24 Seconds with....

Jay Johnson

This weekly series from Clippers.com features a Q&amp;A with Clippers players, coaches, alumni or those somehow tied to the Clippers’ organization. The next edition features center DeAndre Jordan during All-Star weekend.

NEW ORLEANS – DeAndre Jordan participated Saturday in his first NBA slam dunk contest, starting out by jumping over DJ Khaled’s booth and snagging the ball out of Khaled’s hand on his way up.

That dunk earned a score of 41, which Jordan followed with a 42 in his second dunk, going between the legs on a 360. Indiana’s Glenn Robinson III ended up winning the Verizon Slam Dunk Contest, in a group that consisted of Jordan, Robinson, Phoenix’s Derrick Jones Jr. and Orlando’s Aaron Gordon.

Here’s what Jordan had to say after the event.

Who thought of the DJ over DJ Khaled dunk?

DJ: “It was a group effort, but it was cool. We got it on the first try. Khaled was good. He didn’t have to really do too much, but it was cool that he Snapchatted it.”

DJ: “My second one, I didn’t flush it as hard as I wanted to. It was more of a push-in, but it was cool. I had a really good time.”

What’s the process of whittling down your dunks like?

DJ: “I had an order. I was going in that order, so if I had made it to the next round, I would’ve had some other things. The Khaled one I thought was cool. I really have to thank him for staying and being a part of it.”

Did you know coming into the weekend that was going to happen?

DJ: “Yeah, we knew. We knew that was going to be one, but we didn’t know when we were going to do it. He had just performed, so we had just decided let’s just do it first. They made me go first, so that was perfect.”

You said you might have some nerves coming in. Was that the case?

DJ: “Yeah. We were sitting in the back, and I was getting kind of tight. Then they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, you’re going first. I’m like, ‘Great, this is perfect.’ That was a good way to get the jitters out.”

DJ: “Just being able to come out, this being my first event, it was cool, man. I got to see some really cool dunks, and congratulations to Glenn.”

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24 Seconds With DeAndre Jordan: Dunk Contest

Joseph Ibarra

This weekly series from Clippers.com features a Q&amp;A with Clippers players, coaches, alumni or those somehow tied to the Clippers’ organization. The next edition features forward Luc Mbah a Moute

NEW YORK – Two NBA players from Cameroon faced off Monday night when Luc Mbah a Moute’s Clippers played Pascal Siakam’s Raptors.

A day prior, as Paul Pierce was saying his final goodbye to Boston, Cameroon was taking home the Africa Cup of Nations title in soccer. While the Clippers’ game against the Celtics meant Mbah a Moute couldn’t watch Cameroon’s 2-1 win against Egypt, he was thrilled when he found out the result.

Here’s what Mbah a Moute had to say Monday about Cameroon’s first Africa Cup of Nations title since 2002.

Were you able to catch any of Cameroon’s win?

LM:  “I couldn’t watch the game. We had a game at the same time yesterday against Boston.”

Is the Africa Cup of Nations something you always follow?

LM: “Yeah, I always follow the African Cup. I follow soccer, obviously, growing up I was a soccer fan, soccer player. Our national team was playing well. No one expected them to make it this far, and they ended up winning. So, the whole country was excited about it.”

So they were big underdogs? “Big. A lot of those guys, it was only their, like, third or fifth selection to the national team, and that’s nothing compared to guys who’ve been around for 30 or 20-something selections.”

Meanwhile, the Patriots were winning the Super Bowl the same day. For Cameroon, is that win like their Super Bowl?

LM: “Not our Super Bowl, but for Africa, yeah, it’s more countries than teams. We have our local clubs, as well. We have the (CAF) Champions League in Africa, obviously UEFA Champions League with all the European clubs. But African Cup, it’s huge, because it’s a very big rivalry between African countries – who’s going to be the best? I’m just glad Cameroon won, because we’re definitely one of the top teams.”

Have you ever seen an African Cup match, or is it impossible because of timing?

LM: “No, it’s always around this time.”

LM: “Yeah, for sure. The next one is in Cameroon in 2019. I’m sure I won’t be able to make it, but it’s definitely on my bucket list.”

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24 Seconds With Luc Mbah a Moute: Cameroon’s Win

This weekly series from Clippers.com features a Q&amp;A with Clippers players, coaches, alumni or those somehow tied to the Clippers’ organization. The next edition features shooting guard J.J. Redick.

