It’s time to start the show. The lockout is done, the NBA is back, and now it’s time to sort through some of the details of the proposed CBA and what it might mean for the Clippers:

• Before we get into it, I should mention a really cool thing that happened as the word broke last night on Twitter. The Clippers started trending not just in Los Angeles, but the entire United States. Not the Lakers, not the Heat. The Clippers.

• Probably the best early news from the proposed CBA is that the age limit is likely to stay right where it is. There were earlier reports that the age limit was going to get pushed back a year to 20 (2 years of college), but that looks unlikely to happen at this point. Considering that this rule would have eliminated Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Michael Gilchrist and Austin Rivers (among others) from this year’s loaded draft class, this is potentially huge news for a Clippers team that holds Minnesota’s unprotected first round pick this season.

• The Amnesty Clause is in this deal, meaning teams can release a player and get him off their cap figure while also avoiding paying the luxury tax. Remember though: the player’s contract still has to be paid out, although that number *should be* decreased if a player is picked up by another team. I’ve long said that the Amnesty Clause hurts the Clippers more than anything else. Can you envision a world where Donald Sterling pays someone not to play for him? Tough to imagine. Some people have brought up Mo Williams, Chris Kaman, or Ryan Gomes as potential Amnesty candidates, but I don’t see it happening. Kaman is better used as a trade piece with his expiring deal and Mo Williams is necessary for at least this year because Bledsoe isn’t close to being a full-time starting point guard yet. If the Clippers get a big time veteran small forward, then Gomes definitely becomes more expendable. He’s the most likely of candidates, but I still don’t see Sterling utilizing this tool very often. That’s an advantage teams with owners more dedicated to winning will have over the Clippers.

• The one positive of the Amnesty Clause for the Clippers is that the free agent market will see a nice boost. A few names you might see become available: Josh Childress, Rashard Lewis, Richard Jefferson, Corey Maggette (how hilarious would a reunion be?), Rip Hamilton, Luke Walton, and Mike Miller. I have a feeling this won’t be a popular sentiment, but Rashard Lewis is one of the best corner 3-point shooters (39 percent career from 3) the league has and not long ago was part of an Orlando team that was really good defensively. A veteran knockdown shooter who doesn’t need the ball in his hands who has size (6-foot-10) and can be used as a fourth offensive option? You could do worse…

• According to Wojnarowski, teams will have three days to match offer sheets on their own restricted free agents. Many have guessed that the shortened, free agent frenzy will start on December 9th, with the season starting on December 25th. The Christmas start is certainly ambitious, as players won’t be able to get into training camp until the deal is ratified. Get ready for chubby basketball.

• As long as the Clippers are owned by Sterling, they’ll likely never pay the luxury tax. That’s a good thing in the new CBA. The luxury tax will be the same dollar-for-dollar rate in the first two years of the deal, but the number teams will pay on the dollar for money over the cap will double and even triple later on in the 10-year CBA deal. This won’t necessarily stop the big teams (Knicks, Lakers, Mavericks) from going over, but it will make them think a little harder and maybe be a little more selective. For teams like the Hawks and Clippers, nothing really changes.

• Via Ken Berger, extend-and-trade deals — something that happened with Carmelo Anthony last year — will still be allowed, but with a slight alteration. Teams can acquire a player via an extend-and-trade but can only offer a three year deal including whatever is left on the player’s contract. Let the Chris Paul dreaming begin.

• Good news for people who like Blake Griffin as a Clipper: Each team can designate one player eligible for a five-year extension of his rookie contract. All other deals, except for Bird Free Agents, are now capped at four years in length. That’s potentially a bonus year of Blake Griffin.

• More goods from Ken Berger: “Star players who outperform their rookie contracts will be eligible to extend with their teams at 30 percent of the cap — up from 25 percent. A player would be eligible by satisfying any of the following criteria: 1) winning MVP; 2) being named first-, second- or third-team all-NBA twice; or being voted as an All-Star starter twice. The Bulls’ Derrick Rose, for example, would be eligible.” Hard to imagine Griffin doesn’t make at least a third-team all-NBA two years on his rookie deal, but health willing, he’ll be an All-Star starter from here on out. Fans like dunks. I have to get this double-checked, but if Griffin gets designated for extension and he meets the above criteria, it appears the Clippers will be able to offer Griffin both a bigger and longer max deal than any other team in the league. That’s huge.

There are still a ton of details to hash out, but the new CBA is shaping up to work in the Clippers favor. Stay tuned for more.

Chris Kaman has seen and done quite a bit in his eight years as a Clipper. In an organization noted for its instability, there has been no one as consistently present during the good times and bad, and it’s not even close. Five whole seasons before Eric Gordon and DeAndre Jordan joined the fray in 2008, Kaman came into the league as the 6th pick in one of the greatest drafts in NBA history. Since then, he has alternately dominated and confounded, lived up to his draft position and warranted trade speculation. He battled inconsistency early in his career and injuries more recently, and after this season in which he played in 32 games—just 15 of which were starts—he finds himself as a former All-Star with an uncertain future.

Aside from Blake Griffin’s debut and Gordon’s momentum coming off his summer with Team U.S.A., perhaps no other Clipper garnered as much anticipation than Kaman. He got to camp looking fit and nimble, playing in the preseason like he was prepared to build on his success in 2010 and team with Griffin to form a dangerous front line duo. At that point, you could probably have even expected more scoring from Kaman than Griffin with Blake’s offensive game still yet to be seen in an NBA game.

But the team was 1-7 to before Kaman was injured, and his absent scoring touch was one of many contributing factors in those early season losses. He opened the season with eight points against Portland on 4 for 18 shooting in 35 minutes. In the next two games, 18- and 16-point losses at Golden State and at home against Dallas, he shot 5 for 14 and 5 for 15, respectively, and a familiar Kaman Funk was officially underway. The Clippers needed Kaman to produce, and other than his perfomances against Sacramento (9 for 17, 18 points) and Utah (9 for 16, 23 points), which both resulted in losses, he just wasn’t giving the team much. Paradoxically, one of his worst games of the season, in which he scored four points on nine shots in over 23 minutes against Oklahoma City, was the team’s only win in its first 14 games.

