The Los Angeles Clippers: Challenges of Assembling a Superteam and the Quest for Fluidity

For once, the Los Angeles Clippers, a franchise more often mocked than celebrated, made history on Monday during their trip to Madison Square Garden. By aligning Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard on the same court, they became the first NBA team to play together on the podium in a season-long MVP election. Problem, it was in… 2017 and none of these men, any more than Paul George, the fourth thief, was cited once for the supreme individual title in 2022 and 2023.

The destiny of the so-called “other” LA franchise has often seemed to change over the past fifteen years. First with the rookie Blake Griffin who justified the arrival of the brilliant leader Chris Paul. Summary of the affair, three conference semi-finals including that of 2015 when the Clippers led 3-1 in a series of 7 against Houston. Then July 1, 2019, when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George jointly announced their arrival for two conference semi-finals at stake.

“The System” Harden

The combination of a reigning champion and MVP of the 2019 Finals and a Top 3 in the regular season MVP standings promised enormously. But it seems not enough for Steve Ballmer, the enthusiastic owner, and the management who jumped on the Westbrook opportunity in February 2023 before falling for Harden. A player who, three times, requested his transfer between January 2021 and November 2023 and who found nothing better when he arrived than to assure that he was certainly not a “system player” but that he was “the system”. His future teammates must have appreciated…

Launched by Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce (Boston) on one side, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh (Miami) on the other and dedicated by the Warriors of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant , the era of superteams reached its peak before declining in recent times. The Nets of Harden, Durant and Kyrie Irving were a resounding failure and in Toronto, the Lakers, Milwaukee, Golden State or Denver, all champions since 2019, we chose another path.

That of solid collectives around one, and more often two, stars. Because in an NBA where adaptation is the key, in attack as well as in defense, certain complementary players are much more useful than a stack of superstars who, moreover, have for some adopted the unfortunate habit of only playing one side of the field.

Yes, Batum will be missed by the Clippers

In the transfer of James Harden, the Clippers let go of Nicolas Batum, Robert Covington, Marcus Morris and KJ Martin. If the latter will not be missed, the other three fulfilled several missions. Streamline the game for Batum, defend hard and punish defensive oversights from afar for the three or show the muscles for Morris. Coming in the opposite direction, PJ Tucker can fill the holes. But all of them, really?

Praised for their squad depth, the Lakers’ enemies have sacrificed it a little on the altar of superstars. Taken individually, Leonard and George are formidable players, Harden on the other hand is no longer quite the one-of-a-kind striker that he was, when he was effectively “the system” and today his faults sometimes take take precedence over his qualities. As for Westbrook, he seemed more aware of his limitations and played with more wisdom. Also, we imagined the leaping leader on the bench to play the rotating electric batteries. It has not happened.

A horrible attack since Harden arrived

Tyronn Lue, a coach described as a “coach player” for his propensity to manage egos, decided against the Knicks and then the Nets to start the quartet together. Assessment? Two defeats and only 95 points scored, the worst average in the NBA over this very, very short period of time. While it is important not to draw too hasty conclusions and to give these players time to adapt to each other, the figures already say a lot about the other huge project of the Clippers, who are also building their own in Inglewood. future room to emerge from the shadow of the Lakers.

With 15 minutes played together, the Westbrook-Harden-George-Leonard-Zubac five is already the second most used by Lue this season. Over this quarter of an hour, the Clippers suffered a deficit of nine points, the second worst point differential for a five of the LA franchise this season. More broadly, for two matches, it is the attack which has been swaying.

Worst team in the league in number of passes exchanged, third worst formation in assists, third in number of shots attempted without collective movements and third in average time of possession per player, the Clippers are accumulating signs of an attack that is anything but fluid where the stars play one after the other. Until now, their individual talent has not been able to erase the absence of collective experience.

Will all these beautiful people be able to play the same score, or even sacrifice themselves? Newcomer James Harden, supposed to take him to a new level, has systematically seen his Playoff road stop in the conference semi-finals since 2019. This glass ceiling gives him at least one thing in common with his new franchise, but is it a good omen?

2023-11-09 22:05:00
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