Tag Archives: Pablo Prigioni

LA Clippers’ Pablo Prigioni shows he is the ultimate team player

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Pablo Prigioni

Pablo Prigioni/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

Pablo Prigioni made eight steals in just under 15 minutes off the bench Wednesday night in the Clippers’ 104-90 victory over the visiting Miami Heat. When Prigioni, 38, was asked to talk about it, he began doing so, but finished with a team-oriented thought.

“It was a combination of different things,” he said. “I was active today. I read what was happening more and I was lucky in some of the steals. I was happy because the team keeps winning and we are missing some very, very important guys.

“Everybody has stepped up and helped in different ways, but has helped the team keep winning. The team is the number one most important thing.”

The “team” has won 10 consecutive games, the past nine without Blake Griffin. DeAndre Jordan also did not play Wednesday because he has pneumonia.

Coach Doc Rivers stoked about recent play of Clippers bench

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Los Angeles head coach Doc Rivers makes a point to his son, Austin Rivers (25) during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Charlotte Hornets in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015.

Austin Rivers, who chats here with father/coach Doc Rivers, led the bench with 22 points in Wednesday’s 122-117 victory at Charlotte/AP photo by Bob Leverone

 

Josh Smith has not played the past two games, and has not played in four of the past five. Lance Stephenson has played a total of only 15 minutes the past three games. Yet, the bench is playing well in the absence of the team’s leading scorer – Blake Griffin (partially torn quad tendon). Griffin has missed the past three games, all of which the Clippers (20-13) have won; they have won four in a row, overall.

Reserves scored 44 of the team’s 109 points in a 109-104 victory at Utah this past Saturday, 54 of the team’s points in a 108-91 victory Monday at Washington and 47 of the team’s points in a 122-117 victory Wednesday at Charlotte.

In that win at Charlotte, Austin Rivers led the reserves with 22 points. Jamal Crawford scored 11. Cole Aldrich, who has been playing very well since he started getting minutes six games ago, had seven points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks; and Pablo Prigioni had five points and four assists.

Coach Doc Rivers was stoked about the bench play post-game at Charlotte. He noted how the reserves stayed in a little longer in the fourth quarter.

“I left them in until five minutes (left in the game), which I don’t do a lot,” he said. “They are just playing with the right spirit. You can just see it. You can just see the ball moving. They are so active defensively.”

This is becoming an upbeat unit, Doc Rivers said.

“I think when your team is confident and your group is confident, everybody becomes confident,” he said. “You can see that in that group.”

 

Five things to take from Clippers’ 122-117 victory at Charlotte

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Coach Doc Rivers and son Austin Rivers chat during the Clippers’ 122-117 victory Wednesday at Charlotte/AP photo by  Bob Leverone

 

– The Clippers, as they have recently, once again showed a lot of resolve even though they were missing leading scorer Blake Griffin, who has missed the past three games with a partially torn quad tendon. The Clippers have won four in a row overall.

– Another solid game by a the bench, which has not included the services of Josh Smith, who apparently remains in Doc Rivers’ doghouse; Smith has now not played in four of the past five games. Even Lance Stephenson played only two minutes in this one. Austin Rivers led the reserves with 22 points, Jamal Crawford scored 11, Cole Aldrich had seven points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks; and Pablo Prigioni had five points – making both of his field-goal attempts – and four assists.

– J.J. Redick scored a team-high 26 points and made 5 of 6 from 3-point range. Redick is now shooting a career-high 47.7 percent (73 of 153) from beyond the arc. Redick is third in the league behind Kawhi Leonard (48.8 percent) of San Antonio and Jared Dudley (48.3) of Washington.

– Another solid effort from 38-year-old Paul Pierce, who started and played 21 minutes. He scored 13 points. He shot 4 of 9, 3 of 7 from 3-point range. He also grabbed five rebounds, doled out two assists, made a steal and had a block.

