In the 80 games he played last season, LA Clippers' star center Ivica Zubac had opponents in the paint crying for help nightly. He had several moves mastered, and often, defenders would have known what was coming, and they would still get crushed by Zubac's superpowers.
However, Zubac had one move in his handcrafted bag that was his favorite, and it was the hook shot. The infamous Kareem Abdul-Jabbar first mastered this, and decades later, the Croatian Star brought it back to life, with the intention of spamming it, knowing there was no defender in the league who could reach his height and wingspan to block it.
Furthermore, opponents that had a weaker frontcourt may have listed Zubac and his hook shot as a higher priority to stop than James Harden or Kawhi Leonard.
This was literally Tyronn Lue's easiest and guaranteed way to get a bucket, especially when the offense went stagnant. Yet, next season, Lue must not depend on Zubac, as this could be LA's only backup option, and that will expose what they do not want opponents to see.
Ivica Zubac's hook shot should be one of many successful plays drawn up for head coach Tyronn Lue
With his breakout season having occurred, opponents around the league have an entire regular season and playoff run against an all-time great center in Nikola Jokic to study from Ivica Zubac, with the goal of limiting his inside production.
Moreover, in his film, the number of times he goes straight to his hook shot is too many to count, far more than a handful, and a trend will be caught on that this was Tyronn Lue's only and last resort when the LA Clippers' offense was struggling.
On the contrary, what opponents may also see is that Lue did not have many other options. It was either Zubac's on-the-money hook shot or an isolation possession with James Harden or Kawhi Leonard trying to score on an island.
If Lue begins the 2025-26 regular season with the same trend of constantly looking in Zubac's direction in times of need, opponents will know to simply crowd him to force a turnover.
The big man does not have elite vision, as he is a traditional center, and to prevent the Clippers' scheme from being opened up to the league, Lue should focus on developing easy-bucket plays with the superstars and newest additions on the team.