Clippers Breakdown: L.A. Needs More O

The Clippers’ 102-89 loss to the Mavericks on Friday wasn’t the least bit unexpected.

Not only were the Clippers playing one of the toughest teams in the NBA on the road—they were playing without Elton Brand, Shaun Livingston, and Sam Cassell.

In fact, the Clips were so decimated they had to start a guy named Richie Frahm as their 2 guard.

Still, the game highlighted several bright spots for the Clippers—to go with the ugliness you can expect from a 9-16 team.

What Went Right

Chris Kaman (11-18 FG, 19 REB, 5 AST, 6 TO) was terrific for the Clippers, and single-handedly kept the team in the game.

Kaman set up mostly on the right box, where his favorite move was to spin baseline away from double-teamers and hit a turnaround right-handed hook. The K-Man also showed good patience waiting for his cutters to go through their choreography before driving and spinning his way to jump hooks near the basket.

Add cutting to the basket and receiving a nifty Dan Dickau wraparound pass for a dunk, a tip jam off an offensive rebound, an impressive left-handed baseline turnaround jumper over his right shoulder, and a handful of accurate midrange jumpers to round out the rest of Kaman’s scoring.

Some other positives: Kaman made a handful of nice assist passes out of double teams, and dominated both backboards, especially in the first half.

Most of his rebounds came in traffic, and his six offensive boards matched the entire Dallas total.

Whereas Kaman often looked confused and disinterested last season, he now looks completely into being Los Angeles’ main man. If he can learn to stay focused when Elton Brand resumes his role as the team's lynchpin, the Clippers will have a dynamic post duo for the next several years.

What else went right for the Clippers?

Brevin Knight’s hands are still hummingbird quick, as he recorded three steals and several more deflections.

Richie Frahm showed nice touch on his jump shot, and flashed a quick left-handed dribble leading to a fall-away midrange jumper. More impressively, Frahm fought through every screen in staying glued to Jerry Stackhouse, and on one post opportunity pushed Stackhouse all the way out from the mid-post to the three-point line.

Dan Dickau was composed running the Clipper offense, made good entry passes to Kaman, and converted an athletic up-and-under layup in transition.

Corey Maggette and Quinton Ross played solid defense on Josh Howard and Eddie Jones.

What Went Wrong

The Clippers’ perimeter defense was awful, allowing Dallas to shoot 8-16 from downtown.

Brevin Knight was asked to go under screens, allowing Devin Harris in particular to shoot 2-3 from beyond the arc. Knight’s hands are quick, but his feet are breaking down. He’s no longer the jet-setter he once was, and Harris abused him at will.

Harris is a mediocre jump-shooter, and Mike Dunleavy was willing to hedge his bet on his missing the majority of his attempts. Still, needless double-teams on Dirk Nowtizki, post-ups 16 feet from the basket, late rotations and closeouts, and an unwillingness to fight through screens doomed the Clippers’ team defense.

Quinton Ross played defense but has no offensive skills.

Aside from a handful of powerful post-ups, Corey Maggette wasn’t involved in the Clipper offense.

Al Thornton showed an ability to create his own shot in one-on-one situations, but he wasn't a factor in any team offense. No cutting, no moving without the ball, no creating—everything was catch and attempt to break his opponent down for a long jumper.

Thornton was awful defensively as well, reaching too far, getting lifted by head fakes, and slapping shooters on jump shots.

While the rookie has NBA talent, he has a long way to go to get an NBA brain.

Kaman was a willing passer, but most of his passes were simple ones, or were telegraphed. Once Dallas realized that Kaman was apt to look diagonally cross-court, they forced a couple of interceptions to create fast breaks.

Also, since most of Kaman’s moves were jumpers or finesse hooks, he only got to the free throw line three times. That’s the main reason he'll never be the feature player on an elite championship contender.

Tim Thomas was his usual awful self, missing seven of his 10 attempts (including all of his threes), playing putrid man-to-man defense, being so lazy he switched on every screen and forced teammates into awful defensive matchups (like Dan Dickau guarding Dirk in the post eight feet from the basket)...and then arguing with teammates as if they were missing assignments.

Thomas is one of the biggest losers in the NBA.

The Clippers offense had poor spacing, with players too bunched together. They need a few more jump shooters to space the floor to the point that their offensive schemes can be effective.

As the Clipper roster stands, only Kaman can create shots for himself and his teammates with consistency.

Maggette can occasionally create for himself, Dickau can create for others, Cuttino Mobley and Thomas are only useful when shooting 40 percent from downtown, Ross has no offensive skills to speak of, Frahm is a 12th man, and Thornton has a lot of learning to do.

Even with Elton Brand returning next year, the Clippers looks putrid. They should be advised to blow the whole thing up and start over.