In the sprint phase of the regular season, Paul George’s right knee sprain will be absent for at least 2-3 weeks, and the regular season may be reimbursed. For the Clippers who have suffered nightmares for years, this is undoubtedly a bad news. Fortunately, the Clippers still have a significant improvement in the state, which is getting closer to the peak state.
On March 24, Beijing time, the Clippers beat Thunder 127-105 for revenge. Leonard, who failed to kill the last game, didn’t give Thunder the chance to drag the game to a critical moment this time, he used 35 minutes, 15 shots, 13 (3 points, 4 shots, 3 shots), plus free throws, 4 penalty, 3 shots, 32 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 The Terrorist performance of stealing led the team to win the key battle and saw the hope of surpassing the sun to the fourth place in the West.
Leonard experienced the torture of being injured again and the suffering brought by the time limit order after his return from injury this season. He gradually recovered his state through a series of adjustments such as weight loss. After entering 2023, what is presented to the world is Leonard who is close to the peak level.
In the 2021 playoffs, Leonard scored 30.4 points per game, with a real hit rate. In the first round, when the Clippers scored 2-3 behind, Leonard scored 45 points in Game 6, scored 28 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists in Game 7, and led the Clippers to complete the counterattack. In the second round of jazz, Leonard was injured and scored 27.3 points in the front court, with a real hit rate.
“That is one of the greatest personal shows I have ever seen.” At that time, Reddick, who was still working as a lone ranger, said.
The serious injury of the anterior cross ligament caused Leonard’s performance to come to an abrupt end before it reached its climax. Leonard took a break for more than a year and did not play during the whole season of 2021-22.
This season, Leonard finally came back. After more than a year of recuperation, Leonard did not play five-to-five confrontation training, even two-to-two, and he took a lot of time to practice his strength, looks stronger. George sighed: “He looks taller and stronger, which makes the opponent feel timid. He has added more muscles and he makes the players who are against him feel timid.”
But for Leonard, a player who has suffered many injuries to his lower limbs, it is definitely not a good thing to gain weight. Not to mention increasing the pressure on his lower limbs, it also affects the flexibility of attack and defense actions.
Leonard was given a time limit after his return, and his luck was not very good either. He felt tight in his right knee and had to miss 12 games. Just returned in last middle November, Leonard sprained his right ankle and missed 6 games.
Leonard himself was also very helpless: “Originally, the rehabilitation process after the anterior crossed ligament of the knee was very long, and one year was not enough at all. In fact, it was a two-year process. Then I just played two and injured slits, and just came back and played three and injured slits.”
In October and November, Leonard played only 5 games in total, and scored 50 points in 112 minutes in total. He made 19 out of 45 sports shots, of which 15 out of the three-point shots were only 2 out. During that time, Leonard heard many doubts. After entering December, Leonard’s state began to pick up. His average monthly playing time exceeded 31 minutes, getting 20.6 points and the real hit rate increased to 57.5 percent. In this process, Leonard began to lose weight. By the middle of January 2023, Leonard lost 6.8 kilograms.
“After losing weight, I feel more relaxed and move more freely. I feel very good.” Leonard said.
The commander of the Clippers also noticed the change of Leonard’s weight loss. Powell interpreted it and said: “Leonard had conducted a lot of strength training during his recovery, so that the wound was wrapped by muscles and stronger, this made him gain a lot of weight. Therefore, Leonard moves faster and has more explosive power after losing weight.” Lu instructor said: “After losing weight, he found his shooting point faster, attacking rim, and the end efficiency of the basket has improved.”
Leonard received a reward for his efforts. After entering 2023, he played 28 games, with the Clippers winning 17 and losing 11. During this period, Leonard scored 27.4 points in 36.5 minutes, 52.4% in field goal percentage, 47.6% in three points, 90.9% in free throws, high yield and high efficiency, and the standard members of “180 Club.
How good is Leonard’s physical condition? He has only completed at least four dunks in 12 games in a single game, three of which came from middle January this year.
The improvement of Leonard’s physical condition is reflected in the obvious improvement of breakthrough aggressiveness. He has made 11.8 breakthroughs in the field, and the breakthrough hit rate is as high. According to statistics, Leonard’s breakthrough success rate is the highest personal record since 2016.
Leonard’s breakthrough is different from most breakthrough Masters. Other breakthrough Masters are used to using explosive force, speed or rhythm changes to kill the basket, while Leonard is used to break through and kill the middle distance. What should I do if I don’t create a hand space? Leonard can use his height and height to force dry-out. Like Kevin Durant, he is abnormal in his ability to defend against strong shots in the middle distance. After entering 2023, Leonard’s distance field goal percentage 51.2%, and his hit rate of dry two-point ball was 50.4%.
After the difficult adjustment period of more than two months before the start of the competition, Leonard has put forward the overall data. What many people didn’t notice was that Leonard’s real hit rate had created a new career. Leonard’s face basket singles, low singles, block and split ball attack scored more than 1 point in each round, among which block and split attack scored 1.19 points in each round, face basket singles scored the highest score in each round, while low singles scored the second highest score in each round of 1.05 points.
Leonard’s defense is also recovering its deterrent power. As an external defense gate, his ability to put pressure on the ball is still online, and his opponent is still keeping the program, each game destroyed the opponent’s 3-time ball right and tied for the 13th place in the league. Few players dare to pick Leonard one by one, and there are also those who don’t believe in evil, but Leonard suppressed the opponent’s singles score at 0.82 points per round.
This season, Leonard limited his opponent’s field goal percentage to 43.4. Lu instructor praised: “Leonard’s defensive influence is too great. With him present, we are a completely different team.”
Leonard said at the beginning of the season that he would not care about the gains and losses of one city and one pool this season. What he cared about was whether he could adjust his status to the playoff mode when the regular season ended. Now, Leonard has been basically adjusted in place, only waiting for the playoffs and George’s return.
No matter how many difficulties the Clippers face, healthy Leonard is the greatest confidence of the Clippers.
“When I step on the court, when I can play, I believe that we can win this game, and everyone else around me is also in this mentality.”