But that doesn’t mean I am 100 percent against the acquisition. There are several things about the Camby trade that I really like.

First and foremost, Camby is not Zach Randolph. The Clippers were reportedly extremely close to acquiring Randolph as a replacement for Brand, and the worst part is that it was the Knicks, not the Clippers, who turned down the deal. Talk about dodging a bullet. Given the general incompetency of owner Donald Sterling and GM Elgin Baylor, they could probably think up a dumber idea, but I certainly can’t.

Randolph plays no defense. He isn’t a good teammate or a hard worker. Once he gets the ball, he never gives it up, completely stagnating any half court offense, and he’s a psycho. Plus, he has an unsightly three years and $48 million dollars left on his contract, meaning once the Clippers had realized what a team cancer he is they wouldn’t have been able to trade him.

Contrastingly, Camby’s contract is one of his best features. He has only two years left on his deal for a total of around $16 million, meaning his contract will expire in time for the free agent frenzy in the summer of 2010. The contracts of Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas will also come off the books in 2010, meaning the Clippers will likely have enough cap space to take a run at LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, who can all opt out of their contracts to become unrestricted free agents that summer.

When I first thought about it, I didn’t think there was any chance that one of those guys would want to play for the Clippers, but when you consider that they would be joining a Clipper team that already has Baron Davis and Chris Kaman, the Clippers could give one of those guys a much better chance to win a title than their previous employers.

With seemingly every team in the league racing to clear cap space for 2010 to take a shot at those big name free agents, the Clippers would be foolish not to get in on the action. During an average summer, with most of the league’s teams operating over the salary cap, the majority of free agents resign with their old team, because it is their only option. Other teams just don’t have the cash to sign them.

But with so many organizations eyeing 2010, a ton of teams could be under the salary cap, which could mean that a whole bunch of players change teams. In all that mayhem, a superstar might just slip through the cracks and into the Clippers’ lap. It is extremely shrewd of the Clippers management (if we want to give them credit for being smart enough to do it intentionally) to clear space for what should be the most eventful free agent summer in decades.

Potentially joining the three studs I already mentioned in the 2010 free agent class, if they do not sign extensions between now and then, are Tracy McGrady, Joe Johnson, Manu Ginobili, Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, Stephen Jackson, Mike Miller, and Camby himself.

Plus, Dirk Nowitzki, Amare Stoudemire, Michael Redd and Tyson Chandler can all opt out of their contracts that summer to add even more lunacy to the free agent season. 2010 should fairly easily be the biggest free agent summer of my lifetime, and the future of a fair number of the franchises could be determined either in the positive or the negative by the decisions they make in the summer in 2010.

Imagine a 2010-2011 Clippers roster that features LeBron James, Baron Davis, Chris Kaman, Eric Gordon and Al Thornton. That could be unbelievable. Even a lineup of Davis, Kaman, Gordon, Thornton and Amare Stoudemire would be real contenders in the West. The opportunity to get involved in the 2010 free agent fiasco is really the best thing about bringing in Camby.

But that isn’t to say that Camby doesn’t have any value on the court to the Clippers in the meantime. His well publicized defensive presence combined with Kaman’s already solid post defense should make the Clippers one of the best interior defensive teams in the game. With Kaman and Camby putting the fear of God into driving guards with their shot blocking ability, the Clippers will be able to overplay on the wings without worrying about getting beat off the dribble. That should result in a lot of forced turnovers and possibly fast breaks.

Offensively, Camby is a versatile player who has thrived in the league’s fastest paced offense in Denver and in the grind-it-out system of Jeff Van Gundy in New York. No matter what Dunleavy Sr. decides to do with the Clippers offense, Camby should fit in nicely.

Since the most recent news is the Camby signing, I think I will start with that. But in the coming days and weeks I will certainly weigh in on all of the other Clippers news of the summer. Hopefully I can bring a new angle to a few of the topics that have been beat to death, like Elton’s defection and how we fans should judge him as a person.

To be perfectly honest, I have some mixed emotions about the Camby trade, so I think I am going to break my analysis into two parts. One focusing on what I like about the trade, and one focusing on what I don’t like.

I would not be able to call myself a Clippers fan if I started with the optimistic side. So here is what I don’t like about the Camby trade:

The No. 1 thing about this deal that everyone has been celebrating is that the Clippers didn’t have to give anything up to bring in Camby, who is arguably the leagues best weak side interior defender. The opportunity to switch second round picks is about as close to nothing as there can be in any trade in sports. This is essentially the equivalent of that minor league baseball player who got swapped for bats.

But this line of thinking is a bit flawed. Because in acquiring Camby without sending the Nuggets any contracts in return, the Clippers lost what was their greatest asset this summer — their cap space. With the additional signing of Kelenna Azubuike to a deal worth about $3 million a year, the Clippers have very little wiggle room left to fill out the roster.

Prior to acquiring Camby, the Clippers were essentially the only players left in the free agent market, with Philly absconding with Brand, Memphis sitting dormant and every other team over the cap. That made the Clips the only legitimate suitors for restricted free agents Josh Smith, Luol Deng and Emeka Okafor.

Now that they have brought in Camby, the Clippers no longer have the opportunity to pursue any of those players. Certainly Camby is a better player than Okafor and signing Deng to a long deal would be a risky proposition, because he is coming off a poor season and he may not develop the way some “experts” have predicted he would. But passing on the opportunity to sign Smith in order to bring in Camby appears to be at least a little foolish.

Smith would have given the Clippers a similar defensive presence to that of Camby. Like Camby, Smith was among the league leaders in blocked shots last year, and Smith is 11 years younger than Camby. He is also a far more capable athlete and has the potential to develop into a far better player than Camby. As far as I am concerned, Smith is better than Camby right now, and he has the opportunity to become a far better player than Camby. Smith has improved his number across the board in basically all categories each year he has been in the league, and at 22 years of age, there is little to suggest that trend will change any time soon.

