There’s Still a Hole in Middle

Still looking for that next Benoit Benjamin.

The Clippers, who arrived in Los Angeles in the early ‘80s with a spent Bill Walton and then endured the Benoit Era, are still desperately seeking a center.

Bill Fitch, who endured the last of the Stanley Roberts era, not to mention the Dwayne Schintzius era, got by last season with forwards Loy Vaught, Bo Outlaw and Lorenzen Wright playing there. He is now trying Stojko Vrankovic, who has size, not to mention an elevated fouls-per-minute ratio, and rookie Keith Closs, who has possibilities but weighs only 212 and often gets pushed all the way under the basket by opponents.

“That’s the area we’re still struggling at,” Fitch said. “Closs is a wait-on guy. The next year or two, he’s never going to do it throwing his weight around so he’s got to do it with experience, from the shoulders on up. You wait for him to blossom, a little bit like you wait for Wright and guys like that.

“Stojko, he’s just what you’ve got, a guy who can go out and block some shots, get in the way. He touches more balls accidentally than the shorter guys do, skill-wise.”

TONIGHT

Clippers at Golden State

* 7:30

Site--Oakland Coliseum Arena.

Radio--KEZY-FM (95.9).

Records--Clippers 6-24, Warriors 7-21.

Record vs. Warriors--1-0.

Update--Starting the new year with a month that will send them on the road for 10 of 16 games, the Clippers make their first visit to the newly renovated arena. After firing Latrell Sprewell, the Warriors, who had started 1-14, won five home games in a row but have lost their last two there, to the Philadelphia 76ers and Seattle SuperSonics. Forwards Joe Smith and Donyell Marshall are comers whose averages have climbed since Sprewell’s exit and, with center Erick Dampier, form a respectable front line. Guards Bimbo Coles and Brian Shaw, however, shoot 37% and 31%, respectively.