LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 10, 2021

Tyronn Lue

Press Conference

Q. LeBron has often said that he sort of sees Game 1s as the feel-out game. I noticed you played 10 deep in Game 1 last series and Game 1 this series, and you've talked about seeing which guys can play. Do you kind of view playoffs the same where obviously you want to win the game, but you just feel out the game offensively, defensively, who can play, who can't play, it's more of a feel-out game?

TYRONN LUE: You definitely want to win the game, but more for me it's a feel-out game to see what they're trying to do, see how they're trying to attack us, and seeing what they're trying to do defensively to take away our best players. So you kind of use that game as a feel-out game to see what they're doing, and then you try to come back and make some adjustments and capitalize from there.

Q. Yesterday you mentioned that you had some tough decisions ahead of you, ahead of Game 2 because of rotations as well as Pat and Boogie and those guys, everyone off the bench played. Do you still anticipate going 10 or 11 deep tonight and if not kind of what decisions go into how you're going to decide the rotation tonight?

TYRONN LUE: Not 11, maybe 10. First half just kind of see and get a feel and then after that we'll make some adjustments in the second half and go from there.

Q. Luke Kennard has had a couple real productive games for you guys. Throughout the season you wanted him to shoot it and shoot with confidence. It seems like he's doing that. Is that something you see just, you just look for on the court, or do you see that off the court? Is there like a tell in a guy's demeanor that he kind of is feeling good?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, I mean, just the way he's been playing those five-on-five games we had to check him out, just watch him play with a lot of confidence, shooting the ball very well and just want to give him an opportunity. And the way Dallas was playing us, I knew if we insert him in the lineup, he's going to make some shots. And in Game 6 he played great defensively and then in Game 7 he came around and made some big threes for us. That carried over to Game 1 here against Utah, him being able to space the floor, make shots, and kind of open it up more for Kawhi and PG.

Q. After the game the other night, Paul was saying that he'll have a better approach for tonight. What do you think that approach needs to be?

TYRONN LUE: What the approach needs to be? Just be aggressive, shoot the basketball, be aggressive, do what you've been do you think all year. Don't overthink it. We have how we want to attack this team, with Gobert and Favors, the difference between the two, and just go out and play.

Q. Donovan being so good at splitting defenders, seems to make it difficult to blitz and fire at him as much as you would like to. And he ended up doing pretty well getting downhill in the second half the other night. What are some of the ways you can make it easier on the defense against him when it comes to stuff like that?

TYRONN LUE: Make it easier on the defense?

Q. Yeah, to kind of stop him from splitting the doubles as much.

TYRONN LUE: Just has to have more impact. The guy guarding the ball has to be on the body a little bit more. When you're off his body, he's too good at rejecting, he's too good at splitting, and he's too good at dribbling around. So the primary defender has to do a great job of just being on his body more, so our shows can be better and our blitzes can be better. But he was just too comfortable last game, so we got to show him a crowd, give him some different looks, and make it a little harder for him. But last game was just way too easy.

Q. You were talking about Kennard. Obviously, we see when, especially when he's shooting so well, what he brings to you guys. But what stands out about his basketball IQ or the other things of value that he brings when he's on the floor for 30 minutes a night aside from just his skill set?

TYRONN LUE: Being on the floor, guys have to know where he's at on the floor, and you have to guard him, you have to stand next to him and be aware. But also, he's just not a shooter. He can put the ball on the floor, he can create plays for other guys and he can also run pick-and-rolls. So he's not your like ordinary just catch-and-shoot three-point shooter. He can put the ball on the floor, he can penetrate, he can make plays off the dribble as well. So that's what makes him different than just a normal shooter.

Q. The Jazz is a really good rebounding team. Obviously the Clippers playing a little bit smaller, it, I feel like it puts more of an emphasis on trying to create more turnovers. You mentioned the pressure and the physicality that they put on your offense. What is a way that your defense can do that to their offense in this game?

TYRONN LUE: As far as rebounding the basketball?

Q. Not just rebounding, but forcing turnovers.

TYRONN LUE: Oh, I think, like I said, the number one thing is rebound the ball and that was a problem for us in the first two games of the Dallas series. They crashed four guys and we really had to lock in to turn around, check and hit. And we have to do the same thing with this team, because they're a better offensive rebounding team than Dallas was. So we got to understand that. Especially playing small we have to do that as well. But I think defensively we just have to be more physical, getting into bodies, show crowds. I just thought it was too comfortable last game. We really didn't apply a lot of pressure. They had Niang bringing the ball up the floor, and we didn't even get up and pressure at all. We got to do a better job of being physical, being on guys' bodies and making it harder for them.

Q. You're playing really two different defensive styles with the small lineup switching and the dropping with your bigs. What are your strengths and weaknesses, in your mind, in those two contrasting styles?

TYRONN LUE: I think when we play small switching, you saw the start of the game, takes them out of their continuity offense and makes them play one-on-one, which Donovan Mitchell had a great one-on-one game, especially in that second half. So it takes away what they want to do as far as just moving around bodies, fluidity in our offense. And so we just wanted to do a better job of just taking that away, making them play one-on-one. But it kind of hurt us in the second half. And then when our bigs come in the game, with Zu and Cousins, just being able to drop more rim protection, more physical, guys who set screens more, more guys that can block shots, and be there to protect the rim a little bit more. So it's two different defenses and we want to give them different looks, because they're great offensively.

Q. You guys already had a lot of pressure and expectations of this team and you just went through like the most stressful first round back against the wall situation possible. How do you kind of balance calming down the nerves if there are any, do you guys even think about it or is there kind of just techniques you do when you get home to take your mind off of things?

TYRONN LUE: No, just play basketball. You prepare, you hold guys accountable, you commit and you execute and that's it. You leave it out on the floor and then you move on.

Q. In what ways does Royce O'Neale make it difficult for you guys or anyone for that matter defensively?

TYRONN LUE: He plays hard, he's physical, he has some toughness. We just got to do a better job of owning our space. Our bigs and our guards whoever is screening we got to make sure we hit him. We got to make sure we screen and we come off and attack with pace. But he did a good job last game of getting into Kawhi and trying to deny him the basketball, making it hard to have elbow catches and things like that. So we got to do a better job of owning our space and we got to do a better job of screening him.

Q. You mentioned some months ago that when making adjustments you go by your gut feel for the game. When you are making these adjustments and you're going by that feel, how much does analytics play into your determination?

TYRONN LUE: Well analytics are important, but also the eye test for me is even more important. Sometimes you watch the game and you get the numbers and you're like, What? Like I can't believe that those are the numbers. But I just go off feel and the eye test. And you listen to analytics because they're right, the numbers don't lie, but also just going by the eye test of what you see in a game, through the course of the game, what time of the game it is that you have the feel that you want to do something. So all that plays a factor and analytics are important, but I think the eye test and having feel is even more important.