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Welcome to Lob Angeles…

The cover story I wrote is about them getting to that point, this process they’re going through learning how to play together. It was really interesting to hear them talk about the differences in their games and the adjustments they have to make, even with something as seemingly reflexive as an alley-oop—the key to Lob Angeles.

CP3 said the most alley-oops he’d thrown before joining the Clippers was when he played with Tyson Chandler in N’awlins, and Chandler wanted the ball aimed just outside the rim. When Paul arrived in L.A. and talked to Blake, he found out that Blake didn’t want the ball adjacent to the rim. “Instead of throwing right in front of the goal,” CP3 said, “Blake wants it back, really far back.” Paul pointed like a foot outside the rim. (“I try to add some flair to it,” Blake said.)

It’s been something of a vicious circle, a swirl down a deep drain, with nothing they’ve done, from changing players to coaches, working. But since GM Neil Olshey showed up and Blake was drafted, the Clips seem to have—and hold your breath here—finally, finally found the road out of cellar and toward what they’ve been looking for forever: Wins.

Lang Whitaker, Slam Online