LOS ANGELES – Kevin Garnett, now a consultant for the Clippers, returned to the team’s training facility before Tuesday’s practice for more 1-on-1 teaching with a variety of players.

Head coach Doc Rivers said it’s amazing to still see Garnett’s love for basketball after retirement and to see how much everyone loves being around that kind of passion. Garnett began Tuesday working with rookie Diamond Stone, then DeAndre Jordan and before long, even guards were swarming around to hear what he had to say.

“I think it’s awesome for everybody to see, even our coaches,” Rivers said. “We get jaded at times, too, because we’ve been around it a long time and you see that kind of stuff. It makes you feel good.”

Rivers said he couldn’t believe someone could have as much energy as Garnett until he coached him and realized how real it was every day. He recalled a time he had to put Garnett in timeout for 20 minutes before a playoff game to calm him and everyone else down.

J.J. Redick had his own memories of Garnett’s intensity, and he talked about that and more Tuesday morning before the Clippers’ practice and flight to Phoenix.

What’s it like to see how intense Garnett is now that he’s here?

JJ: “I’ve played with enough guys now that you hear KG stories and you hear about his intensity. He made Glen Davis cry, and I’ve been Glen’s teammate for I think four or five years – a couple years in Orlando and a couple years here. Glen had a lot of good stories about KG. Nothing really ever surprises me with him.”

Did you see any of those types of moments in games against him?

JJ: “When he was hurt in ’09 and we played them in the playoffs… I can’t remember what game it was, but it was one of the games in Boston during the Eastern Conference Semifinals. He was in a suit, and he was just, like, a total savage on the bench, just spitting. And the play required me to be in the right corner, so I had to walk over by him, and he was just going at me.”

JJ: “I don’t think I shot on that possession; I just remember how intense he was. We might not have won that series and might not have made the Finals had he been healthy.”

You’ve had a few days off to practice following the loss. What did you accomplish or want to accomplish in that time?

JJ: “We talked about it the other night, we just have to be more consistent in everything we do – our execution, game plan. I think with defense especially, you have your core principles. If you do those consistently, then it’s easy to make, sort of, game-to-game adjustments. But, when you’re not doing your core principles consistently, you end up just guessing a lot. To be honest with you, that’s what bad teams do. So, we at times this year have looked like a bad team.”

How much do injuries and guys going in and out of the lineup contribute to that?

JJ: “A lot. Look, we’ve had a large part of the season playing without two of our best players. So, it’s been hard.”

This is the time of year when trade talk increases. How do you ignore the noise about movement?

JJ: “If you’re not able to deal with noise, you shouldn’t be on HoopsHype and Twitter.”

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24 Seconds With J.J. Redick: Garnett’s Intensity

This weekly series from Clippers.com features a Q&amp;A with Clippers players, coaches, alumni or those tied somehow to the Clippers’ organization. The next edition features assistant coach Mike Woodson.

LOS ANGELES – Assistant coach Mike Woodson became head coach for a night on Tuesday.

Woodson took over Doc Rivers’ duties against the 76ers, after an illness forced Rivers to miss the game. The Clippers jumped ahead early, but the lead crumbled in the second half. Here’s some of what Woodson had to say after the game.

Where did you see the defense start to collapse in the second half?

MW: “It didn’t start just the second half. It started the first half. I didn’t think we were a defensive presence at all. That carried on to the third quarter. I thought we got off to a great start in the third quarter, and then all hell broke loose. We couldn’t get stops and then the ball stopped moving and they got hot and started feeling good about themselves and were able to come out with the win.”

Was the ball movement the biggest culprit for the turnovers?

MW: “Yeah, we got to where we weren’t moving the ball from side to side. We kind of played in one area. Early on, I mean we scored 68 points in the first half. The ball was kind of floating, everybody was touching it, kind of feeling good about themselves….Defensively, we’ve got to put it all together, because we had no defense tonight.”

What did you think of Blake Griffin in his return?

MW: “Blake got the minutes we expected to play him. I thought he played OK. He got a little winded you could see a little bit, but for being out there long, I thought he held his own and played OK. I’m sure he would’ve wanted to play better and probably more minutes, but that wasn’t the case tonight.”

What was it like for you to get to coach this game?

MW: “I’ve been in this a long time, and my thing is, you get a 19-point lead, nothing’s guaranteed but you’ve got to secure it. I’ll go and watch the tape, but as a coach, we always take responsibility and I put it on myself. Even though I’m not playing, I’m the coach and I’ve got to get them over the hump. That’s how I feel as a coach. I’ve always felt that way.”

