How The Los Angeles Clippers Went From Pretenders to Contenders

How The Los Angeles Clippers Went From Pretenders to Contenders

When the Clippers traded for James Harden it started off as a disaster but now they’re playing their best regular season basketball in the 213 era at first there were not enough basketballs for four future Hall of Famers who’ve all been the first scoring option at one point in their career sacrifice and a

Change in approach for the better has been the key for the Clipper success last season was an utter disappointment for a team that had the fifth highest odds to win the championship going into the season but losing in the first round Nicholas patum was saying wait until

Christmas as if they can just flip a switch rather than build good habits from the get-go the Clippers as an organization didn’t take the regular season seriously enough and excessively load managed Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both of them played under 60 games load management proved to not

Actually prevent injuries as Paul George had a season ending knee injury anyways before the season Tyron leou said on the all the smoke podcast one thing I told and PG this summer like we do got to approach the regular season a different way like we got to be you know approach

The regular season like let’s be serious about it let’s not wait to the playoffs or yeah because it matters like who you get matched up with have a home Corner Advantage not fighting the last 10 games of the season so we won’t be in the play

In you so now you can get rest you know now you can now you can get yourself together and be ready for the playoffs and so they both understood that as well the Clippers as a team have come to the realization now that the regular season

Is where they need to build good habits and continuity Russell Westbrook was able to rejuvenate himself with the Clippers late last season after a tumultuous stint with the Lakers now that Russ has been through a training camp in preseason with the Clippers there’s continuity with him he fits the

Clippers so much better than he ever could have fit the Lakers he and LeBron are both ball dominant they don’t move much without the ball and Russ is not the floor spacer that LeBron needs with his play style even with both of them being future Hall of Famers having them

Share the floor together was a recipe for disaster right from the GetGo because the fit was terrible as a result Russ seemed very discouraged while playing for the Lakers we can just see it in his body language how much more welcomed he’s felt since he became a Clipper the Clippers started this season

3- one before trading Nicholas Batum Robert Covington Marcus Morris Senor and Kenyan Martin Jr for a disgruntled James Harden PJ Tucker and Philip petrusev apologies if I mispronounce his name to have Kawai PG Russ and Harden all on one team together sounded like a terrible fit because there’s not enough

Basketballs for the four of them and indeed it was when Harden came in they lost their first five games with Harden who needed some time to get in shape after sitting out training camp preseason and the first three regular season games with the Sixers it seemed like the Clippers were hopeless both

With the bad fit and James Harden being a terrible Defender who the Clippers gave up a lot of defense for the Clippers were just 23rd in defensive rating in those first five games with Harden and worked much better offensively with him on the floor the turnaround started with Russell

Westbrook making a big sacrifice which he deserves a lot of praise for to voluntarily come off the bench when he’s a former MVP and future Hall of Famer he was labeled as selfish early in his career but we can throw that notion out the window because how could someone

With his resume be selfish when they voluntarily come off the bench not only that sure he’s not quite the athlete he was in OKC he’s still very athletic for a 35-year-old Russ is averaging a career low in points per game even Norman Powell and Ina zubot who are career role

Players are outscoring him but that is due to sacrifice and Russ is finding other ways to contribute as a high energy guy off the bench the next thing is taking the regular season more seriously Kawai has been the face of load Management in recent years but so

Far he’s only missed four games in playing all 82 was never meant to be but for him to only only missed four so far when he hasn’t played at least 60 since 2019 and at least 70 since 2017 is certainly something I would feel optimistic about now on to James Harden

Things may have started out terrible but he has been much better as of late he may not have the same burst he had in Houston but he is still very much a star level player he averaged 20 points per game in the month of December even while playing a significantly reduced role

From what we’re used to seeing him play I’ve made my disdain for James Harden’s play style lack of effort on defense and quitting on the last three teams he played for be very well known but I’ll also give him credit where it’s due embracing the mid-range shot far more

Than when he played under Mike Danton in Houston is making him way more tolerable to watch even if he still over dribbles now he’s a lot less predictable because he’s willing to take mid-range shots going back to Russell Westbrook sacrifice it also allowed Harden to operate more both as a scorer and

Playmaker I’ll also have to give Harden credit where it’s due for knowing when it’s time for him to score and also allow kawh Leonard and Paul George as the two better scorers at this stage of their careers do their thing all of these things propelled the Clippers to a

Niname winning streak last month their longest winning streak in the 213 era now they were on a five-game winning streak as of the recording of this video they even just beat the Pelicans who went into this game on a 4-game winning streak and have had the Clippers number

The last 3 years let’s now see if they can match any of their longest winning streaks from the Lob City era for sure I think this team is more built for a championship than Lob City ever was what else has it helped the Clippers more recently Terren man who for a while

Looked like he lost his confidence is starting to find a shot again tyou deserves some credit for taking pressure off of him by telling him that he doesn’t need to focus on offense and just do his part on defense even when he lost his confidence in his shot he’s a

Guy who’s willing to play off the ball which this team needs needs when they have four guys who need the ball all this said this team certainly hasn’t been perfect Paul George still has his careless turnovers and James Harden does still tend to over dribble and is often

Lazy on defense and the team’s defense has only been good but not Elite this season they could definitely go after someone like Alex Caruso or Dorian finy Smith before we at the trade deadline to bolster their defense since they lost that by trading Batum and Covington and

PJ Tucker a once all defensive player is just old and riding the bench now they do have a solid rim protector in iita zubot though and on offense zubot is really benefited as a laob threat with Harden’s presence the way the Clippers have jelled since Russell Westbrook volunteered to come off the bench

Despite being a future Hall of Famer is definitely impressive though and hopefully the younger generation can learn from this on how important sacrifice is for the better of the team no matter what you’ve done in the past it’s also they’re much different approach in taking the regular season

More seriously this time around is also very noticeable and very admirable I think as long as this team stays healthy at the very least they may actually be the biggest threat to Dethrone the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference the Timberwolves and thunder have better records right now but they’re still

Inexperienced I still think the nuggets are the safer bet to make it out of the Western Conference but I wouldn’t say the Clippers have no shot against the Nuggets either now before anyone says anything about the Lakers problems which of course I know they have plenty of and

I’m making a video on that too so hope you stay tuned I know the Clippers are much closer to being a championship team than the Lakers besides it’s not even a real rivalry to me anyway since the two teams have never faced each other in the playoffs so the Clippers playing winning

Basketball really doesn’t bother me at all do you think the Clippers can win at all though please let me know in the comments down below that’s it for today’s video If you enjoyed this please consider giving this a like also if you want to see more feel free to consider

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Ever since Russell Westbrook’s decision to come off the bench, the Clippers have been phenomenal.

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