?? After playing the Rockets, the Clippers finally ended their road trip.

Two losses and one win in three games, this result is not satisfactory.

In those three games, the Clippers' offensive efficiency dropped significantly, and the mercury-like quick rebounds of the first few games of the season disappeared.

Among them, there is the influence of home and away factors, and there is also the relationship between the level of opponents.

Once the Clippers' second-team players arrived on the road, their shooting percentage generally declined.

This is a relatively normal phenomenon.

Rivers began to gradually fix the rotation.

Rivers hopes that the team can bring in interior players who are around 6'9-6'10 to make the team more flexible on both ends of the floor.

However, there is no suitable candidate on the free market right now, and it may not be until next year when the Clippers can wait for an opportunity to trade or pick up leaks in the buyout market.

Rivers is more worried about the team's defense right now.

After being scolded by Li Liang in the game against the Rockets, Rivers realized that he couldn't go on like this!

To defend this thing, it is not possible to rely on pouring chicken soup, it is necessary to give effective rotation methods and troop formations.

Back in Los Angeles, the Clippers got a day off.

On this day, Rivers gave the team a vacation, and during the day he and a few assistant coaches went through the game footage and had a tactical meeting, but there was not much clue.

Everyone has been in the NBA for many years, and there must be ideas.

But the key is how to implement it and effectively implement it in daily competitions.

Any coach in the NBA, if you ask him to analyze the team's tactics and strategies, he must be the leader.

This is the highest level of basketball in the world.

But there's always a lot of separation between theory and practice, especially in the big-name professional leagues.

The salaries of the players are higher than those of the coaches, and they are much higher.

So, the coach is nominally a manager and strategist, and the salary and status are actually lower than the player.

It's like a company where the salaries and positions of the executives are lower than those of the salesmen below.

If something goes wrong, your executives will take the blame, and they are likely to be fired as soon as possible.

So, how to be a good coach in the NBA is a university question.

Rivers did well with the Celtics, otherwise he wouldn't have won the championship and was favored by Paul.

However, the defensive problems raised by Li Liang really stumped him, and the team tried to establish a defensive system throughout October, but unfortunately it was never completely formed.

The defensive system should also be based on the individual defensive ability of the players.

You five Crawford are on the court, and it's useless to change Larry Brown as a defensive coach.

One of the biggest problems with the Clippers' defense is the singleness of players.

Paul, Jordan Jr., Griffin, are all good defenders in their respective positions.

In Rivers' view, Jordan Jr. has the potential to evolve into the best defensive player.

In a few games, the best defensive performance of the Clippers was not Li Liang, but Jordan Jr.

Needless to say, Paul is one of the best defensive point guards in the league.

Griffin has short arms but a strong body, making him a good defender in the low post.

But the problem is that when they leave their position and defend in a misplaced position, the loophole of the three people appears.

Jordan Jr. is a little better, has the potential to defend big and small, and can be a good wide range defensive coverer with more defensive footwork this season.

Griffin is a big problem, because of the problem of arm span and lateral movement, once the guard is switched to the small man, the Griffin is easy to be punched through.

Paul's problem is the opposite of Griffin's, because of his height, Paul has a hard time defending big men.

He assists in defending big men, often gambling with steals, and once the steal fails, he will either foul or watch the big man attack the basket directly.

This problem has led to the Clippers having an innate disadvantage when facing pick-and-roll.

And right now, the whole league is playing pick-and-roll, and every team has decent cover inside and offensive point guards.

In the game against the Warriors, Curry's scalp was numb after Curry's direct three-point shot.

It's just that Paul got back on the offensive end that game, but Paul can't play like this every game.

Griffin's lack of defense is even more invisible, and it doesn't feel much to watch the game, and a look at the detailed statistics and footage will show that his basket protection is almost negligible.

The delay and control of the small man's raid on the inside line, the sense of presence is very weak.

Rivers originally thought that Li Liang would be able to solve these problems.

Li Liang can indeed solve some of them, but Li Liang has his own opinions.

When Li Liang was in the Lakers, there were two elders in the backcourt, one with poor defense and the other with lazy defense.

Then Li Liang wiped his butt on the outside line alone, wiping one is wiping, and wiping two is also wiping.

When it comes to the Clippers, Paul and Griffin are one inside and one outside, one inside and one outside.

This is equivalent to wiping his butt and then wiping his mouth, how do you let him wipe it?

No matter how fast he moves horizontally, he is also a person, and he will not teleport, he can only focus on one inside and outside.

For example, Scott Pippen back then, the Bulls had Jordan and Harper on the outside, so Pippen's defensive assistance was very focused on the interior.

In the game, he has a lot of basket protection, backcourt rebounds, blocks, and help defense, and can be said to be one of the best interior help defense forwards.

Late in his career, Pippen went to the Trail Blazers and played a big role as well.

At that time, the Trail Blazers had the strongest forward group in the league, Rasheed Wallace, Schramf, Steve Smith, Brian Grant, Bunch Wells, and O'Neal Jr., who didn't show his potential.

Their center was Sabonis and the point guard was Stoudemire, so Pippen was a little more out on the defensive end at that time.

For example, in the 2000 Western Conference finals, he often helped Stoudemire to help defend Kobe.

If the Clippers have Rasheed Wallace at power forward, Li Liang can concentrate on wiping his ass with Brother Cannon.

If Brother Pao is 8 centimeters tall and reaches more than 190, then Li Liang will be able to go to the inside line more to help the little short hand defend.

It's a pity that there is no if, Li Liang lacks skills, and at this time it will test the coach's kung fu.

If Rivers doesn't want to build the Clippers into a championship team, then with the Clippers' current style of play and lineup, there is hope for the championship.

If Rivers wants to build the Clippers into a true championship powerhouse, the Boston Celtics-level defensive system problem must be addressed.

Because of this problem, Rivers was sad all day on the 10th.

On the evening of the 10th, Rivers decided to go to Staples to watch the game and relax.

The game on the night of the 10th was the Lakers vs. the Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves are playing an away game in California, playing the Lakers first today, and the Clippers tomorrow after playing the Lakers.

At present, the Lakers are in turmoil, with a pitiful record of 1 win and 6 losses!

This result is really miserable, no one thought that the Lakers would play so badly after leaving Li Liang and Kobe.

Nash has shown his old age this season, and his shooting percentage, points, assists and other statistics have slipped to a new career low.

The Lakers' efficient positional offense that the Lakers were proud of last season vanished in the blink of an eye, and their three-point shooting percentage was disastrous.

Nick Young, who was added in the summer, couldn't make up for Li Liang's role in all aspects, and his three-point throw was not as accurate as Li Liang's.

The most critical thing is that Howard's performance did not live up to expectations.

Because of shoulder surgery in the offseason, coupled with weight loss, the power of the low post has been greatly reduced.

Howard's offensive skills are rough, relying on his body, and once he loses his body, the result can be imagined.

And the entire Lakers team was immersed in the wonderful atmosphere of winning the 17th championship in the summer, Kobe Bryant's reimbursement and Li Liang's departure, so that the veterans did not have the spirit to continue to fight for a season.

The morale of the defending champions hit a low point after the start of the season.

Rivers didn't come to Stamp to watch the game to appreciate the Lakers' miserable situation.

One of them is to come to see the Timberwolves, and the two teams have a game tomorrow, which can be regarded as an early investigation.

The second one is to meet the person who has Li Liang's instruction manual in his hand and is proficient in defense - Mike Brown.