The Clippers Can Be Good This Year. If….
The Clippers actually have good talent this year. But if the coach and the point guard don't get along, that is moot.
The Clippers are back to a familiar spot at the start of the NBA season — an afterthought. Across town that other team with its title and numerous All Stars will draw hoards to media day, everyone talking repeat. The Clippers hardly get a notice.
Except as the Clippers open training camp Tuesday they have the talent to be good — with top pick Blake Griffin in the paint, a dynamic point guard like Baron Davis, and potentially good role players like Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby, Eric Gordon and Al Thorton. The Clippers have the athletes to be dynamic, to challenge everyone they play.
But will they actually be good when the games start?
The entire Clippers season may come down to one question: Will Davis and Dunleavy be on the same page? Dunleavy is one of the more controlling coaches in the league (which is saying something in a league of control freaks). Last season he wanted the Clippers to play within his structured system with him calling the plays. Meanwhile Davis is one of the best freelancers in the game, one of the most creative players on the fast break in the game, someone who makes his teammates better in that open setting.
Last season, Dunleavy and Davis were like vinegar and water. Davis was chaffing in the system and Dunleavy never let up. The discontent engulfed the entire team. Combine that with a spat of injuries and you get 19 wins.
This year, both are saying the right things. But if they don’t do the right things this will be another forgotten year for the Clippers.
The NBA is a players’ league, and when you have a dynamic talent like Davis you need to play to his strengths. Let him run. Especially when he is surrounded by guys like Griffin and Gordon and DeAndre Jordan who are athletic and will finish on the break when Davis sets them up.
Dunleavy has had success as a coach — he took the Lakers to the NBA Finals and had a couple 50-win seasons in Portland. He can coach. But if he wants to win this year he needs to not over-coach. Let the players play.
Do that and the words “Clippers” and “playoffs” don’t have to be so foreign.