Like the team, any momentum built up in the offseason had quickly dissipated for Kaman two weeks into the season.

By the time he returned a month later, he did so off the bench, behind Jordan, who had taken his place in the starting lineup. Despite Jordan’s overall improvement over the course of the season, he didn’t take advantage of that month (5.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1 blocked shot per game in Kaman’s absence) and Kaman could have easily regained his starting position. Kaman even looked like his shot had returned, making 4 of 5 shots in his first game back against Denver. However, Kaman tweaked his foot against Portland and discovered that his ankle injury was more than a sprain, as initially thought, but rather a bone bruise that would cost him another two months.

When he returned in February and settled into the lineup, he performed as you’d expect from a healthy, All-Star 7-footer off the bench – he was dangerous. But Jordan had made marked improvement in January (8.4 points on 65.4 percent shooting, 9.7 rebounds, 2.6 blocks in 31.2 minutes), and he was a large part of the Clipper’s best stretch of basketball all season—they won 14 of 21 between December 17 and January 31—despite the fact that the Clippers swooned when they went out on the road in February. Once Kaman got healthy and started playing over 20 minutes a game around February 23, the team benefitted from the scoring he added off the bench. He wound up averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds a game per 36 minutes on the season, impressive given how he started. He regained his shooting stroke and was actually more efficient from his favorite spots. For the year, he shot 49% from 10-15 feet and 44% from 16-23, on par with guys like: Amar’e Staudemire, LaMarcus Aldridge, Carmelo Anthony and Zach Randolph (from Hoopdata).

When Jordan couldn’t play towards the end of the season, Kaman started seven games. He played well, averaging 16 points and nine rebounds as a starter and shooting over 50% from the floor. As the two centers rotated starts down the stretch, it became clear that they are both starting centers and that has become an issue. In an interview with Hoopsworld about his situation with Jordan and his future with the team, Kaman said:

“I don’t know, it’s something I’m going to have to think about this summer and something I’m gonna go over and think about because, you know, I think DeAndre’s a good player and he does a good job for us, and I think I’ve proven myself in this league. I mean, this is my eighth year and I just want to continue to improve on my game and I think sometimes it’s hard for both of us to get the best out of what we can do when we’re splittin’ time. We’ll see how it goes, a lot can happen this summer.”

How does he fit?

While both had success as the starter, they also did so almost entirely independently from each other and, looking back, it’s hard to ignore the possibility that one of them was probably auditioning for other teams. Considering their difference in age and cost, you’d have to assume that’s Kaman, who will be 29 and due about $12 million next year. The team has been open about its intentions to sign DeAndre to an extension when the new CBA takes effect, and, considering his comments, it’s hard to imagine Kaman signing up for a role that might entail coming off the bench. That is, if the Clippers would even be open to keeping him long-term, which is no guarantee given his injury history. Kaman has missed 133 games over the past four years (50 this year) and his the uncertainty of his health in the future as the Clippers confront the decision of if and when and for what to trade their longest-tenured player.

Former GM and coach Mike Dunleavy would be the first to tell you that his main objective with the Clippers was acquiring good basketball players first and then figuring out how to make them fit. His moves demonstrated a belief that to win, you need to have more talent, and that talent could overcome a lack of traditional balance or cohesion if given enough time to work together. We saw this when he signed Baron Davis, the point guard whose preferred playing style and personality appeared to be in direct conflict with his new coach. We saw it again when he acquired Marcus Camby and even more so with Zach Randolph later in the 2008 season. With an offensive philosophy that aimed to identify and exploit matchups, he felt that having three starting-caliber big men or two guys on the floor that needed to dominate the ball would ultimately work out if he could get his players to buy in to the team concept. It worked in 2006, so you couldn’t blame Clipper fans for being optimistic about a potentially overpowering front line and some incredibly talented pieces coming together, even if in an unconventional way.

Over those next few years, it became apparent that something was missing in execution of this philosophy. It may have simply been health that eluded them, but as disappointing seasons mounted and they lucked into the privilege of drafting their own superstar to build around, the organization under Olshey understandably shifted its efforts to assemble a roster that fit together on the court and would build strong chemistry off it.

While it would stand to reason that Kaman’s game and experience would help a team built around such young players win, that may not actually be the case. The numbers just don’t show the team playing very well with him in the lineup. According to 82games.com, the vast majority of the Clippers successful five-man units have DeAndre, not Kaman, at center.

Kaman’s shooting ability would suggest that he’s an ideal post partner for Griffin, but he also still has a tendency to be indecisive with the ball and his turnover rate is not much better than Jordan’s. While his skill set fits in theory, it’s conceivable that the Clippers decide to shop him for the elusive small forward they have been seeking or some combination of assets. If the Clippers could use Kaman to address their enduring search for a small forward and/or pick up a first round pick, they’d have to strongly consider doing it.

The Celtics were able to get Jeff Green and a first-round pick (the Clippers’ 2012 first-rounder) for Kendrick Perkins – another center with injury concerns and an expiring contract — at the trade deadline, and while many question the wisdom of that move, it’s important to remember that Boston had no one near Jordan’s level to replace him. Putting all the factors together – Kaman’s injury history, the contract situation, the fit of Jordan, both on the court and off – and the question of the Clippers trading Kaman might center more around when, and not if.

By Brian Chan
Special to ClipperBlog

The NBA is the best basketball league in the world. Naturally, only the best college and international players make it, and even the lowliest bench player had his moment at some point. Brian Cook was once Big-10 Player of the Year! With the start of March Madness upon us, I thought it would be fun to look at the top Tournament performances by the current Clippers roster.

