McInnis Looking Better Than Ever

Alvin Gentry happily watched point guard Jeff McInnis have a breakout season in 2000-01. McInnis started 81 games (missing one because of a sore knee), averaged 12.9 points and 5.5 assists and led the NBA in assists-to-turnover ratio.

But the Clipper coach knew McInnis could do more, so he challenged him at the start of this season.

“I told him sometimes he’s a little too conservative,” Gentry said. “He’s capable of making more plays than he’s made in the past. He can be more aggressive offensively without forcing the ball.”

Perhaps the talk helped because McInnis went into Wednesday’s game against the Chicago Bulls as the Clippers’ second-leading scorer with a 15.1-point average. He also was averaging 6.7 assists, which put him 15th in the league and not far behind some of the best-known playmakers.

No question, McInnis’ scoring is a plus, what with the suspension of Lamar Odom on Nov. 5 because of a violation of the league’s drug policy. The Clippers have been counting on McInnis’ confident play at the point for some time, however.

“At the end of last year, he was playing as well as any point guard in the league,” Gentry said. “He’s taking care of the ball [this season]. He’s shot the ball better than people expected him to. He’s a leader on the floor. We hope he continues to play that way.”

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Quentin Richardson, averaging 14.4 points, was one of the reasons the Clippers went into the game with the league’s third-best bench scoring. Clipper reserves were averaging 36.6 points.