I do not believe in curses but something has definitely not been "right" in L.A. Clipper’s history as an organization. But let us not get into the abysmal past just yet; let us discuss the here and now. The Clippers have a talented enough roster, albeit banged up right now missing two key players even before Marcus Camby went down last night, to be in serious contention for one of the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference. As it stands today with a 4 - 9 record, the Clips are the 12th team in the West, 2.5 games behind the 8th seeded Thunder. The Clippers win totals since 2005-06 when they advanced to the Western Conference semi-finals are 40, 23 and 19. The head coach of this debacle of a franchise for the last 6 years has been Michael Joseph Dunleavy, Sr. His Clipper teams have averaged 50 losses a season and he has had only 1 winning record as the teams head coach. There have been numerous reports of friction between coach Dunleavy and his star players over the years. In 2005 Elton Brand was the Clippers best player when they won their first playoff series since 1977. Elton became a free agent at the end of the 2007-08 season and despite an Achilles injury that forced him to miss all but 8 games of that season, the Clippers were ready to make him their franchise player. Brand apparently did not believe in the leadership of the franchise so he made a different move signing with the Sixers instead. The coach was left confused. What else was in the works for the Clip show? Well the Clippers did land prize free agent point guard Baron Davis as well as stud but oft-injured center Marcus Camby to go with perennial 20/10 forward Zack Randolph. Already on the roster was young emerging inside force Chris Kaman who was coming off his best season as a pro and primed to breakout with the abundance of talent around him. "On paper" things were looking promising. The result of that roster was 19 wins and the 1st pick in the NBA draft which was used on can't miss power forward Blake Griffin (as bad luck would have it Blake has been sidelined this season with a fractured kneecap). Sure there were injuries, suspensions and chemistry issues but this team looksunmotivated and lethargic most of the time.

The injuries cannot be avoided, passionate play, discipline and execution are a direct result of head coaching and the Clippers need a new one. Dunleavy is not getting anything out of his guys on most nights. He has not developed Kaman into the force he should be although he is having an excellent season thus far. B Diddy has regressed under his watch although he appears to be healthy. Eric Gordon who was the Clips first round selection in 2008 has been a pleasant surprise but how soon before he joins the dozens of other Clipper players under Dunleavy's watch? For the sake of a thirsty-for-a-winner fan base I hope he is not around long enough for us to find out an answer. For all of the failures endured by this unfortunate franchise, the GM of the team has done a good job putting together a talented roster. Sadly the coach has just failed to deliver a good product on the court. The ironic thing is that the coach and the GM are the same person.