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There are times when you watch the Clippers play and think, Huh, maybe they have something here. Take Monday, for example. Playing the tail end of a back-to-back and facing the white-hot Jazz, the Clippers delivered one of their finest performances of the season. All-Star center Chris Kaman (14 rebounds) dominated the glass, while Eric Gordon (24 points) drained jumpers from all over the floor and Drew Gooden chipped in 19 points and 11 rebounds. The result was a wire-to-wire, 108-104 victory that had the smattering of scouts in attendance shaking their heads in bewilderment. But there are times when you watch the Clippers (25-36) and you wonder how they ever managed to beat anyone. Two nights after the win over Utah , L.A. played the Washington Generals to the Suns' Harlem Globetrotters, allowing Phoenix to shoot 55.6 percent from the field and 52.2 percent from behind the three-point line in a 127-101 rout that was all but over after the Suns' 39-18 third quarter. "I don't know what it is," Gordon said. "Some games we play together, some games we don't. Sometimes we work hard, sometimes we don't. That's been the balance of this team all year." Coach Kim Hughes knew what he was getting into when an embattled Mike Dunleavy handed him the reins in February so that Dunleavy could focus on his duties as general manager. This wasn't Hughes' type of team. The Clippers didn't run. They didn't rebound. Their chemistry wasn't good and the team was out of shape. Hughes' family thought he was nuts to take over, but he accepted the job anyway because his longtime buddy Dunleavy asked him to. And because, well, head-coaching gigs don't come along every day. "It's tough," Hughes said. "I didn't pick these guys. It's not my style of team. But it doesn't mean that I can't coach this style and try to do it. I'm not afraid of challenges." Challenges? Coaching the Clippers has become tougher than climbing Mount Everest with a walking stick. Chemistry is a word echoed often by anyone familiar with the Clippers and the name Baron Davis is almost always mentioned in the same breath. Davis has been a model of inconsistency since he signed a five-year, $65 million contract with his hometown team in 2008. He arrived in L.A. overweight and quickly butted heads with his coach, all while giving the impression that his interests off the court were more important than anything he did on it. As a result, his scoring dropped from the low 20s in his last two years with Golden State to the mid-teens this season. His shooting has hovered below 40 percent the last two seasons and his 28.2 three-point shooting percentage this season is his lowest since his rookie year. On Monday, Davis helped fuel a late Jazz run by committing two turnovers and a shooting foul on Deron Williams in the final minute of the fourth quarter. "They know they have to move him," said a league source familiar with the team. "He has been a disaster. They just can't win with him." To be fair, it's realistic to expect the Clippers to be significantly better next season. They will have No. 1 pick Blake Griffin, who has missed the entire season with a knee injury, back in the lineup. They will plug another lottery pick into the mix in June. And they will have $16.5 million in salary-cap space to wave in front of one of the marquee free agents this summer. And they will get someone. No, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh aren't relocating to Hollywood . But Rudy Gay might. Several NBA executives believe that the Grizzlies' restricted free-agent forward will be the Clippers' top target, in part because they have a gaping hole at small forward and in part because they are one of the few teams that will be willing to overpay for a prolific scorer with zero playoff appearances on his résumé. But just who will oversee this new roster? Clippers owner Donald Sterling has had numerous chances to hand Dunleavy his walking papers and has passed every time. It's doubtful he will now, not with Dunleavy in the final year of his deal and not after he saved the other Donald millions by moving the multiyear contracts of Al Thornton and Sebastian Telfair for Gooden's expiring deal. And Dunleavy isn't about to bring in a high-profile coach who would instantly have more credibility than he would. He could opt to retain Hughes, who is desperate for a full training camp and a revamped roster to show what he can do, or he can dip into the assistant ranks for a John Kuester-type, someone who won't come with a high price tag and will fall in line behind him. Will it work? It's the Clippers. You never really know what you are going to get.
