The Clippers made a decision Thursday many have been calling for since the 2007-08 season. Mike Dunleavy is no longer the head coach of the team.
I’ve long been conflicted about Dunleavy’s tenure as head coach. There’s a tendency to forget how bad things were 10 years ago, how Dunleavy’s hire coincided, almost to the week, with the Clippers’ matching an $82 million offer sheet for Elton Brand and a $42 million offer sheet for Corey Maggette. Those expenditures were unthinkable in the 90s, and Dunleavy’s arrival had something to do with that. Under Dunleavy, the Clippers became just another NBA franchise, one that succeeded and failed on the strength of its on-court execution and personnel decisions. Ten years ago, that wasn’t the case.
In 2005, he turned an improbable menagerie of players that included an aging Sam Cassell, a pre-medicated Chris Kaman, an undersized Elton Brand, a platoon of Corey Maggette and Quinton Ross, along with Cuttino Mobley into the 8th most efficient defense in basketball — something I thought was impossible on opening night that season.
But he also clearly didn’t have that kind of command and authority over the current Clippers’ team, a group he assembled as general manager. Even with Chris Kaman healthy, the Clippers have an awful time scoring points. They’re 23rd in the NBA in offensive efficiency and haven’t ranked in the top half of the league in that category under Dunleavy since 2003-04, his first year with the club.
It’s been a long time since anyone has patrolled the sidelines for the Clippers other than Mike Dunleavy. Kim Hughes, now be charged with that responsibility, has been credited with much of Chris Kaman’s progress. Whether Kaman remains the focal point of the offense will be Hughes’ decision, at least nominally.
But the person to watch most closely Saturday night wears #1.
It’s his team now.
The most immediate grounds for Dunleavy’s job pruning is the Clippers’ miserable 2-6 road trip completed on Wednesday, during which they lost decisively to the NBA’s two worst teams. But suggestions of Dunleavy’s demise have been lingering for a while. He suffered through a tumultuous six-plus seasons at the helm, but his true undoing wasn’t the Clippers’ underperformance, either this season or in the course of his tenure. Dunleavy’s greatest liability as Clippers coach was raising expectations, then failing to meet them…
… Whether it was the millions remaining on his contract, or the spate of injuries, or the bizarre circumstances that launched the Baron Davis era in Los Angeles, Dunleavy was able to weather last season’s 19-63 debacle. The same courtesy was afforded him when the Clippers sputtered out of the gate this season. After building some momentum after New Year’s, the team reverted to its early-season depths on the recent road trip. After the loss to New Jersey, an open discussion of stylistic differences again surfaced. This time, Dunleavy was on the losing end of that debate.
The blight surrounding the Clippers’ failures in the past 15 months has been different than the pre-2006 years, when fans and the organization were conditioned to be patient. The landscape shifted under Dunleavy’s feet after the Clippers took out Denver in the 2006 playoffs. Building a winner, however fleeting, established a precedent in Clipper Nation that couldn’t be undone. Donald Sterling opened his wallet, so frugality was no longer an excuse for losing. The Clippers, longtime residents of the mausoleum known as L.A. Sports Arena, now played in Staples Center and had a glistening new training facility, so amenities were no longer an issue in attracting talent. They had played meaningful basketball, so the franchise was no longer on a terminal course of futility.
Dunleavy had a hand in much of the progress, and on Thursday he fell victim to those modest achievements.
17 Responses
It was only a matter of time before Baron would win. Almost like Magic vs Paul Westhead in the early 80s, but with a lot less drama.
I expect big games from Baron – he’s out to prove everyone that a free flowing offense suits the Clips more than Dunleavy’s rigid playbook offense.
Q.d. Reply:
February 4th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Or we find out, bd’s time is over
Posted on February 4th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
tun tun tun….
Posted on February 4th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
atleast the dunce got the balls to finally do this…. i am looking forward for GMMDsr. now that he has only to focus on that now… i predict a Danny Granger or Rudy Straight type SF’s or even them to join along to complete this team!
