The Los Angeles Clippers are a disapointing 20-27 so far this season, but you can’t put any of the blame on C Chris Kaman.  Kaman has been putting up All-Star numbers and you could make a strong argument that Kaman got snubbed and should be in this year’s All-Star game.  He is averaging 20.2 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 50% from the field and playing 36.4 minutes per game.  Unfortunately Kaman sprained his ankle recently and has missed that past two games (both losses).  He will likely be out tomorrow night against a very hot Chicago Bulls team, so it looks like the Clippers are on their way to their fifth straight loss.  The Clippers do have a very talented line-up, so I wouldn’t count them out yet.  They need Kaman back in the line-up as soon as possible though, because without him they have no chance of turning their season around.  He is only listed as “questionable” though, so I expect to see Kaman back within a game or two.

Los Angeles Clippers fans had a lot to be excited about coming into the 2009-’10 NBA season, mainly because they took the very talented and explosive Blake Griffin with the number one pick in the NBA Draft.  Their excitement was worthy and he was living up to the hype in the seven preseason games he played in for the Clippers, averaging 13.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.4 steals, while shooting 57% from the field and playing just 28.1 minutes per game.  Granted preseason is a lot different than a regular season game, both in intensity and execution, but those are some pretty damn good numbers for a rookie.  Unfortunately Griffin injured his knee on a big dunk during the final preseason game.  What seemed like a minor injury at the time, turned into a long stint on the injured list and some devastating news hit the Clippers today as the 6’10″, 255 lbs Griffin will undergo season-ending knee surgery.  Even though Griffin is a rookie, he was obviously ready to make an immediate impact and the 17-19 Clippers would be a different team with him.  Hopefully for Griffin and Clippers fans’ sake this is not a sign of things to come for his career and he can bounce back 100% next season.

The 21-year-old Eric Gordon made an immediate impact for the Los Angeles Clippers last season as a rookie, averaging 16.1 points, 2.8 assists, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.0 steals while shooting 46% from the field and 39% from three.  Gordon has always been a hard-worker, dating back to his high school days as a phenom at North Central High School in Indianapolis and his one-and-done year at Indiana University.  He has a professional approach to his game and it is paying off.  Gordon has missed 9 games this season, but he is a strong player and I am not worried about Gordon having an injury plagued career.  Despite missing some games this season due to injury, Gordon has improved in almost every statistical category.  He is averaging 17.3 points, 3.0 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals while shooting 47% from the field and 40% from three point land.  Gordon has a great approach for such a young player, and there are a lot of older NBA players that could learn from the youngster.  The Clippers should hold on to this guy, as he will be a top guard in this league for a while.

The Los Angeles Clippers (12-15) did some things right against the San Antonio Spurs (15-10), but they could not keep up with the Spurs’ hot shooting.  Chris Kaman was the only Clipper to have a big game, getting 23 points and 15 rebounds.  Rasual Butler was a nice boost off the bench with 18 points, but the Clippers needed more out of their other starters.  Tim Duncan only had 13 points for the Spurs, but they had seven players in double-figures including three off the bench.  Tony Parker led with 19 points on 7-11 shooting.  The Spurs hit 51% of their shots compared to 44% for the Clippers, so the Clippers just couldn’t keep up with the Spurs scoring last night.

The Los Angeles Clippers (11-13) shot lights out Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves (4-22) on their way to a blowout win.  Eric Gordon led the Clippers in scoring with 26 points, but it was a well-rounded scoring effort by the whole team as they shot 52% from the field.  All the starters scored in double-figures.  Rasual Butler had a great game off the bench, and shot very well from behind the arc.  Butler played 26 minutes and had 21 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 blocks while going 5-8 from three.  Kevin Love led the Timberwolves with 19 points and 12 rebounds.  This was an easy win for the Clippers.

The Los Angeles Clippers (8-11) just did not score enough points last night in their loss to the Houston Rockets (10-8).  The Clippers hit only 1-14 three point attempts, with Baron Davis leading the three point brick laying with a 1-7 performance from behind the arc.  Davis had a solid game otherwise, finishing with 20 points, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds.  Marcus Camby attacked the glass as usual and ended up with 9 points and 19 rebounds.  Nobody else on the Clippers had more than 5 rebounds though and besides Camby’s 7 offensive rebounds, they only had 3 as a team.  Chris Kaman needs to step up his rebounding, as Camby can’t grab every board for the Clippers.  Aaron Brooks was the Rockets leading scorer with 22 points.

Al Thornton led the way for the Los Angeles Clippers (6-9) Monday night as they squeezed out a win against the terrible Minnesota Timberwolves (1-13).  Thornton had 31 points on 11-16 shooting and added 10 rebounds and an assist.  Marcus Camby had a double-double, with 12 points and 18 rebounds.  Baron Davis had a terrible night, but he came through when the Clippers needed him most.  With the shot-clock running down and the Clippers only up 2, Davis drove to the hoop and scored a contested lay-up with 8 seconds left to seal the win.  It was Davis’ first field goal of the game, as he went 1-10 from the field.  Chris Kaman added 15 points and 7 rebounds, but he was off tonight as well hitting only 6-20 shots.  The defense did a good job tonight since the shooting was not great, forcing 21 turnovers and holding the Timberwolves to only 14 points in the 4th quarter.  Rookie Johnny Flynn was the T’Wolves top player, getting 17 points, 5 assists, and a steal.

The Clippers brought in 24-year old Sebastian Telfair in a trade with the T-Wolves in the off-season to back up Baron Davis who has been a tad injury prone in his career. 30-year old Baron Davis played in 65 games for the Clippers last season and he averaged 34.6 minutes, 14.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He is the pass first point guard that the Clippers need with the talented them they have in place. Sebastian Telfair played in 75 games for the Timberwolves this season and he averaged 27.9 minutes, 9.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Telfair can handle big minutes if Davis goes down to injury. The Clippers will likely cut down on Davis’ minutes with Telfair now in the fold in an attempt to keep him healthy.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POINT GUARDS IN 2009-2010: B+