Officiating Continues to Frustrate Gentry

Don’t look for Coach Alvin Gentry to be exchanging too many Christmas gifts with NBA officials today, based on the way he has ripped into them this season. Even though Gentry has only been ejected once and has only three technical fouls in 28 games, it would be an understatement to say he’s been frustrated with the lack of calls that go in the Clippers’ favor late in games.

With a young team like the Clippers, who struggled to keep their composure over the first month of the season, Gentry has been able to toe the line of riding officials without being a distraction to his players.

“It’s always a good thing to know that your coach has your back no matter what,” said Lamar Odom, who leads the Clippers with eight technical fouls this season.

“We’re trying to mature quickly. That was a problem last season, worrying about the refs. This season, we’ve tried to make it a point to focus on playing. [Gentry] has always told us that our fate is in our own hands and not anyone else’s.”

Following the Clippers’ two-point victory over Vancouver on Saturday, Gentry was still clearly upset about the game’s officiating at least 30 minutes after Sean Rook’s last-second, game-winning rebound basket.

It’s this type of intensity that is starting to rub off on the Clippers. After losing several close games, including five in overtime, they own a two-game winning streak thanks to their strong play in crunch time. They were able to overcome two questionable non-calls in their victory over the Grizzlies and their own late fouls in a win over Minnesota on Wednesday.

Veteran Eric Piatkowski knows how the Clippers can get better calls.

“You want other teams to respect you and you want the referees to respect you, but the only way you get it is if you go out and play really hard with a lot of energy every night,” Piatkowski said following the team’s morning practice Sunday at L.A. Southwest College. “Once you show that’s the way you play every night, then you’ll get respect from everybody.

“We’re playing a lot harder now than we had in the past and when you play that way, things are going to go good for you. Whether it is the refereeing or anything. Teams that play hard and go after people get calls and they are allowed to play physical. It’s tough to play against teams like that. As young and athletic as we are, if we can play with that type of energy at all times and go hard, we’ll develop that type of reputation.”

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The Clippers will leave today for Denver and start a two-game trip Tuesday against the Nuggets. They will play at Dallas on Thursday. . . . Odom’s nine blocked shots against the Grizzlies fell one shy of the franchise record held by Benoit Benjamin.