The most promising silver lining in the Portland Trail Blazers' 118-111 preseason loss to the Golden State Warriors was the play of center Donovan Clingan, who looked to be in much better shape compared to his rookie season.
Clingan emphasized his improved conditioning at Blazers media day, stating his goal of playing at least 30 minutes a game this season.
"I'm in a lot better shape," Clingan said. "There were times last year in runs where I would get winded. Now I can keep going. My conditioning is the biggest thing I've improved this offseason. ... My weight was affecting me getting down the court."
Donovan Clingan has officially solved his biggest problem
Clingan only played 20 minutes in this contest, but easily could've played more -- and likely would have if it were a regular-season game. Despite the limited minutes, he still managed to record 15 points, 11 rebounds, two steals, and one assist, shooting 6-of-11 from the field and connecting on his lone three-point attempt.
Seven of those 11 boards impressively came on the offensive end. Portland had substantially more field goal attempts (104) than the Warriors (87), and Clingan's interior dominance was a primary reason why.
On media day, Chauncey Billups also mentioned that he plans to change Portland's offensive scheme. One thing Billups noted was that there would be less predictability and more overall movement. That didn't appear to be the case in this loss. Portland's offense was entirely too stagnant and overly reliant on Shaedon Sharpe and Deni Avdija to generate offense, which resulted in an inefficienct 38.5% shooting from the field and 20.9% from beyond the arc as a team.
To be fair, Billups mentioned that he plans on using these preseason games as experiments to see what works best for the Blazers' new-look roster. The different starting lineups throughout the first three contests were a prime example of that, but hopefully, he's also trying to implement different offensive sets, because that... was not it.
One positive takeaway from the Blazers' offense -- and another thing Billups emphasized at media day -- was their increased pace of play. Portland kept up with the up-tempo style of Golden State, which allowed them to have all those field goal attempts in the first place. That wouldn't have been possible had it not been for Clingan's improved conditioning.
With Deandre Ayton's departure and Robert Williams III's injury history, Clingan will take on an increased role this season. Combined with his improved conditioning, he seems primed for a second-year breakout with the Blazers.