By Don MacLean
FOX Sports West and PRIME TICKET
Eric Gordon was spectacular against the Jazz on Saturday.
It was not just the 27 points he finished with and the fact that he scored 13 of the Clippers' last 14 points in regulation, but it was the way he got those buckets that tells me he is going to be the closer for this Clipper team moving forward. With time winding down and the Jazz leading by two, the Clippers spread the floor with Gordon at the top with the ball. Gordon shook his guy, went down the lane and dunked on two Jazz defenders to send it in to overtime.
It takes a lot of confidence to do that.
The Clippers haven't gotten off to a great start (1-6), but Gordon's play combined with the splash made by Blake Griffin lets Clipper fans know who they are going to build this team around moving forward. For now Blake gets most of the attention, but in tight games, Gordon is going to get the ball. And from what I saw the other night, he is more than up for that challenge.
We have talked all throughout the preseason and here at the start of the regular season about how much Gordon's experience with team USA had to have helped him as a player, and it clearly has. First of all, he is much more assertive on the offensive end. Whether in transition or in the half court, he is really looking to get to the rim and score or get fouled. Coming into this year Gordon was primarily a jump shooter with a little sprinkle of putting it on the deck, but now he has real balance to his offensive game, and that makes him that much harder to guard. He is averaging 21.1 points per game and hasn't even gotten his 3-ball going yet (16% from three through 7 games). He is getting to the foul line almost seven times a game, which is an improvement over the 4.8 free throw attempts he averaged last year.
Being able to get your own shot or get fouled from the perimeter makes you hard to defend and hard for the opposition to game plan for. Gordon seems to be becoming that guy and a perfect guy to take the ball, especially late in games.
The good closers in the NBA don't need a specific play design, screens or someone to pass it to them. You give them the ball at the top and everyone gets out of the way. Think Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James or Kevin Durant. The ability to beat the guy that is guarding you and either knock down a shot or get to the rim is what those guys do routinely. Now I am not saying that Gordon is on the same level as those guys, but if he can provide that for this Clipper team, it will help them win more games. Knowing where you are going with the ball down the stretch and having confidence in the guy you are giving it to is a luxury not all coaches have.
You might be saying to yourself right now, well what about Griffin? Why can't he be the guy late in games? The answer is that he can, but probably not until he becomes a little more polished on the perimeter. If you just pump it into a post guy on the block he is not going to be the one taking the shot. The other team just double teams the post and then it is a kick out to a shooter on the perimeter, who is probably not one of your main guys. This is why the Orlando Magic will probably not get over the hump and win a title until they get a perimeter closer. It is too easy to double team Dwight Howard and get it out of his hands, and he is obviously Orlando's best player.
With the schedule lightening up a bit this week, the Clippers will look to turn things around in the win column. Everyone is trying to get on the same page in Vinny Del Negro's new system, and that has been a work in progress. What hasn't been a work in progress is the play of a more assertive, aggressive Gordon, who now looks to have the ball in his hands down the stretch of games.
If last Saturday night is any indication of how he can close games the rest of the year, Del Negro's job just got a lot easier.
