed one measly foul in the first half, after which they trailed 65-42.

“I’ve never been in a game where a team scores 65 points and we have one foul,” Rivers said. “That, to the core, bothers me to no end. I mean, I have never seen that before. And I think the foul was late and it was a mistake; it probably wasn’t a foul. So for me, I’m doing something wrong because that’s as soft as you can probably get in a game. One foul at halftime? Are you (expletive) kidding me? I mean, that’s as bad as I’ve seen.”

Rivers rarely curses, so that in itself was an indicator of how upset he was with his players.

Chris Paul has fourth most triple-doubles in NBA since 2005-06

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Chris Paul

Chris Paul/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

 

The triple-double point guard Chris Paul achieved in the Clippers’ 107-101 victory over the Utah Jazz on Monday night at Staples Center was Paul’s first as a member of the Clippers, and 12th of his fine career. Paul is in his 10th season, fourth with the Clippers.

Moreover, Paul’s 12 triple-doubles are the fourth most in the NBA since Paul’s rookie season in 2005-06.

Coach Doc Rivers is impressed.

“He has the greatest hands that I’ve ever seen around the ball,” Rivers said. “It’s just amazing what he can do.”

Paul had 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds against Utah. He also had two steals and a block for good measure, and had just two turnovers in 36 minutes.

 

Doc Rivers refers to Jamal Crawford as ‘a professional scorer’

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Jamal Crawford

Jamal Crawford/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

Jamal Crawford is not a professional  hit-man, but his cold-blooded 3-point baskets often kill the other team. Thus, this anecdote from coach Doc Rivers following his team’s 118-111 victory over the Lakers on Friday night at Staples Center:

He’s just a professional scorer, he really is,” Rivers said of Crawford. “I don’t think there’s a coach in the world teaching those shots, at least this coach will never tell him not to take them.”

Crawford scored 22 points. He hit a 32-foot 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left in the third quarter to stop the Lakers’ momentum and cut a seven-point Clippers deficit to just four entering the fourth. Then, with 1:38 left in the game and the score tied 109-109, he made a 28-foot 3-pointer and the Lakers never recovered.