The Clippers repeatedly said they were too worried that any one of those players’ previous teams would match an offer from the Clippers, which they have the right to do on any RFA. By offering a deal to Smith, the Clippers would have their salary cap space tied up for seven days while the Hawks decided whether to match the deal. If the Hawks did decide to match the Clips’ offer, which they said they would, it would cost the Clippers valuable time.

But with no other active teams in the free agent market, waiting in limbo for seven days does ‘t seem like the deal breaker the Clippers made it out to be. Where are the other free agents going to go if the Hawks match an offer to Smith? What is going to happen in those seven days? If the Clippers had made an offer to Smith and the Hawks had matched, would Camby really not still be out there? I am having a hard time believing that there were a ton of great offers on the table for Camby if he could be had for absolutely nothing.

As is, the addition of Camby gives the Clippers the chance to become one of the best defensive teams in the league. Pairing Camby and Kaman, the Nos. 1 and 3 shot blockers in the league from a season ago, will make driving the lane against the Clips a fearsome proposition for opposing guards. Last year the Clippers got beat on the boards basically every night. That should not longer be a problem.

But will the Clippers have enough offense?

The Clippers are returning a pathetic 69.4 points per game from their team last year. We lost our top two per game scorers in Maggette and Brand. Bringing in Baron Davis and his 20 points a game certainly helps significantly. Eric Gordon should be able to contribute, and with any luck Kelenna will be a solid rotation player who can put up 10 points or so.

Kaman is likely to be the second scoring option to Davis. Last year Kaman improved every facet of his game, but the Clippers lost a lot of games with him as their second scoring option to Maggette. Arguably every Western Conference team with the possible exceptions of Memphis and Oklahoma City has more offensive talent than the Clippers are likely to have this season.

On a team that really struggled to score last year, Camby might not give them enough extra fire power. Last years’ Nuggets played at the highest pace in the league and scored the most points of any team, but Camby still didn’t crack double digits in scoring.

He can hit from 15 feet consistently, but that is pretty much the extent of his offensive game. Although he is an able passer, he is really unable to create his own shot.

The Clippers are likely to have some offensive identity issues, with guys like Camby and Davis fit best for a run and gun offense, and coach Dunleavy a proponent of grind it out basketball. The defense will be great regardless, but will the offensive thrive?
Even if they decide to play up tempo in what Dunleavy has called the “Baron Davis era,” I’m not completely sold it will work.

A lot has been said about how well Kaman can run the floor, and he can certainly get up and down. But I don’t think he is at his best by any means in the open floor. Likewise, can Cat Mobley play in high paced offense effectively and stay healthy? I have my doubts.

Regardless of how well Camby plays, nothing the Clippers could do would live up to the hopes for what could be accomplished with the combo of Brand and Davis had Elton stayed. Bringing in Camby, because of that, is at least a little bittersweet.

But there is a lot of like about the Clippers prospects for the coming seasons. Tune in tomorrow to find out why I think the Camby deal still might be a good one, despite what I just wrote.

Introduction:

Since the rest of this is fairly lengthy I will simply open with a few words about my concept. Basically I wanted to make this team younger and more athletic without really going through a rebuilding process. I also wanted to bring in a young star without completely sending the salary cap into the stratosphere. I feel that I was fairly successful in accomplishing both of those goals.

Far too often we as Clippers fans are prone to pessimism. I think that initially this tendency predisposed me to being a bit conservative with what I was trying to do. After putting the better part of a couple of days into this, however, I think you will find that I shed any traces of conservatism. While my plan is extremely aggressive, I also think that it is largely realistic.

It may seem far fetched that all of the transactions I propose could happen in combination. I would suggest, however, that if each trade can be deemed reasonable individually, then what is to stop them from occurring in tandem besides a general lack of ingenuity and drive by those currently in control of this organization?

Roster:

C- Chris Kaman (9.5M)
PF- Elton Brand (16.4M)
SF- Luol Deng (13M)
SG- Cuttino Mobley (9M)
PG- Shaun Livingston (5M)
6- Al Thornton (1.8M)
7- Chase Budinger (2.4M)
8- Joe Smith (5M)
9- Devin Brown (1.2M)
10- Brevin Knight (2M)
11- Dan Dickau (1M)
12- Paul Davis (500K)
13- Josh Powell (500K)
14- Shaun Foster (400K)
15- Open for Flexibility

Depth Chart:

C - Kaman/Smith/Davis/Powell
PF - Brand/Smith/Thornton
SF - Deng/Thornton/Brown
SG - Mobley/Budinger/Brown/Foster
PG - Livingston/Knight/Dickau

Total Payroll = 67.7M

Transactions:

1. Extend Brand now before he opts out

Brand has been in the league for 8 years now and he will turn 30 next season. He is not exactly hurting financially and from everything we have seen about him, Elton is ready to put winning first. It is my belief that if we can clearly demonstrate to Elton that his signing a contract extension for slightly less than the maximum would result in putting a far more competitive product on the floor, he would not hesitate.

If he is looking for a big payday, Brand will likely exercise his option for next season. This will allow him to take advantage of the big jump in maximum salaries that occurs when a player has been in the league for 10 seasons. Honestly though, I do not foresee this being the case.

My goal would be to extend Brand now for the amount he would receive next year if he accepted his option, and then increase his salary by the maximum of 10.5 percent per year. This would give him a maximum increase in his money, just from a less-than-maximum starting point. If Brand were to opt out after this season, his maximum starting salary would likely be around 17 million, which means this is not really much of a pay cut at all.