To preface these selections, they were mostly selected sans context. I watched, much less remember, very few of these games. In addition, the data I found was quite limited, so these selections are based on simple box score figures. I also limited each player to one entry.

5. Craig Smith [2006 NCAA Tournament: Boston College (88) - Pacific (76)]

In the opening round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament, #4-seeded Boston College met #13-seeded Pacific. The game took two overtimes to be decided. Boston College trailed by 6 in the first overtime, but rallied and tied the game behind Craig Smith’s clutch free throws. Boston College pulled away in the second overtime, holding Pacific to 2 Points. Craig shot 10 for 17 from the floor to score 25 Points and added 13 Rebounds (5 Offensive).

4. Randy Foye [2006 NCAA Tournament: Villanova (60) - Boston College (59)]

#1-seeded Villanova met #4-seeded Boston College in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Villanova’s vaunted guards played poorly, with the exception of Foye. Boston College controlled the majority of the game, but Villanova was able to force overtime with Foye scoring six straight points at the end of regulation. Although Foye shot a relatively inefficient 10 for 25, he scored 5 of Villanova’s 9 overtime points and led them to a 1 point victory. Clipper teammate Craig Smith was on the losing end with Boston College, scoring 14 Points, grabbing 14 Rebounds, and dishing out 7 Assists.

3. Eric Bledsoe [2010 NCAA Tournament: Kentucky (100) - Eastern Tennessee State (71)]

In the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, #1-seeded Kentucky opened with #16-seeded Easten Tennesse State. In his very first tournament game, Eric Bledsoe turned in a stellar performance. Bledsoe shot 9 for 11 from the field–8 of 9 from 3 Point–scoring 29 Points. Bledsoe added 3 Rebounds and 1 Assist in a drubbing of Eastern Tennessee State.

2. Mo Williams [2002 NCAA Tournament: Alabama (86) - FAU (76)]

In the opening round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, freshman point guard Mo Williams led #2-seeded Alabama (26-7) against a #15-seeded Florida Atlantic team (20-12). FAU held a 40-38 halftime lead and the game was tied late in the second half; however, 10 straight points from Mo Williams helped the Crimson Tide pull away late. Williams finished with a career high 33 Points and 10 Rebounds. The amazing part about this game was Williams’s efficiency– he scored his 33 Points on 13 Attempts, while going 12 for 13 from the Free Throw line. He also added 6 Assists for good measure.

1. Blake Griffin [2009 NCAA Tournament: Oklahoma (73) - Michigan (63)]

In the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, #2-seeded Oklahoma met with #10-seeded Michigan. Michigan shot well early in the game, but fell into early foul trouble trying to defend Blake Griffin. After a back and forth first half, Oklahoma pulled away in the second half for a 73-63 victory. Blake finished with 33 Points on 14 of 20 shooting. Blake added a monstrous 17 Rebounds with 8 of them offensive. The only knock on Blake’s performance is the 5 for 10 outing from the Free Throw line. Clipper teammate Willie Warren also played in this game, scoring 16 Points and dishing out 4 Assists for the Sooners.

Honorable Mentions:

Chris Kaman: 25 Points, 10 Rebounds [2003 NCAA Tournament: Duke (86) - CMU(60)]

Ryan Gomes: 25 Points, 13 Rebounds [2004 NCAA Tournament: Pacific (66) - Providence(58)]

Over the summer, back when the Clippers had five players under contract and aspirations of building a team around LeBron James, I (with the help of my brother) found it appropriate to examine the cases of two particularly significant pieces of the puzzle in some detail. The future of the franchise would no doubt be tied to the success of Blake Griffin, who at that point had yet to play an NBA game, but nearly as critical would be the development of Eric Gordon and DeAndre Jordan. Both were entering their third seasons surrounded by a mix of uncertainty and tantalizing potential, but with questions about their role and future with the team still needing clarification. As we know, Gordon allayed all fears of a plateau over the course of the summer for Team USA and into this season, settling into the conversation of the best guards in the league. As it turns out, even though it took a little longer than Gordon to materialize, it’s entirely possible that the most pleasant individual surprise on a team full of them, is the emergence of Jordan. He has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations for this season — which I will revisit in a moment — and in doing so, has added value to the team that has contributed mightily to its improved play. He has also done wonders for his own value as he approaches restricted free agency this summer, a factor not to be overlooked as the Clips begin to make important decisions about their future.

To start, some perspective on expectations for DeAndre heading into the year. As you will see if you take a look in the comments of the post, opinions varied, but the following seems like an accurate representation of the feelings of Clipper Nation. From the same post this summer:

DeAndre Jordan’s ceiling is the reason why many Clippers fans were ecstatic to see the team take him in the draft. He has the combination of size and athleticism to be one of the best rebounding and defending big men in the league. His offensive game still has glaring weaknesses, but he also does a few things so well (rebound and dunk), that consistent effort could make him a very valuable weapon off the bench. With another year of development and continued playing time, Jordan could actually make Kaman expendable, at least by the time his contract comes up after next season. He isn’t there yet, but he certainly has that type of potential if he can improve his free throw shooting and develop some basic post moves.

What is amazing about he undoubtedly is “there” now, and yet he has arrived as a legitimate starter essentially without improving on his weaknesses at all, particularly on offense. Still no post moves, still a horrific free throw shooter (45.5%, which is actually up from about 38% his previous two seasons, but still…) and only a marginally improved turnover rate. He remains mainly a finisher at the rim, rebounder and defender, but he is just doing those things so well that he has established his role on the team and has made himself nearly indispensable. His field goal percentage is up from an impressive 60% last season to almost 69%, a number that leads all centers who average over 20 minutes a game. He only attempts about four shots per game and according to Hoopdata, three of them fall under the category, “at the rim,” the other one in the category of “under 10 feet.” His mere presence has a profound effect on the Clippers offense, because opponents can basically count on a dunk if they decide to help off of DeAndre. With weapons like Gordon and Griffin, and Baron Davis out there throwing lobs left and right, just threat threat of such a strong finisher hanging around the basket has tremendous value in opening up driving lanes, like a great three-point shooter standing in the corner that prevents his defender from fully engaging in the team defensive concept.

