LOS ANGELES – Heading into the season, a lot of the talk surrounding the L.A. Clippers is that they were a deep team where talented players at the end of the bench would sit on some nights.
Last Friday night against the Orlando Magic, it was veteran big man Marcin Gortat, who saw his 172 consecutive games played streak come to an end. Instead, it was center Boban Marjanovic manning the middle, finishing with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and a pair of assists in a game that saw the Clippers win in a blowout, 120-95.
“Boban didn't play well the other night, but I liked his effectiveness as far as what he gives us offensively,” said head coach Doc Rivers after the game. “I like his rebounding, offensive rebounding. Trez is the same. It's no different in the combination. And Trez does what he does whether Marcin is starting or Boban is starting. The way Trez plays is not gonna change because someone else is starting.”
The decision to start Marjanovic was a popular one that many had been waiting to see, especially considering the rather ineffective start to the season by Gortat. When pressed for more information regarding Gortat and whether he was injured, Rivers confirmed the Polish big man was a healthy scratch and simply decided to go with Boban at the five.
“No, not at all,” Rivers responded. “I started Boban. This is not like a controversy or anything. I decided to start Boban.
By starting Marjanovic, the Clippers boast a frontcourt of 6-foot-9 Tobias Harris, 6-foot-10 Danilo Gallinari, and 7-foot-3 Boban Marjanovic. The trio creates problems for opposing defenses, but they could also be a tad slow to react defensively. Rivers' job is to weigh the risks of playing a big lineup like that versus the rewards of it. So far, it's yielded fruitful results albeit a small sample size.
“I don't know yet,” said Rivers about what the Clippers specifically gain and lose in the big lineup. “It doesn't change with Gallo and Tobias, that factor's the same. It doesn't matter who you start with them, every night a team has to decide who they're going to put on Gallo and Tobias. Teams switch that a lot, they try to figure it out. That doesn't change that dynamic at all.
“It just makes us a bigger team having Boban in. It gives us another guy that's a factor if he rolls. Defensively, we were good the other night [against Orlando], but we'll see how that goes. As I said, I don't know if I'm going to do that every night. I'm going to do it at times and we'll just see. I like our five as a revolving guy and we're going to do that more and more.”
On Monday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Rivers again elected to start Marjanovic, who finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, and two blocked shots in 18 minutes of a 120-109 victory. This was similar to the Magic game in that Marjanovic didn't necessarily have a great game, but the big lineup was able to play well against the Wolves for stretches of the game.
It was another solid, all-around win for a team that's worked hard to build chemistry throughout the summer as well as the preseason. Rivers keeps praising the team for how much they, “like each other,” something you probably couldn't say a few years ago.
“I think [the chemistry] is great. We're asking a lot because we changed the lineup. Every night, it feels like someone else is finishing the game, just ask them to be a teammate and when it's your turn, they'll cheer for you, and when it's their turn, you have to cheer for them. And so far, they're doing that and I think that allows us to be a good team.”
While his conditioning is much improved coming into this season, Marjanovic, as noted earlier, is every bit of the 7-foot-3 frame that he's listed as. It's tough to ask him to play more than 20-23 minutes on any given night in today's fast-paced NBA that's averaging 100.7 possessions per-48 minutes, the highest pace the league has seen since the 1988-89 season.
So far, the Clippers have been able to successfully start him against the likes of Nikola Vucevic's Magic and Karl-Anthony Towns' Timberwolves, but the tests will continue to roll in with the likes of Jusuf Nurkic's Trail Blazers, Draymond Green's Warriors, and LaMarcus Aldridge's Spurs coming up shortly on the schedule.
Rivers will likely tinker with his starters and rotation based on opponents and the best matchups moving forward, but one thing is certain after the last couple of practice days: the Clippers are focusing more on themselves and their strengths than anything else at the moment.
“We're not small, we're big,” said Rivers. “So let's not try to be small. We can play small. We can play Gallo and Tobias at the five and the four. I would rather have the versatility that we have than not having it. Some teams, their small lineups give them an advantage, whereas this team, our big lineup can give us an advantage. We should take advantage of it.”
The Clippers have been taking advantage of their big lineup as they learn to play with one another, and they'll look to continue doing so as the season goes on.
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