Clippers coach Doc Rivers getting more familiar with Teodosic’s game
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Reporting from Orlando, Fla. — The Clippers are two-plus months into their injury riddled regular season and coach Doc Rivers is still in the development stages of building a relationship with Milos Teodosic.
Much of that is because Teodosic had missed almost two months recovering from a plantar fascia injury to his left foot.
The Clippers signed him to a two-year, $12.3 million contract in July to play point guard after he led CSKA Moscow to four straight United League championships and a Euroleague championship in 2016.
Teodosic had eight points, six rebounds and six assists in the Clippers’ victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.
“I don’t know Milos yet,” Rivers said. “I know him as a person. I know him from film. But I’ve coached him seven games, when you think of it. One thing you notice is that the end of games, he gets more aggressive, which I really like.”
Rivers knows that Teodosic was as star in Europe, once being called the best player to have never played in the NBA.
He was on the Serbian National team that won a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics, losing to the United States in Rio de Janeiro.
He was on the Serbian National team that won a gold medal in the 2005 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship.
“You can just see he’s been in a lot of big games in his life,” Rivers said. “He’s 30 years old and he’s a rookie, but he’s played in World Championship games, in the Olympics and in Euroleague championships. And just watching him play, you get the feeling he’s been in a lot of big games and you can kind of feel that on the floor.”
Dekker provides lift
Sam Dekker missed all three of his shots in the first half, didn’t score any points and was a minus-three in the plus-minus category.
It all changed for the Clippers reserve forward in the second half.
He scored all 12 of his points (four-for-six from the field) and was a plus-10.
“We got a couple of stops and I get a free look and I got one to fall,” Dekker said. “I needed one to fall, really, really, really bad. It wears on you sometimes mentally. I got one to fall and it kind of opened up things for me. Hopefully that continues and if it does, I can be a pretty tough guy to defend.”
Twitter: @BA_Turner
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