The extension would last for two seasons after next and provide Brand an option for a third. This would seem to be equitable to both parties and allow for greater flexibility going forward. If Brand continues to struggle with injury, the team will not be trapped beneath his contract forever. If he returns to all-world form, he can opt out in three seasons and get himself a maximum deal if he desires.

I spent about an entire evening looking at information about the CBA trying to determine if what I just described is against the rules, and could find nothing to that effect. Still, I may have missed something and broken a well established salary cap rule. Regardless, I think the essence of my idea is a good one. It would certainly be possible to extend Brand at less than the maximum in order to make the Clippers as competitive as possible.

2. Trade Sam Cassell and Quinton Ross to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ira Newble, Devin Brown, Cedric Simmons, and the Cav’s first round draft pick.

So far this season the Cavs have been deficient in two major areas. They badly need a point guard and their defense has declined significantly since last season. It is pretty obvious how Cassell and Ross, respectively, would fix those problems for Cleveland.

The guys that the Clippers get back are not that consequential. Simmons is a relatively nice young big who will fill out the roster. Newble can be cut immediately. Brown is worth keeping around as a bench scorer and energy guy. From the Clippers end, this move is purely about dumping salary and getting the pick.

3. Trade Tim Thomas to the New Jersey Nets for the expiring contracts of Jamaal Magloire and Darrell Armstrong.

If the Net’s window of opportunity is not already shut, this season may be the franchise’s last chance to make a playoff run. Prior to this season the Nets thought that Jamaal would be a key acquisition. Due to his poor play and the emergence of Sean Williams, however, Magloire’s worth to the Nets at this point is extremely limited and he is racking up DNPs. Thomas would be the perfect fit to be the team’s staring power forward. The Nets are currently 4-1 in January despite playing a rotation of Josh Boone and Malik Allen at the position. One more shooter to run the wing and play with Jason Kidd would help the Nets immensely in the playoffs. Tim’s playoff experience certainly would not hurt either.

4. Trade Corey Maggette, the Minnesota first rounder (which is unprotected next year), the pick we just got from Cleveland and one future unprotected first round pick of our own (2009) to the Bulls for Luol Deng and Joe Smith.

Deng will need to be re-signed this offseason, likely for a maximum contract. At first this will cause Mr. Sterling to completely blow a gasket. Once he sees the rest of the plan, however, I think he will come around, especially once he sees we are under the luxury tax. Plus, it has been a while since we really saw any truly stingy behavior from him. He gave Kaman the big deal and not offering any more than we did to Maggette last summer was probably something closer to prudence than parsimony.

Deng is an elite young talent, as was witnessed during last year’s playoffs. He can guard three positions masterfully. He is long, quick, fast, agile, moves excellently without the ball, is dazzling from mid-range, and has a great attitude. The scariest thing about Luol is that he is only 22. If he can improve his touch from beyond the three point arc (a place he currently rarely ventures), he could legitimately be the league’s top all-around wing player.

It is scary to imagine just how imposing a front court of Kaman, Brand, and Deng would be on opposing teams. There is little doubt that they would form one of the top two or three front courts in all of the NBA.

It may seem like a stretch that the Bulls would have any desire to make this trade. After all, the team did decide not to pull the trigger on a deal for the NBA’s greatest individual talent in Kobe Bryant largely due to a desire to hold on to Luol.

The reason this works is that things have changed in Chicago since the off season. First of all, the team has not made any progress in negotiations to extend either Deng or Ben Gordon. It has also become painfully obvious that without any player with the ability to create going to the basket, this team is relegated to shooting far too many jump shots. Between the impending free agency of their two best players and their lack of success, the Bulls are in need of a change.

Maggette would probably get to the foul line more than their entire roster does currently. His slashing would combine nicely with the spot up shooing of Gordon, Hinrich, and Nocioni. Without making a move the Bulls simply have too many players who do the same things. Including the three picks ensures that the Bulls would not feel they were being slighted in any way by this deal, especially when you consider how high that Minnesota pick is likely to be next season.

5. Sign Shaun Livingston to his offer sheet at $5 million.

Shaun will likely be looking to prove he can stay healthy and perform for an entire season. It would really be in his best interest to come back next year and probably the year after in order to get a bigger deal thereafter. I cannot imagine any team really offering him much more given his injury history and inconsistent development when healthy. We would also probably be his best chance to play in a starting role immediately next season.

6. Draft Chase Budinger with the 6th pick and Shan Foster with the 36th pick.

Budinger is a freakish athlete and at 6′ 7″ has a nice frame to play guard in the NBA. I saw him play volleyball in person a couple of times a few years back and his leaping ability is simply out of this world. As his shot continues to improve, his length at shooting guard will really make him a phenomenal talent. I can really see turning the reigns over the Chase at shooting guard sooner rather than later. His presence will likely make shopping Mobley’s contract much more sensible. I am also high on Foster, but if the pick was Joey Dorsey or the like then so be it.

Conclusions:

I believe that this plan puts the most competitive team possible on the court without increasing the team’s payroll significantly. In a perfect world I probably would have both taken advantage of the team’s mid-level salary cap exception to bring in a shooter and kept Thomas. I think the team I have put together has a good shot to win immediately, and Thomas’s contributions would be a huge boost off the bench for the next couple seasons as the young guys develop. The reality of the situation, however, is that in order to bring in Deng’s talents, some salary had to be dropped if we wanted to avoid the luxury tax.

The Cassell trade is a must for the Clippers. He wold have walked after this season so getting some value out of him in the form of the pick and Devin Brown is really a victory. Ross has been great for us, but bringing in his defense would surely put the Cavaliers over the top on this deal. Plus, including Ross makes the deal viable from a financial standpoint.