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24 Seconds With Mike Woodson: Coaching Vs. The 76ers

This weekly series from Clippers.com features a Q&amp;A with Clippers players, coaches, alumni or those tied somehow to the Clippers’ organization. The next edition features head coach Doc Rivers.

LOS ANGELES – The Clippers have won seven straight games, but building on that undefeated start to 2017 just became significantly more challenging.

Head coach Doc Rivers talked before Wednesday’s practice about moving forward following Chris Paul’s thumb surgery, which is expected to sideline the point guard for six to eight weeks. Here’s some of what Rivers had to say.

DR: “He’s disappointed. Obviously, he’s so competitive. You could see it when the injury happened. He knew. Actually, when he got injured, I didn’t think he had done it. I knew what it was – you can see my scars – but, I didn’t think he had done it, because I was looking at his thumb. But, he did. Nothing you can do about it.

“Once you get the news…it’s move on. You start watching film and seeing what you can do.”

How do you stop from moping about the current situation?

DR: “I just think life happens. You can’t predict it. Sometimes, you have good rolls, sometimes you don’t. This is not a season-ending injury. That would affect you more. But, it’s not. I look at this as an opportunity for a bunch of guys who haven’t played together a lot. We still have new guys … this is a good opportunity for them to learn how to execute together. When everybody’s back, when you get Chris and Blake (Griffin) back, if this group can execute and then you put those two guys back on the floor, I think it makes us better in the long run. This is not the way you want to do it, but it’s the way it’s been presented.”

What’s the point guard breakdown look like with Chris out?

DR: “Austin (Rivers) and Raymond (Felton) are the only two guys, really. I guess the biggest issue, we use Austin in so many different ways, he’s going to have to do a lot of different things. I guess that’s the simplest way.”

When Chris got injured earlier this season, their minutes went up significantly. How do you avoid Raymond’s and Austin’s minutes getting too high?

DR: “It’s going to be hard on some of them….That’s probably why we didn’t play as hard, because guys were playing too many minutes. I think J.J. (Redick)’s minutes have to go up a little bit, Jamal (Crawford)’s minutes will have to go up, because we don’t want to tax Raymond and Austin to the point that they’re not doing what they do well. Raymond’s a great ball pressure guy. If you start playing him 38 minutes, his ball pressure goes down. We’ve learned a lot from the last time.” 

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24 Seconds With Doc Rivers: Dealing With Paul Loss

This weekly series from Clippers.com features a Q&amp;A with Clippers players, coaches, alumni or those tied somehow to the Clippers’ organization. The next edition features guard Austin Rivers.

LOS ANGELES – The Rivers are under the weather.

Head coach Doc Rivers was absent from Tuesday’s practice with an illness, just a couple days after Austin Rivers missed Sunday’s game with flu-like symptoms. It was just a bump in an otherwise sensational start to the month for Austin, who’s averaging 20.3 points per game in January.

He was back at practice Tuesday, where he discussed how he’s feeling now and the schedule finally giving the Clippers a breather.

How are you feeling now after missing last game being sick?

AR: “I feel a little better, still a little under the weather, but I feel a lot better than what I did two days ago. I came in and worked out yesterday. Good news is I was only out two days, so it wasn’t enough time to get out of rhythm or anything like that. If anything, it probably helped me just to get a little rest.”

How were you feeling when you played in Sacramento, and how much worse did it get afterward?

AR: “I was feeling a little under the weather before the game (in Sacramento), but obviously I was like, ‘I’m ready to play.’ Then, I played the game and after the game I felt a little achy but nothing really serious. It wasn’t until I got on the plane that I started to feel everything else – the head, the stomach – everything started to come together. That next day it was like, ‘Man…’ We’ve all had it before. It’s one of those things that just sucks. When you have that little bug…it is kind of like the flu, but it’s not like there’s some master pill or antibiotic you can take. You kind of just have to let it pass through. I watched a lot of TV, a lot of movies. You can quiz me on just about any movie right now.”

AR: “Believe it or not, I’m a nerd sometimes, I watched the whole Lord of the Rings series – all three of them. Those things are like four hours a piece.”

Did you and Doc share a water bottle or something?

AR: “No, why, is he sick, too? Oh, man. You know what, my sister is sick, too. Stay away from the Rivers family. I didn’t know he had it. I haven’t talked to him in like two or three days. I just changed my number yesterday, so I texted him and he didn’t text me back. He probably thinks it’s some random number.”

