The LA Clippers Ty Lue said a lot of great things during his introductory press conference.
The LA Clippers head coach is off to an excellent start. During his introductory press conference yesterday, Ty Lue said all the right things. That’s to be expected, right? The team was thorough in their search but ultimately landed on Ty who owner Steve Ballmer called “the best coach in the league.”
There might be some hyperbole there by Ballmer but regardless, Ty seems like the perfect person for the job. With everything he said sounding so good, let’s take a look at what the best three things actually were.
3. Ty Lue doesn’t think the LA Clippers have a chemistry issue.
After their disappointing playoff loss to the Denver Nuggets in which the LA Clippers blew a 3-1 lead, stories came out questioning the team’s chemistry. There were reports of that being an issue earlier in the season which was downplayed by players but sources in the bubble saw arguments crop up.
Of course, Ty was asked about this and whether or not he thought there was any merit to the idea that the team doesn’t have chemistry.
In short, no.
Ty doesn’t see any issues with the team disliking each other off the court. We saw evidence of that dating back to the preseason when the team was going on fishing trips and hanging out with each other before the season was even underway.
Instead, he just sees it as an on-court problem which mainly stems from the team never really being together. He cited Paul George missing the start of the season with shoulder surgeries, Kawhi Leonard having to load manage, Patrick Beverley having injury issues, and the group of players that had to miss time for various reasons once the team was in the bubble.
With a full offseason ahead of them, the team can get together and work to find that on-court chemistry.
2. Ty Lue will check with the medical staff on Kawhi Leonard
This one seemed a little more of a non-answer but I think Clipper Nation still felt good. Ty’s answer about the on-court chemistry issues obviously drew the follow-up question about Kawhi Leonard and his load management.
We all know that the load management was deemed necessary in order for him to play a full season without a nagging injury but we were never told if it was something he may have to do for the rest of his career.
Luckily, Ty Lue doesn’t necessarily think it is. When asked if Kawhi would not play on back-to-backs this season, Ty said he would have to check with the medical staff.
The fact that he wouldn’t commit either way is sort of nice. Had he immediately said “No, he’s not playing in those”, fans would likely have been upset and ready for another disappointing year. Instead, he left the door open to Kawhi playing all season – something that could help the team in their preparation for the postseason.
Obviously, Ty won’t be going against the wishes of the medical staff. If they think Kawhi still needs to load manage then he surely will. Still, it’s nice to have Ty thinking about that and what issues (if any) it might cause long-term for the success of the Clippers.
1. Ty Lue isn’t just a Doc Rivers copy
This is it. This is what we all wanted to hear.
When Ty Lue’s candidacy was announced, many feared that Doc Rivers’ assistant would be more of the same albeit with a different face.
On Wednesday, Ty dismissed that notion. While he has been under Doc’s wing for multiple seasons as his assistant, Ty has learned from multiple coaches.
He was under David Blatt in Cleveland. Following his firing from that position, he went to other coaches around the league to pick their brains.
That’s right. He spoke to not only Doc but Rick Carlisle, Steve Kerr, and Brad Stevens to try and improve himself as a head coach for whenever he got his next opportunity. That’s amazing, right?
Ty showed that he can be a good coach in Cleveland and now with even more knowledge at his disposal from all these great basketball minds, he can be even better.
With Doc, the offense ended up being a lot of isolation play, especially in the playoffs. It sounds like Ty will revamp the whole system and we will get a lot quicker pace and more action.
Were you happy with Ty Lue’s introductory press conference? Let us know and make sure to keep checking back here for all your LA Clippers news, rumors, and more!