From Lisa Dillman at the Los Angeles Times:

"It is what it is," [Dunleavey] said on Friday. "He called us up, gave us a couple of days' notice through his agent, saying, 'I'm just not feeling like I'm wanting to come in and play. I think I'll send in my retirement papers.'

"It caught his agent off guard. It caught everybody off guard. But like I said, it's better than bringing him into camp, taking a spot, working him in and then having maybe some disappointment."

Bottom line?

"He didn't waste our time," Dunleavy said...

"He's from West Virginia," Dunleavy said. "He could be like Brett Favre. And a month from now he could want to play again."

Dunleavy is from Brooklyn, and presumably everything west of the East River constitutes Appalachia.  Favre is from Kiln, Mississippi -- an 859-mile drive from Jason Williams' hometown of Belle, West Virginia. 

Who knows?  Maybe Williams thought the depth chart at the 1 was too crowded -- ironic since the Clips have resided in Bronsonia for the better part of a decade. But credit to Williams for not stringing the Clips along with a perfunctory showing -- not that Williams has produced anything other than perfunctory results since he left Sacramento. Jason Hart instantanously assumes sole possession of the backup PG mantle.  This could also potentially bode well for Mike Taylor James, who's on a make good deal. 

Dontell Jefferson, Jelani McCoy, David Noel and Curtis Sumpter all received invitiations to Clippers' training camp.  I always felt like Noel could've been a solid pro prospect if he had 2-3 more inches.  He was a defensive gem at Carolina, and I remember him locking up Anthony Morrow, Jeremis Smith and everyone else on the wing for Tech c. 2005 AD.  Still don't think Noel has a pro game, but it would be nice to see him have a good couple of weeks. 

Regarding Sumpter, not sure how I feel about a Vichy player coming into Clippers' camp.  First, Chris Kaman suits up for the Krauts, then the Clips start lobbing invites to collaborationnistes from the Vichy squad.  Next thing you know, the organization will christen the new training facility Phillppe Pétain Court.

 

A few observers have been posing this question, but it’s a canard and here’s why.  

Other than their shared tallness and ability to swat shots, Kaman and Camby share very few properties as players.  Though Kaman can step out for a 15-footer, he operates almost exclusively on the low block.  Camby hangs out around the elbow.  In fact, Elton’s position in the post was measurably deeper in the paint than Camby’s.  It might be a stretch to call Camby a power forward who happens to have a ‘C’ by his name on the game notes – but not much of a stretch.  A few Denver fans have grumbled that Camby is flimsy as a screener, but his 15-footer is generally the result of a pick-and-pop.  Kaman tends to operate in one-on-one situations without the aid of a screen.  In fact, you could argue that any deficiencies Camby has in the S/R is mitigated by the presence of Kaman – who has become a solid screen guy both up top, out on the perimeter. 

It’s obviously too early to tell because the Clippers are such an unknown quantity at this point, but the Clippers appear to have the makings of a quality spacing team: A classic low-post player with good mobility.  A mid-post guy who can shoot over defenders [particularly since he’ll probably draw opposing PFs…a lot of whom are 6’ 8” SFs these days].  A big perimeter SF who can slash and drive in islation…and hit from beyond, a big, freaky PG who can do pretty much anything in the confines of a halfcourt offense, and a league-average shooting guard who still needs to be monitored on the perimeter [or Ricky Davis, who I suspect will log significant minutes].  The Clips have always had size offensively, but for the first time in a while, they have the ability to score in bunches.  I still wonder if the absence of adept passers outside of Davis – and maybe Camby, who isn’t bad in that capacity – will hurt them against quicker teams, but we can reserve judgment until we get a good, long look at the offense. 

I’m still having a hard time staking claim to this team.  This isn’t an expression of disapproval.  Quite the contrary, I really like what the Clips have done this offseason to recover from Brand’s departure.  But sizing up the team’s prospects – or even imagining what they’re going to look like on a given night -- is difficult.   It’s sort of like poring over a blueprint for a new house:  You can study the plans, try to visualize the space, but there’s no way you can begin to sense the feel, texture, or essence of the place.  Not until it’s done and you move in.

The unknown precipitates a whole lot of questions.  Another one the Clips face: 

Is Al Thornton ready to be a primary offensive option?

If Baron Davis is the departure point of the Clips’ 08-09 offense, then Al Thornton will have to be the terminus.  Clipper fans celebrated Thorton’s surge last year as a bona fide scorer.  Some nights he was more efficient than others, but Al learned how to engineer production in the halfcourt.  He got to the line and learned to take advantage of mismatches [particularly against slower big men who found themselves assigned to Al at the 4].  