But the area where DeAndre’s emergence has been most noticeable has been on defense and on the glass. Before this season, he would struggle with the simplest defensive fundamentals, often confounding fans with his inability to turn special physical gifts into even adequate production. This year, he took the opportunity created by Kaman’s absence and has proven that he is more than capable of handling increased workload (about 24 minutes a game, up from 16 last year), much to the benefit of his teammates. He has become the focal point of the team’s much improved defense thanks to improved shot blocking (1.63/game, including a recent stretch of three consecutive games with six or more) and a disciplined approach. He has also joined with Blake to establish a truly dominant rebounding presence that has allowed the Clippers to play with — and recently beat — some of the league’s best teams. Don’t believe what you are seeing with your eyes? Take the word of the team, from the team’s notes before the Heat game: “In the ten game stretch (before the game), the Clippers just barely trail the Miami Heat for the honors of the league’s best opponent field gold percentage at 42.6 percent, while the Heat stand at 42 percent. Throw in that the Clippers are top five in blocks, second overall in total rebounds, and the top team in the NBA in rebounding differential.” The improved level of play is very real, and it is a result of a team-wide commitment to defense, a big part of which is the improvement of the incredibly athletic man in the middle.

The timing of everything couldn’t be better for all parties involved. The Clippers have been building a foundation ever since they drafted Blake, and DeAndre has grown along with it. He has responded to Blake’s example and his improved work ethic (which was at question in college and early in his pro career) has drastically improved, just in time to manifest itself on the court in time to impact his next deal. He will be a restricted free agent after this season, and while he clearly has made himself some money with his play this year, it’s hard to imagine the Clippers letting him get away after investing so much in his development. There are reports recently about teams in need of centers, like the Knicks, throwing tons of money at him, and that’s understandable because there aren’t many centers like him. But it’s difficult to imagine a team offering him a contract so large that the Clips don’t match. He has catapulted into a place in the team’s future because he is still so young and fits so well with the culture they are building, both on and off the court, and the Clippers will gladly take his production at the cost of a couple extra million per year. They have the money and, with a strong core already in place, are fortunate enough to need very little in the way of outside help going forward.

With Kaman hurt now and always a risk to be so, DeAndre’s rise does little to impact his status with the team. We have heard plenty of calls to trade Kaman, not unlike many times throughout his career. And while DeAndre’s emergence has shown us he is capable of making an impact in a starting role, it does little to add any urgency to move his predecessor. Sure, if Neil Olshey gets a good offer, he can feel comfortable taking it, now with the knowledge that he has a viable option already in place. But there is no urgency to make a move, as some suggest, because the team really doesn’t lose anything keeping him for the remainder of his deal, even in a reduced role. It’s what you could call a high-class problem, too many players deserving of minutes, but unlike most situations like that, there doesn’t appear to be any issue with players on this team accepting their roles. A departure from past Clipper teams, no doubt, and you can bet that one of the differences is pretty evidently DeAndre Jordan.

“Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse,” as one of us ClipperBloggers put it, after the latest Donald Sterling story. The Clippers were already well into a frustrating first half of December, putting together a string of pretty good winless basketball. That’s one of the problems of being a hopeful, young team trying to get by on energy and raw talent: it ebbs and flows. You can play the Lakers tough and lose by one. You can play the Grizzlies not quite so tough, turn the ball over a million times, and lose by one. You can cut the turnovers against the Magic and forget how to make shots in the first quarter, almost come all the way back, and lose to a good team that happens to be struggling. In the end, you’re 5 and 21, and if winning makes everything better, losing happens to make everything worse. Enter Donald Sterling, prince of ownership darkness.

So yeah, things are pretty bad in Clipper Nation right now, with a fair amount of natural citizen unrest and despair. One part of the puzzle that commentators seem to be figuring out is that there are no winners in a grudge match between Donald Sterling and Baron Davis. It has been interesting to watch the polarized responses from the citizens. Just about everybody has ample disdain for Sterling, but Baron Davis isn’t winning popularity contests. The struggles of Davis have been sufficiently disappointing that a number of fans find themselves supporting Sterling, which is no easy trick when you think about it. Perhaps it’s worth noting that Clipper fans and the few outsiders who follow the team enough to know what’s going on seem to need a scapegoat for the constant dysfunction. It’s always someone’s fault. Sterling has always been available, and Davis is off to a strong start in his third year as a lightning rod for negativity. But weren’t we still kicking Mike Dunleavy around at this time last year? Wasn’t the departure of Dunleavy and the belated arrival of Blake Griffin supposed to make things better?

But just in case anybody still cares–and for some reason we always do, hanging on through thick and thin—let’s be clear about what the biggest problem has been this season: an injured Chris Kaman. I mentioned in mid-November how Kaman’s untimely injury in game 8 was a critical blow to hopes that the team would find any sort of even keel. That was after Eric Bledsoe showed that he would be a more than adequate replacement for a subpar Baron Davis, as the Clips were winding up the extra-thorny early season schedule. Kaman of course had been surprisingly funky in those first tough seven games, failing to find his shooting stroke after looking great throughout the preseason, and coming off an All-Star year. Losing Kaman for the winnable games in late November got the Clips to their 1-13 start, which is when Blake Griffin quit messing around and found his star status with a monster game in a loss against the Knicks.

That brought on the amusing first part of the U23 epoch, when Griffin and Gordon played like All-Stars, and the team managed to win a few games. Kaman was on the verge of coming back. At that point, as they won 3 out of 5 just before going into the gruesome recent stretch, the Clippers looked to be gelling and playing good basketball. They encountered quite a bit of adversity on the road against Denver and Portland, then came home and took care of Sacramento. Once past that pesky Laker game, the upcoming stretch looked manageable.

