Clippers’ China trip not necessarily a flight of Doc Rivers’ fancying

An appointment as U.S. ambassador to China is probably not forthcoming for Doc Rivers.

Asked if he would take his team on a trip scheduled to include stops in Shenzen and Shanghai for two exhibition games against the Charlotte Hornets had he been given the choice, the Clippers coach said Tuesday, “No, I’d never go.”

Rivers was speaking more broadly about the challenges of fitting an international trip into the NBA preseason, but he maintained the no-go theme when asked if there was something he was looking forward to.

“The flight,” Rivers said with a chuckle. “Coming home.”

The Clippers will depart on the second leg of their 16,622-mile preseason itinerary Wednesday when they take a charter flight to Shenzen before playing the Hornets there Saturday. They are also expected to tour the area and participate in community events. The trip will conclude in Shanghai with another game against the Hornets on Oct. 14.

Clippers forward Blake Griffin didn’t seem to be in favor of the trip either, though his reservations were mostly related to having previously been to China several times.

“Personally, I like going new places,” Griffin said.

Rivers did take his team on one foreign foray that came with a happy ending. A trip to Rome in the preseason with the Boston Celtics in 2007 led to a season that concluded with an NBA championship.

“Going to the Vatican, going to the Colosseum, it was like warrior stuff,” Rivers said. “You couldn’t have scripted a more perfect place for a team that had championship aspirations to go to.”

Like his current Clippers team, those Celtics were integrating a host of new players after massive roster turnover in the summer. So much time together before a season can accelerate the bonding process.

“This would be the team if you’re going somewhere, to go, because we’re so new,” Rivers said of a Clippers roster that includes nine newcomers. “Being on the road kind of makes you hang out, get together, do things. Being in another country, sometimes it’s even more so. Your cellphone doesn’t work as much. You’re not looking down, you actually have to look up at your teammates.”

Second time around

Rivers said part of guard Lance Stephenson’s early struggles might have come from his initiating the offense too much early in possessions.

Stephenson is more effective, Rivers said, “when the ball swings and he catches it and the defense is shifting and he’s running downhill.” That doesn’t mean there aren’t instances in which Stephenson will be the primary playmaker.

“If he gets a rebound, we want him to push the ball up the floor,” Rivers said. “He doesn’t get a rebound, we want to throw it ahead to him, because now he’s got his speed and power. But what we’ve done is everybody’s coming back to the ball and we have nobody running out. That’s what we’re starting to get into.”

They’ll handle it

Having four ballhandlers beyond starting point guard Chris Paul could do more than give Rivers plenty of options for his second unit; it could lessen the ballhandling load on Paul and keep him fresher on defense.

“That’s definitely the plan,” Paul said. “It’s one of those things I’ve told those guys … ‘I can’t chase these guys around like I’ve been doing in the past.’ I think that will definitely help.”

Etc.

Paul played all 82 regular-season games last season for the first time in his career and appeared in favor of a repeat performance. “If I’m healthy enough,” Paul said, “Doc knows I want to play every night.” … Griffin said the Clippers had “an unbelievable practice” Tuesday, two days after their lackluster showing in a 20-point loss to the Toronto Raptors in Vancouver, Canada. “Defense has been our biggest emphasis in practice, so it was a little disappointing to see,” Griffin said of the 93-73 defeat. “But these games are for building, and I think we learned a valuable lesson.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch