With Kawhi out, we had a lot less ISO ball, but still too much IMO.

It seems like when Ty Lue gets his toys taken away, this time Kawhi and Norm, he actually tries to play real basketball. Zu got fed in the high and low post. Zu was making cuts and getting the ball. Still, too much stagnant offense with 2 statues in the corners.

I would be interested in seeing a bench unit of Simmons, Brown, Miller, Bogi & Amir play together.

The 1st bench stint with Eubanks, Miller and Brown looked really rough initially but as they kept playing, they started to look more competent out there. Ty needs to give these bench guys some run to work thru the rough patches so that the starters can get some real rest. Ty plays Harden way too much.

Also, I thought that last night’s bench looked worse with Harden on the floor with them. When Harden was on the floor, all the guys did was stand around or immediately pass it back to Harden. When Harden was not on the floor with them, you could see that it unleashed them to play team basketball.

Between injuries, out of shape or overused stars and a hell of a schedule we need everyone potentially active on any given night. No benchwarmers.

Enough with these 8-9 man silly and shrunk micro rotations. Play on merit and condition.

Whatever it takes to have options and win. We have often benefited from bursts of energy from the baby Clippers.

As for Kawhi, is it really better to skip back to backs entirely than maybe offer 15-20 good minutes in each game?

I don’t think we need to play Kawhi more than 24 min…32 min if he’s going well. We have to be realistic about what he can do and also recognize that this is Zu’s and Norm’s team and everyone else plays off them. If Kawhi isn’t hitting his midrange and isn’t moving the ball, then I wouldn’t even play him more than 15 to 18 mins. I might even stagger Kawhi’s minutes where he plays the first 5 min of each half, and the rest of the time he’s staggered with 2nd units so that he doesn’t get in Harden’s way.

The backup #5 should be Kobe Brown. Every time I see him he makes something positive happen even if his game is unrefined and has weaknesses. Those are a product of a lack of NBA floor time. He throws his body around, attacks the rim, jumps on loose balls, which is all we need from a backup #5.

The backup #1 should be Dunn. Simmons, if he’s physically up to it, can take that role, but you can’t bank on his availability. Dunn is showing signs of being able to figure out how to be productive on the offensive end. I think he’ll do better with Kawhi off the court because he can do more things moving with and without the ball. His offensive game stagnates when you ask him to be a standstill shooter.