After 13 games, here are the statistics I compiled as released by ESPN on how the Clippers are playing right now as a team as compared as of the end of last year’s regular season (I have no records of last year’s first13 games stats which would make a better comparison):
|
|
2014-2015 |
|
2013-2014 |
|
Rank |
Details |
Rank |
Details |
Offense Per Game |
9 |
103.5 Points |
1 |
107.9 Points |
Defense Per Game |
20 |
100.5 Points |
14 |
101.0 Points |
Points Differential Per Game |
10 |
+2.7 Points |
2 |
+6.9 Points |
Total Rebounds Per Game |
29 |
37.4 Rebounds |
14 |
43.0 Rebounds |
Defensive Rebounds Per Game |
23 |
30.5 Rebounds |
12 |
32.5 Rebounds |
Offensive Rebound Per Game |
30 |
6.8 Rebounds |
20 |
10.5 Rebounds |
Assists Per Game |
8 |
23.3 Assists |
3 |
24.6 Assists |
Field Goal Percentage |
2 |
.472% |
2 |
.474% |
Opponent Field Goal Percentage |
20 |
.456% |
5 |
.441% |
3 Point Field Goal Percentage |
7 |
.372% |
22 |
.352% |
Opponent 3 Point Field Goal Percentage |
8 |
.330% |
1 |
.332% |
Free Throw Percentage |
17 |
.754% |
27 |
730% |
Turnovers Per Game |
5 |
11.5 Turnovers |
7 |
13.3 Turnovers |
Opponent Turnovers Per Game |
15 |
14.2 Turnovers |
22 |
14.7 Turnovers |
Total Technical Fouls |
3 |
16 Technical Fouls |
3 |
80 Technical Fouls |
Very easily you can see in what areas this year we are more or less strong as a team and those are in Field Goal Percentage (#2), in least turnovers (#5), in assists (#8), in 3 points percentage (#7) and in our offense (#9). These all point to the offense that is still improving but pale in comparison to last year’s stats.
On the other side of the coin, our Defense (#20), Opponent Field Goal Percentage (# 20), Total Rebounding (#29 and last in Offensive Rebounding) and now our Foul Throw Shooting (#17) is anything to describe an elite contending team in the NBA. Again the slide is nothing but desirable and perhaps the Clippers are really late bloomers and slow at the starting gate.
Out of these 15 categories that determine the strength of the competitiveness of a team in a very strong Western Division dominated NBA league, only 5 can be favorably ascribed to the Clippers, the rest of the categories are all more than suspect.
As compared to last year ranking at the end of the regular season, the Clippers went down in all categories except for the Free Throw Percentage, 3 Points Field Percentage (a great improvement!) and the Turnovers Per Game. An analyst would cringe at the unfavorable variances showing in this analysis.
What is scary is that a cursory look at these categories shows that 7 out of 10 leading teams are composed mainly of Western Division teams: Memphis, Golden State, Houston, Portland, Dallas, Phoenix, Clippers and now including Sacramento and New Orleans (OKC is not even there yet!) Which means the Western Division is not only tough but has grown tougher.
There are 69 games more to go in the regular season. At this point of time last year our Win-Loss record was almost the same.
We know that the Clippers has most if not all of the important parts in place and growth is expected to reach last year’s level sooner or later. However, most of the basketball experts and the Clipper Nation are disappointed for the Clipper’s slow start again this year. Everybody’s expectation is high but the stats are going southward.
Loading comments...