In some sense, the price I paid for Deng is a bit high. If you factor in the picks, the Bulls are getting four players for the price of one. The Clippers are losing five players to get Deng, because Thomas’s contract was dropped mostly to make room to resign Deng.

Still, Deng is a special player. To go get someone of his caliber is going to take a pretty significant sacrifice. The kind of sacrifice that has us sending away three first round picks. Still, it is necessary to put this team back into the playoffs and give it a chance to compete for a title. Winning the title is still the goal right?

If we do not make these deals, Maggette is likely to opt out of his contract and look for a newer, bigger one. If he does not opt out this off-season, it only postpones the inevitable. We will be right back to square one with him after next season. He has already turned down a contract extension. In a way, now is probably one of the Clippers’ final opportunities to get value back from Maggette’s departure. If we do not act now we will either have to let him walk and get nothing back or sign him to a long deal that he probably does not deserve.

Thomas is a nice player, but he is not getting any younger. It seems like his game becomes more one dimensional with each passing season. He also has a history of injury and attitude problems. The one aspect of his game that is truly valuable, his shooting, can be replaced at far less cost.

There are two issues that I see presenting themselves once this plan is in place. The bench is a bit thin, and while the payroll is not outrageous for next year it has a distinct possibility of increasing with the salaries of Deng, Brand, and Kaman. Remember though, that after next year Joe Smith’s deal will come off the books. The year after, Mobley will be entering his final season will be much easier to trade. By parting ways with the two of them we will be saving ourselves 15 million dollars. That should be plenty to fill out a nice bench unit and lock up Budinger in a couple years as the starting shooting guard for the future.

Once this plan is executed the Clippers will not only be a contender next season, but for seasons to come as Kaman and Deng continue to develop and Brand returns from injury to hopefully play some of the best basketball of his career.

The injury was revealed by an MRI taken on Monday. Apparently he had been feeling sore for a while, and the pain worsened causing Knight to determine it merited examination. Although the injury will likely not cause him to miss any games, Knight will play decreased minutes and be kept out of practice for the foreseeable future.

If any of you are medical masterminds and can explain what a stress reaction is, please do not hesitate to use the comments section of this page to do just that.

From what I was able to find based on about five minutes of extensive research on the internet, a stress reaction is a primarily psychological issue that involves an emotional reaction to physical stress. I really doubt that Knight had an MRI on his leg to detect mental anguish, so there must be something I am missing here.

Maybe he is in reality suffering from a stress fracture rather than a stress reaction, but that is purely conjecture on my part.

Three weeks ago I would have said that an injury to Knight was no great loss to the Clippers. Over his past 10 games, however, the 11-year veteran out of Stanford has dished out 43 assists while committing just one turnover. Largely as a result of this impressive streak, Knight is currently second in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio, trailing only Jose Calderon of Toronto.

Considering his recent string of both quality ball-handling and improved shooting, Knight’s injury may actually deal a significant blow to the Clippers’ chances.

As a result of Knight’s injury, the LA Times reported that the Clippers have waived Richie Frahm and intend on signing Guillermo Diaz to a 10-day contract. Frahm’s one-year contract would have become guaranteed on Thursday, so it came as no surprise that the Clippers waived him in order to maintain a measure of roster flexibility.

Initially the plan was to sign Frahm to a 10-day contract of his own provided he cleared waivers. Knight’s injury, however, complicated the matter, and the Clippers chose to sign Diaz, the team’s second-round pick in 2006 and a combination shooting and point guard.

Diaz has been playing for the Anaheim Arsenal this season, the Clippers’ affiliate D-League team. Diaz played in 14 games for the Arsenal averaging 16.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.0 assists.

Frahm told the Times that he was aware he may be waived and that it affected his play over the past several games. Frahm certainly did not shoot the ball as well as expected in his short time with the Clippers. During his career Frahm has connected on 35.6 percent of his attempts from three point range, compared to just 28 percent in 10 games this season.

Of the team’s ten wins, only two have come against opponents that currently possess a record above .500. One of those two wins came on opening day against the Warriors without Steven Jackson. The other was at home against the Nuggets on Nov. 21.

Statistically it is not difficult to see why the Clippers have failed to win games. They rank last in the NBA in scoring, 29th in field goal percentage and 23rd in three point percentage. If you prefer advanced statistics, the Clippers rank last in the league in offensive efficiency, 29th in effective field goal percentage and 29th in offensive rebounding percentage.

Early in the season, it was not at all difficult to believe that the Clippers could compete without Elton Brand. The Clippers had won four games, lost none, and were on top of the world. Sure it was only a few games, but the Clippers had at the very least shown what was possible. If they could win those four games, what was there to stop them from winning more?

As the season progresses and the delusion of Clippers’ greatness moves further and further from reality, it is difficult to determine just where to place the blame. The argument can certainly be made that the Clippers had this coming all along. It can be stated logically that without Brand the Clippers are simply not a very good team and the early success was simply a fluke. It is impossible to judge an NBA team on the merit of a modest four game stretch.

This is not, however, the only explanation for why the Clippers have struggled. It is certainly possible that the Clippers would have been able to maintain their early success had it not been for a multitude of further injuries.

First, Cuttino Mobley missed the two games directly following the Clippers season-opening win streak. Then Sam Cassell, Corey Maggette, and Tim Thomas all missed a significant portion of the young season due to injuries as well. The Clippers were already playing without Brand. There is no way that they could endure all of these additional injuries.

Thus, the Clippers season became a waiting game. As loss after loss piled up, all Clippers fans could do was point to the impending return of their many injured stars. At that point things could surely turn around.

