In today’s Clippers Hawaii Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center, the event’s title says it all for Los Angeles.
The Clippers are worried about the Clippers in their first of a five-game preseason. That’s not meant as a slight to their 3:30 p.m. opponent from Australia’s National Basketball League, the Sydney Kings.
“I honestly don’t even know,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of the Kings after Saturday’s practice in a Hawaii Convention Center ballroom. “Like, that would be (the same) if we were playing the Sixers. I wouldn’t know, I wouldn’t care. For preseason, you’re working on your stuff. I haven’t mentioned (to our players) who we’re playing. I hope (the Kings) play great, if you want me to be honest. And I hope it’s a hell of a game, because all that helps us. But it’s more, I’m focused on what we can do, how we should do things.”
The Clippers held their second straight training camp in Honolulu this week. After this game, they head back to the mainland for the remainder of their preseason schedule.
Unlike last year, when the Clippers split a two-game set against the Toronto Raptors, their opponent brings an element of the unknown. The notable exception is former NBA center Andrew Bogut, an Australian who signed with the Kings this April for a chance to wrap up his pro career in his homeland.
CLIPPERS HAWAII CLASSICLA Clippers vs. Sydney Kings
>> Where: Stan Sheriff Center
>> When: Today, 3:30 p.m.
>> TV: Fox Sports Prime Ticket
>> Tickets: $25-150 at 944-2697 or clippers.com/hawaii
Veteran wing Luc Mbah a Moute looks forward to seeing his old friend Bogut, his teammate in Milwaukee some years back.
“I think it’s good going back to play for his country, playing in Australia,” Mbah a Moute said. “I look forward to playing him.”
Otherwise, the Kings’ roster is comprised mostly of lower-profile Australians who played college ball in the U.S. and are looking to build on the NBL’s recent resurgence as a viable pro league — a league that’s still very much under the radar in NBA circles.
“I know absolutely nothing,” said guard Lou Williams, the Clippers’ leading scorer (22.6 ppg) in 2017-18’s 42-40 campaign. “We’ll see what happens. I’m excited. That’s fun to me, going up against a group of guys who you don’t know. That’s a new challenge.”
The Clippers expect to have all but one player from their 20-man preseason roster available today. The odd man out is backup point guard Milos Teodosic (hamstring), who wowed the Sheriff crowd last year with some flashy assists.
Rivers has allowed his players a high degree of freedom this week, with a lot of read-and-react options instead of confining them to specific plays.
“We have a lot of guys, a lot of interchangeable parts,” Williams said.
L.A. can call upon versatile veterans like Danilo Gallinari and Tobias Harris and defensive-minded guards like Patrick Beverley and Avery Bradley, but they do not have a player with an All-Star appearance on his resume.
“It’s a difficult one … we don’t necessarily know a lot about the individuals on the Clippers team,” Kings coach Andrew Gaze said. “Some of them we’ve looked at and know reasonably well. Guys like Gallinari, Teodosic. … But as far as a specific understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, we don’t have that detail. ‘Bogues’ is going to help us out on that a little.”
NBL teams are 0-2 so far this preseason against their NBA counterparts. This is one of seven such crossover games this year.
Guard Jerome Randle is the Kings’ top scorer from last year in the eight-team NBL, with a 19.8 average. He helped the Kings close strong in an 11-17 season, and with Bogut, they have designs on an NBL championship this year.
“We got our work cut out for us, but it’ll definitely be an eye-opener for us all,” Bogut said of today’s matchup. He’ll be going against another veteran in Marcin Gortat and backup behemoth Boban Marjanovic, the largest player in the NBA at 7 feet 3.
UH REMINDS FANS TO ARRIVE EARLY
The University of Hawaii is urging fans for today’s game to arrive early to avoid a possible entry bottleneck that occurred in last year’s first game of the Clippers Hawaii Classic. Gates A and B will open two hours ahead of tip-off, at 1:30 p.m. There are bag searches and a metal detector fans must pass through.