The schedule seems to be easing up a little bit at least, how nice is it to get a few days off between games?

AR: “That’s nice. Obviously we played a lot of games, maybe too many, I don’t know. It’s hard for us to say, because we love playing basketball. I don’t care how many, there could be 90 games, I would love playing that many games. But, obviously when it’s happening, seven games in 10 days, that’s when your body is like, ‘Man,’… but listen, everybody has to go through stretches like that. I’m glad we get a little bit of a break, two days in between games, that’s nice. We’ve got to take advantage of it.”

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24 Seconds With Austin Rivers: Getting Over Sickness

Celeste Mendez

This weekly series from Clippers.com features a Q&amp;A with Clippers players, coaches, alumni or those tied somehow to the Clippers’ organization. The next edition features guard JJ Redick.

LOS ANGELES – J.J. Redick helped the Clippers get off the schneid, snapping the Clippers’ six-game losing streak with a team-high 22 points Monday night.

Afterward, Redick talked to the media about what it meant to get a win, what he believed was the biggest change and how the Clippers can get back to their early-season defensive proficiency.

How important was it for you guys just to get a win?

Redick: “I think it was really important. It’s certainly a different feel in the locker room after the game when you win. There’s certain points in the season – I think players go through it and teams go through it – where you just have stretches and you’re stuck in a rut or you feel like nothing’s going right. You just got to keep grinding, and eventually it’ll turn. We have enough guys, even when we’re a little down, where I believe we can turn it.

“We have a stretch here where we’re home for a while, besides the Sacramento game, and we have a chance to take care of business.”

Doc Rivers said he thought the guards attacking more made a difference tonight. Did you see that opening up the floor?

Redick: “I don’t know that. We had 20 turnovers tonight, I don’t know what we shot from the field, but I don’t think it was great. I don’t think that necessarily opened things up. To me, it was our defense, especially in the second half. They had a lot of transition buckets off our turnovers in the first half; then the second half, we had unbelievable half-court defense. It reminded me of earlier in the season when we were just flying around, covering for each other. Our rotations were phenomenal tonight – they were as good as they’ve been in a couple weeks. What’d they have, 40 (points) in the second half, 18- and 22-point quarters. That, to me, is why we won.”

Is there a sense right now of waiting for that same defensive team you were early in the season to show back up, and what do you think has been the reason it’s taken a while?

Redick: “I don’t know, you try to figure these things out. You talk with each guy, you have group discussions, team meetings. I don’t know what has been wrong. The frustrating part, to me, is we were a top five defense last year and have proven this year with this group we can be a top defense.”

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24 Seconds With … JJ Redick | 01/03/17

This weekly series from Clippers.com features a Q&amp;A with Clippers players, coaches, alumni or those tied somehow to the Clippers’ organization. The next edition features guard Jamal Crawford.

LOS ANGELES – Jamal Crawford has at least 22 points in each of his last three games, as the Clippers continue to try to piece things together without a handful of crucial starters.

Crawford talked after Monday’s game about the minimal margin for error without Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick and the balance between distributing and attacking without key players as the Clippers now try to climb out of a three-game skid.

What do you take away from Monday’s loss?

JC: “Our margin for error is just that more slim. We have to muster up that sustainability. Just being able to sustain like we did the second half. We need to do that both halves. Obviously that’s tough to do, but if we can do it, we give ourselves a much better chance to come out with a win.”

How do you and Austin Rivers balance the role between distributing and attacking with so many players out, and is it still a learning process playing alongside teammates you might not otherwise if everyone was healthy?

JC: “It’s just tough because, in the NBA, at the end of the shot clock, it always ends up kind of in the guards’ hands. And that sometimes, is why you see (jump shots), because it works around and things break down and it ends up in the guards’ hands. For us, obviously our hearts are in the right place. We’re trying to get guys shots. We’re both naturally attackers and naturally scorers, but we’re very cognizant of trying to get our guys shots, for sure.”

How slim are the margins for error now, and can fatigue start to wear on you guys when you’re so shorthanded?

JC: “It all plays a part, and we’re all fighting. We really are. We’re all competing and trying. But you look at the last three losses, two of them we’re leading in the fourth quarter. So, that’s almost tougher to handle after it’s over with than losing by 20. Sometimes you lay an egg, and you’re down, losing by 20 points. To kind of control your own destiny and control your own fate in the fourth quarter when it’s winning time and to be up two, three, four points and lose that game… it’s tough.”