If it is not too late to make a difference, that point has arrived. The Clippers are now healthy for the first time in quite a while. Against the Spurs, Mobley, Maggette, Thomas and Cassell all appeared in the same game for the first time since Nov. 26. They have played together in just eight games all season. The Clippers’ record in those games in an impressive 6-2.

Sitting at 11 games under .500 and with a formidable January schedule on the way, it is now or never for the Clippers. Whether or not any lingering effects from these injuries exist will likely play a role in how successful the Clippers can be going forward. While Mobley and Maggette seem to be back to pre-injury form, Cassell and Thomas are still yet to prove that they are completely recovered despite returning to action.

In the end, the strength of the Western Conference, where the Golden State Warriors would be the eighth seed if the playoff started today despite having a better record than all but three eastern teams, will likely be far too much for the Clippers to overcome. Even so, the Clippers newfound health will likely yield a few more wins in the remaining months of the season than the four victories the Clippers totaled in December.

Even if the Clippers have no hope of playing in May, they might be tough to beat in April.

Despite the team’s unprecedented string of injuries, the Clippers are completely capable of putting together stretches of beautiful basketball. When they run their offense through him in the post, Chris Kaman is able to score with ease on most nights or kick the ball out to open shooters when he is doubled.

Corey Maggette’s penetration, Cuttino Mobley’s proficient play in the high post, and Sam Cassell’s scoring can all provide the Clippers’ attack with added potency and versatility.

This model of quintessential offensive performance, however, has only been attainable for the Clippers over very brief periods this season. With a large degree of regularity the Clippers’ offense simply loses its productivity.

The ball does not find its way into Kaman’s hands early enough in the shot clock. The Clippers’ wing players fail to knock down open shots, allowing opponents to double Kaman relentlessly.

Instead of shrewdly reverting to what had previously been effective, the Clippers often allow things to spiral out of control once they encounter one of these offensive lulls. Players lose patience with running the offense through and try to do too much themselves. This is manifested through a stagnation of the Clippers’ offense and results in far too many bad shots and foolish isolations.

The Clippers chronic inconsistency was on full display this week as the Clippers needed a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat lowly Minnesota on Monday and follow that with a 95-81 loss to the Hornets on Wednesday.

The Clippers were able to beat Minnesota, despite losing each of the first three quarters and failing to connect on any of their 14 three point attempts. Richie Frahm and Cuttino Mobley each drew iron on five occasions from beyond the arc.

Winning this game was more about a lack of fourth quarter composure by the 4-25 Timberwolves than it was about great play down the stretch by the Clippers.

Still, that LA was able to score 32 points in the final frame when they only mustered an average of 19.7 over the first three certainly speaks to its lack of consistency. Further, the Clippers shot 62 percent from the field in the fourth quarter but only 42 percent prior.

Kaman was so frustrated by the Clippers’ play in the win that he said the following to the AP:

“They’re just not that good, so we were able to beat them. We’re not that good either. I mean, it was like a ‘Dust Bowl’ game - two of the worst teams in the league playing each other.”

The loss to New Orleans certainly did little to appease those feelings, as the Clippers lost the third quarter by a 13-point margin on their way to a 14-point loss. The Clippers scored 25 points in the second quarter to tie the game at the half, but only scored 16 in the first and 17 in the third.

Possibly the worst part of this loss was the poor play of Kaman. The Hornets made Kaman the focal point of their defense, and he was unable to overcome the extra pressure as he shot just 1-for10 from the floor on his way to just nine points and 11 rebounds.

After the game both coach Byron Scott and center Tyson Chandler said that stopping Kaman was the Hornets’ first priority coming into Los Angeles. The strategy was to force Kaman into taking jump shots and take away post-ups while keeping him off the offensive glass.

As teams continue to focus more and more on him defensively, Kaman will have to elevate his game once again in order to keep up. There are certainly indications that he will be able to do just that. For instance Kaman was effective passing out of the double-team in this game, dishing out five assists to just one turnover.

As the season progresses, it will be a joy for Clippers fans to watch Kaman continue his development. Needless to say, that is one of very few positives for the Clipper faithful going forward.

In a loss to Houston on Nov. 26, Kaman held Yao Ming to just 14 points and eight rebounds while recording 22 points and 13 bounds of his own. In two games against Andris Biedrins and the Warriors, Kaman has averaged 23 points and 15 rebounds.

He has also played very well in games against Brad Miller, Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, Erick Dampier, and defending defensive player of the year Marcus Camby. The Clippers are yet to play a game against Mehmet Okur of Utah or LaMarcus Aldridge of Portland.

Prior to Thursday night versus Phoenix, Kaman had averaged 20.9 points and 14.6 rebounds in 10 games against the 10 other centers on the all-star ballot, with both of those figures above his season averages.

In the first leg of a home-and-home at home against the Suns on Thursday night, however, Kaman was badly out-played for the first time this season. Amare Stoudemire, who is not usually noted for his defense, held Kaman to only nine points and nine rebounds on a horrific four-of-17 from the field. At the other end of the floor Stoudemire torched Kaman for 30 points on 11-of-14 shooting, despite not playing a single minute in the fourth quarter.

The Clippers could not recover from Kaman’s poor play as they trailed by as many as 36 on their way to a 108-88 loss. Corey Maggette returned after missing one game with a sore knee and led the Clippers with 21 points. Tim Thomas, however, sat out with a sprained right knee. He suffered the injury versus San Antonio on Dec. 22.

The two teams met once again on Friday, with Kaman determined to make up for his poor play from the previous night. His effort kept the Clippers in the game, but was not quite enough to win, as the Suns pulled out a thrilling 94-88 victory. Kaman finished the game with 22 points and 20 rebounds.

