Despite Defeat, Club Optimistic

No one brags about 16 victories at the All-Star break.

But when you are the Clippers, who won only 15 of 82 games last season, there is reason to believe you’ve made progress since the start of training camp.

“I think we’ve done well over the first half because we’ve done everything we possibly could as a team,” veteran power forward Derek Strong said. “We are better off record-wise than this team has been in a long time. We really can’t complain.”

Coach Alvin Gentry can only shake his head about the games the Clippers came close to winning but lost.

“Obviously, we wish our won and lost record was better,” Gentry said. “However, I think we’ve consistently played pretty hard. Most nights, we’ve given it good effort, and for the most part we’ve played unselfish.

“But we’ve lost far too many close games and part of that can be attributed to the youth that we have and the other part is that we just haven’t gotten it done down the stretch.”

After losing nine consecutive games, the Clippers’ confidence was a little shaky but winning three of four games before the All-Star break has improved the team’s outlook.

“The key for us is to play the whole season out, all 82 games, even the last game in April,” Gentry said. “We have to start showing improvement, especially in close games. We have to be able to step up and make free throws and plays down the stretch. That will give us something to build on and show that we are growing as a team and individually.”

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The Clippers head into the break as one of only two teams to have three players among the top 40 shot-blockers in the league. Lamar Odom ranks 17th with a 1.78 average, Darius Miles 23rd at 1.52 a game and Michael Olowokandi 30th at 1.24.

Odom and Miles are each on pace to reach 100 blocks for the season, and if that happens, it will be the first time since Stanley Roberts (141) and Danny Manning (101) did it over the 1992-93 season.

With a 2.54 average over his last 13 games heading into Wednesday’s game at Golden State, Olowokandi also could finish with 100 blocks, which would be the first time three Clippers did it in the same season.

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Odom, Miles, Corey Maggette and Quentin Richardson will leave today for Washington to take part in this weekend’s All-Star events. Odom, Miles and Richardson will play in Saturday’s Schick Rookie Challenge, a 40-minute game between the last two classes of rookies. Maggette will participate in Saturday night’s slam-dunk contest.