With the frustrating defeats continuing and the loss column racheted up to 21 already, the consensus is that the Clippers are missing a third scorer. Gordon and Griffin have grown into a consistently potent duo. Baron Davis is back, still trying to get it together, and the coaching staff is trying to find the right mixture of Baron/Bledsoe, along with Aminu/Gomes/Butler. Randy Foye is even coming back, all but forgotten, and Sterling never even knew who he was in the first place. All the same, the Clippers will remain bottom dwellers, losing on the road and to mediocre teams, perhaps showing some spunk against better teams. And it will be that way until Chris Kaman can play again.

Kaman figures to be back towards the end of the early January homestand, ten games from now, more or less. Out of the first 35 games, he will have played (and played poorly, mind you, with his bad start) in less than 10, and the Clippers will have less than ten wins. Kaman will have to rally to play in 50 games this season.

And this is a disaster. More than anything else, it is responsible for the fact that it will take a great post-All Star break run for the Clippers to win more than 25 games. And let’s not forget the spring ritual that we know all too well, the fine art of tanking. At a certain point winning becomes counter-productive, as going from less than twenty wins to almost thirty in the last 15-20 games can make a huge difference in the draft. The fact that we’re already considering our worst memories in mid-December shows what a debacle the season has already become.

It’s not as if Kaman is such an amazing or fantastic player. But he happens to be critical to the fortune and success of this particular Clipper roster. Without him in the lineup, winnable games become a struggle, and without the edge of a Kaman-Griffin-Jordan rotation, the team is learning how to lose, battling just to reach the final minute, rather than figuring out how to hold onto leads and having the depth to do so. In a developmental, transitional season with a thin margin for success, saying that Chris Kaman would play less than 60 games, and maybe even a much smaller number than that, it would obviously turn ugly. And it already has.

If you thought that Blake Griffin was going to solve all Clippers’ problems, well, that’s obviously not the case. In the second game of the season, the Clippers lost to the Warriors by 18 and the second half of the game didn’t even feel that close.

The game’s first possessions started out ugly, as Clippers went to Chris Kaman to get them started and all he did was continue his cold shooting from Portland and go 0 for his first 4 shots. Most of his shots were ones he would normally make, he even missed a little bunny shot under the basket. Not surprisingly, the Clippers found themselves in an early hole that was compounded by the hot shooting of the Warriors.

The Clippers admirably fought back against the Warriors, playing tough defense for about a quarter (second half of the first quarter and first half of the second) that led to a large crop of turnovers by the Warriors and a Clippers first quarter lead, 28-27. If they weren’t going to slow them down shooting, the Clippers had to do it by stopping the Warriors from even taking shots.

In a stretch of the second quarter Baron did most of his damage but he still had some worrying trends. He did finish with 16 points and 8 assists but there were frequent times when he had a Blake Griffin screen which he used poorly, either by trying to be too clever and going away from the screen or by taking the screen too cavalierly thus allowing for the defender to go over the screen with him, and then he drove to the basket without a plan.

There was one time I clearly remember that, even though he beat his man, he found himself in the air tangled up in the long limbs of Warriors defenders and he tried to shovel pass to Eric Gordon and BD missed the pass by at least 6 feet. The Clippers did, magically, get the ball back on that possession but it was endemic of the Clips night. They frequently looked discombobulated out there.

The Warriors are a team that isn’t going to be great defensively, but they play offensively very, very well. Monta Ellis, to make up for not scoring 46 like the first game, dished out 11 assists. That almost matched his shot total (12). Every one of their starters shot over 50 percent from the field. The team looked cohesive, if only on one side of the ball.

The same can’t be said for the Clippers on either side of the ball. They haven’t found their rhythm, probably because the dynamic of the team has changed so drastically. Last year, it was simple: Baron the creator, Gordon slasher wing and Kaman is the post man. Simple. This year they have to integrate Blake and, judging from last night, the team is too aware of it. They haven’t had enough reps for their unity to become second nature yet. This team will need some time to cohere, one side of the ball at a time, before they start winning games.

What should be encouraging is how hard Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin are playing, even in the midst of a strong Warriors run, the two looked for the ball and tried to be aggressive (so aggressive that Gordon crossed over Steph Curry so bad that Curry turned an ankle)

Talent and effort haven’t always been things that they Clippers have had and in the long run it will pay off. But for right now they need to focus on the team chemistry, finding a rhythm on offense and talking to each other on defense, so that they can start winning some games.

Perhaps the best way to begin a consideration of the Rookie of the Year, from the perspective of a Clipper fan, is to remember that other people don’t think or see things the same way that we do. Out there in the real world of the NBA and its fans, John Wall seems an easy and obvious primary candidate. He was clearly the top pick, with virtually no discussion of any other player getting the nod. He’s an extraordinary talent, with a mixture of athleticism, court sense and skill that is outstanding, even in an era of amazing point guards. We should remember that to most folks he might as well be a lock.

Of course, if you follow the Clippers at all, you’re out of your mind with enthusiasm about Blake Griffin taking the court in a real NBA game. And if you still had any doubts or trepidations, they were pretty much answered when Griffin exploded in Sacramento and at Golden State last week. In our world, Griffin is the one and only Beast. And that Beast is a rarer animal than another soldier in the ongoing point guard revolution that began with Chris Paul and Deron Williams, continuing with Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook — and Tyreke Evans needs to be thrown in too. But we have to remember that a point guard who plays for the Wizards — who will get the President going to games and probably get on the White House court sooner rather than later— and brings immediate excitement and energy to an East Coast franchise that has seen its share of recent turmoil, is going to get all sorts of attention. There will be no shortage of Wall watchers.

