Analyzing the Clippers Issues

Happy Wednesday everyone. I have attached a video from one of my favorite YouTube channels.

The video breaks down what is currently going on with our team. There are quite a few interesting findings here.

1. The Clippers starting five of Beverley, Ibaka, George, Leonard, and Batum has the highest net rating among all teams in the NBA that have at least 250 minutes played together.

2. The Clippers have the WORST clutch rating in the entire NBA.

3. Bench defense is a problem.

Conclusions:

1. Health is the biggest issue. Among all the top five rated teams, the Clippers rank among the last in terms of minutes played together.

2. The Clippers abandon their game plan late in the game: They seem to take it upon themselves to jack up threes ( which leads the league in attempts late in the game). This leads to late game collapses by falling in love with the three. In addition, the Clippers tend to resort to playing hero ball.

3. Lou Williams and Reggie Jackson cannot be played together.

Lou Williams has some iconic moments for the L.A. Clippers, but I think his non-commitment to defense is a liability. I disagree with the narrator of the video, and with these two players being such a detriment to the game, I would love to make a move where we ship one of these two out in return for a more balanced player. This does not require a massive trade, but having a more balanced player can even out the game and lessen the amount of points the defense allows when the starters are out of the game.

Clippers play like a bunch of old men which they are. They’re front runners and they run out of gas. In the 4th quarter you see guys moving less, rotating late, and slow down the pace even more.

Based on science an athletes peak in terms of fitness is ages 28-31. Our entire starting lineup is in their peak or just out of it (32). We don't have a bunch of 34-37 year olds out there. So this doesn't make sense to me.

True but are they playing at heir peak right now? Based on that and experience we should be much higher during clutch time in the 4th. But players are walking to their spots

I see that more with the bench defense than the starters. Clutch time we just need a 2 minute drill, where we have set actions to start the plays off. The iso, pick n roll, offense gets stagnant. We have some great plays we can run with the skill set of our guys. 1. Give N Go brush screen from the mid post. You see Denver run this play for Murray a lot. This is a simple play that has been around forever. I’d run it with PG or Kawhi. Put 3 shooters on the left and Ibaka mid post on the right. Pg/Kawhi entry pass to Ibaka and hard cut to the basket and have Ibaka do a rub/brush screen on the defender and dish it back to Kawhi/pg for the finish at the rim. This is one of my favorite actions because you have multiple options depending on how the defense plays. Best case scenario. 1. Defender tried to go around the run screen and gets bumped and you have a wide open lane. 2. Center tries to help and you kick it back to Ibaka for open mid range 3. Secondary defender reads the play and helps off a shooter to defend the paint. Kick it to the open shooter. Also another play we use to run with Cp3/Blake DJ is the double screen up drop. This play would work best with Lou Will, but even Kawhi and PG can benefit from it. In the starting lineup Batum is the 4. Put 2 shooters in the corners and double screen top. Roll one screener and flare out the other screener. This play does require some IQ on the ball handlers part to know whether he should pull up like CP use to do or throw it to the paint, or kick it to the open popper. There are a ton of other plays....

As always, good post, pageC4. In terms of your conclusions: Health is the biggest issue. Among all the top five rated teams, the Clippers rank among the last in terms of minutes played together. I agree, but we can't always use health as an excuse. We heard all about it from Doc Rivers and the Chris Paul-Blake Griffin Era. We heard it last year when the mantra was, "If we just got our guys together, we'll be contending for the championship. Patrick Beverley legitimately gets hurt far too often. Kawhi and PG13 go out for back spasms and drinking too much caffeine to the point where he gets dizzy. We can forever use health as an excuse every year. Soon, it becomes meaningless. The Clippers abandon their game plan late in the game: They seem to take it upon themselves to jack up threes ( which leads the league in attempts late in the game). This leads to late game collapses by falling in love with the three. In addition, the Clippers tend to resort to playing hero ball. Our problem is our top two players are the ones who abandon the game plan. And there are no repercussions when they do it. Kawhi and PG13 resort to hero ball and end up clanking the side of the rim, missing shots, starting the fast break for the other team and becomes "heros" in their wins. There's no incentive for them to change. There's no one strong enough on the team to demand it. Lou Williams and Reggie Jackson cannot be played together. Lou Williams was heroic when he was the leader and best player on the team. He dominated the fourth quarter and led many heroic comebacks with his red....

It's hero ball! Don't over analyze it. The other guys are almost afraid to take a shot or use ball movement. They automatically look for Kawhi or PG and hand them the ball. And if by chance, they get caught up and have to hand the ball, they give it right back for more hero ball. Our leaders need to make the other guys feel comfortable moving the ball freely and taking the shot if it is there. Especially when they (PG & Kawhi) can't hit shots. They need to clean that up.

Agree 100%- the shift to hero instead of team ball is the culprit. It'd be great to have the superstars shoot a shot they normally would make, but they're taking very difficult shots. Fans would be less upset over a missed wide-open look or layup by another player vs a tough contested try by a superstar. And I suspect the result might turn out better too.