The Clippers Figured It Out, and It Might Be Over for the League
After their horrendous to the James Harden era, the Clippers are damn near unstoppable. So how did they turn a dysfunctional 4 HoF squad to a title contending one?
For starters, they were always gonna figure it out. 4 Hall of Famers and 1 championship-winning coach, there was no way they didn’t. I just wish it didn’t happen this soon. The jokes were fun. I actually love PG13 and Russ, so it’s nice to see them doing well after being the butt of jokes for the NBA community.
Of course, they figured it out. Two high-volume ball handlers like Westbrook and Harden only work well in 2 situations. Situation 1 is when one agrees to come off the bench (Russ, ever humble obviously) to lead the second-stringers. Russ also did this during his brief (but DISASTROUS) stint with the Lakers. The other is slightly more complicated. One of them would have needed to alter his game to work better off the ball. Harden can’t because his strengths are his head movement and body feints. Russ could’ve, but it would’ve taken away his most threatening aspect – his passing. So scenario 1 – off the bench.
Russ not only offers a more threatening presence off the bench (imagine being a second-stringer and having to guard a 6’4 man who dunks like the rim personally offended him) but also is a voice of calmness. His demeanor is extraordinarily calm, and he has a cool head. And a sensational basketball IQ. This allows Harden to do his thing, whatever it may be, with the starters. T-Mann doesn’t need the ball, so he fits with the Beard. A wing duo of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard is perfect on paper, and with their injury concerns settled, it’s a lethal two-way game. Ivica Zubac, well the less I say about him the better. Even the basketball gods realized that a team THIS good needs to be handicapped or they’d be unstoppable.
Back to basketball, Harden’s scoring game can afford to take a backseat here, so he can actually do normal point guard stuff – get 12-13 assists, score like 20 a game, and grab a few rebounds. With PG13, Kawhi, and Russ, Harden doesn’t need to play isoball anymore, because he has 3 other guys who can contribute a solid 20-25 points EACH.
A healthy Kawhi Leonard is a 2 Finals MVP. He’s THAT good. Arguably their best player. PG is amazing. A beautiful game, with smooth handles, good shooting, 6’9 forward with equally comparable offense and defense. He’s genuinely HIM. Don’t let the Damian Lillard OKC game-winner fool you, Paul George was good enough for the Clippers to trade away half their future for him.
And as for what makes the Clips so scary, it’s the sheer number of guys who can have a good day. If you silence Russ, you have to deal with Harden. If you silence them both, there’s PG. Then there’s Kawhi. The odds of all 4 of them having an off-day together are damn near impossible. And that’s their X factor. They can overwhelm any team. And if all else fails, one-quarter of isoball possessions for James Harden, and we can see his MVP come out. One-quarter of second-stringers and Russ, and he’ll notch up a near triple-double. You give Paul George space, and he can bring out the OKC version that once finished third in MVP voting. Kawhi the defensive monster is so scary that LeBron James once saw him check back into the game and almost shit himself.
I mean how do you beat a team like that? To top it all off, they have Ty Lue as their coach. The man who masterminded the ONLY 3-1 deficit overturn in NBA Finals history.
The league’s only hope? The Clippers Curse being real. Otherwise, this team, with 4 guys who have something to prove, could be one of the scariest teams I’ve ever seen in the NBA.