Doc Rivers: Despite Losses, China Trip Really Good For Us

Let's be honest: the Clippers didn't impress in China. And that's putting it lightly. They lost their two games to the Charlotte Hornets by a combined 54 (!) points and closed out the trip with a 20-point second half effort in Shanghai's Mercedez-Benz Arena... Yikes.

However, it is the preseason after all, and Doc Rivers was sure not to lose sight of the silver linings of the team's trip overseas. Though he acknowledged the Clipper's on-court shortcomings, when asked about the trip, Doc seemed to be focusing on the positive off-court team bonding that occurred.

From Clippers.com:

"The trip here has been good for us. I think our team, you know, we have nine new players. Starting out in Shenzen and coming to Shanghai, I think has been a good unity trip for us. We're going to different things together, we're on the bus more together, we're going to dinner together.... This has been a really good trip for us."

So let's not get ahead of ourselves. Yes, the Clippers looked like a team that was very much still figuring things out, but what happened off the court may be far more important in their quest for a championship - and Doc is well aware:

"I think if things go the way we want them to go and we're the champions, hopefully, we're going to look back on this trip to China and say this is one of the main reasons that allowed us to come together."