Jan
26, 2001
NBA BASKETBALL - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CLIPPERS
ARE FINDING THAT THE ROAD TO SUCCESS IS A LONG ONE
By
INSIDEHOOPS.COM
In
the early part of the season, it was somewhat of an honor for the Clippers
to put up fierce fights against the better NBA teams, and whether they
lost or not wasn't really a factor. InsideHoops has praised the new look
Clippers since before the season even started, as the franchise has its
first reason to be optimistic in a long time. This is a very young team
with players still learning what players used to learn in college before
turning pro. Showing heart, excitement, emotion and a will to win was a
major improvement from the past. And this team has played a ton of close
games.
Unfortunately,
close games usually result in losses.
Coach
Alvin Gentry points out that the problem is that the team's execution simply
falls apart in the end of games.
In
a recent practice, for 45 minutes the team just sat watching replays of
the 2nd half of the 4th quarter and the overtime period of Wednesday's
Sonics game.
The
big picture here remains the same: future success. It's just that the players
and coach are competitive and it's tough to come up short quite so often.
Several other matters include finding a true position on this team for
Darius Miles (there's no way his true position is at power forward) - though
it's tough to figure out where he should play when he's still this raw
a player, figuring out how much time Eric P. should get over the likes
of Quentin Richardson, Maggette and Miles, and balancing time at center
between the young and inconsistent Michael Olowakandi and the old and steady
Sean Rooks. Young players who don't get consistent playing time at the
same positions are not going to produce consistently. Team chemistry is
hard to build when your rotation changes so often. And while LA's rotation
is more predictable now than it was a month ago, it's going to take more
time for young players to develop and for Coach Gentry to figure out which
guys deserve the main minutes at each spot.
