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Luke Kennard Ready For Second Season With Clippers – Basketball Insiders

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Last season, Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue kept imploring Luke Kennard to be more aggressive in looking for his shot.

His sentiments were echoed by Kennard’s teammates throughout the season. A newcomer to the team after spending his first three seasons with the Detroit Pistons, Kennard often looked timid for the majority of the season.

With the Pistons, he had developed a reputation as being a sniper from three-point range. He shot 39 percent or better from distance in each of his three years. But he had also begun to develop a playmaking game. Before he was traded to the Clippers a year ago, Detroit head coach Dwane Casey had been experimenting with Kennard in a facilitator role.

But when he arrived in LA, he seemed a little too eager to settle into that playmaking role and he often passed up shots that he probably should have taken. It can be an adjustment for players to figure out their role in a new system, and perhaps that was the case for Kennard. Maybe he just needed a little bit of prodding from his new coach and teammates.

Whatever the case was, however, the playoffs changed all of that. With the Clippers being pushed to the brink by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, they found themselves in a Game 7. And it was Kennard who stepped up to the plate and helped power them into the second round.

After racking up four DNP’s through the first six games of the series, Kennard scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting, 3-5 from three-point range, in 14 minutes of play as the Clippers ended up winning by 15 to advance. He looked comfortable and confident in his shot.

That momentum carried over throughout the rest of the 2021 playoffs. Against both the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns, Kennard made decisive decisions and found a good balance between finding his teammates and finding his shot. That’s the Kennard the Clippers are going to need this season, and it’s the Kennard that has shown up so far in preseason.

While he’s definitely found a comfort level within the Clippers offense, he acknowledges that at times, the team is still on him about looking to shoot.

“I’m still getting some stuff on the sideline for not shooting some shots that I probably should have shot,” Kennard joked after the Clippers preseason win against Dallas on Oct. 8. “They want me to ‘hunt’ it. . .just to hunt shots and be a hunter, that’s what they’ve been saying.”

Overall, Kennard had a pretty solid season last year for the Clippers. He put up 8.3 points per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 44.6 percent from three-point range. In the playoffs, those numbers dipped a little, but as mentioned, he looked far more comfortable.
This season, the Clippers are looking to get up and down a little bit more and to generate more transition scoring opportunities. Kennard figures to be a big part of that with his ability to handle the ball and see the court, and with his lights out shooting. During preseason, he’s seen time in both roles.

“They’re putting me in a lot of different actions, whether it’s for me or different guys, just to move. They want us to move, they want us to play with a little more pace this year,” Kennard said. “We want to play a little faster whether it’s kicking the ball ahead, being a little bit better transition team. It’s coming along.”

Overall, this Clippers team has multiple players who can make plays with the ball in their hands. When Kennard is on the floor with the second unit, he kind of becomes the de-facto ball-handler as he did at times last season. But when his minutes are staggered with the starters a bit, it allows him to really look to move off-ball and to free himself up for jumpers.

“We got guys that can make plays. I can get into the paint and attack well and hit the open guy, but for me they just want me to hunt,” Kennard said. “When teams are kind of chasing me over, it kind of allows me to put the ball on the floor a little bit more and either hit the roll or just find the open guy. That’s something I’ve picked up on over these last few games.”

Kennard actually got off to a bit of a slow start to the preseason. He shot a combined 31.7 percent from the field through the first two games and was 1-9 from three-point range. But he picked it up in the final two games averaging 18.5 points per game and shooting 63.8 percent from long range.

Sure the Clippers ended the preseason with losses, but there were plenty of positives that Kennard saw that he believes the team can take with them into the start of the regular season. It’s the work that they’ve done in training camp, in practice, that they’ll be able to translate to opening night.

“We have sets that we run, but out of those sets, Coach Lue just lets us play the game. That’s something we’ve been focused on,” Kennard said. “It’s still a learning process, we’re still getting better at it. But I think we’ve done a pretty good job of doing the things in games that we’ve worked on in training camp so far.”

