Reasons for the Clippers' popularity

In recent years, the Clippers and Nets have become twin teams. The perennially second-ranked clubs in their big markets have created exciting groups in not-so-obvious situations. The Nets of Russell, Levert, Dinwiddie, and Kurutz were assembled from decommissioned assets. They built in the face of a lack of resources and made an exciting team. The Gallo-Harris Clippers made it to the playoffs with no stars at all, even though the club had to go into rebuilding after the final collapse of Lob City. Two distinctive, coachable teams assembled against all odds.

And then they got the chance of a lifetime. The Nets signed Durant and Irving, and the Sailfish got Kawhi and PG. Both teams were then determined, if not to take control of the cities, then at the very least to squeeze larger shares of those markets. And the Nets' and Clippers' dreams of their first-ever titles looked legitimate. Note that today not only basketball is popular with sports fans, but also cricket. The site cricketbetting10.in/ will tell you more about this fascinating sport. 

From there, things went south. The reasons for the twin teams' failures differed (injuries played a significant role, but there were other factors in both cases), but the scale of the losses is comparable. If you were told in 2019, after the transfers of Lenard, George, Durant, and Irving, that the Clippers and Nets would have 0 finals between them over the next three years, would you be surprised?

The current situation on the teams looks different

Brooklyn is on fire in a way you can see even from Boston, with the open conflict between the stars and the organization, and the suspended status of almost most of the roster: what shape will Harris, Warren, and Morris be in, do Simmons and Irving want to play basketball, how should Durant work with the man he just recently demanded to fire?

On the other hand, the Clippers whether their failures with the stoic calm inherent in their leader. Unlike the Nets, who gave up all their polymers for Harden, who was later passed over for Simmons, the Sailfish have not just kept their depth but continue to pump up their roster. You haven't heard a stink from the locker room since Harrell. There is minimal information about Lenard's injury, as there should be with Kawai. Instead, they remain calm, try to control what they can handle, and quietly pray for the health of their leaders.

But this is boring. And so, while the explosion in Brooklyn draws enormous attention and gets sucked up from all sides, the Clippers exist.

Meanwhile, at this point, the Sailfish looks like a much better team ready for big wins. On paper, the healthy Clippers probably have the best roster in the NBA.

The ultimate modernity of the game model

• Versatility and spacing. These are some of the most valuable factors in modern basketball. Good space on offense makes it easier to create. Look at the way Dallas attacked in the playoffs, there wasn't a tremendous amount of talent around Doncic, but all those people could shoot. And that offense worked very well, even against good defensive teams.

• The Clippers are promoting the same basketball. Small fives with a bunch of edge rushers, each of whom could shoot. George, Lenard, Powell, Batum, Morris, Covington, and Mann has added in the number of shots. Kennard is generally more of a shooter than anyone else, plus there is a fire-giving Jackson (who, of course, is no winger at all). Where Dallas struggled to get the workforce for one such throwing five, the Clippers have a full 9-man depth with an establishing shot. They may not release anyone who isn't capable of hitting an open three.

• And most of these guys can not only defend well but also switch positions. The switch often seems to be the correct defensive option in important games. It's just that most teams don't have the personnel. The Clippers have that staff. Out of the same 9-man roster, only Kennard looks like a hole in the defense, and only Jackson looks like a non-universal defenseman. Considering that teams often play in the playoffs with eight, and one problem on defense can almost always be hidden, this doesn't look like a severe vulnerability.

Scheme variability

Even though small-ball looks like the Clippers' calling card, they can play differently. There's flexibility both within and outside of the small ball itself.

The Clippers' five of a bunch of wings can be different. For example, if you need a little more help under the basket on defense, you can pick up combinations with Batum, Kawai, and Covington, who are very cool guards. But if you need more help on personal protection at the arc, you might want to move RoCo away (he often looks terrible in one-on-one situations) and put someone more stable in the guard room. Need more creativity? Put Powell in with George and Kawai. Need more in terms of throwing, give Kennard a run.

But the central flexibility, of course, comes from players who don't fit into the concept of versatility and space.

Lately, we often see the new-old two-tower concept, which suggests that basketball has moved on, and versatility is starting to give way to rim-protect and size.

The fact is that successful teams have used their size at specific points. And such big fives can undoubtedly be helpful at the right time. Well, the Clippers may well release combinations with decent length. Zubatz + 4 wings aren't precisely two towers, but it's a combination with a center and no little one, capable of imposing density in the paint.

Also, the Clippers can use a small guard - Jackson or Wall, who can sharpen the edge with the speed that comes with the size of a classic starting point guard.

Moreover, Wall also provides a full-fledged point guard who can run the offense. It's been said for a long time that the Clippers could use a classic first-rounder. There was an attempt to fill that void with Rajon, but it didn't work out, and the need for someone who could keep things organized, spread out, and play calm remained. Whether Wall will calm anyone down is an interesting question. But from the point of view of the point guard, he's a top-notch player. If the opposing defense moves and plays backup, such a passer certainly doesn't hurt because neither George nor Lenard see partners at this level. That's partly how the Nuggets got them down; Jokic's high backsides were far from successfully broken up by the Sailfish. 

Class of the Stars

All the talk about the right build, depth, and consistency of the lineup is often broken down by something as trivial as having the best player on the floor. In terms of modernity and correctness, Boston looked like a stronger team than the Warriors. But the Warriors had the best player in the series. You could say the Suns were more accurate than Dallas, but Doncic didn't care. The team with the best player doesn't always win, but for all that extraordinary roster grace to work at the highest level, you need real stars who will remain stars. It all comes down to the fact that your best player has to either pull down a backup or be punished for not doing so.

And the Clippers have those people. Lenard, at his best, has claimed the world's top player status and dragged Toronto to the title. Paul George is an excellent option for the second-star role. And, after PG's heroic battle in the 2021 playoffs, the sneering of Playoff Pi seems to have stopped. Who exactly has the more talented pair of leaders in the league? LeBron and Davis? Paul and Booker? Brown and Tatum? Yannis and Middleton? Durant and Irving? Harden and Embiid? Butler and Bam? Curry and Looney? Sexton and Gay? Some of these pairs can be compared to the leaders of the Clippers, but clearly and unequivocally, there is no more relaxed duo in the league.