How the Clippers Got (Much) Better When he really has it cooking, it's as though Chris Paul is in such control that he's playing his own game, without any regard for the other nine players on the court. The defense becomes an easily solved puzzle and his teammates an extension of his remarkable will and intelligence. But last year, it also looked like Paul was on an island when things weren't going so well for the Clippers. There's an argument that everything Paul does for his teammates -- from bailing out possessions with his killer crossover and jump shot, to spoon-feeding shooters and cutters for easy buckets -- qualifies him the second-best player in the league. But even he struggled at times to produce interesting basketball because his teammates had so little to offer. Six games into this season, it's already evident how much has changed for Paul and the Clippers. Specifically, the addition of free agent Jamal Crawford, nicknamed J-Crossover for his wicked dribbling skills, and the dramatic improvement from the returning young players DeAndre Jordan and Eric Bledsoe -- who are 24 and 22 years old, respectively -- have quickly made the Clipper show one of the most entertaining in basketball. Long-armed and 6-5, Crawford has long been a dynamo with the ball in his hand, revered for his vicious crossover and penchant for bombing in long-range shots even while being fouled. But he's not much of a defender and has a history of shooting his teams out of games as long as the catalog of his brilliant moments. Crawford has been vital this season. He has played the third-most minutes of any Clipper and leads the team in scoring. Yet coming off the bench has productively confined his role. When he plays with Paul, he can float to the perimeter and become a floor-spacing shooter who attacks closeouts with long strides to the rim. Then, when Paul heads to the bench, he shares ball-handling duties with Bledsoe and is often the team's primary scoring option. His current level of shooting -- his effective field goal percentage has soared to James Harden heights -- is unsustainable, but he has tempered daring dribbling with the smart, efficient passing necessary to keep the offense moving when Paul sits. As fantastic as Crawford has been, the real revelation has been the play of Bledsoe and Jordan, two players once labeled derisively as "projects." Bledsoe is one of the most fascinating players in the league. He is just 6-1 but he commandeers space like a much larger player. His unique frame seems to contain multiple players: at one moment he's leaping among forwards for a rebound, the next he's sliding through a small crease in the defense for a layup at the rim. Bledsoe's game can be a wild ride, which doesn't always sit well with risk-averse Coach Vinny Del Negro. He also lacks a consistent outside shot, something the Clippers believe they desperately need to keep the middle of the floor open for Blake Griffin and Paul. But Bledsoe produces; he makes all kinds of stuff happen and most of it is positive. He plays only 18 minutes per game, but his eye-popping per-36-minute stat line of 20 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals speaks to his impressive impact. Bledsoe is in a class of one or two other players in the entire league as an on-ball defender -- he personally short-circuited the Memphis Grizzlies offense in the playoffs by rendering point guard Mike Conley a non-factor. But that same attacking style has a tendency to betray him on offense. This year, he's shown a bit more nuance with the ball in his hands, suggesting he's picked up a thing or two from Paul in to the delicate timing of probing and compromising a defense without losing control. Still, most of all he's just faster than everyone else, and that allows him to push the ball up court for the for the easy buckets his second unit needs. As a result of the dynamic Bledsoe-Crawford bench unit, the Clippers' second squad has gone from 26th in the league last season in offensive production to first in 2012-13. Meanwhile, starting center DeAndre Jordan, an enormous, highly-coordinated athlete, is making good on the four-year, $43 million dollar contract he signed before last season. Jordan is still foul-prone and hasn't made a major advance in his defense, but he has so far been a bona fide force on the low block. The Clippers have already targeted Jordan for post-ups 18 times in the first six games after throwing the ball to him on the block just 41 times all of last season. He's rewarded that confidence by showing off an accurate jump hook that he releases from an impossible height with either hand. He failed to score 20 points in any game last season but has has done it twice in a row and is shooting a ridiculous 75 percent from the field. It's not as though he's shooting deep jump shots, but it's still an amazing rate for a player averaging more than 10 shots per 36 minutes. As with Crawford's precise jumper, Jordan's jump hook is also likely to betray these early shooting percentages as the long season goes on. But the emergence of three potent players on a Clippers roster desperate for dynamism on offense is likely to remain a factor all year and into the playoffs. Not only will they help the Clippers win, they'll accomplish something that is perhaps of greater value to the basketball community at large -- making Chris Paul even more enjoyable to watch.