The Clippers are only six games into this young NBA season, but it's been a winless week and a half for a squad trying to get acclimated to playing together for the first time. The offseason acquisitions of Baron Davis and Marcus Camby may work out yet, but because of injuries that plagued the two during training camp, they haven't been able to spend much time together on the court figuring it out.
Davis and Camby have only played together in three of the team's six games this season, and while Baron seems to be almost 100% healthy (he played well in 40 minutes last night), Camby is playing limited minutes while still trying to work himself into shape. The team would like to see Camby playing 30+ minutes a night, and frankly, all of their starters will need to log minutes in the high 30s or low 40s for the team to be able to get some wins. Camby's impact will most likely be felt on the defensive end of the floor, but with limited time playing with his new teammates, his style isn't exactly fitting in with what the team is trying to do.
Take last night, for example. Kevin Arnovitz over at ClipperBlog does an excellent job of breaking down Camby's deficiencies in the team's loss against the Rockets. Mainly, it's accurately pointed out that Camby prefers to be more of a rover on defense, coming from the weak side to rebound or block shots. Only problem with that is, if his teammates don't rotate to help on Camby's man, it can be a big night for the guy he's supposed to be guarding. Which is precisely what happened against Houston.
At the power forward spot for the Rockets, Luis Scola and Carl Landry shared the duties, playing all of the 48 minutes at that position. They combined for 34 points and 16 rebounds, easily making up for Tracy McGrady's off night, and getting their team a win when their biggest star only scored two points. This wasn't all Camby's fault, as he was only on the floor for 26 minutes, and he did grab 13 boards and block a shot in that limited time. But until Camby is healthy enough to play a starter's share of minutes, and until the team is able to get used to playing with Camby and his roving style of defense, the adjustment period will continue, and probably, so will the losses.
