Ty Lue says Clippers' chemistry issues came from lack of continuity
The Clippers had all the talent in the world, but they never managed to stay healthy all season. That being said, it's still no excuse for their blown 3-1 lead against the Denver Nuggets.
Tyronn Lue spoke with media today during his introduction as the Clippers' new head coach. One of the topics he discussed was the Clippers' chemistry issues that have been talked about around the league. In Lue's eyes, there are no issues between players from a relationship standpoint, it's moreso a lack of continuity.
“I think when you talk about chemistry and continuity, it is not off the court, the guys not liking each other," Lue said. "When you talk about chemistry, it is moreso [Paul George] came in and he had shoulder surgery, so he was out, he missed the whole training camp and he was out the first 11 games of the season. Kawhi came in and he couldn’t participate in the whole training camp, and then we lost Pat Beverley, in and out of the lineup a few times."
When the Clippers arrived in the bubble, it felt like they were finally going to have that home stretch of health. Every single player was available, every single player was healthy, but somehow everything fell apart - players had family members pass away, and others contracted COVID-19.
"Once we got into the bubble, it was tough because we had some bad things happen: Trez’s grandmother, Pat Beverley’s best friend, Lou had a funeral, so with those things being said, it was hard to build continuity and chemistry throughout the course of the season because we didn’t have a lot of practice time," Lue said. "We didn’t have our starting unit or our whole team for a large part of the season."
As much as continuity was an issue for the Clippers, it's still no excuse; the Denver Nuggets didn't even have enough people to play 5 on 5 in the bubble. At the end of the day, when a team is up by an average of 15 points in three different close out games against an inferior team, the only answer is to get the job done. The Clippers didn't get the job done and will have to next season.
