It’s an understatement to say that nothing has gone as planned for the Clippers since the arrival of James Harden. Currently 11th in the West with 7 wins in 16 matches, Tyronn Lue’s players hit rock bottom last night with a home defeat against the Nuggets B team, deprived of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon.
For the Clippers coach, “the players are frustrated offensively, but they should be frustrated defensively too”. “This is the area where we should be upset. It’s defensively, but I take full responsibility for it, like I said, and yeah, we’re just not going to play that style of basketball.”
A lack of energy
Can we talk about basketball style since the attack doesn’t offer much? There is no continuity, and each star plays his part, almost academically.
On the other side of the field, the team showed its limits in the 4th quarter, being unable to slow down Reggie Jackson, and respond to the energy of an aging DeAndre Jordan.
“It’s a frustrating defeat, but it’s one of those matches where players seize opportunities. They play very well and in the absence of players, they rose to the occasion,” believes Paul George. “But there are a lot of things we could have avoided. I think we lacked energy. There weren’t enough to compete.”
Tempo is indeed the huge concern for these Clippers in “Fab Four” mode. For the moment, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Russell Westbrook absolutely cannot play at the same pace.
James Harden out of rhythm
What worries is also the discretion of James Harden. For the third game in a row, he took fewer than nine shots, and absolutely none in the last quarter. He lost a very important ball in the last minute. He is the ghost of the 2018 MVP, unable to step aside without contributing something else.
“It’s a problem of habits. He is so used to creating space from the rebound and relying on his dribbling that it is different now in shooting situations,” Paul George defends it. “I think the more repetitions he does, the more he will see in a match that these shots are possible, and the more he will be in the rhythm. But it’s an adjustment. »
One more for the Clippers who have been tinkering since the arrival of James Harden, without ever finding continuity.
