Podcast: Recalibrating preseason expectations

The Clippers have reached the end of 2020, and that quirk in the calendar makes it an appropriate time to take stock on the season and see how the team has performed relative to preseason expectations.

Sabreena is joined by Garrett Chorpenning, who covers the Clippers for Sports Illustrated, to discuss the important takeaways from the first five games of the 2020-21 season, starting with the revamped approach under Ty Lue. The two go over how Lue’s new system has unlocked a more lethal team on both ends of the floor before getting into how the new player acquisitions have helped with that transition.

Sabreena and Garrett talk about Nic Batum and Serge Ibaka’s production thus far, and how Batum specifically has exceeded expectations after falling into relative anonymity in Charlotte the past few seasons. They spend some time discussing how both players fit the “high IQ” prototype Kawhi Leonard asked for at the end of last season, and what that looks like on the court.

They then move on to the superstars and how both Leonard and Paul George have added new feature to their games this year. They also talk about what Leonard and George’s improvements mean for the overall team ceiling. Finally, Sabreena and Garrett go through some of their favorite plays of the season to date.

You can listen to the full episode below, and to make sure you never miss a single one moving forward, subscribe to the Clips Nation podcast feed on iTunes or Spotify.