It was supposed to be an easy win for Milwaukee against the Clippers. The team from Los Angeles played their second game in two days and decided to rest their two best players, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Milwaukee was mostly at full strength, except for the absence of Khris Middleton, who has been sidelined due to injuries more often than not in recent years, according to sportske.novosti.
The Clippers, instead of Leonard and George, started P.J. Tucker and Amir Coffey, both of whom played very well in a tightly contested game that was uncertain until the end when the Bucks finally secured the win (124:117). However, the heroes for the Los Angeles team were Norman Powell, James Harden, and our Ivica Zubac. The first scored the most, with 26 points, the second directed the game and had 11 assists, and the Croatian center was once again efficient and agile, registering 18 points and 6 rebounds with a fantastic shooting percentage of 9/11 in just 26 minutes of play.
Zubac was unstoppable in pick and roll actions played with James Harden, continuing what he did the night before against the Chicago Bulls. Then, Harden and Zubac exploited the weak, almost non-existent defense of Nikola Vučević, as well as the Bulls' defense strategy, relentlessly executing the same action from one possession to another. Zubac calmly utilized all of Harden's excellent passes and finished the game with 16 points and 9 rebounds on 7/9 shooting in just 25 minutes of play. This action seemed so indefensible for the Bulls that Stacey King, the legendary former Bulls player and current television commentator, at one point exclaimed that Chicago urgently needs to find a way to stop Harden and Zubac.
The problem is that when executed well, this action is practically unstoppable, especially when the Clippers are at full strength. Harden is one of the best playmakers in the league, but also a great shooter, making it difficult to guard him alongside Zubac after he sets the screen. It is also challenging to double-team him because it automatically leaves Leonard or George open, making defending the roll the simplest option. The problem is that Zubac ruthlessly exploits every pass from Harden, and they are perfectly accurate.
Zubac has had the most offensive value in pick and roll actions he has played with Leonard and George in previous seasons. He was effective in them, but it was with the arrival of "Brada" (Harden) that this play gained a new dimension. This is not surprising because the two of them have been working on this action since Harden's arrival.
At the beginning, we agreed that we would sometimes stay a little longer in training and work on pick and roll actions. He had just joined the team, so I understood it as getting to know my teammates, and I thought that extra work would last a few days - Zubac explained how his relationship with Harden started and added:
- The idea that we would only work on it occasionally turned into now staying together for at least 20 minutes after every training session and working on pick and roll actions from six different positions. Once we skipped that extra work, and I played a bad game because I was tired. Harden approached me after that and asked, 'Every time we train, you score 15 points, what will you do with that?' After that, we never skipped an extra training session - said the Croatian center.
He is playing the best season of his career. In just 26.2 minutes, he averages 11.7 points and 9.2 rebounds with a fantastic 65.6% shooting percentage. Although Zubac realistically has limitations in offense, primarily due to the lack of any outside shot, his efficiency in pick and roll actions has made him an indispensable member of the Clippers' starting lineup and a player on whom the big stars can rely. The next step is additional aggressiveness, as Harden said after Zubac failed to score after his brilliant through-the-legs pass against the Bulls, only drawing fouls.
- He keeps trying to be more aggressive, but he needs to go stronger to the basket. We play good pick and roll actions, and the whole team has more energy and plays with a faster pace because of it. We will continue to work to make this our constant - Harden stated.
Many people do not like "Brada" (Harden) because of his unique style, but Zubac must be grateful to him. With him, he has become a real offensive threat that all other teams must be wary of. And when you have someone so efficient alongside Leonard, George, and Harden, it is clear why the Clippers are dangerous and why nobody wants them as opponents in the playoffs.
It was supposed to be an easy win for Milwaukee against the Clippers. The team from Los Angeles played their second game in two days and decided to rest their two best players, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Milwaukee was mostly at full strength, except for the absence of Khris Middleton, who has been sidelined due to injuries more often than not in recent years, according to sportske.novosti.
The Clippers, instead of Leonard and George, started P.J. Tucker and Amir Coffey, both of whom played very well in a tightly contested game that was uncertain until the end when the Bucks finally secured the win (124:117). However, the heroes for the Los Angeles team were Norman Powell, James Harden, and our Ivica Zubac. The first scored the most, with 26 points, the second directed the game and had 11 assists, and the Croatian center was once again efficient and agile, registering 18 points and 6 rebounds with a fantastic shooting percentage of 9/11 in just 26 minutes of play.
Zubac was unstoppable in pick and roll actions played with James Harden, continuing what he did the night before against the Chicago Bulls. Then, Harden and Zubac exploited the weak, almost non-existent defense of Nikola Vučević, as well as the Bulls' defense strategy, relentlessly executing the same action from one possession to another. Zubac calmly utilized all of Harden's excellent passes and finished the game with 16 points and 9 rebounds on 7/9 shooting in just 25 minutes of play. This action seemed so indefensible for the Bulls that Stacey King, the legendary former Bulls player and current television commentator, at one point exclaimed that Chicago urgently needs to find a way to stop Harden and Zubac.
The problem is that when executed well, this action is practically unstoppable, especially when the Clippers are at full strength. Harden is one of the best playmakers in the league, but also a great shooter, making it difficult to guard him alongside Zubac after he sets the screen. It is also challenging to double-team him because it automatically leaves Leonard or George open, making defending the roll the simplest option. The problem is that Zubac ruthlessly exploits every pass from Harden, and they are perfectly accurate.
Zubac has had the most offensive value in pick and roll actions he has played with Leonard and George in previous seasons. He was effective in them, but it was with the arrival of "Brada" (Harden) that this play gained a new dimension. This is not surprising because the two of them have been working on this action since Harden's arrival.
At the beginning, we agreed that we would sometimes stay a little longer in training and work on pick and roll actions. He had just joined the team, so I understood it as getting to know my teammates, and I thought that extra work would last a few days - Zubac explained how his relationship with Harden started and added:
- The idea that we would only work on it occasionally turned into now staying together for at least 20 minutes after every training session and working on pick and roll actions from six different positions. Once we skipped that extra work, and I played a bad game because I was tired. Harden approached me after that and asked, 'Every time we train, you score 15 points, what will you do with that?' After that, we never skipped an extra training session - said the Croatian center.
He is playing the best season of his career. In just 26.2 minutes, he averages 11.7 points and 9.2 rebounds with a fantastic 65.6% shooting percentage. Although Zubac realistically has limitations in offense, primarily due to the lack of any outside shot, his efficiency in pick and roll actions has made him an indispensable member of the Clippers' starting lineup and a player on whom the big stars can rely. The next step is additional aggressiveness, as Harden said after Zubac failed to score after his brilliant through-the-legs pass against the Bulls, only drawing fouls.
- He keeps trying to be more aggressive, but he needs to go stronger to the basket. We play good pick and roll actions, and the whole team has more energy and plays with a faster pace because of it. We will continue to work to make this our constant - Harden stated.
Many people do not like "Brada" (Harden) because of his unique style, but Zubac must be grateful to him. With him, he has become a real offensive threat that all other teams must be wary of. And when you have someone so efficient alongside Leonard, George, and Harden, it is clear why the Clippers are dangerous and why nobody wants them as opponents in the playoffs.
AI-translated
