Tyronn Lue is trying to bring something new to the Los Angeles Clippers and he’s reportedly using some of the methods that made him a successful head coach in Cleveland. Lue led his team to the NBA championship in 2016. Of course, he had a terrific squad led by LeBron James, but Lue is now trying to replicate what he did at the Quicken Loans Arena with his new stars.
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are expected to be the leaders of the Clippers and Lue is using old strategies to give them a similar role to LeBron James’ in 2016. According to Joe Vardon of The Athletic, the head coach is using each star at the point guard position in practice, something that he already did with Bron in Cleveland.
[Patrick Beverley] is the Clippers point guard on the lineup card, but he is not their dominant ballhandler. That’s why, every “couple” days at practice, Lue said, the Clippers put the ball in the hands of Leonard, or George, or [Lou Williams], and send defenders at them in a blitz, forcing them to practice passing out of it and seeing the floor. Lue puts Leonard through the same drill in the post.
Lue did something similar with the last great player he had as a head coach — LeBron James, in Cleveland — but James is as good passing over a blitzer and out of a double team as any to ever do it. Lue’s current crop, especially Leonard and George, are good at it, but they can be better.
This is very interesting to know. The Clippers have been trying a couple of things to give some spark to their offense. A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that they wanted to use Kawhi as Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan on the Lakers and Bulls, respectively. The triangle offense was part of their plans and now Lue is adding more strategies to his game plan.
This season is very important for the Clippers and Tyronn wants to win his second NBA championship with George and Leonard leading the way. They are working on alternatives right now so they won’t get surprised in the playoffs when the ideas disappear.