NBA pundits, doing their jobs, might be leaning towards Wall as the favorite but they know that they at least have to keep an eye on Griffin. He can’t be forgotten. And that’s why the preseason is important, as the people who are supposed to pay attention have a Griffin box to check. You can tell by all the “is he healthy, has he fully recovered” comments that Griffin has been pretty much out of sight, out of mind for most NBA watchers. They don’t seem to really know what his injury was and what the surgery entailed. They probably don’t remember that he was originally supposed to be out for six to eight weeks, just the first part of the season, not really anything different than what Andrew Bynum or Carlos Boozer is looking at right now. Citizens of Clips Nation know some of the intricacies of Griffin’s surgery and rehab, and how it was a very different situation from Elton Brand’s torn achilles or some other catastrophic injury. A lot of the stories make it seem as if Griffin is coming back from ACL or microfracture surgery, wondering if he had lost athleticism. Following along, we knew the answer would most likely be no, but we all knew — including Griffin, most frustrated of all — that he would have to go through an excruciating wait before he would be able to play again.

On top of this, Griffin had an outstanding preseason last year. And it didn’t mean anything ultimately. So while the pundits know that they have to check in on him, expectations would presumably remain modest. Another strong preseason would be just another strong preseason, with Griffin getting no credits and no hype until he does it for real.

But then, after such a long wait, we’ve finally reached October, and training camp and some meaningless tuneup games. It shouldn’t be a big deal. But I have to say that I think we’ve already learned quite a bit, from a very small sample. And there are some clear reasons why Griffin should be the favorite, from day one, for Rookie of the Year.

We haven’t actually seen any televised games yet, and maybe it’s the competition and the preseason and maybe it’s just me, but to many Clipper fans Griffin seems to have improved from last year’s preseason effort. He’s happy simply to be out on the court against NBA players, but he seems to have a focus and energy that didn’t sound itself so clearly in last year’s scrimmages. He seems to be everywhere, putting a decisive stamp on the action, even taking over games. He has shown that he will be able to complement Chris Kaman in a variety of ways, play quite effectively with Eric Gordon, and floor general Baron Davis hasn’t made an appearance yet, which is when things should get most interesting. Of course Griffin is going to have difficulties and ineffective nights, and go through a variety of rookie ups and downs, but he has made numerous signals that he’s playing as if he’s possessed, like he was just let out of a cage.

We know Griffin quite a bit better than we did at this time last year, and we know that he’s not just an extraordinary athlete and player, but also a serious, dedicated person and a passionate young man. Through no fault of his own, he was forced to become a serious student of the NBA last season, and it seems apparent that he learned a wide variety of lessons. I like to remember that he played a great freshman season at Oklahoma, but came back for a second year to implement refinements and play at a more mature level, and he dominated college basketball. Last season, kept off the court, he got an accidental MFA in NBA Studies. If he wasn’t so passionate, serious and thoughtful, this might not mean much. But consider the previous No. 1 pick to sit out his entire first season, Doug Collins, or think about Phil Jackson’s season-long injury which put him on the bench studying Red Holzman, and it might generate ideas about the intensity with which Griffin studied the NBA last season. Collins and Jackson obviously learned a lot by not playing in the NBA, and Griffin may well have a similar advantage.

A point guard playing in the East is going to rack up assists and make plays and fill up the stat sheet and gain notoriety, but John Wall is also going to face some fearsome competition. He already had a good, sobering look at Derrick Rose. He plays in the same division as the Heat and the Magic. And all of the aforementioned PGs will be eager to take their shot at him. He’ll put up gaudy numbers in some losing efforts, and his talent will shine very brightly at times, but his team isn’t good or deep enough to be a contender, and there are enough elite players at his position that he will have his hands full on a regular basis.

By contrast, who is the last big man that might be considered a polished, mature product in the mode of Griffin, and what kind of players will he match up against night after night? Brook Lopez is a good name, but centers start a little more slowly, his team was in disarray, and his competition, Rose, had his hands on the ball from day one and made his mark very quickly. Before that you might go back to Elton Brand, who had the energy and strength of Griffin, without the polish and ballhandling skills. Griffin isn’t Tim Duncan, but Kaman’s presence reminds us that Duncan’s introduction to the league and immediate impact was greatly aided by playing alongside David Robinson. Griffin is bringing back power and size to the evolving forward position, where undersized athletes like Paul Millsap and Carl Landry are succeeding, while Lamar Odom rebounds and handles the ball all over the floor, and shooters like Nowitzki stretch defenses. If you go down the list, there aren’t a lot of guys who you’d think are eager to guard Griffin or be guarded by him, especially when their frontcourt mate has to contend with Kaman. And they will all know, soon enough, that Griffin has studied their game and their tendencies very carefully.

But hey, it’s the Clippers. The safest bet in sports has always been to turn away and just wait for something to go wrong. So we’re still getting an awful lot of “if healthy…” when Griffin is considered. He’s healthy. And he’s already shown, in a very short amount of time, that he’s worth paying very close attention to this season. We should have a somewhat better idea of what might be in store after watching him play against the Spurs down in Mexico. Soon enough he’ll be moving through his first NBA season, just a rookie. We got to see Eric Gordon make a great late charge towards RoY honors after Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo got fast starts.

This time it’s going to be a lot more fun.

Yes, that’s what you think it is, Blake Griffin on the reverse jam. Considering the agony of last year, it’s comforting to see that he is completely healthy. Earlier in the week, Craig Smith tweeted that Blake was as strong as Karl Malone and as athletic as LeBron. I think that’s a bit hyperbolic, but only a bit.

The scrimmage at Camp Pendleton was definitely a feel good affair. I’ve never been on Camp Pendleton before and, while I knew that bases were little cities, I was impressed by how big Camp Pendleton was. From the back gate to the gym was 4 miles and it wasn’t like the road stopped there, it kept going. The gym itself is cinderblock-chic, the only design modification are the horizontal lines of sandstone cinderblock as a opposed to the normal grey. Outside the courts (there are two, one the Clippers practiced on, the other for the scrimmage) there are pristine racketball courts and beyond that there is a giant workout room filled with myriad machines. Servicemen and women, their families and friends filled the gym seats, most excited to see professional basketball up close, all relieved to be free of the monotony of service and enjoyed something communal in their town.