The Clippers trailed by only one point with 1:35 to play in the fourth, but Kaman air-balled an 11-foot hook shot, which was sandwiched by two Stoudemire baskets as the Suns lead went to five with under a minute to play. Stoudemire turned in his second strong performance in as many nights with 28 points and 10 rebounds.

Cassell started for the first time since returning from a calf injury two games prior. He scored 21 points, pulled down nine rebounds, and dished out five assists in an impressive 38 minutes of action.

Despite losing for the sixth straight game, there were several good signs for the Clippers in the second of these losses to the Suns. Cassell was healthy and productive for the first time in over a month. In his absence the team has received inconsistent and often poor play from backups Brevin Knight and Dan Dickau at the point guard spot.

Although he did struggle with the game on the line, Kaman’s resiliency and gamesmanship is wonderful to see. His ability to bounce back from a poor performance is yet another aspect of Kaman’s game that has shown drastic improvement from seasons past. Performing under pressure come crunch time is one area in which Kaman could still use some improvement.

Even if Stoudemire is selected to the all-star roster along with Yao, who is very deserving and will likely be voted in by the fans, it does not take anything away from the wonderful season Kaman is putting together. If he continues to consistently perform at such a high level, he may be in line for a different honor, the NBA’s most improved player award.

Leading-scorer Corey Maggette and power forward Paul Davis both missed the game due to injuries. Davis injured his right knee against Dallas on Friday night, and an MRI Saturday revealed that he has a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the season.

Tim Thomas left Saturday’s game against the Spurs in the first quarter with a left knee injury after playing only for only two minutes. A MRI on Wednesday revealed no structural damage to Thomas’s knee and he is listed as day-to-day. The Clippers next game is Thursday night at home versus Phoenix.

The loss to the defending-champion Spurs was the fourth in a row for the Clippers. Rookie Al Thornton started for the second time in his career in place of Maggette and scored a career-high 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting. Chris Kaman recorded his twelfth consecutive double-double.

Sam Cassell played for the first time in 12 games but only saw nine minutes of action. Josh Powell started the game at power forward in place of Paul Davis, but only played 12 minutes. As a result, Thornton, Kaman, and Cuttino Mobley were all forced to play more than 40 minutes in the game, which was the Clippers second contest in as many nights.

Although it came in a loss, the Clippers’ determination and effort were impeccable. It would have been far too easy for the Clippers to quit in this game, but they never did.

They were missing several key contributors. It was the game before Christmas. They were trailing by 20 points with just three minutes to play in the third quarter. It would be logical and largely understandable if the Clippers had simply mailed in the game right then and accepted a blowout loss to a superior opponent.

Instead, the Clippers played inspired basketball to narrow the lead. From the three minute mark of the third until the Clippers cut the lead to six late in the fourth, the likely-tired group of Kaman, Mobley, and Thornton combined to score 24 points compared to just 15 by the entire Spurs team.

In the end, Tim Duncan, who finished the game with 34 points, refused to relinquish the lead, scoring the Spurs’ final seven points. He connected on all three of his free throw attempts down the stretch. Duncan also pulled down four offensive rebounds in the final two minutes of the game on his way to a season-high 18 boards.

Tony Parker scored 18 points in his first action after missing four games with a sprained left ankle.

It has been a while since I last updated the page, so what better way to get back into the swing of things than with a live blog of the Clippers game in Dallas on Friday night. The game was on ESPN, and Dave Pasch and Jon Barry had the call.

First Quarter

8:07 - ESPN puts up a graphic showing that Mike Dunleavy is the most winning coach in the history of the franchise. Pretty sad for a guy who has only coached the team for four full seasons and has a winning percentage of .457.

7:08 - Paul Davis hits a 20 footer from the right wing. If he can hit that shot it will take a lot of pressure off of Chris Kaman. I like Davis at the power forward spot, mostly because his name is not Tim Thomas.

6:22 - Chris Kaman bangs a jump shot from basically the same spot as Davis. The Clippers are up four and Dallas wants a timeout.

6:22 - Jason Terry is wearing a mic during this game and he is single-handedly changing my opinion of putting microphones on NBA players. We see Terry antagonizing some dude in a suit on the sideline prior to the game and then flirting with two teenage girls in the first row. Maybe the league had Jason in mind when they implemented the new microphone rules.

4:50 - Brevin Knight gets a steal but then pays for his nonchalance in the open floor as Jerry Stackhouse hustles back into the play and swats Knight’s lay-up off the backboard. If Knight can’t score on that play then I’m not sure why he’s on the court. It certainly isn’t for his jump shooting.

4:00 - Kaman dominates Brandon Bass in the post and finishes off the play with an easy righty hook. His post repertoire is extremely impressive.

3:27 - Paul Davis mercifully leaves the floor. After making his first shot Davis proceeded to brick two shots badly and nearly turn the ball over on a later possession.

2:40 - We get to listen to what coach Dunleavy said before the game. He wants the team to get 30 deflections defensively and keep Dallas’s guards out of transition. Keeping the Mavericks out of transition is certainly easier said than done. In hindsight maybe he should have told them to double-team Dirk Nowitzki, who has 12 of the Mavs’ 18 thus far.

2:00 - Kaman follows a Cuttino Mobley miss with a put-back slam. Prior to that the Clippers had missed 12 of 13 shots. Far too few if any of those shots were taken by Kaman. Considering how efficient he is as a scorer this team absolutely needs to get him touches on a higher percentage of its possessions.

