An effective fast-break style of play comes from youth and stamina. The LA Clippers have the endurance to dominate in the half-court and in transition, but their age is reflected in the stats: they are 29th in the NBA in fast-break points scored and allowed. This is old news; given their age, the fans should have expected they would never be at a pace close to that of the league’s younger, faster teams.
Moreover, this Clippers’ weakness is certainly in numbers. James Harden gets credit for being the guard to push the floor, with John Collins and Kobe Sanders on the receiving end, hustling for opportunities like a one-on-one downhill race.
Yet, head coach Tyronn Lue knows that no one else has been of help in transition. The worst part is that the viable resolution to having this problem is not internal.
The LA Clippers must move on from several of their aging veterans
A professional team, with expertise all throughout, should have known what the similar weaknesses were going to be between Brook Lopez, Chris Paul, and Nicolas Batum.
Everyone else saw the future but them. The expectation that these three players, who are nearing retirement, will consistently sprint with all their might repeatedly was unrealistic. Thus, their optimism got the best of them, and now the price is patience and many more games with painfully hard-to-watch possessions on both sides of the ball.
In fact, these three have been on the court 31 minutes this season, per the NBA’s official three-man lineups, with a net rating of 0.2, and a pace of 95.40. For reference, the Boston Celtics have the worst pace in the NBA, as a team, at 96.44.
Their minutes are low because Lue forced a stopping point upon them. He gave Paul multiple DNPs and even seems to have the thought of handing the backup center role to Yanic Konan Niederhauser.
Furthermore, the Clippers’ eagerness to trade some of their veterans should be overflowing. They need youth to keep up, but unfortunately, the earliest trade they could actually make that would lead to a change in their fast-break performance may be pushed back until February.
That said, acquiring faster players at the cost of LA’s veterans would be a dream come true. The way to get doors to open sooner is by making the right calls for reasonable players around the league to gauge what needs to be traded.