After the Clippers lost to the "old rival" Blazers 92-111, the Clippers' 1-4 record this season has made public opinion begin to point to this Los Angeles team, although its core Gowe Leonard injury reimbursement does not know when it can return, but the outside world still has expectations for this Clippers.
After all, last season, they fought back against powerful opponents in the second round of the playoffs, which lacked a core, and even went all the way to the stage of the Western Conference Finals, setting a team record.
In the new season, they have added Bledsoe, who was once the head of the Bucks and was selected as the best defensive team, for this reason, the outside world believes that at least they have the strength to impact the playoffs, but from the performance of this team after the opening of the game, they may have some small problems in how to play.
Especially in terms of momentum, it seems that they have fluctuated a lot with the overall momentum and confidence of last season.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="35" > Paul George is already struggling. </h1>
As the team's head coach, Tyrone Lu, who has always been dubbed "hard-nosed", talked in an interview about the reasons for their recent poor performance and the changes that need to be made in terms of player rotation.
"We can't over-consume George like that anymore."
"We have to stay focused and I don't want to blame the team for how hard it is. We have to get through the hard work of the team. We all know that, and we have to get the problem out of it. ”
It seems that Tyrone Lu is still a "golden eye of fire" and cannot consume Paul George excessively, which is particularly the essence of this sentence.
Although according to the performance of Paul George in the first two seasons, he can only be regarded as the "second in command" of the team, and even became the "third leader" of the team in some games, this does not prevent him from appearing as the only "card person" of the team at present.
In fact, at least judging from the performance of Paul George in key playoff games last season or in the games so far this season, it is absolutely no problem to call him "captain".
Paul George just played the most representative game at present, played 34 minutes, shot 15 of 24, and cut a super stat of 42 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists with great efficiency.
However, such statistics did not lead the team to win, and even under the background of Paul George's desperate "carry", the rest of the Clippers all showed a "bastard" feeling.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to Paul George, the other Clippers players have scored a total of 50 points, in fact, from here we can also understand why the Clippers lost to the Blazers.
But the Clippers have a problem not only this game, in five games, Paul George played "super god" in three games, two of which even cut more than 40 points with a 60% shooting rate, once leading the league's scoring list, but in these three games, the Clippers failed to win one.
If losing 3 points against the Warriors and 6 points against the Grizzlies are all because Paul George played too much in order to bite the score in the early stage, and the physical weakness at the key moment caused by the unfortunate defeat, then, in the last two games, the other players of the Clippers are really "guilty".
In recent games, the only one who has not had any problems is Paul George, who averaged 27.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game in the new season, and it can be said that his performance is indeed worthy of his top salary contract.
However, the other Players of the Clippers played a little too "low".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="69" > the other Clippers players are in a worrying state. </h1>
The performance of former low-level players such as Hatten and Kofi, let's not talk about it, but only to evaluate the three players who performed well last season and were reused by the team - Reggie Jackson, Kennard and Zubac.
Reggie Jackson's performance last season was "phenomenal", and his inside-and-out shooting and three-pointers at key moments made Clippers fans extremely excited last season, and he played efficiently and reasonably throughout the season to win himself a great contract.
But after the start of the new season, he did have some "drifting" in these games, and perhaps, a contract has made him feel that he is a "character", and he seems to have completely forgotten how he played reasonably and cautiously last season.
— Averaging 16.6 shots per game, hitting 26 hits, averaging 5.2 shots per game, shooting just 31 percent from the field and shooting only 29 percent from three-point range.
Of course, the performance of averaging 14 points per game seems to be OK, but it is undoubtedly the result of relying on high shots and low efficiency.
The most important thing is that the number of breakthroughs now has dropped sharply, compared to Reggie who dared to challenge Gobert at the risk of being taken last season, Reggie this season seems to have changed his style of play, more fond of shooting, under five games, three games and 0 free throws, which is enough to show his attitude on the offensive end.
In fact, the team's patience is limited, and the current Reggie has returned to the brash and wanton style of play he did when he was younger, and if it goes on for ten games, he really has a good chance of being temporarily abandoned until he makes another change.
Then there's Kennard, who, without a doubt, looks at all the Clippers players, he's the only one on the court to respond to Paul George with action, and in the game where George scored 41 points, he also scored 16 points with 4 of 11 three-pointers.
At present, Kennard can still average 12.4 points per game in five games, maintain 40% shooting rate and 40% three-point shooting rate, and even occasionally cut 20+ data with excellent hand, which is rare in the case of the overall downturn of the Clippers.
However, compared to Reggie, Kennard's play score is too small, and not all games can maintain a good feel, coupled with the addition of shooting, in terms of holding the ball to break through the box or defense, there are not many who can help the team, so the contribution that can be done is indeed limited.
From the current situation, if Tyrenlu needs to change, it may be a good choice to let Kenard, who is good at catching the ball and shooting, replace Reggie Jackson, after all, Paul George can create some empty three-point opportunities, and today's inefficient playing style of Reggie with the ball has begun to hurt the team.
Finally, it needs to be said that Zubac's problem is more serious than the state problem of the above two people, and as a center who once had high hopes, his few years on the Clippers have really made little progress.
It can be seen that he has not transformed into a technical flow, there is no mid-range, the basket strong attack technique is average, the hook is unstable, and the only thing on the offensive end is his strong body shape "eating cake" and the second attack after grabbing rebounds.
But judging from his recent performance, even "eating cake" he has begun to eat not so smoothly, "butter hand" can be described as one of the labels he put on his body, and many times he can't hold the ball to limit his many opportunities to score easily.
Defensively, Zubac hasn't grown much either. It can be said that the Clippers have always been a weakness in the interior, and their lack of reinforcement operations is to pin their internal hopes on Zubac's growth, but this time is really too long.
These three people are the core combination of the Clippers, and their state is relatively average, let alone other people.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="59" > starting lineup players are not three at once, and it is difficult for Tyronn Lu to mix a suitable lineup. </h1>
In fact, Paul George once played a jaw-dropping performance when partnering Westbrook, when Paul George not only shot accurately, but also liked to rush into the box to kill the basket, from which it can be seen that Paul George is suitable for partnering with defenders who will block and have vision.
The opening game creates a projection opportunity for him to close the distance of the opposing defender, and then he can break through the opponent arbitrarily.
The Clippers don't have a guard in this style at the moment, and Bledsoe, who was expected to be recruited in the offseason, also lost shooting confidence on the guard line.
In fact, the Clippers should not have played so hard, and they are known for the thickness of the lineup in the healthy period, especially in terms of the starting lineup, which has led most teams.
However, the inability of the three starters to play greatly weakened their strength.
For example, Morris Jr. has always been a key figure in the team, with a strong body, can shoot three points and has a good back singles, which can be described as one of the few players on the team who can hold the ball and attack hard, but he has an injury and has to rest after only two games.
Then there's Ibaka, who last season was brilliant in the regular season, helping the Clippers' interior line, both as a three-pointer and framer.
Not to mention, of course, Kelly Leonard, who is in the league's top five stars, and frequent injuries are annoying.
It can be said that at present, the reason why the Clippers have some "constipation" on the offensive end is because of the lack of three-point shooting rate, the team's overall three-point shooting rate of 29.2%, really not like a spatial team, and the team currently lacks a second scorer besides Paul George.
Overall, the Clippers are still a long way to go, and we expect them to bounce back in the new season.