Clippers Aren’t Ready to Change Coach Yet

A day after a listless 94-86 loss to the San Antonio Spurs extended the Clippers’ losing streak to six games, General Manager Elgin Baylor took the unusual step of addressing the team before a workout Monday at Los Angeles Southwest College.

Baylor then answered the burning question posed by a reporter, but on the minds of basketball fans everywhere, saying, “At this time, no,” when asked if the struggling team needed a coaching change or a trade.

Alvin Gentry recently has been the target of speculation that he’ll be the next NBA coach to be fired if the Clippers cannot recover from a slump that has left them in last place in the Pacific Division, 13 games out of first place when play began Monday.

This is the last season on Gentry’s three-year contract, although the Clippers hold an option for 2003-04. He reportedly is one of the league’s lowest-paid coaches at $1.25 million for this season. The average salary is $3.28 million.

From the start of training camp, Gentry has refused to speak of his future with the team, although he joked recently that his New Year’s resolution was to win enough games to be back next season.

“I think it’s been very disappointing for everybody so far,” Baylor said Monday. “The expectations of this team were very high. My impression after the meeting was that everybody’s spirits were up.... We expect to get better.”

The Clippers are 12-22, having lost eight of their last nine games. They have been bruised and battered by all manner of injuries this season, missing three of their best outside shooters while going 29 for 86 (33.7%) Sunday against the Spurs.

But there’s more to the Clippers’ recent stretch of poor play and bad results, and Baylor sought to point at least some of it out to the players Monday.

Baylor said he often meets with players individually, but Monday was the first time this season he addressed them as a group. It also was the first time he answered questions about Gentry’s future with the team.

First, Baylor met with Gentry to watch videotape. Later, they showed the players some of the things they have been doing wrong. Baylor said it was more of a pep talk than anything.

“It was a positive meeting,” Baylor said. “We talked about certain issues we’re not doing as a team. There are some fundamental things, nothing extraordinary, that we have to do like defending the pick and roll and blocking out. What’s changed for us is that we’re not getting any easy baskets off turnovers. The other teams aren’t shooting great against us, but that’s how they’re scoring. We have to be more aggressive.”

Several players, including forward Corey Maggette, mentioned the team’s lifeless play as a reason for Sunday’s loss. Maggette said the players must accept the responsibility for the team’s lackluster play and poor record.

“You can’t blame the coach,” he said. “We’ve got to play better.”

Baylor said simply because the team’s shooting percentage is down, it’s no time to let down on the other end of the court. “If you aren’t scoring, guess what? It’s time to tighten up defensively,” he said.

Baylor, when asked what he considered the biggest stumbling block, responded: “It’s a number of simple things that have added up. We had to go back to school. We’re athletic enough to do these things.”

With 48 games remaining, the Clippers still have a mathematical chance to post a winning record and advance to the playoffs -- two reasonable goals Gentry set for the team during training camp. But the Clippers must get their act together, which is why Baylor met with the team.

“Anything is possible,” Baylor said. “It’s not going to be impossible to put together a good stretch and win our share of the games. If the ball doesn’t go in the basket, then we’ve got to make it more difficult for the other team.”

Gentry made clear his intentions after Sunday’s loss to the Spurs.

“We can do one of two things,” he said during his postgame session with reporters. “We can pack it in or keep fighting. I choose to keep fighting, and I’m going to play the guys who are going to keep fighting.”

He wouldn’t talk about Monday’s meeting in detail, but did echo Baylor while saying: “It’s been a disappointment for everybody involved the way we’re playing right now. [Baylor] is looking at what we can do as a team to turn it around. He’s not a blame guy. He’s a results guy. We talk all the time. It’s not unusual for us to be talking. We talk after almost every game.”

Gentry also said it’s time for the Clippers to look at the season in a new way. “I think we’ve got to take the last 48 games of the year and play them as if they were the season,” he said. “We can’t do anything about the ones we’ve played and lost. There’s no reason to go back. We’ve got to observe and learn from the 22 losses we’ve had, but we should look ahead and ask, ‘What can we do to change the course of our season?’ ”

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Quentin Richardson, who sprained his left ankle Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies, will be sidelined for the rematch Wednesday. He wore a protective boot Monday.

Eric Piatkowski, sidelined by a lower abdominal strain, is not ready to come off the injured list. He participated in some of the team’s drills, but it’s believed that he will sit out at least another week. Marko Jaric, on the injured list because of a sprained left ankle, did not practice. He also is expected to sit out another week.

The Clippers will wear alternate road uniforms -- blue instead of red, with “Los Angeles” rather than “Clippers” written in script on the front -- for their Jan. 20 game against the Lakers at Staples Center.