For the most part, the Clippers will have a similar rotation to the one that knocked out the Jazz and pushed the Suns to six games. Kawhi Leonard has no timetable for his return, but Serge Ibaka should be close to returning to the lineup.

They will have a pair of newcomers though who figure to play key roles in former Clipper Eric Bledsoe and Justice Winslow. There’s also the new draft picks in Keon Johson and Brandon Boston Jr. who have both shown some flashes in the preseason. Fellow rookie Jason Preston might have been in the mix too but he is currently out with an injury.

As the start of the season draws near, Kennard is pleased with what he’s seen in terms of how everyone is fitting into the system.

“I think everybody is comfortable in the role that they’re in, everybody’s comfortable with where they are right now. We’re confident that our coaches and everybody on the team, they’re going to do what’s best for the team,” Kennard said. “When we’re out there together, we’re one team. . .I think we have a pretty solid foundation with what we’ve been doing right now and it’s just continuing to get comfortable with each other and learning all the new guys. So far it’s been really good.”



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76ers’ Joel Embiid Likely to Return From Injury Before NBA Playoffs

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Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is expected to return to the court before the end of the regular season in time for the 2024 NBA Playoffs, according to Sixers coach Nick Nurse.

“I think there’s a very good likelihood that he will return before the play-in, playoff,” Nurse said before Wednesday night’s home game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Embiid hasn’t played since Jan. 30, when Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga fell on his left leg in the fourth quarter of a 119-107 loss in San Francisco.

Referring to a few NBA betting sites, the 76ers hold 14th-ranked odds to win the championship. Sportsbooks are showing better odds for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat.

Without the seven-time All-Star since then, the 76ers have gone 10-16, the 10th-best record in the Eastern Conference over that span. Tyrese Maxey has helped the team stay afloat in the standings.

Prior to Embiid’s injury, he was averaging career highs of 35.3 points and 5.7 assists, along with 11.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals, 1.8 blocks, and 34 minutes per game. Plus, he was shooting 53.3% from the field and a career-best 88.3% at the foul line.

Philadelphia 76ers are 26-8 with reigning MVP center Joel Embiid, 13-25 without him this season

Embiid is seven weeks removed from having surgery on the lateral meniscus in his left knee. Nurse added that there’s “no timetable” for his return. However, he also said that Embiid continues to participate in on-court work.

“I haven’t met with him,” Nurse said. “I have talked with him, FaceTimed with him a couple times. He’s on the court, as you guys know, and we still don’t have a timeline for his return.”

“I would imagine he’s getting better each day. It’s just trying to get him strong and confident and in shape and ramped up and all those wonderful words.”

Furthermore, Nurse mentioned to reporters on Wednesday that he would provide an update when Embiid progresses to contact practice or other steps before his long-awaited return to the court.

Embiid underwent surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his left knee on Feb. 6.

The Sixers’ original timeline for Embiid was 6-8 weeks. Eight weeks out from Feb. 6 would be April 2. Philadelphia will host the Oklahoma City Thunder that night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Following that matchup, the team will have a three-game road trip at the Heat (April 4), the Memphis Grizzlies (April 6), and the San Antonio Spurs (April 7) before finishing the season with a three-game homestand.

Last season, the Sixers went 11-5 during the regular season and 2-0 in the playoffs without the reigning MVP. Philadelphia is 26-8 with Embiid this season and 13-25 without him.





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Head coach Ty Lue describes Clippers’ team identity as ‘soft’

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The word “instability” is probably the best way to describe this Clippers‘ season, as they’ve tallied consecutive victories for weeks, as well as gathered losing streaks along the way. After falling to Pacers 133-116 at the start of the week, they dropped to the Western Conference’s 5th place below the Pelicans. At this point, the L.A. team has lost six out of their last nine matches and seem to have lost their identity as the playoffs grow closer. 

Once the contest was over at the Crypto.com Arena, coach Tyronn Lue felt somewhat defeated. When asked about his squad’s recent struggles, he admitted that they forgot their tough spirit and need to rebuild this congruity if they hope to make an impact this postseason.