0:00 - Knight fed Kaman cutting down the middle of the lane but he could not control the pass and Devin Harris missed a heave from beyond half court to end the first. The Clippers trail by just one, 23-22, despite Dirk Nowitzki scoring 13 and Corey Maggette picking up 2 early fouls trying to guard him. Kaman has 12 of the team’s points and is the only Clipper with more than two after a quarter

Second Quarter

12:00 - Dunleavy says that the pace of the first quarter was good for the Clippers and that they need to quit fouling Dirk. I may be convinced that the microphones are a cool idea but interviewing coaches between quarters is still really dumb. I don’t think we need Dunleavy to tell us that the Clippers are moving the ball well. That is what commentators are for. Let the man do his job.

10:30 - Devean George makes his first three of the season. The Clippers just can’t catch a break this year.

10:04 - Jerry Stackhouse goes to the foul line and Jon Barry says that Cuttino Mobley “put down the kibosh” on him. He is instantly one of my favorite commentators for using that phrase.

8:53 - Paul Davis falls down while defending Erick Dampier, and then proceeds to grab his knee and writhe in pain. He seemingly made no contact with Dampier and how exactly he injured himself is a mystery. Do I really need to say something about the extent to which injuries have ravaged this team?

8:31 - The Clippers have missed their last seven shots. Kaman was not on the floor for the first six of those misses. Without Chris out there the Clipper offense has no way of generating open looks.

7:25 - Kaman spins to the left box and hits a left handed hook from seven feet away. He seriously has like forty post moves in his arsenal.

6:45 - Dirk posts up Dan Dickau and then turns and makes a fifteen-foot fadeaway right over the top. That is probably the biggest mismatch in the history of organized basketball.

6:18 - Dirk hits another shot and the Clippers need a timeout. The Clips have only managed to score six points so far in the second quarter. There is the 25th ranked Clippers’ offense we all know and love.

6:18 - ESPN cuts to a clip of Kaman talking about the relative merits of fishing, hunting, and skeet shooting. Wow that dude is a hick. Kaman says that he likes fishing the most. We all know which one Pacman Jones would choose if he had the chance.

5:30 - In response to Kaman’s interview the commentators are discussing bating their own hooks. This situation is getting out of control.

4:40 - Mobley connects on a triple, the Clippers’ first of the game. Having Kaman back on the floor makes everything easier for the Clippers’ offense. He is scoring in bunches, he is a great passer, and the Dallas defense focuses almost all of its attention on him, giving the Clippers’ perimeter shooters extra space to operate.

3:45 - Lisa Salters interviews Sam Cassell who tells her that the Clippers offense is the team’s biggest problem. In other news the sky is blue and water is quite wet. Cassell says he hopes to return Saturday night against the Spurs. Cassell could certainly be a big lift offensively. Even if he isn’t completely healthy he is ten times the offensive player that Brevin Knight is.

0:40 - Devin Harris nails a three from the top of the key over Knight. If Harris can hit that shot then Brevin has no chance of guarding him. If Knight plays up on him to take away that shot, Harris will blow right past him, like he did a couple of possessions prior.

0:00 - The Mavs lead 54-42 at the half. The Clippers have been successful at keeping Dallas out of transition, but they simply can’t score enough points to keep up. Kaman is only a rebound away from a double-double already.

Third Quarter

12:00 - ESPN shows a clip of Mike Dunleavy giving his halftime speech. He tells his team that they are playing best offensively when they “make things happen.” Good to see the insightful instruction for which he makes the big bucks on full display.

10:56 - Kaman pulls down a rebound giving him a double-double in only 21 minutes of action thus far.

8:18 - Ruben Patterson’s replacement Richie Frahm scores two quick buckets on a fadeaway and a fastbreak lay-up. The Clippers are within four. The Gonzaga connection of Frahm and Dickau have combined for just those four points.

6:25 - Devin Harris blows by Brevin Knight for what seems like the millionth time tonight giving the Mavs a five point lead. Some combination of Harris’s speed, Knight’s lack thereof, and the Clippers substandard help-defense has allowed Harris to get into the lane at will all night.

4:30 - Kaman sets a screen and then rolls to the left wing, where Knight finds him for a fifteen footer. Kaman’s jumper looks really great and he doesn’t hesitate to let it go.

4:00 - Speaking of jump shooting, Tim Thomas is having a horrible time doing just that this season. He is 3-for-10 from the field and 0-for-3 from three so far on the night. His shot selection is terrible, and he completely kills the Clippers offensive motion. Nearly every time he catches the ball, Thomas holds it for a few seconds and then fires a bad shot. He is a total black hole with the ball.

2:30 - Jon Barry conjectures that Dirk Nowitzki might not know who Frank Sinatra is. Jon’s stock as a commentator is falling quickly in spite of the previous “kibosh” usage.

1:25 - Kaman catches the ball in the middle of the lane, dribbles left, and scores over two defenders with his left hand. A graphic informs us that Kaman has increased his scoring by 8.2 points from last season, the sixth largest increase of any player. The commentators inform us that Kaman resided in a 65-foot boat in Mexico for two months during the off-season. Hard to say how that led to his improvement.

0:00 - Quinton Ross hits a jumper from the left corner just inside the three-point line at the buzzer to cut the Dallas lead to ten, 73-63.

Fourth Quarter

11:35 - Al Thornton, due to indecision about whether or not to double-team Dirk, gets slammed by a down screen and Jerry Stackhouse hits a wide open jumper from the top of the key. Whenever the Clippers leave Dirk on an island, he scores easily. When they double down on him he finds wide-open teammates for easy buckets.

8:49 - Jason Terry knocks in a wide-open three to give the Mavs a 15-point lead. The Clippers look downright confused defensively, as they are egregiously late rotating to shooters. On the two possessions prior Dirk scored on nearly identical fade-aways over Mobley. Why Cuttino would be matched up on Dirk is anyone’s guess.