Even when the Clippers announced that they would take the floor at 1:40 (the event said from 1-3, so it was a bit later than expected), the men and women were relaxed to just be there. The Clippers Spirit performed acrobatics and gymnastics and the delighted applause followed every flip and toss.

When the Clippers finally took the court, fans stood up to cheer. The Clippers Camp team had 18 men in it and they were separated into two teams, White and Blue. Ralph Lawler, tanned and shod in sandals, announced the teams. Playing for the Blue Team was Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, Randy Foye, DeAndre Jordan, Marqus Blakely, Al-Farouq Aminu, Jon Scheyer, Jake Voskuhl and Baron Davis (held out, knee). Playing for the White team was Chris Kaman, Ryan Gomes, Rasual Butler, Brian Cook, Stephen Dennis, Eric Bledsoe, Jarron Collins, Craig Smith (held out, back) and Willie Warren (held out, groin). I knew it was going to be a blood bath, clearly the Blue Team was stacked.

The somewhat fuzzy, slightly pixelated picture above came from warmups, which was incredibly entertaining because all the players were letting loose, dunking, doing crazy reverse layups (DeAndre comically did a point guard-ish floater… that went in… surprised me too).

Tip-off came and on the first possession Eric Bledsoe stole the ball from the Blue Team, drove down the court, only to have Blake Griffin take a charge on the other end. Offense was not a highlight of this day as it had such a loose feel. It was amazing to see the players shoot so poorly. The gymnasium may have had something to do with it since the visuals of shooting in large arenas often are cited as disorienting for shooters accustomed to small gyms, it’s viable that the reverse could have an effect.

What was incredible though, was that while one team did dominate the other, it was the White team that played superior. Much of that responsibility can be placed on one player. If you were going to predict who ran the floor, played efficiently (great shot selection and few turnovers), involved teammates, played great D, knew how to work the pick and roll perfectly (both on offense and guarding it on D), would your guess be the White Team’s Eric Bledsoe? Maybe, but he wasn’t the most likely. The Clippers signed Randy Foye because they didn’t know if Eric would be ready to play right away. And yet, here was Bledsoe running the offense beautifully (there was a point in the first half that he ran three straight plays with Kaman for buckets, their chemistry was remarkable). He was unquestionably the reason that the White Team played so much better.

Additionally, here’s a simple, player-by-player breakdown:

Starters

Baron Davis – He didn’t look as fit as he did in June and not nearly as fit as he did last year in camp, but he didn’t look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man version that I remember in 2008. He sat on the bench with his knee wrapped in ice the whole time and from what I’ve heard, he’s yet to play with the team in scrimmage situations, not exactly boding well for Baron.

Eric Gordon – Pretty much was on cruise control until the second half when he and his fellow Blue Teamers found themselves in a double digit hole, at which point he began taking it to the rack hard. There was one play specifically where he took a pick from Blake and then split the coverage to go right to the hoop. Beautiful. His shot, still beautiful. For those of you that are hoping he suddenly picked up a court vision, I wouldn’t get too excited. While he makes simple passes well, his passes in traffic were picked off or he fumbled them. Not that this is any different from the Eric Gordon we know, he just hasn’t transformed in to a different player over the summer, just a better version of what we already knew.

Ryan Gomes – He wasn’t a guy that fans hoped the Clippers would sign at small forward, but he’s not going to disappoint either (unless you hope he’s going to have LeBron/Carmelo numbers). In the scrimmage he was a quiet, efficient addition to the white team and a large reason why they won. An interesting tidbit about his offensive style, he’s not a ball-handler so he’s not going to take too many touches away from the rest of the team, and he spends a lot of his time on cuts and curling off screens. And it’s the way he goes through screens that’s interesting. He’s not like Ray Allen or Richard Hamilton where they use their speed and endurance to constantly lose guys on those baseline double screens. Gomes jogs his defender into the screen and when the defender picks a side, Gomes goes the other way. Two or three times during the course of the scrimmage, he found himself with just a touch more space due to that little screen shimmy. Also, he was one of the few Clippers that consistently made outside shots.

Blake Griffin – He is absolutely healthy. On one instance Chris Kaman looked like he was going to shoot and unintentionally pumpfaked because Blake had jumped into his way. Blake was so high that there was no possibility that Kaman could get a shot off (Kaman let Blake fly by and scored two). Another occasion saw Blake attempt an alleyoop, only the pass was thrown behind Blake and as he turned in the air to get the errant pass, he had to duck to make sure his head didn’t hit the backboard. Impressive. If you’re noticing the subtext of those moments, then it’s not going to surprise that he wasn’t great on offense. His shot wasn’t going down and he wasn’t calling for the ball all that often, nor was he effective in the low post when he did get the ball. He was in complete garbageman mode, playing great defense (one or two good blocks) and rebounding well.

Chris Kaman – Were it not for Eric Bledsoe, Kaman would have been the highlight of the day. He looked comfortable and coordinated on both ends of the floor. While he hasn’t magically gotten faster over the off-season it did appear that he has more spring in his jump, evinced on a play where he (after receiving a pass from Bledsoe) went for a monster left handed jam. I just hope he stays healthy.

Bench Rotation Guys

Randy Foye – He is very strong and when he got his man on his hip, Randy went to the hoop. There were a couple times where he looked uncontrolled, jumped into defenders and couldn’t thread a pass to another player (he and Gordon had similar problems). He struggled to guard Bledsoe, everyone did, but he probably did the best job.

