Colin Cowherd on Clippers being “a machine,” how James Harden is a perfect fit | Hoops Tonight

Colin Cowherd on Clippers being “a machine,” how James Harden is a perfect fit | Hoops Tonight

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So you guys don’t miss any of our content over the course of this season all right let’s talk some basketball okay so I want to go back West to the Clippers who I saw dismantle the Celtics in Boston from the opening tip so a couple of nights ago I’m out and

Lawrence Frank is sitting next to me and we just pop it up for an hour and I said man was I wrong on that deal I said I hated it I’m like oh y what are you going to do with Westbrook he went to the bench where he’s playing about 23

Minutes a night and doing really good things in that 23 minutes last night he had a couple of beautiful passes against the Hawks um uh Kawai and Paulo was tremendous two-way wings uh they’ve got size Plum Ley you know they’ve got some size but I said I I said you’re a

Beautiful team to watch the the ball movement they don’t have a single player in the top 35 in ball usage and you can see it I think they’re the most beautiful basketball right now in the league to watch Jason the Clippers ball movement they get a great shot three out

Of four times down the floor they get beautiful shots they have surging offense with with with uh like a coffee and a Westbrook off the bench size experienced Wings veteran point guard experienced head coach and I’m sitting there watching them I know it’s the Hawks and I and I know the Celtics

Probably no I’ll just give I’ll give them the win over the Celtics that’s a cred credible win and I’m watching those two games and I’m like this offense you can score your way to a title there’s there’s no Tim Duncan in this league now like you can score your way to a title

Joic is not a great defender Milwaukee’s not a great defensive team I think we have to take the Clippers seriously I think they’re a machine offensively Westbrook deserves credit and Harden Lawrence Frank said right now in his career all about winning most coachable guy so you’re Takeaway on what you’re

Watching with him I think with James Harden we overestimated I think going into that deal how much like his playoff shortcomings really play a role in the regular season which is they don’t like James Harden is still even last year in Philly one of the best regular season

Offensive engines that you can have in the league that specifically is of Great Value next to Paul George and Kawhi Leonard because they are both very much tip of the spear type of scores if you can get them into Advantage situations they can kill people Paul George has

Been playing with like a Defender closing out at him most of the season this year and he’s so damn good when you give him that type of Advantage right and just in general their overall floor organization with James Harden has just made offense so much easier for them

Which was interesting because early on they struggled offensively with James Harden that took a little bit of time for them to figure out now the offense is clicking in addition to the defense and now they’re beating everybody the other part of it too is when when when

We really look at uh uh the Clippers as a regular season team they’ve been more on like the Lakers side in years past where they’re kind of just getting through the regular season and one of the things that NBA history has told us is Denver Nuggets one seed Warriors

Before Steph Curry sprained his foot right there with the Suns at the top of the West the Bucks one seed the Lakers one seed the Raptors a two seed like the team that is a veteran team that has talent that attacks the regular season with like a real ferocity usually wins

The title and so the Clippers I think just from the top down have approached the season with a lot more urgency this year and I think that that’s a big step in the right direction for them now I want to be clear there’s some question marks around in this team they are 23rd

In defensive rebounding that’s usually a a big red flag for the playoffs they also attempt 26 pullup jump shots per game which which is the second most in the league and right now they’re making them at a really high rate but we’ve seen what happens when I mean when they

Lost to Denver in the bubble that’s what happened their pull-up jump shots went cold and they didn’t really have another punch at that point but to be clear all these teams have holes Boston has offensive issues Milwaukee has defensive issues so it’s not like the Clippers

Issues are you know the only team in the league that has that type of red flag but I the way I look at it it’s it’s one last thing on the James Harden front that think we didn’t properly account for in Philly he was getting the best perimeter Defender every night Tyrese

Maxi was viewed as the secondary option they’re throwing the forwards at Joel embiid he’s getting the best guy on the other team at guarding a perimeter initiator who you throwing your best guy at for a perimeter weapon with the Clippers you’re probably throwing it at kawhai who you throwing your second best

Guy at uh you’re probably throwing it at Paul George James Harden is getting quality matchups every single night I think just in general there’s lower pressure on him in this postseason there’s if you actually look back last season they were below 500 in the regular season and in the playoffs when

