It's not easy for most teams in the league to get back to 10-7 after a 1-4 start, and even harder for a Los Angeles Clippers without Leonard. To be able to complete this bottoming out, Paul George was instrumental.
Over the past few seasons, George's wind ratings in the league have been wildly shaken. When the Clippers lost to the Nuggets in the playoffs last year, he was "the privileged player who caused locker room discontent." In the final two games against the Lone Rangers in the first round of this year's playoffs, he shot 11 of 30 and was "the least trusted second in the league." But when he led the team across the Jazz after Leonard was injured, and after six defeats with the Suns, everyone began to line up to apologize to the "Playoff P".
The Clippers' performance has been volatile since the start of the new season, but anyone who has seen their game knows that in this season without Kavai Leonard, George has taken his game to new heights. Once again, someone put him in the ranks of MVP candidates.
The first thing to praise is George's defense. This season, the Clippers' defensive efficiency is impressive at no. 2 in the league, and George's example has played an important role in it. His average steals per game returned to his career-high 1.9, and his contribution to defensive victories this season is second in the league, just below Rudy Gobert. At the beginning of each game, he defended the opponent's best wing scorer, and when the opponent forced the change of defense, whether it was against an inside player or a small point guard, he could make a good defensive contribution. As the leader of this team, he is always interfering with each opponent, trying to sabotage any action that the opponent tries to launch. Steals, blocks, jamming shots, making offensive fouls, he does everything.
"His state is divine, buddy. He might be in such a state of divine courage for such a whole year. "After the game against the Timberwolves, Terrance Mann was full of reverence for his star teammates." He's been so strong this season and he's our leader at both ends of the pitch. Did you see that defense he played against today? He fell to the ground, then immediately got up and stood in front of the 7-foot Downs in spite of himself, creating his offensive foul. When we see the best players on our team playing this kind of round, we all become more motivated. ”
George also believes that defense is the foundation of the Clippers: "When I play with my brothers, I want each of them to understand that I will fight for victory at all costs. Whether we throw in or lose, there are some things that we can't control, but we have to control those aspects that we can control. ”
He attaches so much importance to defense because the Clippers' offense this season has been really bad. The Clippers' offensive efficiency this season is only 22nd in the league. The most valued free throws and three-pointers in the magic ball era, their performance this season has not been satisfactory. The Clippers have averaged only 28th in the league in terms of free throws per game this season, and with the exception of George, Zubac and Bledsoe, the team can't even find a player who can average two free throws per game.
More worryingly, all of their shooters are shooting in decline, with the Clippers shooting 41.1 percent from the league's first point last season and only 35.5 percent from the league's 11th this season. If you've looked at their shot distribution, perhaps you won't be surprised that their ability to create shooting slots has dropped dramatically without Leonard, with the Clippers hitting 40.9 percent of their open three-point range last season, dropping to 27.7 percent this season and only 26th in the NBA.
At the same time, their offensive rebounding rate is also ranked 29th in the league, and their second offensive scoring is the first in the league. All of this limits the Clippers' performance on the offensive end. But none of this has much to do with George personally. During the most constipated time of the Clippers offense, it was George who relied on his personal ability to maintain the team's hope of winning. Earlier this season, the Clippers lost several games in which George scored more than 30 points, but we didn't see him blaming his teammates.
On the contrary, after Reggie's crucial layup gave the team a narrow victory over the Thunder, George gave Reggie a big hug. In a post-match interview, he explained: "Reggie put too much pressure on himself. When you can't score goals, or when the game isn't going according to your plan, you always feel the pressure multiplied. I just wanted to tell him that our shots couldn't have been more iron than they are now. Things are going to get better. I have also experienced moments where you would want your brothers to unite and support you. ”
This bond between George and Reggie has built up quickly over the past four months. Since Leonard was injured last season, Reggie has become the Clippers' second-most reliable offensive option. Once thinking about retiring in the summer of 2020, he scored in double figures in 16 of last year's 19 playoff games, making him one of the most surprising players last season. But at the start of the season, he didn't feel good about shooting, shooting just 31.0 percent in his first six games.
"I need that hug," Reggie told the Los Angeles Times reporter, "I felt like I was playing badly and couldn't give him support, but he opened his arms to me completely, as if to say, 'You're great, you'll be better,' and he was genuinely happy for me and my teammates." That's really important to me. ”
In the next game against the Timberwolves, Reggie immediately scored a 29-pointer, and since that game, Reggie's shooting rate has returned to 43.8%, averaging 19.4 points per game, and the Clippers' record has begun to rebound rapidly.
George understands what kind of role he wants to play in this team: "We are a special team in a special situation and I am very happy that I can still work on my own game with my teammates now. Hopefully, in the hearts of young players like Mann, Zubac or Brandon Boston, I can be a good role model and help them develop good professional habits. I want to make sure we're always competing for victory and that we play high-level basketball. But at the end of the day, I'm still happy to lead and help the young people we help. ”
Of course, George's game was not flawless, and statistically speaking, his mistakes were a bit much more. But Tyrone Lou thinks it doesn't hurt: George's mistake is the price the Clippers must pay to keep the offense running actively. In a team without Leonard, George had to hold the ball and organize as much as possible to get others involved in the game. This season, George carried the ball to launch the team's most blocking demolitions, and the people who covered for him went up to Zubac and down to Bledsoe. It's George's 12th season, but he's still exploring possibilities he's never tried in previous games.
Coach Lu is happy to see this shift: "We have told him and Kaway since last season that they are the best players in the league and deserve the most attention. So when they get into the paint, they have to find a way to get the ball out and make the opponent pay the price. Now I feel like after PG's mid-range shots were reduced by 10 percent and 10 percent more passes were passed, our offense became completely different. ”
No one would think they're still championship contenders without Leonard's Clippers, but George's way of leading the team is really good — a phrase that sounds strange because we haven't seen George as a leader in a long time. Whether in Oklahoma or Los Angeles, he looks more like the second in command of the team. And the hardest to get acclaim in this league is the second boss. In the eyes of fans, many of them take salaries that are almost the same as those of the big bosses, but it is difficult to make similar contributions to the big bosses. But the second boss is already so difficult.
In George's case, when Leonard was healthy, the ball wasn't always in his hand and he didn't have unlimited firing rights. He can't play willfully in his own way, as he did when he was the boss at Indiana, waiting for his teammates and coaches to find a way to match him. He has to contribute more on the defensive end, take more care of his teammates' ideas when he gets the ball, learn to play with bench players, give up the stage when the big boss is playing well, and put out the fire when the big boss is in poor shape. In the case that the original ability is not as good as the big boss, how many second bosses can really do all this? Is C.J. McCollum and Porzingis really as bad as the fans scold? If you have watched the Dallas Mavericks game after Doncic's recent absence, can you have a new understanding of the role of the second boss?
A player's on-court performance is of course the main reason, but in the high-level NBA league, when the environment, teammates, tactical system and team status change, not everyone can adapt perfectly. Fortunately, George's transformation is not bad this time. Whether it is defense or organization, what has been learned in these years as a second boss can now be used by George's team, and it can only be said that Saion lost his horse and knew that it was not a blessing. I just don't know, when Leonard returns to health, will George become the ghostly George again?