Clippers: New pickup Ferrell makes a quick first impression with his speed and hustle.
LOS ANGELES » Yogi Ferrell needed only a few minutes to endear himself to Clipper Nation.
When Terance Mann’s shot to beat the shot clock rimmed off with about 13 seconds left in the third quarter Wednesday, it meant an empty possession for the Clippers, who’d just built a fledgling 3-point lead.
Not so fast, though. Not with Ferrell on the floor.
The little rascal snuck beneath Brandon Clarke, poking away the rebound from Memphis’ unsuspecting 6-foot-8 forward. Then Ferrell, 6 feet tall and shot out of a cannon, corralled the loose ball, veered back toward the basket and spotted Mann, gliding in and gesturing skyward.
It was Ferrell’s first game since signing a 10-day contract with the team Monday, but instinctively, the guard knew what to do, flipping up a perfectly placed lob for Mann, who flushed it home.
The sequence filled Staples Center — devoid of live crowd noise for so many months — with a real-life, honest-to-goodness roar. It was an automatic, most enthusiastic response from the 1,782 fans who were spread throughout the arena at the second Clippers’ home game with paying spectators this season.
“I knew when big fella got the rebound, big dudes don’t always see the little guards,” Ferrell said, setting the scene. “So I was able to get right up under big fella, ‘cause I knew he was bringing the ball down, I just tipped it out.
“And I saw T-Mann pointing his finger, so I just threw it right over the rim for him for an easy lob.”
For as long as Ferrell is with the team, he said Clippers fans should expect those sorts of hustle sequences. He spoke via Zoom after Wednesday’s 117-105 victory, another short-handed gut check to which he contributed eight points and seven assists.
“They’re gonna see me play hard anytime I step on the court,” said Ferrell who arrived in L.A. having played 251 NBA games since being undrafted out of Indiana in 2016, and having spent time with the Brooklyn, Dallas, Sacramento, Cleveland and Utah franchises.
“I just want to win. I’ve always tried to be a winner growing up, and I’m around such a great culture, so it just makes it easier.”
That’s all the Clippers want from Ferrell, coach Tyronn Lue said — to the media postgame and to the 27-year-old point guard beforehand.
“I told him before the game started, ‘Just be yourself. Don’t try to fit in. If you are doing too much, I’ll let you know. We need you to be aggressive. Use your speed and attack and make plays,’” Lue said.
“Yeah, what he told me basically is just be aggressive,” Ferrell concurred. “He told me to play my game, don’t try to fit in with the team, and just go out there, play free, and have fun — it’s definitely easier said than done. My first game with the guys, I had a little bit of nerves. But I calmed myself down in the second half and got back to what I was doing.”
After missing his first three shots in seven minutes of first-half action, Ferrell found his footing after the break. He totaled 20 minutes — half as many as he’d logged overall in his previous stint with Cleveland — and finished Wednesday without a turnover and a team-best plus-15.
Lue, whose own quickness and competitiveness helped him establish himself as a 6-0 guard in 11 NBA seasons, appreciates what a player such as Ferrell can provide the Clippers, who lost Patrick Beverley to a fractured hand April 8 and are determined to carefully monitor the health of 35-year-old Rajon Rondo as the regular season winds down.
“Oh, I love it! I love speed!” Lue said. “And Yogi was able to turn the corner and get into the paint. A couple great passes. Just his capability of getting down the floor and attacking early, run the pick and roll, get downhill, it was great for us.”