Los Angeles Clippers Blog – Page 99 – NBA Blog

Baron Davis back in 1 week

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Baron Davis underwent an examination today by Dr. Roy Meals, a hand specialist with the UCLA Medical Group. The examination revealed that Davis had sustained a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left ring finger. The injury does not require surgery and is expected to heal on its own. Davis will wear a splint and is expected to resume all basketball activities in one week.

Davis was originally diagnosed with a sprained left ring finger after falling on his hand during practice at the Los Angeles Clippers Training Center on Friday, October 17th. X-rays taken after the injury occurred were negative and a subsequent MRI revealed results that were inconclusive, leading to today’s follow up examination.

Oct 19: Clips 114, FC Barcelona 109

The AP reports: Al Thornton had 23 points and 11 rebounds, rookie Eric Gordon scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter after getting into early foul trouble, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat FC Barcelona 114-109 in an exhibition game on Sunday as part of the annual Staples Shootout. Ersan Ilyasova scored 20 points and Jaka Lakovic added 19 for Barcelona, which lost 108-104 to the Lakers on Saturday night. Juan Carlos Navarro, the only player on the team who participated at the Beijing Olympics when Spain won the silver medal, had 11 points in 29 minutes after getting 34 points in 41 minutes against countryman and former Memphis Grizzlies teammate Pau Gasol… The Clippers again played without Tim Thomas (groin strain), Marcus Camby (bruised heel) and Baron Davis (sprained finger).

Oct 18: Raptors 93, Clippers 89

The AP reports: Chris Bosh scored 26 points, Jermaine O’Neal added 20, and the Toronto Raptors capitalized on the absence of three injured Clippers regulars to beat Los Angeles 93-89 on Saturday. O’Neal, preparing for his first season with the Raptors after eight years with Indiana and four with Portland, finished 7-for-15 from the field in 33 minutes and grabbed nine rebounds. Bosh had 11 boards. Reserve Ricky Davis led the Clippers (3-1) with 14 points. First-round draft pick Eric Gordon, the third player off the bench, had 10 points in 18 minutes after scoring 33 points in Wednesday’s victory over Sacramento.

Clippers waive Curtis Sumpter

The Los Angeles Clippers today waived forward Curtis Sumpter. Sumpter appeared in two preseason games for the Clippers and averaged 1.0 point and 0.5 rebounds in 6.5 minutes per game. The former Villanova star signed with the Clippers on Sept. 26, 2008.

The Clippers roster now stands at 15 players.

I’m rooting for Curtis Sumpter, because I’ve always thought he has a damn cool-sounding name. Seems reason enough. Anyway, I assume he’ll be overseas.

–Jeff

Oct 15: Clippers 116, Kings 112

The AP reports: Kevin Martin scored 29 points in less than 22 minutes for Sacramento, but rookie Eric Gordon scored 33 points and led the Los Angeles Clippers’ fourth-quarter rally for a 116-112 victory over the Kings in an exhibition game Wednesday night… Fellow rookie Mike Taylor had another impressive game with 21 points and nine assists for the Clippers, who are unbeaten in three exhibition games. Cuttino Mobley added 17 points and Jelani McCoy had 12 for Los Angeles, which held the Kings scoreless after Bobby Jackson’s free throw with 2:54 to play.

Oct 14: Clippers 90, Thunder 88

The AP reports: Mike Taylor set up the go-ahead basket with a steal and then sent home an emphatic right-handed jam in the final minute as the Los Angeles Clippers spoiled the Thunder’s only preseason home game Tuesday night with a 90-88 win. Taylor picked Russell Westbrook’s pocket and missed a fast-break layup, but Ricky Davis was there with the putback to give the Clippers (2-0) an 84-83 lead with 49.9 seconds remaining… Al Thornton led the Clippers with 23 points, Taylor finished with 14 and Ricky Davis had 13. Eric Gordon, the Clippers’ first-round draft pick, scored nine points on 2-for-8 shooting in 22 minutes in his preseason debut… Kevin Durant, the reigning rookie of the year, paced the Thunder (1-4) with 18 points but missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 9 seconds left. Westbrook and Earl Watson scored 14, Johan Petro had 12 points and 15 rebounds and Desmond Mason and Nick Collison each added 10 points.