“So identity for us, it’s got to be toughness,” he explained. “Which means physicality, mental and physical toughness, a high-powered offense — we can score in a lot of different ways — and we got to have a defensive mindset. And so right now, do we have an identity? I think, yeah, we’re soft. That can be an identity if you want to call it that. We gotta be tougher, mentally and physically.”

Before the All-Star break, the Los Angeles team was 36-17 and sat comfortably in the Top 3 positions of their conference. Since then, they’ve produced the 11th worst record in the West at 8-10, and are losing their potential home-court advantages as they fall off the standings.

Lue made a special mention of how different the Clippers are playing now, compared to what they were displaying at the start of the campaign. However, the coach has vowed that things will start to change and can’t hide their struggles any longer.

“We have an identity, when we were 26-5 we had a great identity,” Tyronn said. “You can’t pick and choose when you want to lead. You can’t pick and choose when you want to have an identity. You can’t pick and choose when you want to do things the right way. So just do the right things every night and everything else will fall in order. So, guess we do have an identity, we have to get back to that, because we’ve had it.”

Despite his intentions, the tactician recognises how complicated it is to wake up from a losing streak. “But when you lose games, it’s easy to go the other way and we’re not gonna do that. I’m not gonna let our team do that. I’m tough-minded, I’ve been through everything and so are these guys. So the only way we’re going to get out of it is playing hard for 48 minutes,” he said.

Hall of Famer predicts that if the Clippers don’t wake up they are going to be eliminated in the playoff’s first round

At one point during the season, Paul Pierce was convinced that this Clippers’ squad was destined for greatness, but after this past month he believes they won’t get passed the postseason’s first round. In the most recent episode of Undisputed, the Boston icon said he was disappointed by the team’s spirit and even criticised Lue’s way of describing his own team.

“I see a team that is probably going to a first round exit. We’re at the end of the year and I’m hearing words like ‘no identity’ and ‘we’re soft,’” he expressed at the start of the week.

Not too long ago, he compared the superstars leading the pack in Los Angeles, explaining why he believes that James Harden is the one who can guide them back to the top. Alongside his co-host Kevin Garnett in the KG Certified podcast, he picked the former Sixers guard over Kawhi Leonard.

“James Harden is a bigger superstar than Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi won this won and Harden got the shoes people buy Harden. He is the bigger superstar than Kawhi,” he expressed.





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What is the right way to analyze rookies?

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Key Highlights:

  • Since young players are inherently inconsistent, the best way to analyze their rookie seasons is to look at their flashes
  • According to Game Score, Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Brandon Miller, Keyonte George, and GG Jackson have had the top 5 best flashes among rookies this year
  • The best way to use this study is to compare players that share similar roles/usage to each other

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. In a lot of ways, the same is true of rookie seasons. A player’s inaugural season is hardly ever a summary of their entire career. Rather, it is merely the beginning of their NBA story.

But what people often don’t mention is that you can glean some insight about the contents of a novel based on its cover. The same is also true for players and their rookie seasons. But what is it exactly that you can extract?

In this edition of “NBA Study”, we look at one (not the only) way to analyze a player’s rookie season.

Our Process

In his book (one that you should read), “Basketball Analytics: Spatial Tracking,” Dr. Stephen Shea wrote this in his chapter about evaluating prospects:

“College players are inconsistent. Their production can vary wildly from one game to the next. This is especially true for freshmen, and it is often after the freshman season that the most elite prospects enter the draft…The moral is that consistency is not something we should expect from even the very best of prospects. It is something that players gain with experience; it is something they can be taught.”

Young players are inherently inconsistent. But that’s okay because consistency can be learned. So, what we should focus on instead are a player’s flashes, since those flashes are what the player will be regularly if/when they master the art of consistency.

