2024-03-02 06:46:58
The Los Angeles Clippers will eventually encounter the familiar “injury” demon. First, Paul George was on and off the disabled list frequently due to knee and meniscus soreness in February. He finally returned to the team. However, the Clippers were caught with another scapegoat today. Russell Westbrook unfortunately broke his left hand while copying the ball. Watching the same plot over and over once more makes me feel helpless and powerless.
The Los Angeles Clippers will eventually encounter the familiar “injury” demon. First, Paul George was on and off the disabled list frequently due to knee and meniscus soreness in February. He finally returned to the team. However, the Clippers were caught with another scapegoat today. Russell Westbrook unfortunately broke his left hand while copying the ball. Watching the same plot over and over once more makes me feel helpless and powerless.
Although the expected time to return to the team has not yet been confirmed, judging from past experience, the same injury will require 4 to 8 weeks of recovery time. With good luck, Westbrook can return to the team during the regular season. If not, he will be on summer vacation. Westbrook is not only a fourth star, backup ball handler, but also the Clippers’ core leader in the lounge, small-ball center and best defender. These roles are impossible to find in Bones Hyland.
This season, Westbrook is no longer the ball-dominant ball-handler he used to be. He transfers all the ball rights to James Harden. He will be accustomed to lurking in the corner or Dunker Spot to wait for opportunities to make empty-handed cuts or support the second wave of offensive rebounds. The interesting data is that among all Westbrook’s shots this season, the proportion of empty-handed cuts (Cut) reached a career high of 6.9%. In previous years, it was only between 1-2%. He even had 6.5% of his goals coming from tip-ins. There were more than 30% of pick-and-roll offenses in his peak period, but now only 11.4% remain, averaging 1.4 times per game. Westbrook’s transformation and sacrifice not only solved the four-star ownership, but also was a key to the existence of the subsequent two-guard lineup with Harden.
Continuing the wonderful scene of guarding Devin Booker in Game 1 of the 2023 playoffs, Westbrook has put more focus on the defensive end this season, and it is not empty talk to say that it wants to compete in the defensive lineup. The DFG% is 43.5%, ranking first in the team. When opponents are marked by him, their shooting percentage will drop to 3.3% on average, ranking second in the Clippers behind Ivica Zubac. And beyond the data level, Westbrook is one of the few Clippers lounge leaders who can raise morale through actions and words.
Even if Hyland can provide better outside firepower, the Clippers may need “tool man” Terance Mann to fill the holes. Whether it is empty-handed cutting, offensive rebounding or defense, these are tasks he is familiar with and has even played on behalf of others. Mann controls the ball, but Mann’s talent is there, which will inevitably increase the ball-holding burden on George and Harden. This will not be a situation the Clippers like to see.
After all, since the All-Star Game, the Clippers have faced injuries to George and Ivica Zubac one following another, and their manpower is already tight enough. At this time, head coach Ty Lue began to “experiment with the lineup” once more, drastically changing rotations and playing styles, even if he wanted to dig out more feasible or usable soldiers. However, judging from the results of the current small sample, fans can only see P.J. Tucker’s amazing “destruction ability” and the league’s sixth-worst defensive efficiency in February really didn’t see much gain.
Subsequently, the Clippers have a schedule that ranks sixth in the league, as well as a series of injury challenges. If they cannot regain their January form, the only 3.5 wins difference between them and the fifth-place Suns may soon be overdrawn. The lack of bench depth also means that the remaining three stars will not have much rest time. George, who is playing hard with injuries, and Kawhi Leonard, who has always had a fragile body, or James Harden, if any of the stars is out of shape. , the season can probably be declared over.
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