With a solid core of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan and Head Coach Doc Rivers manning the Los Angeles Clippers, the sports team now have what it takes to win its first ever title in the National Basketball Association, legal wranglings about the team's ownership issues with Donald Sterling aside. Recently, the team addressed issues regarding their their front line depth to be able to go past the second round of the playoffs in the tough Western Conference towards an NBA championship.
The Clippers has recently signed Spencer Hawes, who is expected to play plenty of minutes to back up both Jordan and Griffin. Hawes's hiring has been largely due to the fact that he can replace Jordan in crunch time when teams try to resort in hack-a-Jordan strategy - a strategy that involves purposely fouling Jordan because of his abysmal free throw shooting, hoopshabit.com said.
Hawes is said to provide the Clippers with a new dimension in their offense: a stretch-5 who can knock down the ball anywhere in the court and facilitate from the high post. He averaged 1.6 3-pointers made per 3.9 attempts a game on 41.6 percent shooting last season (45 percent since he was traded to Cleveland). With these numbers, Hawes was the best shooting 7-footer who has attempted at least 175 3-pointers in a season, according to ESPNLosAngeles.com. He is also a nightmare pick-and-pop opponent that will help Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford operate the floor and attack the rim with ease.
Aside from Hawes, the Clippers also signed Jordan Farmar to a two-year, $4.2 million deal to fill the void left by Darren Collison's departure. Farmar is said to be a solid pro who can run the team's offense, shoot the 3-ball at a very reliable rate, and dish the ball to Blake Griffin on the post. With Farmar's size, length, and quickness, the player is said to have the ability to hold his ground against the "bully" point guards of the NBA.
Here is what Doc River's thinks about the addition of Spencer Hawes and Jordan Farmar as quoted by Washingtontimes.com, "I like that they've been in the league. They have league experience. Jordan's won a title - one that I can't stand that he won (against Rivers' Boston Celtics in 2010). I just count one. The '10 we don't talk about. But that's important, especially at that position, and backing up Chris. I thought one of the things we needed all year - we talked about it after we drafted - was size. We needed more size, and we needed more skill."
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