He’s Struggling to Give It His Best Shot

Cherokee Parks got his fifth consecutive start at power forward Wednesday night in the Clippers’ 114-101 loss to the Magic, and for the fourth time in five games, Parks failed to produce offensively.

In 10 minutes, Parks scored two points. In his five starts, Parks has scored 22 points, 12 of those coming in Tuesday’s overtime loss at Miami.

“We have to have a little more confidence in our perimeter shooting,” Coach Alvin Gentry said. “We lose spacing because we keep moving in and when teams double Lamar Odom, we must have guys in the right position.

“When we throw out the basketball you have to shoot it. I told Cherokee if you have an open shot and you pass it up after they trap Lamar, it’s the same as shooting a bad shot. . . . the reason we have him out there is because we think he can make that shot.”

Parks has discovered that playing with the starting unit is different than the second group.

“Playing with the first group is hard because we run so much stuff for [Odom] and [Michael Olowokandi],” Parks said. “I understand that teams will double one of them and then it is up for me or [Eric Piatkowski] to be in position for the open shot or have a mismatch. What makes it so tough is that you don’t know when your look is going to come.”

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With Orlando ahead by 25 points in the second half, the crowd at TD Waterhouse Centre began to chant for Clipper backup power forward Derek Strong to be put into the game.

Strong, who played his previous four seasons with the Magic, never did leave the bench. It was the 27th time Strong did not see action.

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Late last season, the Clippers decided that former Continental Basketball Assn. standout Troy Hudson was not in their plans, clearing the way for Jeff McInnis to be retained as the lone returning point guard.

Since then, Hudson has found a home with the Magic, where he is a backup to Darrell Armstrong. Hudson did not score against the Clippers.

“I’m enjoying myself every time I step on the court,” said Hudson, who has a high of 30 points this season. “This is a great situation for me.”