Are big changes ahead for the LA Clippers?
Heading into the 2019-20 NBA season, the LA Clippers had high expectations for winning a championship. They had two of the best defenders in the league, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, two great bench pieces averaging 18 points per game, Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams, and a future hall of fame coach in Doc Rivers.
Yet, they couldn’t get the job done after losing in Game 7 to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals.
All in all, no matter what Paul George may have said, the 20191-20 campaign will be looked back upon as a disappointing year for the Clippers. How exactly did it happen? Well, there are a number of reasons.
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LA Clippers’ mindset
The Clippers did not have a sense of urgency this year.
Any extra drama is unnecessary and it affects the mentality of the team in a subtle way. Lou Williams found himself in that even before the playoffs even begun and it wasn’t ideal. Not for a team that was supposed to be focused on winning a championship.
When a team is poised to make a championship run their heads must be solely focused on the goal. Teammates and coaches should not have to worry about whether their key piece can return to the bubble.
There are levels to this.
George also claimed this year was not a “championship or bust” and he hopes to run it back. How was this year not a championship or bust year?
The Clippers assembled the best roster on paper and now you claim this year was not the time to go all out for a championship?
George thinks he has all the time in the world to win a championship. NBA Finals windows are open for a short period of time, the Clippers could have missed theirs.
The LA Clippers’ rhythm
While Harrell and Williams both left the bubble at different times, it was hard for the Clippers to establish rhythm heading into the playoffs. Take into account Leonard would also miss games during the pre-pandemic regular season, for “load management.”
Any team that has a lot of new pieces needs to establish chemistry as early as possible. That means the best players need to be on the floor as much as possible. It did not help that Leonard played in 57 of the possible 72 games.
What is next for the LA Clippers?
The Clippers could run it back; they would have a great chance if everyone came back. But that’s no fun.
Perhaps the Clippers should look to move George; he has proven to come up short in big moments. There should be no more excuses thrown his way. All the physical tools and skill set is wasteful if he cannot execute when it matters most.
Replacing Doc Rivers could also be an option, whether that is promoting assistants Ty Lue or Sam Cassell or looking elsewhere, but you can make a case for improvement via the coaching position. It is the coach’s job to create a sense of urgency and to maintain a high effort level. Rivers did none of those things.
The Clippers had big leads in Games 5 and 7 but could not close it out.
The second best LA team has a good roster with good pieces, they just need to make a couple of changes moving forward