– Speaking of 3-pointers, the Clippers shot 50 percent (15 of 30) from long-distance. After struggling in this area early on, the Clippers are now shooting 35.3 percent from 3-point range – tied with Portland for 13th in the league. A month ago, the Clippers’ percentage was 32.8.

Five things to take from Clippers’ 103-101 victory over the Magic

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Jamal Crawford

Jamal Crawford/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

– This was a big game for Jamal Crawford in more ways than one. Not only did he score a game-high 32 points with starting guards Chris Paul and J.J. Redick out with injuries, he scored 16 of those points during the fourth quarter when the Clippers made their comeback. He had nine of those 16 during a 13-0 run that brought the Clippers from a 96-86 deficit to a 99-96 lead. Furthermore, Crawford put to rest – at least for now – any notion his poor shooting up until this game was a result of 35-year-old legs. Crawford made 10 of 19 from the field, 6 of 9 from 3-point range. He came in shooting 35.6 percent overall, a career-low 25.7 percent from beyond the arc.

– Another big shot in the arm came from reserve Wesley Johnson. He scored 21 points, taking all 12 of his shot attempts from 3-point range and making six of them. For a guy who even after that is averaging only 5.5 points, that was a clutch performance when it was really needed.

– Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan both had big games. Griffin had 28 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Jordan had 15 points and 14 rebounds. Interestingly, neither had a personal foul. Since the Magic scored 52 of their points in the paint, Doc Rivers was asked post-game if his two bigs not having any fouls meant they weren’t playing good interior defense. He shot down that notion. But there were times where it appeared Griffin and Jordan could have committed hard fouls that would be remembered by intruders, and did not.

– Other than Johnson, the bench had little to do with this victory. Lance Stephenson played 18 minutes and did not score, Pablo Prigioni played 19 minutes and did not score and Paul Pierce was in for nine minutes and also did not score. Those three combined to shoot 0 of 6. Josh Smith scored two points on 1 of 4 shooting.

– Speaking of Pierce, by shooting 0 of 3, he is now shooting 30.7 percent (27 of 88) from the field, 25 percent (15 of 60) from 3-point range. Pierce has a career shooting percentage of 44.7, 37.0 from beyond the arc. He turned 38 on Oct. 13.

Pablo Prigioni, 38, is making a good impression on Doc Rivers

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Pablo Prigioni

Pablo Prigioni/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

Pablo Prigioni is 38, but he’s only going to be in his fourth NBA season because the native of Argentina previously played professionally in Argentina and Spain.

Coach Doc Rivers likes what he’s seen so far from Prigioni, who this past season toiled for the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets.

“He is just a wonderful guy to have on your basketball team,” Rivers said. “Plays his role, he’s been a coach out there on the floor at times.”

Austin Rivers, son of Doc, has been working hard at becoming an even better defensive player than he already was. He said he plans on picking Prigioni’s brain for help.

“I’m still going to learn, get tips from Pablo Prigioni, who has been around,” Austin Rivers said. “Pablo has a lot of techniques to get his hands on balls, so does Chris (Paul).”

 

Clippers have officially signed guard Pablo Prigioni of Argentina

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Prigioni on Joining "Perfect Team"

Pablo Prigioni/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

After agreeing to terms on a contract with guard Pablo Prigioni on July 22, the Clippers on Tuesday made his signing official.

He is expected to be paid for veteran’s minimum, which for Prigioni is $981,348. Prigioni, 38, has played three season in the NBA. His first two were spent with the New York Knicks. He started this past season with the Knicks before finishing with the Houston Rockets.

Prigioni, who is 6-foot-3, has career scoring and assist averages of 3.8 and 3.0, respectively. He previously played professionally in the Spanish and Argentine leagues.

A native of Rio Tercero, Argentina, Prigioni played in the 2008 Beijing Games with the Argentinian national team, which won the bronze medal. He also toiled for Team Argentina in the 2012 London Games.