Clippers zoom in on ways they can improve

The chairs come out on the Clippers’ practice court and form a semicircle for the players to sit for the video session that’s about to take place.

In many ways, this is their classroom setting, the place where the Clippers will see all their good and bad from the video Coach Doc Rivers will present to L.A., which didn’t have power forward Blake Griffin (sore right knee) Saturday night against the New Orleans Pelicans at Staples Center.

These lessons are ways to supplement the instructions Rivers has already delivered to his team that sometimes get lost in the slew of games and travel.

Chris Paul, an avid video watcher anyway, says the film sessions are immeasurable.

“We learn when you talk about it as a team,” Paul said. “I think all of us, we’re professionals. I’m sure there’s not a guy who doesn’t go home and watch the film. You watch it on your own and come in and get a chance to talk about it and see what you sort of knew already.”

Even after games, when the Clippers board their flight for the next city and next game, it’s not uncommon for players to watch video of the just-completed game and of the upcoming opponent.

“As soon as the game is over, we get on the plane and a lot of us play cards,” Paul said “Blake is usually over there watching the game.”

For Paul, the video will show him plays that work and don’t work. It’ll show him things he wants to do better, ways he can make life easier for his teammates.

“I’ll tell J.J. [Redick] I hit him on a pass and I didn’t like where I passed the ball at,” Paul said. “He still might make the shot, but I have to do my part.”

Perhaps what’s most beneficial to the video sessions is it allows the entire team — players and coaches — to have an open dialogue about ways to make improvements.

“It is, and that’s why we always talk about communication,” Paul said. “We’ve got to talk about things. The one thing Doc has done amazingly since he’s been here is that, you can’t make up things on your own on the go. We have to do it our way every time. That way, it takes all the guess work out. If there’s a guy that’s supposed to trail the screen, trail the screen. Don’t try to do your own thing because that throws everyone else off.”

The loss to the Golden State Warriors left the Clippers with two days to ponder things before they played the Pelicans. The Clippers saw their flaws, and the goal was to clean those up.

“We watched like the whole first half [Thursday], like no stops, like free throws and everything,” Austin Rivers, who started in place of Griffin, said.

“We watched like all the film [Thursday]. They say video never lies. So we saw a lot of things that we were unhappy with from a team standpoint.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Follow Broderick Turner on Twitter @BA_Turner