How To Measure Consistency

It’s been about two years since I read Shea’s book. And in that time, the best method I’ve been able to come up with for quantifying flashes is Basketball Reference’s Game Score metric. According to their website, Game Score is a metric “created by John Hollinger to give a rough measure of a player’s productivity for a single game. The scale is similar to that of points scored (40 is an outstanding performance, 10 is an average performance, etc.).”

What we will do is take the average of each rookie’s ten best Game Score games and compare that number to their peers. Our threshold to qualify for this study is at least 30 games played. That means we’ll be looking at the ten best Game Score games average of 34 rookies.

To be fully transparent, I’ve only run this test for a couple of seasons. So, the true validity of this study is still yet to be fully proven. However, last year’s version of this study featured Jalen Williams and Paolo Banchero as the two rookies with the best flashes (according to Game Score). And considering one of them is an All-Star (Banchero) and the other is playing at a borderline All-Star level (Williams), that is a pretty good sign.

Anyway, here are the results for this year’s rookies (as of March 26, 2024):

2023-24 Rookies Best 10 Game Score (GS) Games Average*

Player Name Games Played Best 10 GS Games Average
Victor Wembanyama 63 30
Chet Holmgren 71 27.5
Brandon Miller 64 22.2
Keyonte George 65 19.7
GG Jackson 38 19.7
Jaime Jaquez Jr. 65 19.2
Amen Thompson 52 19.1
Brandin Podziemski 63 18.8
Scoot Henderson 53 18.2
Ausar Thompson 63 18
Trayce Jackson-Davis 57 17.4
Dereck Lively II 53 17.4
Marcus Sasser 63 16.4
Duop Reath 58 16.3
Jordan Hawkins 61 16
Cam Whitmore 38 15.2
Vasilije Micic 50 15
Craig Porter Jr. 47 13.9
Gradey Dick 51 13.7
Cason Wallace 71 13.4
Toumani Camara 69 13.4
Kris Murray 52 12.8
Bilal Coulibaly 63 12.7
Anthony Black 63 11.7
Sasha Vezenkov 35 10
Taylor Hendricks 30 10
Julian Strawther 42 9.9
Ben Sheppard 48 9.1
Jalen Wilson 33 9.1
Nick Smith Jr. 45 8.2
Andre Jackson Jr. 50 7.3
Olivier-Maxence Prosper 34 6.3
Julian Phillips 40 6
Kobe Brown 38 4.6

*Data Provided by Basketball Reference

It should be no surprise here that Victor Wembanyama (who is having one of the best rookie seasons of the last three decades) is first, with the other unicorn, Chet Holmgren, trailing behind him. It also makes sense that two-time Rookie of the Month winners Brandon Miller and Jaime Jaquez Jr. are in the top 6 on this list.

How To Interpret These Results

Two problems I’ve noticed with using Game Score is that it biases toward players who play a lot of minutes and carry a large offensive role on their team (since the metric uses box score data). So, the best way to use these results is to compare players who play similar minutes/positions.

For instance, one thing I found incredibly fascinating is that between Keyonte George and Scoot Henderson (two on-ball guards getting a bounty of repetitions on tanking teams), George is the one with the higher Game Score average (19.7).

Another data point that stands out to me is that Bilal Coulibaly’s Game Score average (12.7) is lower than other defense-first wings and forwards like GG Jackson (19.7), Amen (19.1) and Ausar Thompson (18), and Toumani Camara (13.4).

The Bottom Line

As I mentioned in the introduction, this is just one way to evaluate a player’s rookie season. You still need to consider factors like injuries, team context, and how certain players may be affected by what the metric is measuring.

As readers of this website know, I am fairly high on Camara. But he only ranks 21st out of the 34 rookies on this list. If I had to guess, it’s because Game Score doesn’t pick up on all his contributions to the defensive end of the floor (95th percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus).

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take away anything from these results. Dr. Shea is a smart dude, and I wouldn’t write this article if I didn’t think it had some value. It just isn’t an end all be all.

It’s another tool in our rookie interpretation toolbox.

If you enjoyed this edition of “NBA Study,” check out our other articles, like this one on which coaches are the best at calling plays





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