Posted on February 4th, 2010 at 11:36 pm
The problem with Sportswriters writing about the Clippers is that for the last 30 years unless you were in LA you paid no attention to the Clippers unless you had to make your predictions for the year and then you always picked them among the last seven teams. The Clippers were an easy touch for the national non LA press. You let Dunleavy off easy, seemingly his PR man or he himself dictated this article. Even when he got the Clippers deeper then ever in the playoffs at the pivotal moment he takes a player off the bench for the last minute of play to then take the last minute “winning” shot who had not played one minute of the game until that moment. The guy blew the shot. That’s how stupid it was for 7 years. BTW re: “the bizarre circumstances that launched the Baron Davis era in Los Angeles” GM Dunleavy who has a strict 500 page playbook signs a guy who notoriously needs freedom to operate and then expects him to succeed by putting a leash on him. Dunleavy lost his coaching ability somewhere along the way and all he has left is an ego that forces him to be competitive with his players. Thats why he failed far more then all the injuries the team endured. His ego helped him lose the respect of the Clipper players years ago. Check his excuses in the LA Times this year for the teams performance and he blames the smarts, wisdom and intellect of first the fans and then the players. Everybody knows less basketball then Mike. Maybe he’s right but the only guy he can be sure knows less then him is owner Donald Sterling who kept him on as GM, still courting disaster. – Note primarily this comment is made to the ESPN writer but Kevin even you should know better unless you were writing his obit.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 12:01 am
Heard the news about an hour ago and I been reading all kinds of articles to get people’s take on the situation. Some credit must be given to dunleavy for pushing D. Sterling to loosen up his wallet a bit. I know Dunleavy wanted to win, he wasn’t showing up just to collect a paycheck (now until recently at least). He tried his best but it seems like many players that were coming to the Clippers didn’t come with the right attitude, a lot of players that come to the Clippers use this team as a stepping stone to promote their own game instead of focusing on turning this franchise into a contender. As time went on though Dunleavy’s tenure wore itself out and the players completely tuned him out. This was a move that should have been done since the beginning of the season but i guess its always better late than never. I honestly don’t think we’ll see much of a difference for the rest of the season with K. Hughes at the helm. I think next season is when we’ll really see some fresh new faces along with the players under contract and hopefully we can have them all come together and bring a style of play that isn’t as predictable as the one that we’ve been witnesses to for the last couple of years. I’m excited since we now can lure a free agent with the comfort of knowing that ____ player won’t think twice about coming to the Clips because of the head coach. Lets just hope for the best the rest of the way!
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 12:42 am
Great writeup KA. I thought you really did a good job of summarizing the Mike Dunleavy era. He certainly had a positive overall impact on the franchise and I appreciate that. I used to be one of his staunchest supporters. But the reality is that it’s been painfully obvious that he lost this team two seasons ago and was never on the same page as Baron.
No question he worked hard and wanted to win. He just didn’t have the ability to adjust to his personnel.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 1:01 am
I dont think it was Dunleavy who convinced Sterling to open his wallet for Elton and Corey. I think going into that offseason Sterling wanted to resign Elton and Maggette, and if anything that precipitated Sterlings hiring of Dunleavy.
Elton Brand being on the team really changed the outlook for the Clippers and Sterling was known and on the record as being a big Maggette fan. Elgin was also wanting Elton resigned as well.
To say that decision was the work of Dunleavy is giving him too much credit. As we see today, teams make plans about resigning their key players a whole season before they become Free Agents, not a week before they decide to match. The team held the cards that offseason, they had the right to match any deal and they let teams make offers so they could pay the least amount to retain them. It wasnt because Dunleavy was hired that we matched Elton and Corey. It was just smart business. Dunleavy was hired because Sterling was actually spending real money and he wanted a bigger return on his investment.
Elgin Baylor deserves the credit for Elton. Dunleavy gets the credit for Kaman, Baron and letting Elton and Corey leave.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 2:08 am
Available Coaches and Win Percentages:
Jeff Van Gundy 430-318 .575
Avery Johnson 194-70 .735
Byron Scott 352-355 .498
Lawrence Frank 225-241 .483
Sam Mitchell 155-189 .452
George Karl* 933-642 .592
Available Coaches from other leagues
Michael Cooper 198-97 .658
And then theres aways Isaiah Thomas
T-Know of The CounterParts Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 9:04 am
George Karl = No Brainer if he becomes available!
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 2:28 am
As I recall, Dunleavy was way down the list of coaches when he was hired. No one of any consequence wanted the job. He did the best he could, but his best is not good enough. The playoff year I attribute mostly to Cassell, and partly Brand, but Sam was the difference maker.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 7:44 am
Even if you like Dunleavy as a GM (I don’t), you have the person you fired as the boss of his replacement. I don’t see that working well.
As far as Dunleavy making Sterling open his wallet, I agree with bongstradamus, along with the fact that they moved to the Staples Center and can generate more money. The Clippers also raised their ticket prices a lot in the last few years. And don’t forget there’s a league min salary cap now.
Newtybar Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 8:54 am
Oh give me a break, what’s the point of bringing up the league min? Clips aren’t even near it.
FireDunleavy .com Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Was talking about the EB signing a while ago. I think Sterling is willing to spend money now.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 8:36 am
This team needs a ball buster with swagger and that’s NOT George Karl, Van Gundy or Frank. We need youth and someone who can relate to these players. We need someone fresh without the wear and tear of time. We need to think out of the box. We need someone like MARK JACKSON, SAM CASSELL or AVERY JOHNSON. Johnson has a few miles on him, but his record is very good and he’s still a young man. If we do go for an older guy I’d like to see DOUG COLLINS get a shot.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Dunleavy also deserves major credit for coaxing Sterling into building the Playa Vista training facility. The training facility may be one of the best in the league and it is an enormous upgrade from the days when clippers would train in LA area health clubs. This is also a selling point for big name future free agents.
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Funny stuff http://lowposts.com/mike-dunleavy-fires/
Posted on February 5th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
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