The Clippers are winless since trading for James Harden and P.J. Tucker on November 1 and they don’t appear close to having a cohesive rotation, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Greif notes that Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook are still figuring out how they’ll work together after being primary scorers throughout their careers.
Coach Tyronn Lue made an adjustment Friday in Dallas, Greif adds, taking George and Westbrook out of the game earlier than usual in the first quarter and having them replace Harden and Leonard later on. A lineup with George, Westbrook, Tucker, Norman Powell and Terance Mann was outscored by nine points in two minutes, but Lue indicated that he wants to give that combination more opportunities to succeed.
“At some point it’s going to work and nobody’s going to talk about the rotations and guys on the floor and personnel,” George said. “And at some point we’re going to figure it out.”
Harden also remains confident, telling reporters, including Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link), “For me individually, this is only my third game. I didn’t have a training camp, I didn’t have a preseason, so everything is still moving fast speed for me. I need about a 10-game window then kind of see where I am from there.”
There’s more on the Clippers:
- Lue believes he needs to keep a center on the court to maximize Harden’s pick-and-roll abilities, but Mann, a 6’5″ swingman, started in the middle ahead of Ivica Zubac to begin the second half Friday, Greif adds. Lue dismissed it as a desperation move, saying he wanted to try something different with a 30-point deficit. L.A. is missing its normal backup center, Mason Plumlee, who is expected to be sidelined for a significant part of the season with an MCL sprain in his left knee.
- Westbrook has been most impacted by the addition of Harden, Greif observes. He’s averaging 32 fewer touches in the three games that Harden has played, compared to 14 fewer for Leonard and seven fewer for George. In a full story, Murray suggests that Lue is unlikely to remove Westbrook from the starting lineup, so it might be up to the front office to determine Westbrook’s future with the team.
- Before being injured, Plumlee talked to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype about why he decided to re-sign with the Clippers this summer. “I feel like in the whole time I’ve been in the league, there’s been one team (Denver in the 2020 Western Conference Finals) I’ve been on where I felt like we had a chance to win the whole thing,” Plumlee said. “This was another one of those chances. It took a little bit of sacrifice to choose to come back here, but it’s been well worth it and makes it fun to come in each day.”
Doc was able to get production out of Harden. If Ty Lue can’t figure it out, does that mean Doc is a better coach than Ty Lue?
I’d love to see doc do what he did with Westbrook on the sixers, let alone kawhi and pg too. If lue even somewhat figures this dumpster fire out it’ll be a massive success.
Plumlee is delusional. He must have ignored the top 4-5 teams in the league when making that decision
I don’t see how this works unless Westbrook or harden comes off the bench. Both are useless off ball and need the ball all the time. Doesn’t add up to them working together esp w kawhi too. Well see what happens but imo they should make harden a full-time pg like in Philly, start Mann, bring Russ off the bench and let him go full pg mode when he’s in. Most likely won’t happen tho bc of egos. Whole harden trade is a shame bc I rly liked how Russ and the team were playing before
Harden isn’t useless off ball because he can shoot and make connection passes. It just doesn’t make sense to play him off ball because he’s much more effective then Westbrook is on ball.
I agree abt being more effective than Russ w the ball, but Russ off ball kills their spacing, plus yea harden can shoot off ball but he refuses to catch n shoot for some rzn, plus he never cuts or moves at all which is super detrimental
Ballmer throws fan boy money at stars does not maximize flow n we see that
Only one round ball
I wish Russ could channel his inner
OG Anonouby
If you watch Clippers. Harden has a roll around his waist. No baller should have that. Has no real definition on his body. And has no burst in his legs. He plays no D. Just watch him run, jog back on D. Clearly not in best shape.
Considering his demand for a trade. And wanting to get another big contract. I find this clearly defining of who he is now. I’m not a hater. But I’ve never been a Harden guy. I would never invest in this kind of player. He knows his career is at the end. So he is working the system to try and get all he can. Harden got more moves in strip clubs than on the court. See what Sixers are doing, Without Him ….