What Suns Can Learn From Clippers
PHOENIX -- Los Angeles Clippers head coach Ty Lue knows what it's like to be in charge of a star-laden team that struggles to build continuity and with unfortunate injuries.
Lue believes the Phoenix Suns can put a string of wins together and get to the point where his squad is currently at: a team that has won 15 of their last 18 after a rough 8-10 start.
At his pre-game press conference prior to the Suns-Clippers matchup on Monday night, Lue was asked about the Suns' underwhelming start behind a myriad of expectations heading into the season.
Lue talked about figuring out rotations, finding out what role players are optimal fits next to the stars, among other things, but his response can be summarized best with this single line:
"Once they figure it out, they're going to be hell for a lot of teams."
The Suns - much like the Clippers - predicated their team building around a star trio with big-name role players that (in theory) should be strong fits in the rotation.
While Lue has spent years struggling to court a fully-yolked Clippers team, and the Harden acquisition looked to be yielding rocky results early on, it seems as if things have finally been figured out.
The Suns need to follow the Clippers' blueprint if they want to eventually break through and be an upper-echelon contender.
Phoenix needs to either commit to Devin Booker or Bradley Beal to be the primary facilitator of the offense - it's completely fine if the two alternate on occasion - but it's abundantly clear that putting Booker in a full-time point guard role is taking away what he unquestionably does best in devastating teams with elite off-ball play.
Phoenix also needs to find a true identity offensively.
The Clippers' three-point volume isn't much higher than the Suns, but they also tend to get cleaner looks and have a more consistent shot diet from a team perspective- four of their key players shoot over 40% from deep.
The Clippers have also prioritized efficiency, opting to give center Ivica Zubac more run as a play finisher and roll-man. This has resulted in the star trio being able to get to their spots easier and has given the team the fourth-best field goal percentage mark in the league.
The Clippers have historically been a messy franchise, but it seems as if that ship has sailed. Los Angeles might be the most obvious model of how Frank Vogel and co. should approach the remainder of the season.
