LA Clippers: Serge Ibaka can thrive with more minutes

One of the biggest criticisms of LA Clippers Head Coach Ty Lue is his unwillingness to play Serge Ibaka more minutes.

So far in this first round Western Conference matchup, LA Clippers center Serge Ibaka has played a total of 19 minutes.

It’s very unclear why that is the case, as Ibaka has been a defensive monster throughout his entire career. Averaging 2 blocks per game in his career, he also averaged two per game in the playoffs entering Game 2.

He’s won a championship, and in one of the games in those 2019 NBA Finals, he rejected six shots off the bench. Ibaka can play a big role defensively off the bench, but Lue seems to not grasp that for whatever reason.

One reason that could maybe be speculated is Ibaka’s lower back. He had injured it earlier in the season and had to miss 30 games. He came back with a couple games left in the regular season, though.

For what it’s worth, Justin Russo of the ‘CLIP & ROLL’ podcast reported that Ibaka was working out after the game on Tuesday.

Lue seemed to favor smaller lineups in situations where Ibaka could have come in.

Ibaka can help any team defensively, especially considering his playoff success. Ibaka is someone that’s seen it all in the NBA Playoffs. He’s been to two NBA Finals, and won one of them.

He’s played in 26 playoff series before this one, and started in 19 of them. He has a ton of experience, and when Ivica Zubac was struggling, Ibaka could have helped pick up the slack.

So far in this series, Zubac has been very disappointing on both ends of the floor. In Game 1, he got torched routinely be Mavs star point guard Luka Doncic. Doncic had 31 points in that game, and 16 came from when Zubac was on him.

The Clippers had to try different matchups vs. Doncic because Zubac struggled so much against him, and in the fourth quarter had to double-team him. That led to a lot of easy scoring opportunities for supporting cast members such as Jalen Brunson and Tim Hardaway Jr.

Zubac had eight points and three rebounds in that game. It was unacceptable.

The most frustrating part of that game was that Ibaka was actually playing well when he was in. He had the same amount of points as Zubac, outrebounded him, and swatted two shots in six less minutes (he played 13) than Zubac.

In Game 2, it was also a down performance for Zubac. He had just two points on two attempts, and only secured six rebounds. He was a liability on defense again.

He did block a shot, but so did Ibaka. Ibaka also had the same amount of points off of just one shot. Yet Ibaka played six minutes, 16 less than Zubac.

Ibaka had a +/- of +6. In Game 1, he had a +/- of +11. In this series, Zubac has a +/- of -29.

This is getting ridiculous. Play Ibaka more minutes.