The Clippers Created Their Own D.E.N.N.I.S System For The New NBA Season Called F.U.C.K
Given everything going on with the Kawhi Leonard Scandal, you almost forget there's an actual Clippers basketball season about to take place. They don't have the oldest roster in the league (shoutout Warriors!), but it's certainly up there after the additions of both Chris Paul and Brook Lopez to the roster. Between Kawhi (34), Harden (36), Bogdanovic (33), Beal (32), Lopez (37), Batum (37), and Paul (40), this roster is old as shit and I think it's fair to suggest they are operating in a "win now" window for 2025-26.
On paper, despite their age when you also factor in guys like John Collins, Derrick Jones r, and Kris Dunn as well as some intriguing young rookies, this roster is loaded with talent and as a result, there's a certain level of expectation that the Clippers can be contenders despite how loaded the West is. This really isn't all that different from previous seasons where I would say the Clippers are routinely outrageously hyped up in the offseason, when in reality since their WCF appearance in 2020-21, the Clippers have either missed the playoffs (one) or lost in the first round (3 times) each season since.
Last year, it was a tough Game 7 loss to the Nuggets in a series that saw Denver win 2 games off an Aaron Gordon game-winning jumper and an Aaron Gordon putback dunk with around 0.000000001 left on the clock. Brutal, but that's playoff basketball baby.
So ahead of this season, not only did they make some key additions to their roster, but the Clippers have decided to take things a step further in an attempt to prevent the same issues we saw end their season last year.
They've created their own version of the D.E.N.N.I.S System, called F.U.C.K
First off, I love former long-time Celts assistant (9 seasons) crazy ass Jay Larranaga. Guy rules.
With that said, let's have a look at their new system
F - Floor Balance
U - Urgency
C - Consistent Communication & Concentration
K - Know we lost to Denver because of transition
You know what? Not bad! I will agree, all of those things are important for the 2025-26 Clippers and really any basketball team if we're being honest.
I'd also agree that transition play in that Nuggets series was a bit of an issue. The Clippers allowed 19 transition points a game on 54.3% shooting in that series, allowing the Nuggets to score on 51.7% of those possessions. A huge part of that issue was the Clippers' inability to stop turning the ball over, which isn't exactly the approach I would take when playing a Nuggets team that ranked 4th in the NBA in transition points per game and in the 93rd percentile. In fact, I would argue limiting those opportunities is the way you should go, but oh well.
So, making that part of their new system and framing it with an overall message of "Get the F.U.C.K back" is a pretty good way to enter the 2025-26 NBA season. The thing is, you're now asking a roster that is old as shit to play that way, which I'm not so sure is going to work out well. You're saying you need Kawhi/Harden/Beal etc to show maximum effort getting back in transition in regular season games? Good luck. You're asking a whole lot of a 40 year old CP3 as well, and I'm not sure it matters how hard Lopez runs, he's slow as hell.
But you know what? When you're in a win now situation and you've done nothing but underachieve for the last 4 years, I'm a firm believer in trying anything and everything to get that buy in from 1-15 guys on the roster. Every team needs a rallying cry for each new season, so why can't think be what works for the Clippers? If they can address their transition issues and get some decent health this year (ha!), I suppose anything is possible. Plus, we have no idea what the league office is going to do about the scandal, so this could be one of their last shots at contention for some time.