James Harden shot below 40% they did not have that margin for error in Philly for James to have a bad night with the Clippers this year they’re well above 500 when James Harden shoots below 40% there’s margin for error James can go off the reservation and they just keep

Trucking right along and so I think I think they just kind of increased their margin for error they improve proved their regular season offensive organization but once again it will come down to Kawai and Paul George knocking down pullup jump shots when they get into the postseason yeah and then Westbrook comes

Off the bench where he’s often the best guard on the floor you know when he comes in at the eight minute Mark he’s only playing like 23 minutes a night but he’s first of all he’s always been an energy guy I’m never worried about that but I think he really he deserves credit

He just said listen Carmelo really struggled to adapt to his role Off the Bench for like three years Westbrook’s like I’ll do it and it’s I mean when Terren man your fourth best starter in the starting five you’re like that’s a that’s a good team like I and I think

You you it’s a really brilliant point they’re a little bit of a matchup issue so um because Kawai and Paul George are very similar um I think Paul’s the most underrated player in the league I he gets this whole playoff p and then you go look at his playoff numbers they’re

Not bad at all they’re not bad at all so I think he’s a really underrated player and he and chir very similar players so you have to pick your poison and if you start looking like the other night and kawhai is still such an effective player

Because of his hand size down low he’s really he’s really a problem he’s so strong Paul’s more of a pure perimeter player Kawai can go inside I think they’re just a matchup problem I think they’re a matchup problem with Westbrook Off the Bench and I love watching them

Play I don’t know I think the NBA did you like the n Season tournament I thought it was so good I don’t understand the it amazing Adam Silver’s bat in a thousand of all so first of all if you’re upset about Taylor Swift or purple basketball courts

Get a life like who gives a secondly is there’s no question when I watch those games I mean LeBron was first of all he shot 57% he was all in so when your stars Buy in I’m like okay LeBron’s I mean the Lakers played like it was playoff basketball LeBron in his

20th year or 19th year so again people are nitpicking I thought the inseason tournament I’m saying it’s a home run standup double quality of it I mean Indiana was playing their AR off Lakers were playing their but those bought into it I thought they bought into it way

More than I would have I I first I thought this is hokey and then I watched like my second game on the court and I’m like these these guys are playing this is like what was it December I’m like or November I’m like these guys are all out

Yeah it it it was exactly the tent pole that the regular season needed because like the NBA season it’s kind of like you go through two-thirds of it and then there’s the trade deadline then there’s like the stretch run but it’s almost like a big sink in the middle there and

Sometimes like like Colin I don’t blame you for not watching the NBA in December and January it can be so not only can it be a little boring it can also be it can also give you a lot of really fake results like the Utah Jazz went and won

A bunch of games in a row in the middle of January you know like like this this is the time of year where like Youth and athleticism kind of Rises to the surface in so many different and the NBA needed something a tent pole between the start

Of the season and the trade deadline and that what the that’s what the in season tournament served as a breakup of monotony in so many different ways also the NFL’s taken away their number one marketing day Christmas to some degree so the NBA is like okay if you’re going

To take that away or minimize it then we’re going to create an inseason tournament before you get to your tournament so it’s all listen the NFL has always been playing around with the calendar I think I think Adam said okay you’re going to f us on Christmas then

We’re going to create Urgent by the way some of those plan games got numbers these Commissioners used to be buddies now it’s now you’re all fighting for Amazon money nobody’s buddies anymore so the NFL moved free agency moved into Christmas and the NBA says so we’re going to create urgency before I thought

It worked and also the NBA’s always been about the trade deadline on it it’s in my everybody’s at 50 games now so you get to about game 5560 everybody tightens everything up the rotations get tightened up you coach with an eye on the playoffs I think we’re going to have

A great stretch run I think Boston and Denver are the best teams neither has a good bench and I think there’s some Milwaukee Lakers Phoenix Oklahoma City Minnesota can’t wait to watch It

Jason Timpf is joined by Colin Cowherd to discuss why they believe Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and the Los Angeles Clippers are ready for a run at the NBA Finals. Jason and Colin break down how James Harden has been a perfect fit in LA, why Russell Westbrook deserves credit for accepting a secondary role, and much more!

Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/rLMBDhn-9YI

Timeline:
00:00 – Clippers must be taken seriously
04:28 – Why James Harden is thriving in LA
06:50 – NBA In-Season Tournament

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