Kaman’s Recent Surge Is No Surprise to Webber

Chris Kaman probably opened some eyes Saturday night.

Making 11 of 17 shots in a 99-95 loss to the Sacramento Kings, the second-year Clipper center showed off a rare aggressiveness and scored on a variety of attempts -- midrange jumpers, follow dunks, layups with both hands.

Chris Webber, though, indicated he’d seen it all before.

“I know him really well,” said the King forward, whose brother David was a teammate of Kaman’s at Central Michigan. “He played with my brother. ...

“I brought him out here [to Sacramento] to work out with us before he went to college, so I know him. I love him. He’s like my white brother. He knows I want to kill him [on the court], and he wants to kill me.”

Kaman, slowed by an ankle injury and emergency appendectomy in the season’s first two months, has averaged only 5.9 points and 5.2 rebounds.

But he has come on strong in the new year, averaging 10.5 points, 7.1 rebounds and 25.1 minutes in eight games this month while making 52% of his shots from the field.

“He got injured and took a step back because I think he lost some confidence,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said.

“But we’ve been pushing him and pushing him about being more aggressive and playing the kind of game he can play.”

Said Kaman, who gave up his senior season at Central Michigan and was the sixth pick in the 2003 draft: “I’ve just been trying to improve my game a little bit. I work on it every day, trying to keep myself being assertive and taking smart shots. If I get my opportunities to make shots, I try to make the best of it.”

The Clippers love his upside.

Webber too.

“I think the sky’s the limit,” Webber said. “He can do a lot of things.... Maybe when his contract is up, he can come help us.”