Ah, yes. The classic “I can’t tell you” defense from “head coach” Lue. Because revealing who is battling the sniffles or nursing a bruised ego is apparently a matter of national security in the NBA. It invites speculation. Is it a trade? Is it a locker room mutiny? Or is it just a few guys with a stomach bug? We may never know, but the secrecy certainly adds a layer of drama to a team that really doesn’t need any more of it.

Tyronn Lue Attempts To Steer a Sinking Clippers Ship

Lue has one of the hardest jobs in basketball right now. It’s a player-driven league, and we get coaching doesn’t matter in the NBA anymore. However, it’s difficult to counsel the locker room when your team is a dense fog of injuries, aging stars, full of egos, and organizational weirdness.

“Just having film session with guys that were healthy, being able to do individual stuff, and do what they need to do,” Lue said. “Then, tomorrow, hopefully, we got a whole group that’s able to practice.”

The reality is that film sessions are great for mental reps, but they don’t fix the lack of hustle or the defensive breakdowns that have plagued this team recently. You can watch yourself miss a rotation on a 4K screen as many times as you want; it doesn’t mean your legs will move faster on Monday night against the Memphis Grizzlies.

A Losing Skid That Film Study Might Not Fix

Context is everything here. If the Clippers were sitting atop the Western Conference, a canceled practice would be seen as a savvy “load management” move. A day of rest for weary warriors. But the Clippers aren’t sitting on top of anything except a pile of losses.

The Clippers have lost eight of their last nine games. They are on a three-game skid, fresh off a gut-wrenching 115-113 loss to the Houston Rockets. When you are losing like that, the optics of canceling practice, regardless of the medical validity, are terrible. It looks like surrender. It looks like a team that is too broken to even try to fix things on the floor.

At least they have their first-round pick if things go south. Oh Wait? They can’t; their first round pick is Oklahoma City Thunder property, due to the Paul George trade. Oops.

The Lingering Ghost Of Chris Paul

You can’t talk about the current malaise of the Clippers without addressing the elephant in the room—or rather, the point guard not in the room. The Chris Paul exit saga continues to cast a long, weird shadow over this franchise.

While the team tries to figure out its identity, the “will-he-won’t-he” nature of his departure and the subsequent reporting about player dissatisfaction create a vibe of instability. Remind me why Lue is still employed when he admitted to having no communication with Paul. Oh, right, he is buddies with LeBron James.