The question going into this season is whether Al can build on his progress as he transitions over to his natural position at small forward.  Whereas last season he was able to freelance in isolation as the mystery guest in the Clippers’ offense, this season, faster, more instinctive small forwards will more diligently follow him off-the-ball.  This season, Al might not be able to create the kind of separation between himself and his defender he managed last season.  

Al’s a pretty big small forward, and Dunleavy will be tempted to post Al up, even though there are two bigger guys in the Clipper offense.  It’s not a bad instinct, but it would be a much better strategy if Thornton can learn to pass out of a double-team – something he never really had to do last season.   

Naturally, the Clips will probably try to work some opportunities in iso.  Imagine a high screen from Camby; Thornton draws Camby’s man on the defensive switch – then goes to work.  Again, we’ll see how effective Al can be dishing the ball to Camby off the roll for one of Marcus’ patented 15-footers [particularly since Camby will have Thornton’s man on him].  

The nicest surprise in Thornton’s game toward the end of last season was his ability to drill shots from beyond the arc.   Will Al be able to get the kind of open shots he got last season from the perimeter?  That depends, in large part, on Chris Kaman and Baron Davis and their ability to draw double-teams away from Thornton.  I suspect Dunleavy will position Kaman in the halfcourt on the right block, with Thorton on the strong side arc.  That two-man game will be pivotal to the Clips’ – and Thornton’s – offensive success.  Again, Thornton will have to be able to execute entry passes into the post and move without the ball.  But that interplay between Al and the big guys will be a big factor in measuring Al’s value in the offense, beyond his isolation.  It’s the difference in striving to be a complete, multi-faceted perimeter forward, or a prolific scorer with a limited skill set.  

The fanfare of the Clippers’ frenetic offseason is behind us.  Baron Walter Louis Davis (Crossroads ’97) has arrived home.  Elton Brand is gone.  Eric Gordon is the chic pick for Biggest Draft Day Bust…two months after Al Thornton emerged as The Best 2007-2008 Rookie Not Named Kevin Durant.  Marcus Camby is pissed.  Chris Kaman is German…

So what does it all mean?

It means the Clippers head into the 2008-2009 season with the most elastic of expectations.  A healthy and harmonious Clippers team could conceivably match the Clippers 47-win total from 2005-2006.  A crippled and dysfunctional Clippers squad would surprise no one if they finished in the Pacific Division cellar.  

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll try to identify – and address – some unanswered questions.  

Item One…

Who’s going to pick up the really tough defensive assignments on the wing?

Looking ahead, this is arguably the peskiest and most persistent question for the 2008-2009 Clippers.  Defensive flexibility was one of the hallmarks of the Clippers’ 2006 run.  On any given night, Mike Dunleavy had the flexibility of assigning Quinton Ross, Cuttino Mobley, or the long Shaun Livingston to the likes of Carmelo Anthony. This allowed the Clips to absorb the defensive risk of Corey Maggette on the opposing wing.  It also took a lot of pressure off the Clippers’ back line at a time when Chris Kaman was still struggling to pick up help defense.  

However miserable the past couple of seasons have been for the Clippers, they rarely got torched by opposing scorers out on the perimeter.  Instead they lost basketball games in a much more workmanlike fashion on the offensive end by a simple inability to score.  Even at their nadir during the dark Smushian days of last winter, the Clippers remained, at worst, an average defensive team and, on most nights, measurably better than that.

This year, the Clippers don’t have a lot of choices.  Al Thornton will the start the season at small forward.  Maybe Thornton will be a quick study; there’s precedence for a steep learning curve.  Dominique Wilkins entered the NBA as a clueless perimeter defender.  By the time the Hawks came of age in 1985-1986, he was excelling defensively under Mike Fratello.  Thornton improved down the stretch last season, but an Anthony-Thornton…even a Maggette-Thornton matchup probably gives you pause.

Cuttino Mobley turned 33 on Labor Day.  The durable Mobley, whom John Hollinger once called “The Steve Trachsel of the NBA” – Trachsel was baseball’s consummate innings-eater -- started to show the creaking wear of age last season.  Even at his advanced age, Mobley still isn’t the first guy an opposing shooting guard wants to see alongside him at tipoff…but he’s not the last either.  

Where does that leave the Clippers?

Scouting reports describe Eric Gordon as a capable man defender.  The Clippers would be well-advised to make Gordon’s transformation into a lockdown defender among their first priorities in his development. Because unless Thornton can hone some instincts denying his man the ball – and stopping him once he does -- and unless they install a fountain of youth at the practice facility, the Clippers will be reminded that things actually could’ve been worse these last two years.