The LA Clippers were supposed to fall short of the expectations they set for Year 3 of the Kawhi Leonard/Paul George era.
With Leonard out for extended time, the national media gave up on the Clippers‘ chances to take the West this year. Then, the Clips faced even more injuries. Due to injuries, both Serge Ibaka and Marcus Morris Sr. have only played two games, Jason Preston hasn’t played in any, and Keon Johnson has only played in one.
The Clips still entered yesterday’s game at 9-5, which is tied for third in the superior Western Confernece. They had won eight out of their last nine games thanks to Paul George having a monster, career campaign, and Clippers Head Coach Ty Lue calling perfect shot after perfect shot to start the year.
Something also interesting is that Lue may now be getting the credit he rightfully deserves as a Coach of the Year candidate. The folks over at WynnBET had Ty Lue tied for fifth in Coach of the Year odds as they came into the game against Memphis. They have him at +1750 odds for the award, and bettors need to keep an eye on that number.
LA Clippers Head Coach Ty Lue is 100% deserving of being listed as a top five Coach of the Year candidate.
The LA Clippers look like they’re not slowing down, which means that you need to be betting on Ty Lue to win Coach of the Year. He’s already got his team playing some of the best basketball in the league right now with all his guys hurt.
But guess what? Eventually, Preston is going to come back. Morris and Johnson will come back eventually as well.
Ibaka’s already getting his G-League reps, and there is optimism that Leonard will indeed be back this year.
He’s already getting far more out of his players than expected, and is going to get more and more of his squad back as the year goes on. He’s going to continue to get more and more recognition as the season plays out.
We’ve already seen that happen before. Last year, he was criticized heavily in the first round of the playoffs, but people began to believe in him when he came back and won the series. After he got himself to the Western Conference Finals, without Leonard and Ibaka at that, he entered best coach in the world discussion. Max Kellerman of ESPN even said that he indeed is the best coach in the world.
The man won an NBA Finals against the greatest regular season team of all time in his first year as a Head Coach, then proceeded to make another two consecutive NBA Finals starting in the next year. Then, he came to the Clippers and competed hard with the Suns for a competitive six-game Western Conference Finals series.
There’s nothing anyone can say against this guy. He’s going to continue to make his case for NBA’s Coach of the Year this season, and I like his chances.