The Sunny Side of Life for Vinny Del Negro in Los Angeles

[mkwest]

One of the important parts of the offseason for the Clippers and Del Negro is making sure the young players get the necessary attention and coaching to excel in the NBA. Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Bledsoe, and Willie Warren all have the talent to make an impression at the highest level, but Del Negro was quick to emphasize that they need to work hard to achieve their goals

"Rookies are rookies. They have a lot to learn: the speed of the game, the physicality," Del Negro said. "Training camp is one thing, then exhibition, and then the regular season—there are different levels. There is going to be a lot thrown at them, but they're good kids, they have good character, and they're working, and that's a positive."

"We're going to have a good, solid bench rotation. We have good depth, we have good veteran guys, guys in their prime, good glue guys, good character guys off the bench. Everyone has their different skill levels, so I think that's going to help not only [Griffin] but all the young players."

Beyond the personnel, though, a commitment to good defense will help to get the offense going, which will subsequently lead to a good result, according to Del Negro. You have to build a core defensively, a foundation, have a defensive mentality, you have to rebound the ball, and if you share it offensively and play the right way, we have some offensive weapons. It will start with us defensively, buying into a system and a foundation that we'll put together for the guys," Del Negro said. With the regular season opener against the Portland Trail Blazers on national TV, there are a lot of reasons to be excited for the start of the campaign in October. But Del Negro curbed his excitement for the season.

Daneil Savitzky, Clippers.com

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I think a defensive identity will be good for the team, it makes the rest of the game so much easier.

[mkwest]

Defense has to be key. Quite a few of our guys have mentioned a greater desire to give a strong effort on defense this season, and that's great if they follow through. Guys want to run, but it all starts with a stop.