DeAndre Jordan – If you were hoping that DeAndre added a post-move or two to his arsenal of dunking and, well, dunking, then you’re going to be disappointed to hear that I didn’t see any signs of it in the scrimmage. While he did appear to be more comfortable in his positioning, he fumbled passes, was called on charging, and dribbled the ball off his foot. The dunking though, that’s still there as he had a thunderous dunk (the hoops were on metal overhanging supports so it was much louder than in an arena with the stanchion base hoops). It should make you feel better that he made his two foul shots, in a similar manner (two rainbows, one swish the other heel in), which was a pleasant surprise.

Eric Bledsoe – Holy mole, he looked good. It’s still hard to believe that the best looking player on the floor was the one that spent the vast majority of last year playing a different position (he had to defer his point guard position to John Wall). What was most impressive about him was just how patient he was. He made sure that Kaman was set before working the pick and roll and he made real efforts to get the ball to the open man (even if those shots weren’t made). He never took forced outside shots and his dribbling was impeccable. No one could get the ball from him. On defense, he played a sneaky brand, coming up with clever steals by using his bursts of speed to jump into lanes but only when necessary. For the most part he stayed in front of his man, although he made one really simple but astonishing block on Randy Foye on a jumper and then acted like nothing happened. I like humility like that in a player because it means he’s just going to keep trying hard and not get out of the moment.

Rasual Butler – Since I mentioned the Clippers didn’t shoot well, it’s no shock that Rasual didn’t perform well, he missed many open looks. That happens though. What was frustrating was when he was guarded by Jon Scheyer (oh, man, Scheyer can’t guard anyone) and he decided to go to the rim. Not pretty. He just doesn’t have the body control that successful finishers have that allows them to contort through the defense and still have a square, balanced shot at the hoop.

Al-Farouq Aminu – Between him and Bledsoe, the Clippers are going to create some steals and have a show on fast breaks this year. He’s already looking like a player that, though his shot isn’t quite there yet (he kicks out to the left on his shot), he’ll be able to play some effective minutes in the game. On one play, Aminu faked Gomes and then went hard to the basket for a crowd pleasing dunk, so he has other options besides the jumper.

Deep Bench

Brian Cook – Ugh. I hope he plays a lot better than that. Good Ole D.J. Foster told me that Cookie went something like 0-9 on jumpers. And he’s never been much of a rebounder. Not exactly a thrilling performance.

Marqus Blakely – Didn’t get enough time to really make an impact, although he did have an impressive goal-tend on Kaman (an after the whistle swat) that clearly showed how athletic he is. One tidbit was the way he lined up for free throw rebounding when his man was at the line. Instead of lining up on the block closest to the opposing player with inside position to the basket, Marqus lined up as far away as possible in the blocks. And while the free throw was made, I did notice that it was an ingenious way to create space as a means to play to his advantage of being quick. Other than DeAndre, he’s probably the player that smiles and talks to guys on the team the most, which is great to have at the end of the bench. He’s a guy that will root for the team and the team will root for him when he is playing. I think chemistry at the end of the bench is extremely important to a team because those are the guys that aren’t getting minutes and most likely to be crabby. He’s very undersized for the position he played in college (power forward), but his athleticism, effort and charisma could combine nicely with an outside shot to make a solid, if unspectacular career (statistically, because he could have some spectacular highlight plays).

Jarron Collins – Meh. Nothing impressive other than his size.

Jake Voskuhl – Meh. Nothing impressive other than his size.

Jon Scheyer – He rocked up wearing mid-nineties Oakley wrap around style rec specs which was the accessory highlight of the day. It made him look like he should be focusing on correct titration rather than running an offense. He appeared controlled on offense if unsuccessful. And defense, ugh, his defense was terrible. On one occasion he guarded Eric Bledsoe and while no one could stay in front of The Bled, it looked like Scheyer was stuck in Matrix slow-mo as Bledsoe flew by him. I’d be surprised if he made the team. I’ll miss the glasses though.

Stephen Dennis – A definite surprise. He’s built like Scheyer (tall, skinny, narrow, with long limbs) but he has a scorer’s feel and was one of the few guys today that consistently got a good shot for himself. He didn’t shoot much from long range, but I’ll be curious to see if he finagles a spot on the team. He would have a better chance if the Clippers didn’t already have Willie Warren and weren’t going to use that last spot for a center.

(Addendum: I received an email from Skye Dennis informing me that Stephen is second cousin to Rip Hamilton. Not bad genes.)

Willie Warren – He was withheld from the game due to a groin/hamstring issue so I didn’t get to see him. I remember from the draft workout that he and Bledsoe played each other and he often settled for difficult shots, which was annoying considering the looks that he can get.

Craig Smith – Also withheld from the scrimmage. Unfortunately for Craig, he has lost his title of “Best Mohawk on the Team” to Ryan Gomes. I’m not sure if there was a belt, a crown or a trophy that goes along with that, but it has to be heartrending to lose that title.

This team is not without flaws, not that any team is, but I’m encouraged by their prospects. What I saw at the scrimmage only solidified my belief that this team could scare .500 this year and has an outside chance, but still a chance, of stealing a playoff spot.

For me, the experience was very unique to be on Camp Pendleton and to see the Clippers play so close. I want to send out a special thanks to Sargent Rodella for escorting me from the gate to the gym and making things run smoothly. Thanks, Troops, I hope you enjoyed the scrimmage.

Bonus: In case you want to go through all the photos, I posted them on Facebook so everyone can see.

Also, I got a picture of a writer that you know and love, D.J. Foster, dancing alongside Clippers Interviewer Madelyn Burke. Good times.

FreeDarko is a personal favorite of mine and Clipper fans have to check out the October 1st post if only to see Craig Smith and DeAndre Jordan bearhugging Chris Kaman.

For years, NBA defense has been defined by a similarly cold and angry calculus. But don’t tell that to the Clippers, whose regular team-wide hug sessions have brought a new sense of togetherness and the most surprisingly effective defensive rotations in the league.