{"id":105094,"date":"2024-11-05T10:59:11","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T15:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=105094"},"modified":"2024-11-05T10:59:11","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T15:59:11","slug":"clippers-defense-improves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/05\/clippers-defense-improves\/","title":{"rendered":"Clippers Defense Improves with Help From Lead Assistant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Los Angeles Clippers have a brand new mindset defensively. With a new lead assistant for Coach Lue, how far can the defense carry LA?\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The summer of basketball was filled with lots of passion, emotion, and curiosity, whether it was <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tatumja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jayson Tatum<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownja02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaylen Brown<\/a> capturing their first title with the Boston Celtics. Or the speculation of where <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesbr02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bronny James<\/a> would be drafted. Perhaps almost all the attention involved the United States competing for gold in Paris against France. But a very quiet move took place with the Clippers, bringing back an old face to the sidelines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Back in June, the Clippers hired <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/vanguje99c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeff Van Gundy<\/a> to be the head assistant for <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/luety01c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyronn Lue&#8217;s<\/a>\u00a0coaching staff. Van Gundy had spent 16 years on television as a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/06\/30\/jeff-van-gundy-is-gone-from-espn\/\" target=\"_self\">color commentator<\/a> on ESPN for NBA games. Mainly having been partners with Mike Breen and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/coaches\/jacksma01c.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mark Jackson<\/a>, Van Gundy went back to working in the NBA. He was previously the head coach for the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets. Post-television, he\u2019d have a cup of coffee with the Boston Celtics in a front-office advisor position. Now, he is helping transform the Clippers&#8217; defense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Clippers Defense Improves with Help From Lead Assistant<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the help of Coach Van Gundy being back on the sidelines, the emphasis for the Clippers&#8217; identity so far has been defense. There are signs of being more aggressive and persistent on the ball, both from the perimeter and in the paint within the team. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/batumni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nicholas Batum<\/a> expressed the Clippers&#8217; mindset on the defensive side of the ball, courtesy of Hoop Job on YouTube:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nico Batum On The Clippers High Ranking Defense With Jeff Van Gundy, Zubac&#039;s Hot Start &amp; More.\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ylcvNXDZ1wc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Clippers Defense Amongst the NBA\u2019s Best<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As of November 5th, the Clippers rank highly across some key statistics. LA holds a defensive rating of 109, ranking <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/advanced?dir=A&amp;sort=DEF_RATING\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seventh<\/a> in the NBA. They also rank third in the league in <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?dir=A&amp;sort=REB\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rebounds<\/a>\u00a0and eighth in <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?dir=A&amp;sort=DREB\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">defensive rebounds.<\/a> To top that off, the Clippers rank 12th in <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/teams\/traditional?dir=A&amp;sort=STL\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">steals<\/a> per game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the absence of Kawhi Leonard so far this season, the defense must be picked up from everyone else on the court. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/z\/zubaciv01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ivica Zubac<\/a> has been a tremendous force in the paint for LA. Averaging 17 points and 13 rebounds a game, the Croatian big man has made a proper impact on defense. The presence of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/02\/ivica-zubac-contract-shows-clippers-commitment-to-continuity\/\" target=\"_self\">7-foot center<\/a> has filled a void that compliments the perimeter defense the Clippers provide.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Clippers have had two-way star power in the past and present. The likes of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/georgpa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul George<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/paulch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Paul<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jordade01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DeAndre Jordan,<\/a> and other former star Clippers have had defensive specialties. A group effort from the Clippers rotation this season has cemented a defensive mindset for Tyronn Lue\u2019s squad.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Can the Clippers Keep Up?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Six games into the season so far, the Clippers defense has been one of the bright spots. However, it is a different story on the offensive side of the ball. LA have lost four of their first six games this season, with the losses being relatively close games. Putting up fights with powerhouses like the Phoenix Suns (twice), Denver Nuggets, and Oklahoma City Thunder, the team has the looks of keeping up with the Western Conference contenders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the season begins to unravel and teams start to find their identity, the hustle and toughness can determine the outcome of crucial games. The Clippers are making a statement with their defensive presence, certainly with the help of Jeff Van Gundy. How long can this team keep up with the rest of the league defensively? This question will be determined by the health and consistency of the players and coaching staff moving forward.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Clippers have a brand new mindset defensively. With a new lead assistant for Coach Lue, how far can the defense carry LA?\u00a0The summer of basketball was filled with lots of passion, emotion, and curiosity, whether it was Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown capturing their first title with the Boston Celtics. Or the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5365,"featured_media":105199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,27,62],"tags":[229,228,652,922,168,282,50,612],"class_list":["post-105094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-clippers","category-nba","tag-chris-paul","tag-deandre-jordan","tag-ivica-zubac","tag-jeff-van-gundy","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-nicolas-batum","tag-paul-george","tag-tyronn-lue"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5365"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}