Excitement Builds for Young Clippers

Nothing has changed. The Clippers remain hopeful instead of hopeless. As expected, they have emerged as a bona fide playoff contender with a 25-26 record heading into the stretch drive.

What happens in the next 31 games is anyone’s guess, however. If the first 51 games are any indication, it promises to be lively.

The Clippers, the NBA’s youngest team with an average age of 24.8, get back to work tonight against the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center. Well, perhaps work isn’t the correct word.

So far, the Clippers have played their best basketball when it looked as if they were having fun. When they smiled and mugged for the fans and talked trash to the opposition, their futures appeared boundless. When they played with scowls on their faces, they appeared mired in goo, unable to win.

In the final analysis, the Clippers are simply a work in progress.

“We’ve played well in some sequences and we’ve played horrible in others,” swingman Corey Maggette said. “I’d grade us a C-minus. We can pick it up. We’re still capable of getting better.”

How much the Clippers improve depends on at least two medical reports. They have done just fine so far without the services of forward Lamar Odom and guard Keyon Dooling for extended periods.

Odom sat out eight games because of a drug suspension in November. He has also been sidelined since Jan. 24 because of a sprained right wrist and is expected to be out for several more weeks.

Dooling sprained his left ankle Nov. 14 against the Chicago Bulls and only now appears fit to return to practice with his teammates. It remains uncertain when he will be able to play, however.

In the meantime, the Clippers will rely on those who have brought them this far, starting with power forward Elton Brand.

One of the questions facing the team at training camp was whether Brand could duplicate his averages of 20 points and 10 rebounds in the more competitive Western Conference. He proved he could do it in the East in two seasons with Chicago, but could he match up with the likes of Karl Malone, Rasheed Wallace and Tim Duncan after the Bulls traded him to the Clippers last summer?

So far, so good.

Brand is averaging 19 points and 11.2 rebounds and is coming off his first All-Star game appearance. He has done it all while battling nagging injuries that Coach Alvin Gentry said might have sidelined another player.

“If we were being realistic here, the guy probably should have missed six or eight games because of his [sore] elbow, shoulder and knee,” Gentry said. “He’s struggled some and he’s never used it as an excuse or complained. He plays all the games like they’re the seventh game of the NBA finals.”

And that presents this question: Has this become Elton Brand’s team?

“I don’t think it’s become anyone’s team because of the play of Quentin and Michael and Corey,” Gentry said, referring to Quentin Richardson, Michael Olowokandi and Maggette. “It has truly become a team, but I don’t think it’s anybody’s team. That’s a good thing because everybody has a chance to step up for us. Sooner or later, you will have a pecking order. Everything eventually falls into place.”

After 51 games, various players have played the role of go-to guy.

Point guard Jeff McInnis has stepped up on occasion, as when he had a season-best 31 points in a victory Jan. 26 against the Mavericks at Dallas. Olowokandi has had his moments, too, matching his career high of 27 points twice in a five-game span. Both players need new contracts at season’s end and have played to impress.

Maggette, Richardson and Darius Miles give the Clippers three superb players in reserve roles. Maggette has filled in recently for Odom as the starting small forward, often guarding the opposition’s best offensive player. Richardson and Miles have been more comfortable coming off the bench, giving the team a jolt of energy.

Richardson seems destined to be named sixth man of the year. He is averaging 13.9 points. Miles, only 20, often appears destined for the rafters when he takes off for one of his electrifying moves to the basket. He is averaging 9.1 points.

Gentry has kept his poise through Odom’s drug suspension, the arrest of Olowokandi for assault (charges were not filed by the district attorney) and a hotel lobby scuffle among Brand, Maggette and Obinna Ekezie. On the surface, the coach has been calm, cool and collected, no matter the circumstances.

“It’s remarkable,” said John Hammond, Detroit Piston director of player personnel and a former Gentry assistant. “Because of the improvement last year, people don’t appreciate the job he has done this year. My gosh! That team is right at .500. I think he’s doing another outstanding job coaching that team on the floor and keeping that young team together with all the different personalities he has to deal with.

“One of the major factors in coaching in this league is the maturing of the players. He has an entire team of players maturing for the most part. He has contract situations he’s dealing with right now because a lot of players are at the end of their deals. I mean, look how these guys are improving. Look at the improvement of Darius Miles and, most important, look at the improvement of Quentin Richardson.”

Improvement, no matter how slight, pleases Gentry. Last season, the Clippers won 31 games. With seven victories in their final 31 games, they will top that figure.

“We’re making progress,” Gentry said. “I think people expect us to make a quantum leap. As long as we’re making progress, that’s the important thing to me. It may never be a quantum leap.”

The Clippers desperately want to make the playoffs for the first time since 1996-97, but Gentry said that should not be the only standard that determines whether 2001-02 is a successful season.

“If we don’t make the playoffs, I refuse to call the season a failure,” he said. “We just have to make sure we’re making progress. I think we’re definitely headed in the right direction. We’re not satisfied. We want to be better.”