I realize that promises were made to Beal about starting, but I also think Ty was more comfortable with hoping Beal could fill Norm’s stat sheet so he wouldn’t have to think about how to make Collins fit into the lineup. I haven’t given up on Beal unless all this weirdness gets in his head. But he should have come off the bench until the minutes restriction was lifted and then been given his opportunity to start at full strength.

I would have started:
Kawhi
Zu
Harden
Dunn
Collins

Dunn would have understood his starting gig wasn’t guaranteed and been cool about giving Beal his opportunity when it came. Now all of those politics are a lot more complicated.

It really feels like Ty, similar to his mentor Doc, does a shittier job when he’s given more talent to work w/, because there’s no question in my mind this year’s roster has more talent on it than the last couple of years.

Agree on Christie and Collins. Christie should actually be ahead of Beal in the pecking order. Bogi should be the backup #1. I’d start Dunn but give Cam a bigger and bigger role b/c we need his shooting.

The positives:

• Zu was dominant at both ends. 21-15-4 w/83% shooting speaks for itself, but it really doesn’t speak to how well he played b/c he had to be the lone defender and rebounder while Lue burdened him with a 3 guard lineup (incl. Beal). He defended 4 v 6. That he stayed out of foul trouble was a bit of a miracle, imho. Zu’s mid post game was fully back, with hooks and floaters. The offense only really works when he touches the rock in a position where the other team has to fear his scoring. Too many consecutive possessions with him not touching the rock (a ‘Zu Desert’) if you will, stalled momentum.
• John Collins – He did a lot of good things on the court: 3s, dunks, grabbing loose balls, and good connector play. He played few minutes in the first half but was a +10 or so.
• Zu-Collins lineups were a +9 on the court over about 18 mins: Clips went from -6 to +3 (+9 swing) in the first half with Zu/Collins on the court together. From my vantage point, Phx couldn’t get any good looks at the rim or the paint. In Q4, Collins/Zu on the floor were a +0 in 10 mins of play. But during that time, LAC got within 5 pts a few times but couldn’t get it over the line. It was a competitive stretch. Think about it: +9 on the court with an ailing Harden, no Kawhi. Lue played the 18 out of 48 mins. That’s just too damn low.
• Cam Christie – He’s a solid contributor on the court with real NBA talent. The best thing about Christie is he is schooled in the modern, AAU style of ball. A lot of LAC players are from the old school. Cam gives them a different look, He was a -2 in a game we lost by -11.
• Harden – gutted it out. Clearly was not healthy and should not have played. Appreciated the effort. A few shots from him could’ve won this thing.
• As for the other rotation players: Dunn handled the ball well, but committed too many unnecessary fouls and turnovers off of loose ball plays and ignored Zu for a long stretch. Needed a bit more poise and patience, but he is doing a better job of getting the ball up the court and avoiding drama in the backcourt. DJJ looked like he was hurt at some point during the game. Didn’t have anything on his shot.

The negatives:

• Ty Lue’s rotations: playing 3 guard lineups to start Q1 and Q3 killed the vibe. Playing Batum and Lopez together made the team very slow footed and caused a big hole. Benching Bogi when he’s clearly doing more things well on the court than Beal can do at the moment. The abuse of Batum – playing him in bad lineups (well, I’ll give Ty credit for keeping him on in the last segment with Zu/Collins)
• Ty Lue’s passive aggressive war against the FO. He didn’t like the Norm trade and is taking it out on the players that were key to the FO’s vision: Collins, Bogi, and to a lesser extent, Dunn.
• Beal: Had a good Q3 shooting the ball, but he’s basically a negative in every other aspect of the game. He does some odd ball things on the court with possessions. He doesn’t attack with force like Norm did. He doesn’t stake ground out early in possessions to get shots like Norm did. He’s a better passer than Norm, but he provides no gravity on the court. If he wants the rock that much he has to be a lot better. Not a better player than Bogi at the moment. Physically, he’s not in NBA form yet. We should not be mortgaging our offense to get him going.
• Zu Deserts: we go way too many possessions with him not touching the ball in places where he can make an impact. Harden’s fatigue from illness provided a window into what will work and what won’t. If we’re being serious about winning basketball games, Harden has to really be disciplined about running the Zu actions and getting him touches. He can’t call his own number so much early. He needs to work to establish Zu early and then he’ll be able to go off. As for Kawhi, he, too, needs to focus on making Zu a 20 pt per night scoring threat.
• 3 pt defense: Phx made another 16 or so 3s on over 40% shooting. The looks we keep giving up will send us to the lottery. Make teams take mid range shots. Play big down low and aggressive at the top of the key.
• LAC’s 3 pt shooting – it’s really bad. We are going to need Cam Christie in the rotation b/c the kid can shoot and is athletic and has a good feel for the game to get to the open spots. We’re going to need some 3s from him each game to expand our threat.

When Ty Lue stops waging war against the FO and takes this season and his job seriously, we’ll get better results. Until then, I see this team being .500 at best, and probably under .500.

Beal can’t play defense. That’s very clear. He did, eventually, hit a couple of 3’s, so there’s that. He doesn’t deserve to start. Let him play his 20 minutes coming off the bench.

I like Christie. He needs more minutes.

Zu doesn’t get fed the ball nearly enough.

I do not trust Leonard. Is he really injured? It’s bad that I think this way, but the guy isn’t trustworthy.

Lopez played better as he was stationed closer to the rim.

Start Collins.

Dunn and DJJ can’t start together.

Was Bogie injured?

By the trade deadline, trade both Harden and Leonard while they have some value.

Lue has to go. He must be let go.