LAKERS / CLIPPERS REPORT

Clipper assistant John Hammond has seen plenty of growth from rookie point guard Keyon Dooling and he should know--he coached Dooling last season in college.

Hammond, who joined the Clippers’ coaching staff after one season as associate head coach at Missouri, knew Dooling had the talent to make it on the pro level, he just didn’t know how he would make the adjustment as a 20-year-old.

“I expected him to be able to use his athleticism to get the ball to the basket and he’s proven that he can do that,” Hammond said. “He did it in college and he’s done it in the NBA. You can see that he’s doing that by his ability to get to the free-throw line.”

Heading into Saturday night’s game, Dooling was second on the team behind Lamar Odom with 97 free throws despite ranking 10th in minutes played per game.

Dooling still keeps in touch with some of his Missouri teammates and follows what is happening on the college level.

“I look back all the time,” Dooling said about his decision to leave college following his sophomore season. “Sometimes I do miss it, but I know you have to move on. . . I am doing my job now and this is what I do.”

The Clippers have been pleased with Dooling’s development. His shooting has slowly improved and he’s been more aggressive leading the team.

“He’s had some ups and downs, but his ups have outweighed the downs by a ton,” Coach Alvin Gentry said. “He has made some great plays for us. He is playing with a lot more confidence. He really understands what we want to get done . . . we have Jeff [McInnis] and now Keyon, which means we can keep fresh guys in there and that really helps.”

Hammond said Dooling knows he has a lot of room for improvement.

“The next step for Keyon is breaking people down and making plays for himself and also finding the next open person,” he said. “There’s no question that is going to happen. It is only a matter of time.”

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When it comes to Bryant, count Gentry as a fan.

“I don’t think there’s been anyone who has played as well as Kobe this season,” Gentry said before Saturday’s game. “He has been playing at such a high level. It has been really Jordan-like. If you go back and look at his stats over the last 15 to 20 games, it is kind of frightening.

“It’s hard for one guy to contain him. No one has been able to do that yet. It’s like talking about Michael [Jordan]. You have to help quite a bit and that leaves things open for the other guys. So it comes down that you have to do anything you can to contain Kobe and make the other guys beat you. . . . There are no Kobe rules yet, but it is getting close.”