LA Clippers head coach Ty Lue takes another shot at the struggling LA Clippers in an attempt to spark them down the stretch.
It doesn't take an expert to see that the LA Clippers are struggling mightily with just a few weeks left in the regular season. Without much time to right the ship, head coach Ty Lue has to be feeling some real pressure to push the right buttons to turn things around. But even for a veteran-laden team, that seems far from a guarantee. On paper, the Clippers' roster may be built for the playoffs, but this is a team that has more questions than answers at the moment.
The Clippers have lost six of their nine games and are just 8-12 since February 7. It's actually quite surprising that the Clippers have managed to hold on to the 4th seed in the Western Conference standings but make no mistake, this is not a team that is currently playing like one of the four best teams in the conference.
The LA Clippers have lost their identity
And head coach Lue is, once again, calling out the team. When discussing the team's identity of late, Lue didn't hold back any words to describe the team's disappointing recent play.
""And so right now, do we have an identity? I think, yeah, we're soft.""LA Clippers head coach Ty Lue
Lue also highlighted that the team needed to get back to a defensive mindset. While the offense has also been hit or miss, there's an argument to be made that it's the steps back that the team has made of the defensive end of the floor that has hurt the team the most.
Since February 7, the Clippers have the second-worst defensive rating in the NBA. Sure, their offense has taken a hit during their recent skid but their defense has completely fallen off a cliff. To put that ranking into context, through the first half of the season, the Clippers had a 13th-ranked defensive rating.
Heading into the push toward the playoffs, if the Clippers are going to get back on the right track, you'd have to imagine it's going to start on the defensive end of the floor. The good news is that the Clippers have proven they can play at that level. The question for the Clippers is, can they get back to that level again before the start of the playoffs?
Either way, there are likely going to be some sort of fall out no matter how this season ends for the Clippers.