Los Angeles Clippers 2009 - 2010 Season Preview: For a minute this offseason it looked like the Clippers finally put all the pieces together. With a potential lineup featuring two legitimate All-Stars – Baron Davis and Elton Brand – it looked like the Paper Clips would be able to contend in the powerful Western Conference. But alas, it was just a pipe dream, because as soon as Baron Davis signed, Elton Brand bolted to Philly. It seems that the woeful Clipper management lowballed Brand and he decided to get the hell out of town. To a lifelong Clipper fan like me that really bites it, but I am used to disappointment when it comes to my team. I am a long-suffering Clipper fan. I've followed them since the days of Randy Smith and Swen Nater. I remember the Bill Walton fiasco and World B. Free firing-up shots from everywhere on the court. I witnessed the highs of the Danny Manning- and Ron Harper-led Larry Brown playoff teams to the hopes of the Lamar Odom, Darius Miles, Q. Richardson squads to the recent Sam Cassell and Brand playoff monsters that were almost there. They were so close but now it has all imploded again. But still I have faith in my team. I forgive them for being an NBA laughingstock and cellar dweller. I forgive them for past mistakes like drafting Benjamin Benoit and Michael Olowkandi. I forgive them for letting Elgin Baylor mess up, again and again and again. My love for the Paper Clips is everlasting. I'm not a new age Hollywood fan like Billy Crystal, I'm a lifelong fan who was born and raised in San Diego and remembers the Terry Cummings for Marques Johnson and Byron Scott for Norm Nixon trades with distaste in my mouth. But it's all good so I'll stop reminiscing and tell you about my hopes for this year's team. It would have been nice to keep Corey Maggette, but the Duke product was allowed to bounce up the coast to the Warriors. In Clipper Nation, we are now looking at a starting lineup of Baron Davis at the point, Cutino Mobley at the two, Al Thorton at the three and Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby in the power spots, not a championship lineup but a playoff lineup nonetheless, and the Clips will make the playoffs. The seed just depends on Baron's health. Baron Davis is that transcendent player that the Clips have never had. That guy with Superstar potential who can put a team on his back. Baron Davis can win the MVP. He has that type of talent. It's just a big if to see is his body will hold up. He was the force that put the Warriors on his back and led them to their recent success. After being written-off due to his injury plagued years with the Hornets, he made it all the way back to the limelight with his play on the Warriors. This Clipper fan is hoping he can make it a special homecoming in LA and bring that energy, fire and star status to the Clip Nation. I put it all on Baron Davis' shoulders – the Clips will live and die with him. Other than Davis, who is the only bona fide star on the roster, the Clips have a solid crew of supporting players and potential. Camby is a beast and knows how to win, when he is healthy that is. But if you look at it like a straight trade, Davis and Camby for Brand and Maggette maybe the Clips got the better deal. Mobley is solid if not spectacular. Kaman is a potential top five center if he stays focused, After his Olympic debut as a German, here's hoping he can give the Clips his all, because they will need him to get a double-double every night. If Kaman and Camby can give that type of production along with big man defense, look out. Al Thorton is only getting better and his energy and hustle are very desirable traits at the three. He just needs to improve his outside shot. So the starting five is solid. Now to the bench. Ricky Davis and Tim Thomas are big question marks because you never know what you will get. Both players always had the potential to be scary good, but both players never lived up to the hype. But I think in roles off the bench, they can contribute. If either of them start, then the Clips are in trouble. Brian Skinner and Paul Davis are serviceable backups at best – if either of them start, the Clips are in very big trouble as well. Now we get to the potential: Eric Gordon. If Gordon can be that scoring spark off the bench while being groomed to take Mobley's place, the Clips can compete in the West's upper echelons because for real, this kid can be crazy good. All the elements are there and this team looks a lot better going in then last year; it's just a question of all the players staying healthy and playing ball because the talent is definitely there. I applaud Elgin Baylor and Mike Dunleavey for putting this team together and can't wait to see them on the floor together. Last season, the Los Angeles Clippers finished the regular season with a 23-59 win-loss record. This was mainly because of key injuries to certain players that all but diminished the hopes of this team to even try making it to the playoffs. With injuries to Sam Cassell, Elton Brand, Cuttino Mobley, and Chris Kaman during the most part of the regular season, the Clippers were practically left with role players hoping to make the cut in the team this upcoming season. This year, the Los Angeles Clippers will have a new look. After an injury-riddled season, the Clippers now has eleven new players with only four players from the 2007-2008 squad. With Elton Brand shocking the Clippers when he left the team through free agency, the team will now be relying on Baron Davis, who will provide the offense and leadership he had brought when he was still playing for Golden State, and Marcus Camby, who will provide the defensive presence the team didn't had last season. The team also acquired role players such as Ricky Davis, Jason Hart, and Brian Skinner to help develop the young players such as Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Mike Taylor, and DeAndre Jordan. Also, the Clippers did sign Jason Williams from the Miami Heat but he decided to retire after playing 10 seasons in the NBA without playing a regular season game with the Clippers. With the acquisition of veteran players, this just shows how determined the Clippers are in making the playoffs this season and possibly contend for the championships.
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Los Angeles Clippers News Archive: Rookie Thornton Leads Clippers Past Warriors - 10/14/07
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