Practice Report: Day 2 of Clippers Training Camp

The Los Angeles Clippers have added a lot of depth this offseason, and perhaps the best indication of that is that a seven-year veteran with over three hundred career NBA starts (Luc Mbah a Moute) is here on a non-guaranteed contract trying to make a loaded roster.

When the team opened the doors at practice today allowing the media a quick glimpse of a scrimmage to end practice, it was obvious how the experience on this roster is manifesting on the court. With Paul Pierce running at smallball four on the second unit today, the end of the scrimmage was ridiculously intense for a late September practice. Bodies were banging, people were talking — it was INTENSE.

You might think that having a bunch of veterans like Pierce and Chris Paul and Josh Smith might have the opposite effect, with guys coasting until the games really count. But the Truth and CP3 aren't really wired that way, and the rest of the roster seems to be taking their cue from the vets. These guys wanted to WIN the scrimmage, and the physicality looked like that of a midseason NBA game.

Doc Rivers echoed my feelings in his comments after practice, saying that he hasn't seen this level of intensity and execution this early in camp in years past. Rivers singled out Smith and Lance Stephenson for praise, but in general he was very pleased with what was happening.