The 9-man rotation is confirmed!2 were waived by the Clippers, Willis became the 8th man, and Harden's playing time dropped
On December 10, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued. The Clippers didn't play today, and the whole team was training at home for the next game against the Trail Blazers. The current Clippers are strong and strong, and they are very hopeful of beating the Trail Blazers at home, winning a wave of four consecutive wins, and will continue to climb in the Western Conference standings, with every hope of entering the top 8 in the West in the short term, and working tirelessly to win the championship this season. Today's Clippers are no longer the Clippers they were at the beginning of the season, and they have found a way to win.
In particular, champion coach Tyronn Lue, through the deployment of players, let the Big Four find a tacit understanding with each other and play their own characteristics. All in all, such a Clippers team has emerged from the gloom of the early season and has found a bright path that will give fans a lot of hope for the future. The 9-man rotation is confirmed!2 were waived by the Clippers, Willis became the 8th man, and Harden's playing time dropped.
9 people rotated to be determined
After more than a dozen game adjustments, Tyronn Lue finally found a way to fix the rotation, which is the magic weapon of the team to win all the time. Currently, the nine-man rotation lineup is as follows: the starting five are Harden, Mann, George, Leonard, Zubac, and the four bench are Powell, Theis, Westbrook and Kobe Brown. It is no exaggeration to say that Tyronn Lue just trusts these 9 players, and even if a player is injured, he will not let other players fill in. In the last game against the Jazz, backup center Theis was out due to illness, and Zubac played 43 minutes. It stands to reason that PJ Tucker should be in the rotation to take Theis's place, but Tyronn Lue didn't choose to do so.
In the nine-man rotation lineup, Kobe Brown was a surprise, and as the No. 30 pick in the first round of this year, he won the trust of coaches. Averaging 2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game while shooting just 32.1% from the field, Tyronn Lue may have taken a fancy to his defense and positivity.
2 were abandoned by the Clippers
Some people are happy and some people are worried, and when Tyronn Lue confirmed the nine-man rotation, some players were abandoned and completely fell out of the rotation. The first player to be DNP was Hyland, who played in 12 games before Harden joined, averaging 17 minutes per game, averaging 8.3 points, 1.2 rebounds and 2 assists per game, shooting 42% from the field and 35.4% from three-point range. The arrival of Harden caused the guard line players to be bloated, and even though Hyland played well at the start of the season, he was also abandoned and could only watch the water cooler from the bench.
The second player to be DNP is veteran PJ Tucker, who has not played in five consecutive games so far. This season, Tucker is really old, joining the Clippers in 12 games, averaging only 2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game, and shooting 31.3% from three-point range. Although he came with Harden, his form is worrying, and he may be able to play a role in some games in the playoffs, and it may be difficult to see Tucker on the court in the regular season.
Willis became the 8th man, and Harden's playing time dropped
The Clippers went from confusion to a winning streak, in addition to the determination of the nine-man rotation lineup and the two players of DNP, there is also the most important change, that is, to balance the relationship between Wei Shao and Harden. In order to adapt to Harden, Wei Shao offered to enter the bench, and he was completely obedient to the team's arrangement. As a result, Wei Shao not only became a substitute player, but even became the team's 8th man, and his playing time plummeted. Due to Wei Shao's technical shortcomings, Powell and Theis are the most important rotation on the outside and inside, and Wei Shao can only be ranked behind them. But Wei Shao's professional attitude and spirit are admirable, and it is because of his sacrifice that the team has truly undergone a qualitative change.
Sacrifice Willis to make Harden, but Tyronn Lue knows Harden's physical condition, and he is not like Nash and Rivers who overconsumed Harden during the regular season. After joining the Clippers, Harden averaged 33.6 minutes per game, a 12-year career low. When we look at Harden's efficiency this season, we understand Tyronn Lue's good intentions.
The nine-man rotation was confirmed, DNP Hyland and Tucker, Westbrook was reduced to the bench, Harden was in control of playing time, and Tyronn Lue was transforming the Clippers team step by step. There's no doubt that the Clippers just need to win a championship, that's the only goal. Whether Leonard and George stay with the team next summer will depend on what they can achieve this season.