Despite criticism, Austin Rivers has faith in himself

With Chris Paul on the bench for Game 1 against the Houston Rockets many Clipper fans were left worried about if they would be able to the fill the huge void that his absence left in the team. Austin Rivers, son of Clippers head coach Doc Rivers wasn't worried at all, in fact, he was excited. What he sensed was an opportunity to perform on one of sport's biggest stages and to leave his mark on a very significant game in franchise history.

Austin wasn't happy about Paul's injury, he just wanted to win, he believed he could help this Clipper team win and that's what's great about Austin Rivers. He always has faith himself. Since coming to the league Austin has faced criticism left and right, ever since his pretty dreadful rookie year, the hate was amplified by the fact he was the son of one of NBA's best coaches. However, this never brought him down as Austin always knew he he could do, what talent he had, and he does indeed have talent, most notably his crazy speed.

"He's a confident person" said teammate J.J. Redick. "He's always been that way". "As a player to get to this level, you have to have something, whether it’s enormous physical talent, size or length or athleticism. Or, you have to be, you know, I don’t know how to put this without using a profanity but you have to be a (expletive), you know. You've got to have an edge. And he has that."

"I’m not Chris Paul. I’m not ever going to be Chris Paul,” Austin said after Monday’s win. "I'm Austin Rivers. I can only be myself."

"I talked to him at shootaround yesterday about our 2009 run (with Orlando),” Redick said. “When Courtney Lee broke his face, I was kind of in and out of the rotation, but I got to start eight playoff games."

"I always tell people that was the turning point in my career, playing in those seven games against Boston and a closeout game in our previous series at Philadelphia. That was the springboard for my career going into my fourth year. And my fourth year on, I’ve been a different player. I think last night can potentially springboard Austin to even bigger and better things."