Clippers travel back in time

Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy says his team has been out of sync since traveling to Russia in the exhibition season. Others in the organization point to the slow starts of power forward Elton Brand and point guard Sam Cassell -- a formidable 1-2 punch on offense last season.

Brand’s performance is a particularly sensitive subject for the Clippers because of how hard he pushes himself before and after practice in individual workouts. But Brand has not been as active this season after his long summer playing on the U.S. national team, NBA scouts say.

Last season’s success was supposed to be a springboard for the Clippers to new heights this season, but they are 19-21 nearly midway into their schedule, despite making few roster changes, and are one behind Minnesota for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“Without question, they have to be ranked up there with the most disappointing teams,” said Kenny Smith, an NBA analyst for TNT and two-time champion with the Houston Rockets.

“Obviously, there are a lot of things you could speculate on as far as being problems, from guys getting big contracts, to changes in their lives or whatever,” Smith said. “I see a team that doesn’t execute offensively nearly as well as it did last year and doesn’t seem to show the same effort on defense it did last year. You know that they have most of the same guys, it’s just not the same team.”

The Clippers will have 41 games remaining after playing the Milwaukee Bucks tonight at Staples Center, and Brand and Cassell have shown signs of reverting to form. The Clippers, however, face a difficult road to earn a playoff berth. The Clippers were 26-14 last season at this point and finished 47-35, their highest victory total since moving from Buffalo to California in 1978.

They made their first playoff appearance in nine seasons and won a postseason series for the first time in 30 years.

“After last season, we expected a lot of ourselves,” Brand said. “It wasn’t about the expectations from outside, it’s about what we believed we should do.”

Indeed, many NBA executives, coaches and scouts said the Clippers had the potential to win 50 games and possibly earn a top playoff seeding.

That talk ended quickly.

The Clippers are 5-14 on the road and have had five- and six-game losing streaks.

“I’ve always believed that for teams the first year making the playoffs, first year feeling good about themselves, they don’t understand how hard the second year is,” Denver Nuggets Coach George Karl said. “It’s a little bit of a psychological and mental toughness that a year-in and year-out team has.

“Some years, the [success] of last year is lost by, I hate the word selfish, but by thinking they’re good instead of proving they’re good. Moving up the ladder to being an every year, 50-win team is hard. They don’t make a lot of them. It’s a psychological trip as much as a talent and skill trip.”

A look at the Clippers’ statistics reveals only slight differences on offense compared with the same stage last season, but the team’s defensive numbers tell a different story.

The Clippers were first in blocked shots (6.39 a game) and second in opponent field-goal percentage (43.5%) last season. This season, they’re fourth in blocks (5.90) and 14th in field-goal percentage (45.4%).

Moreover, the Clippers have experienced a major drop-off in “hustle stats,” as puts it, such as rebounds, deflections and second-chance points. The team was No. 1 in rebounding at this time last season with 44.35 a game; the Clippers are now 16th at 41.03.

“Their numbers aren’t even close to comparable with what they had last year on deflections, loose-ball rebounds, second-chance points and things like that,” TNT’s Smith said. “That says a lot in terms of your focus, your effort and the intangibles we always point to for winning teams.”

Dunleavy said he’s spent “a lot of sleepless nights” pondering the team’s energy issues and is convinced that opening training camp in Russia in October, at the NBA’s request, adversely affected the team.

“Just from talking to guys I know in other sports, who have taken their teams [out of the country] before the season starts, they’ve told me that it always takes time to get back to where you need to be” in terms of energy, he said. “One guy told me it took his team two months to kind of get over it, so you just try to hold it together as best you can.

“We have basically the same team as we did last year, and the philosophy is the same, so, yeah, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out why the stuff was so much sharper last year on film.”

Brand and Cassell are the keys to a Clippers turnaround in the second half of the season, Western Conference scouts who follow the team said.

Cassell (14.6 points, 5.4 assists) has been slowed because of a heel injury, and Brand’s numbers have also fallen significantly.

Brand averaged a personal-best 24.7 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots in 39.2 minutes a game last season. This season, he’s down to 20.6 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in 38.3 minutes. He had 25 double-doubles through 40 games last season, ranking sixth in the league. Now he is 14th, with 18 double-doubles.

Because of how hard Brand works in practice, Dunleavy has gently encouraged him to ease off the accelerator at times.

Cassell and Brand combined to average 41.9 points a game last season, versus 35.2 this season, which hasn’t been enough for the Clippers because center Chris Kaman and point guard Shaun Livingston haven’t been as productive as many in the organization envisioned.

In the team’s last two victories over the Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies, Brand and Cassell averaged 52.5 points. The Clippers could make a move if the tandem continued to score closer to its mark from last season and the group gets its battery recharged, team officials said.

“This basketball team is by no means finished,” Cassell said. “We got away from the things we needed to do, we haven’t had that same spark that we did last season, but it’s not over yet. Not even close.”

TONIGHT

vs. Milwaukee, 7:30, FSN Prime Ticket

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- 710.

Records -- Clippers 19-21, Bucks 17-23.

Record vs. Bucks (2005-06) -- 2-0.

Update -- Point guard Shaun Livingston, who sat out the last two games because of a sprained right ankle, practiced Monday and might play tonight. Coach Mike Dunleavy said Livingston would come off the bench when he returns. The Bucks are last in the Central Division and have lost three in a row.

jason.reid@latimes.com

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Falling behind

Comparing the Clippers’ numbers this season with last season:

*--* Category 05-06 06-07 FG% 46.5 46.4 Opp. FG% 43.5 45.4 RPG 43.1 41.0 APG 20.8 20.8 PPG 97.2 96.1 Opp. PPG 95.6 97.7

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