I don't know what I expected from JC but I did not expect him to be this good. He's arguably our best player out there. Shows great awareness on both sides of the court. One play in particular that ha me clapping was on the defensive side where he rotated over to cover for Russell who was attempting a steal. I need to get myself his jersey.
Once he gets his legs under him, he's going to be our best 2-way player this season. He needs to be a little more efficient in his catching and shooting, though; nail those 3's at a 35% clip, and he's good.
Yeah, I loved that rotation too. Russell was able to effectively rotate over to Clarkson's man and were all matched up again. I loved when he anticipated the guard to guard pass, jumped the passing lane exactly, and got the easy dunk.
In reply to that article on Clarkson and Russell, I'm very excited about how they play together. Both can handle the ball, both can score (I think Russell's shot is better than we have seen), both can make plays, and from what I've seen they can switch on D and are both solid there. Russell wasn't advertised as being able to defend, but he looks competent to me already. I agree that their games complement each other, Clarkson wants to score, and Russ is going to find him and make that easier. You also have to like that whoever between them gets the ball after a rebound can push it and run the offense, they're interchangeable guards in a way.
I agree that he looks like he will be our best player this year ........ right now. I actually don't expect that to change either.
Agreed sirronstuff - he's got a full season of NBA development over Russell and Randle, plus he played three years in college to these guys playing 1 each. He's way ahead of them and it shows.
I'm gonna say it. JC > Wiggins. Wiggins has that unteachable athletic talent, but the kid lacks aggression and any type of killer instinct. I'll reserve further comment for this upcoming season, but nothing about Wiggins has really screamed immediate superstar just yet. He was the first option on a depleted Minny team and had some big highlight reel plays.
You rarely see a player come along that has the entire package like JC does. Even the work ethic to just keep getting better and better. To compare him to other guards you have to use some hall of fame names I'm not prepared to use yet. The most incredible part to me is that we have two guards in Clarkson and Russell that fit this description and that blend together perfectly. I know the tendency around here is to be a little pessimistic so people don't get disappointed but I hope everyone can breathe a big sigh of relief with these two and enjoy the ride. Going to be a good one.
Talent + work ethic + attitude = Clarkson. The kid is aware that nothing is handed to him so he's of the mindset that he'll just take it. He is so prepped right now that he is very much ahead of everyone. Clarkson is the best player on the team right now on an overall basis.
And it is fortunate that he did get to work with Nash those times this year. Russell has his own swag but Jordan picked up some real good stuff it seemed. Wonder where he got the motivation for his big step back hop for separation on his J when he needs it. That thing is nasty.
Very efficient, poised, and controlled. He had 3 catch and shoot 3's yesterday but only 2 counted. I love the way he played...
I'm excited to think about where he will be by the end of the year. Lots of stuff to look forward to on this team. We'll be competing in just about every game IMHO.
Definitely needs to continue working on his catch-and-shoot form/spacing and all that but damn he's so versatile. When Russell went out, Clarkson slid right back into PG and it was fine.
The daily clusters of media members ran from Kobe Bryant to Julius Randle to D'Angelo Russell to Metta World Peace to Nick Young. It was understandable. Each player had his own storyline for this season, be it redemption from injury, the hope of youth or rehabilitation of a career. Practically ignored during the Lakers' nine-day Hawaii stay was Jordan Clarkson. He can't offer the allure of high draft position (46th overall, 2014). He doesn't fill 140-character spaces with amusing one-liners. He's trapped in the interstitial of being neither today's new promise nor tomorrow's honored retirement. Even Roy Hibbert gets more attention, fitting into the on-court image rehab concept. It's unusual to see a player taken for granted after only three successful months on the job. Clarkson was handed the Lakers' point guard position last January and followed through with averages of 15.8 points and five assists in 38 games as a starter. He was a rookie then and only 23 now, apparently old enough to understand the humor in his lack of headlines. "I can be quiet and not in the way and then make noise on the court. That's what my plan is," he told The Times after one of the Lakers' practices ended. He smiled when the various constellations of interviews were pointed out to him, microphones and TV cameras in front of seemingly everybody but him. "I don't care about none of that stuff, man," he said. "I come here and work hard and try to win games. I don't get into everything else." Clarkson made the NBA All-Rookie team last season by showing good bursts of speed and an outside touch. Lakers Coach Byron Scott compared his quickness to Russell Westbrook and nobody laughed. Clarkson has only improved, showing better skill at changing gears. In an exhibition game against Utah, he lulled center Rudy Gobert to sleep by casually driving down the right side and then sped up at the perfect moment for an immaculately timed teardrop shot. This will happen a lot this season. But the part of his game that led to phone calls from Scott over the summer was his defense. Scott wanted more of it. More steals, better pressure on the ball, increased awareness when off it. Clarkson listened. Scott recently called his defense "a lot better than last year both on the ball and off the ball. I think a lot of that's just a product of playing and gaining some experience not only last year but in the summer league as well." Another change for Clarkson will be handling the ball less on offense. Bryant was injured when Clarkson went on his three-month spree last season. He's obviously back. And the Lakers went out and drafted another point guard with the second overall pick, already inserting Russell into the backcourt next to Clarkson for what the Lakers hope will be a smooth, versatile duo. It's fine with Clarkson, who has become fast friends with the media-popular Russell. "I'm always going to be the same me," he said. "I'm the blue-collar guy." http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lakers-jordan-clarkson-20151008-story.html
Clarkson is my favorite player on this team right now and it's very easy to see why. The skills are there but what I love is his attitude, work ethic and his angry, aggressive play. I said it last year but if preseason confirms anything it's that he is absolutely an NBA starter. At minimum.
That's funny, I was coming in here to say Clarkson was rock solid again. But yeah, playing under control as Stu pointed out multiple times, he looks mature and smooth. I also liked his 2 man game with Randle, if those two and Russell gel together it will be fun to watch for years.