7:00 - Kaman throws the ball away out of a double team, and Jason Terry picks it off for an easy score at the other end. Handling the double-team is still the biggest challenge facing Kaman. Clippers fans have to be pleased that Kaman has played well enough this season to garner double-teams in the first place.

6:30 - Mobley makes a couple of nice defensive plays against Dirk, forcing him to miss a tough shot and then coming up with a steal on the subsequent possession. The Clippers cut the “Kobe stopper,” Ruben Patterson from the roster, so Mobley better watch out.

5:17 - Dan Dickau scores a windmill lay-up off of yet another Mobley steal to cut the Dallas lead to seven. Every now and then Dickau looks really good for a play or two. Not enough to really help the Clippers that much, but just enough to give fans false hope.

3:42 - Jason Terry beats Dickau around a screen for an open jumper. On the previous play Dickau missed a three with no one within twenty feet of him. See what I mean about this guy.

2:04 - Josh Howard puts the icing on this game with a nice crossover move for a long two-pointer. The Dallas lead is 99-83.

1:20 - Kaman goes to the bench. He will likely finish the night with 24 points and 19 rebounds. Just another night at the office for Kaman who is pretty much an automatic double-double.

0:11 - Josh Powell gets a bucket in garbage time. Remember when I picked him to be the Clippers’ most improved player? Me neither.

0:00 - The Clippers fall to 9-16 by the final score of 102-89. They played well for stretches but simply fell victim to far too many scoring droughts throughout the game. Other than Kaman, the Clippers players are all far too willing to settle for contested jump shots rather than taking the ball to the rim or getting open shots in the flow of the offense.

There were several good signs for the Clippers in this game. Cuttino Mobley, who has been playing ineffectively through injury for much of the season, made all five of his second-half shots. Ruben Patterson made a significantly positive contribution for the first time in recent memory with 10 points, five rebounds, and four steals in just 22 minutes.

As a team the Clippers out-rebounded their opponent for the first time in six games. They also shot 47.9 percent from the field, which is far better than their 41.8 percent on the season.

More than any of those things, however, the most impressive part of this victory was the play of Chris Kaman. Not only has Kaman been the only Clipper to be both healthy and playing consistently strong basketball for the entire season, but he is quickly developing into a star player.

Friday night’s game was a microcosm of Kaman’s improvement. His line certainly jumps out of the box score. Kaman scored a career-high 26 points, ripped down 12 rebounds, dished out four assists, and blocked three shots.

Like the majority of his teammates, Kaman scored his points with a great deal of efficiency, going 9-for-12 form the field and 8-for-10 from the charity stripe. Of his three misses from the floor, one came from nearly halfcourt to end of the second quarter.

As impressive as those numbers are, they cannot possibly quantify just how good Kaman was in this game. His transition from role player to centerpiece was on full display. The Clippers ran their offense through Kaman for the majority of the night, and he did not disappoint.

When the Kings decided not to double down on him, Kaman torched Brad Miller with a dazzling array of post moves. He finished at the basket with both hands, displaying the ambidextrousness for which he was famous at Central Michigan. Even his mid-range jump shot looked flawless.

When the Kings did come with a double, Kaman was ready. On several occasions he either kicked the ball out to a wide-open jump shooter or threaded a nifty pass to a teammate cutting to the rim.

Kaman has been faced with various challenges throughout this young season, and each time he has answered the call. He is currently averaging career-highs in scoring, rebounding, blocks, assists, free-throw percentage, and minutes. He is third in the NBA in both rebounds and blocked shots per game.

Considering all that Kaman has accomplished this season, there is little doubt that he should be a strong candidate to play in the all-star game. It would be hard to find a player more deserving of the honor this season than Kaman.

The Western Conference is loaded with deserving centers and power forwards, however, so making it to New Orleans will be no easy task. This is especially true since the great people of China will be ensuring that one Yao Ming will be voted in as the starter for the west at center. This means that the other 10 centers on the ballot will be vying for only one or possibly two roster spots.

With a myriad of all-star worthy power forwards out west including likely starter Tim Duncan, Carlos Boozer, Al Jefferson, Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, and David West, it is doubtful that two reserve centers will be selected. This means that Kaman will likely be competing with nine other centers for one roster spot rather than two.

Of those nine centers there are a few whom Kaman should have no trouble out-performing. Kaman is a far stronger all-star candidate than Erick Dampier, Mehmet Okur, or Brad Miller. These guys really have no business in the same conversation with Kaman.

Andris Biedrins and Tyson Chandler are each averaging double-doubles, but Kaman has better numbers than either of them in scoring, rebounding, and blocked shots.

LaMarcus Aldridge is a strong candidate because (like Kaman) he is having a breakout season. The two are very close in scoring, with Kaman (18.8 ppg) holding a slight advantage over Aldridge (18.4 ppg). Kaman’s 13.8 rebounds per contest, however, are far superior to Aldridge’s 7.9. Kaman is simply a far more versatile player at this point in his career than Aldridge.

Pau Gasol’s numbers are nearly identical to those of Aldridge in scoring and rebounding. While those numbers represent a major improvement over last season for Aldridge, they are a major drop-off for Gasol. That statistical decline will certainly hurt Gasol’s all-star candidacy.

If the coaches deem that Kaman is having a superior year to those seven centers, then he will likely be competing with Marcus Camby and Amare Stoudemire for a spot on the squad. Camby is second in the league in both rebounding and blocked shots, just ahead of Kaman in each category. Stoudemire is averaging 21.4 points and 8.7 rebounds for the impressive Suns and has a great deal more star power than either Kaman or Camby.

In a perfect world, the coaches would reward Kaman for having an exceptional year despite playing for a Clippers’ squad that is teeming with injuries. In reality, Stoudemire will likely beat Kaman out based on his household name.