DeAndre Jordan looks to do big things

[mkwest]

“I don’t care what other people think about me to be honest with you,” Jordan said Wednesday at a “Call of Duty: Ghosts” multiplayer reveal event. “I know what I do. Nothing against them, but they’re not in the gym with me, they’re not running sand dunes with me at six in the morning. People can only go off of what they see and what they read but I’m working my (behind) off. I really don’t care about the contract. I’m trying to win a title. That’s the most important thing to me.”

Jordan has been working on his free throws daily this offseason with shooting coach Bob Thate, and says it’s slowly becoming second nature. He worked with Thate last season too, but never got comfortable with the new mechanics of his shot. Griffin’s free throw percentage improved from 52 percent to 66 percent last season under Thate’s tutelage; Jordan’s dipped from 52.5 percent to 38.6 percent.

“I think it was such a culture shock last year of having to change my shot,” Jordan said. “But what I’ve been doing for the past however many years hasn’t been working so I have to change it. … I’ve been focusing on one shot now and I’m going to shoot that same way and I’m going to get ton of reps up and they’ll start to fall.”

Perhaps the biggest leap Jordan took this offseason was last month in Las Vegas when he took part in a four-day mini-camp with Team USA and worked with Mike Krzyzewski. Jordan was like a sponge around Krzyzewski, running up to him after practices and asking him what he should work on.

“Coach K was great.” Jordan said. “We had a couple of individual conversations and he definitely taught me a lot of things. He taught me a few individual things that I can take back and bring here with the Clippers. That experience was probably the best offseason experience of my life.”

Arash Markazi, ESPN Los Angeles

[mttwlsn16]

I read it as "looks too big to do things" and didnt understand lol

[mkwest]

I read it as "looks too big to do things" and didnt understand lol

The sad things is that we've had players in the past that looked too big to do things.

[mttwlsn16]

I read it as "looks too big to do things" and didnt understand lol

The sad things is that we've had players in the past that looked too big to do things.

Yup. Good to see DJ excited and motivated to really improve. I can't wait til October

[og15]

Changing your shot is hard, good for him t stuck with it, hopefully it works out. Always good to know players are working hard, and he probably got told about the overrated thing that the ESPN guys were saying since he talks about his contract and such.

[Ranma]

I read it as "looks too big to do things" and didnt understand lol

The sad things is that we've had players in the past that looked too big to do things.

A John "Hot Plate" Williams and Stanley Roberts reference. What are the odds? I was actually talking about them with somebody at the gym last week.

[madmaxmedia]

Man, Hot Plate- considering his girth he could still do a lot of things well on a basketball court!

[adiedanny]

Man, Hot Plate- considering his girth he could still do a lot of things well on a basketball court!

yeah if anything he was a pleasant surprise. he played much better than he looked. when he was on, he was on

[krazyclipperfan]

This has to be a big year for DJ. We need that defensive anchor for our team to have success in the playoffs.

[Ranma]

Ben Golliver and Rob Mahoney, Sports Illustrated (8/22/13)

5. The Clippers overhauled their roster and hired a proven coach, but is that enough to put them in the West’s first tier sight unseen?

Golliver: Nope. The “over-the-top” move was the lost DeAndre Jordan-for-Garnett trade. If the Clippers make that move and add one beefy reserve to their frontcourt, I’m all in on their chances in the West. Everything else — hiring Doc Rivers, obtaining veteran shooters J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley, locking up Chris Paul without major incident, snagging Darren Collison on the cheap and drafting another shooter, Reggie Bullock — was superb. I just don’t think it’s a stretch to say Jordan simply isn’t good enough come playoff time, especially when the other options are Ryan Hollins and Byron Mullens. Blake Griffin isn’t a legitimate option as a small-ball center, leaving the Clippers with the same concerning interior shortages that existed last season.

If matchups break nicely, I could see the possibility of Paul’s first trip to the conference finals. But I just can’t see the Clippers getting through San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Memphis as is. There’s a decent chance that the Clippers will sit atop the “They need a make a move!” list come trade deadline time. Could they flip Jamal Crawford for some help inside?

Mahoney: I agree. Even if we give Rivers the benefit of the doubt in quickly building up the Clippers’ team defense, they have exactly one dependable interior player at this point. Jordan, after all, doesn’t just need some focused instruction to hone his defensive play; he also becomes a liability in competitive games because of his woeful free-throw shooting and limited shooting range. If Jordan were less willing to bite on pump fakes, more versatile on offense and more consistent in the timing of his defensive rotations, the free-throw problem might be less of an issue. But as it stands, it’s yet another reason why his presence complicates matters more than it should.

I don’t see how even Rivers could immediately transform a flaky all-around player into the kind of rock that a team with so shallow a frontcourt rotation would need. Mullens is not very good and Hollins is a fringe NBA player. Yet here both are, set to play important minutes for one of the better teams in the Western Conference. The improvements elsewhere on the roster will make the Clippers a wonderful regular-season team and a solid enough playoff opponent. They’re just a step or two removed from the conference elite.

Give And Go: What could stop five contenders from cracking conference finals?

[og15]

I think that's basically our biggest worry also. This is why an Odom signing will be very helpful when it comes to defense. Everyone is basically saying "we have no clue what this defense will look like".

The hidden reality though is that Jamal probably is now the most tradeable player on the roster just because he has value and a good contract (non guaranteed). If a solid big man could be acquired, while Jamal has some valuable skills, the impact of a big would just be greater, and with all the wings on the team, his loss can be handled.