Glancing at Dan Dickau

The San Francisco Chronicle (Steve Kroner) reports: Dan Dickau’s basketball life has changed pretty dramatically in the past two months. He spent last season with the Clippers, signed with Avellino, an Italian team, in August, stayed in Italy for most of September, and after his deal with Avellino went south, signed with the Warriors on Oct. 1. In Golden State’s 110-95 win at Portland on Wednesday night, Dickau made his first appearance of the preseason, scoring eight points, collecting five rebounds and making four steals in 21 minutes. “I thought I played well,” Dickau said. “There are some things I could have done better but for my first game here, coming into camp late, it was a good building block.” “He’s a very good point guard,” head coach Don Nelson said. “Physically, he’s not gifted but he does the right thing most all the time and when he does get beat, it’s because of a physical problem, not a mental one.”

Oct 9: Clippers 107, Lakers 80

The AP reports: Rookie Mike Taylor was 9-of-12 from the field and scored 20 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 107-80 preseason victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night… Lakers star Kobe Bryant played 24 minutes and finished with 12 points and three assists. He left midway through the third quarter and did not return. Baron Davis, who signed the Clippers in the offseason after spending the past three seasons with the Warriors, played 17 minutes and finished with 12 points and seven assists. Ricky Davis had 17 points for the Clippers (1-1), who led by as many as 13 points in the first half and began distancing themselves again early in the fourth after the Lakers got as close as 79-74 on Jordan Farmar’s 3-pointer. Farmar, who finished with 12 points, was one of five Lakers in double figures.

Mike Dunleavy now Clippers GM

The Los Angeles Clippers today announced that Head Coach Mike Dunleavy will assume the additional role of General Manager, replacing Vice President of Basketball Operations, Elgin Baylor.

In a related move, the team’s current Director of Player Personnel, Neil Olshey, will be elevated to the post of Assistant General Manager.

“We greatly appreciate Elgin’s efforts during his time with the Clippers, and we wish him the very best,” said Clippers’ Owner and Chairman of the Board Donald T. Sterling.

Referring to Dunleavy and Olshey respectively, Clippers President Andy Roeser said, “In Mike and Neil, we’re fortunate to already have talented people in place to make this transition a seamless one. Going forward, we have high expectations for our team. From a basketball standpoint, these are the people we’re counting on to make those expectations a reality.”

Dunleavy welcomed the opportunity, saying, “I really appreciate the trust that the organization has placed in me. We’re ready and excited to move forward, and we think we’ll have a team which can be dynamic and exciting, certainly one with enough talent to be a force in the Western Conference.”

Baylor, an 11-time NBA All Star, joined the Clippers in 1986 as Vice President of Basketball Operations after a stellar 14-year playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers and a brief coaching stint with the New Orleans Jazz. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976, chosen as one of the NBA’s “50 Greatest Players of All Time” during the league’s 50th Anniversary celebration in 1997, and was named the 2005-06 NBA Executive of the Year.

Dunleavy, entering his sixth year as Clippers’ Head Coach, has manned dual roles before: he was Vice President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach of the Milwaukee Bucks from 1992-93 through 1995-96.

Olshey, originally hired as Clippers’ Director of Player Development prior to the 2003-04 season, became an assistant coach on Dunleavy’s staff in 2004-05. He has been the team’s Director of Player Personnel for the past three seasons.

PG Jason Williams brought the fun

The Sacramento Bee (Scott Howard-Cooper) reports on now retired point guard Jason Williams: “He really has a little bit of a unique place in the history of the NBA, I think,” Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie said, “in the sense that his rookie year and into his second year, he kind of came out of nowhere at a time when the league was coming out of the lockout and sort of struggling with its style of play and just trying to regain some of the footing it had lost at that time. And here was this kid that had these incredible dribbling and passing skills and sort of pedal-to-the-metal attitude about the game. He just caught the imagination of the entire country, along with the rest of our team. “It really helped the NBA. It really helped this franchise, along with a lot of other terrific players, too. He became the darling of ESPN highlights just about every night. I’ve told this to other people: There was a time there, probably for about a year or so, other than Michael Jordan, he was the most popular basketball player in America because of this flamboyant style he had.”