Sports
Doc Rivers: Clippers Use Old Paul Pierce, Celtics Plays for Kawhi Leonard
Kelvin Kuo/Associated PressLos Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers is reaching deep into his playbook to fully utilize Kawhi Leonard.Rivers told reporters Friday he’s using some strategies he deployed during his nine seasons with the Boston Celtics along with sets that featured Paul Pierce in his previous stops:Ohm Youngmisuk @NotoriousOHMDoc Rivers said he watched all…
Kelvin Kuo/Associated Press
Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers is reaching deep into his playbook to fully utilize Kawhi Leonard.
Rivers told reporters Friday he's using some strategies he deployed during his nine seasons with the Boston Celtics along with sets that featured Paul Pierce in his previous stops:
Ohm Youngmisuk @NotoriousOHM
Doc Rivers said he watched all offensive sets from San Antonio and Toronto when preparing what to run for Kawhi Leonard. He says he dusted off some plays from his Celtics playbook from 8 years ago that he ran for Paul Pierce to get Kawhi open in mid-range spots.
Rivers' experience with Pierce has probably come in handy when it comes to coaching Leonard. The two aren't carbon copies of one another, but Leonard's ability to hurt teams from mid-range mirrors how Pierce would do so much of his damage on the offensive end.
According to Basketball Reference, the 6'7″ forward shot 41.3 percent between 10 and 16 feet and 41.5 percent from 16 feet to the three-point line. Those figures are 46.4 percent and 44.1 percent, respectively, for Leonard, who's also listed at 6'7″.
Mid-range jumpers have fallen out of vogue in the NBA because it simply isn't an efficient shot for a lot of players. Teams are telling their players to either shoot closer to the hoop or camp out behind the arc instead.
Kirk Goldsberry @kirkgoldsberry
The Death of Midrange https://t.co/bp0182jfOZ
Leonard is one exception because he's an effective scorer from just about anywhere.
Shane Young @YoungNBA
Kawhi so far tonight:
9/11 inside the arc
1/2 from outside
4/4 at the lineWith how he creates in the mid-range, he's the best three-level scorer in the game not named Kevin
The Clippers signed Leonard in the hope he'd take over in the postseason like he did last year during the Toronto Raptors' championship season. The need for the two-time Finals MVP to replicate that form is even more acute since the COVID-19 pandemic made the process of building a cohesive collective even more difficult for Rivers.
Leonard has been excellent so far in the 2020 NBA playoffs. He's averaging 32.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists while shooting 56.2 percent from the field through seven games. In last year's postseason, the 28-year-old averaged 30.5 points in 24 games.
He can probably thank his coach's exhaustive research for some of his success on offense.
Subscribe to Centenunlimited news
We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe
