To have just 1 win, and it be a 3 point win at home against the Timberwolves, is scary. Al Thornton is looking like he doesnt belong in the NBA, let alone the Clippers team. Al is turning 26 years old in a month (yes 26 !), it doesnt seem likely he will get better after 26. Baron is shooting .333%, that is even worse than last year. Kaman is shooting .600 and that is going to go down undoubtedly. The only upside on this team is Eric Gordon. He is taking it to the hole and quick. He's a 21 year old sharp shooter with a knack for taking to the hole. Blake Griffin's future may be great, but questions are there about his durability. A mix of 2 young players ( Gordon and Blake) and some aging past not-quite All-Stars (Camby and Baron) are not mix that will lead the Clippers to success. We've seen this before, we've seen this more than once.
It's time to blow this team up. Keep Gordon and Griffin and trade Baron's contract with whatever it will take to get rid of it, Kaman included. Kaman's contract ends after the 2011/2012 season and it isnt likely he is going to re-sign with the Clips. Kaman is no sure thing, he's proved it. He is Stanley Robert re-incarnated. He will tease you with his talent, but never develop into a steady NBA center.

no.

Kaman is shooting .600 and that is going to go down undoubtedly. He is Stanley Robert re-incarnated. He will tease you with his talent, but never develop into a steady NBA center.

I think its way too early to start judging the team. I know Dun isn't the best coach but at the same time the team needs time to grow. Playing only 5 games is not good amount of time to give a decent assessment of the teams development. They beat a team they should have beat in the wolves. They are not at the level of the teams they lost to at this point. There are some winnable games coming. Let's see if the team has gotten better in any aspect after 20 games. A 5 game assessment is asking way to much.

yeah umm no

Telfair, Rhino, Griffin, Gordon, Kaman, DJ.

^^^ good idea. But players 2-7 on your list are all expiring, so no need to trade them, execpt for Thornton cause he has like 2 years left, but his contraact is so small it doesn't really hurt us. The only part we have left to do is trade bd, but we gotto find a sucker.... I mean taker for him

Those are certainly the guys on this team worth keeping. I would add Butler to that list... We would need to add a SF and a PG... Ramon Sessions anyone?

Baron is the key... But it appears we're stuck with his underperforming ass... He's played himself right out of star status, making his salary something that few would touch in these times... If there is someone out there, I would move him at the first opportunity, because he's likely not to get any better as he contract continues. Once again, be very careful who you give large contracts to... There's no worse mistake a GM can make.

On the up side, at least he's hustling this year... For now anyway!

And Howard out of Dallas is another knucklehead I wouldn't touch. Ability and no brain. We've been down that road before... In fact, we're going down it now with Baron. No thanks. Not again.

What we need more than a PG is cleaning up the SF spot...that's all we need now.

they outplayed the suns...

Joe, respectfully disagree... For Butler its only been five games, with only one in the starting lineup... I think he'll be okay... At least I hope so.

Re: Baron... He's been a very mediocre PG so far this season, perhaps below given his shooting percentage. Yes, I know it's also been only five games for him as well, but we expect more upside from Baron than we do from Butler. When his salary is taken into account, Baron is underperforming. We expected and are paying for a star and a game changer and we're getting nothing of the sort. Add to that, the dangers of where his head will take him in the future is very risky. He's got nearly four years remaining on his contract. Imagine what his play will be like in 2013 and what he might weigh by then... Yes, he's much better than he was last year in terms of attitude, hustle and performance, but that's saying very, very little. In a salary cap world a player's value to his team is directly relateable to what he's being paid... Anyone who is willing to mail in a whole season, as Baron did last year, is a very dangerous guy to have in the locker room.

I do agree with you that the SF spot has been a huge problem. Hopefully Butler will start knocking down shots. We know Thornton is a better player than he's shown so far, but I wouldn't be averse to moving him. I wonder if Rhino can play that spot at times.



I agree in terms of NEED for this season only... However, if an opportunity to move Baron, who I foresee as being a liability down the road, presented itself, I wouldn't hesitate to send him elsewhere.

I bet most thought Baron was going to pout about it after watching Baron & Camby mumbling to each other on the bench just before the game ended.

All this after 5 games? cmon. We beat the team we needed to beat and had pretty much only one disappointing loss to the Suns. The rest we weren't even supposed to beat anyway, us keeping it close was a bonus.

would have, should have , could have... all are excuses for losers. These guys lose, plain and simple. It is a fact, they know how to lose. I mean 15 wins last year says it all. No it wasnt a 30 win season and a hope for next year. We are talking a win total in the teens! Anyone who thinks a bunch of guys that have never won on any level (except Camby at U Mass.) will suddenly click after a year PLUS is being foolish. Dump some losers, bring in some winning history (ie Billups example in Denver).

That's fine Sam, different opinions matter. I just see baron as someone who is trying...that's all I want from him at this point. The biggest battle is buying into the system and it looks like he is. I'm not sure if you noticed the last game, he looked like he caught himself a few times trying to shoot the deep ball but gathered himself a made the pass...that is what i want to see...realizing and making the proper changes...this after being bench in the 4th qtr of the previous game.
I bet most thought Baron was going to pout about it after watching Baron & Camby mumbling to each other on the bench just before the game ended. What did he do for the following game? Baron came out as if it never happened and played with a smile on his face and even showed emotion for his fellow teammates. He even "stomach bumped" Kaman after a great play....that is a sign of maturity.

And you are right, Butler hasn't played enough in our starting line-up so I guess I was a little hasty, there.

I am one of Kaman's harshest critics, but even I know he has easily been our most consistent player on this team in our last 5 games. I don't know what games you've watched, but Kaman is playing like a beast. If he keeps this up, no way should the Clippers trade him. I honestly can't wait to see Blake play with the new and improved Kaman, or in this case Kaman 2.0.

Oh yeah, your suggestion to trade Kaman now deserves a....

Kaman is the real deal but unless someone steps up, he'll have trouble scoring triple teamed. He's obviously steped up his game over the summer much to my surprise. His J is killer.

I didn't see Utah but we should have beaten Dallas and PHX. Losing was unacceptable - period. We should be 2-3 or maybe 3-2. We aren't because we played badly. Kaman and EJ and MC were good. That's it. Part of a losing attitude is accepting losing. A winner never says it's OK to lose ANYTHING. What would Kobe say? Like him or not he's a winner so let's take a lesson from him. Like him or not any other coach would have been fired long ago. Last season's record had little to do with injuries. Sam and EB are winners. Get rid of BD and get a Sam of 5 yrs ago. We win. Sam and EB, Marcus off the bench we win. Baron has 50% more talent than Sam but he's a loser