Kim Hughes goes in on Baron Davis & Chris Kaman

[mkwest]

Clippers' season review: Kim Hughes reflects

Perhaps would it be easier, take some of the pressure of Baron Davis, if he was declared not the leader. Davis recently said he hasn't been allowed to lead the Clippers. Hughes didn't buy into the notion of it being better for Davis if he was not the leader.

"No…. I’m going to say to be a leader, you’ve got to be the first one to practice and the last one to leave," Hughes said. "You can’t talk it. You’ve got to walk it. And if you truly are the leader, right now we really don’t have one.

"You’ve got to be there every day at practice, compete every day through minor injuries, minor illnesses. It’s not a job description that you can pick and choose when you want to be a leader. Either you are a leader every time or you’re not. He may not be the leader next year, I don’t know."

Davis has made forward strides this season. Then again, he had a massive amount of ground to make up after his first season with the Clippers.

"I think since I’ve taken over, Baron has shot the ball much better, he’s played much more defense, not shot quite as many threes," Hughes said. "I think he’s tried to be a leader . Hasn’t progressed to that point yet. Of all the guys, since I’ve taken over, I think Baron has made the biggest progression forward."

Lisa Dillman, The Fabulous Forum

Clippers' Hughes critiques Kaman, Davis

Though he said he "loves Chris" Kaman and is proud of the center's development, he doesn't believe the Clippers can win an NBA championship with him as their main offensive option, as he was this season.

"You probably wouldn't win a championship with him as the first offensive option," Hughes said. "He doesn't recognize doubles enough, if he was the second [option] and guys weren't doubling as much, I think he'd probably be more effective. He'd probably shoot around 54, 55 percent.

"Chris I'm sure enjoyed scoring 20 points a game and had a great year, but I think the team would be more effective if when he's doubled he passes out to perimeter players and makes them better shooters, because clearly we need help with shooting, and he can help them out.

"I would prefer if he averaged 1.5 more rebounds per game and 2.5 fewer points."

Hughes said he'd noticed Davis playing better and more freely since he took over as coach in early February, but that the point guard still has "more work to do."

"I don't know what limited him, and really I don't care because really that's between he and Mike [Dunleavy]," Hughes said. "He's tried to be a leader the last 40 percent of the year, I'd concur with that.

"But he still has more work to do if he truly wants to be in a running team, and be a transition team, like he did in Golden State, that means he's got to get his body weight down to around 205. If he does that next year, that's showing me that he does want to be a leader and play that way next year."

Ramona Shelburne, ESPN Los Angeles

Ramona talks to Mychal Thompson and Andrew Siciliano on LA Sports Live.

[donemilio21]

I agree that Kaman shouldn't be the first option, but what outside shooters is he really talking about?
Its his job to make EJ the first option.

I completely agree about Baron. He needs to attack the basket and not settle jump shots.

[Recently]

I agree with most of this. Kaman is horribly slow at passing out of double teams; this often leads to turnovers, or gives the defense enough time to rotate to the shooter and contest shots. He needs to be able to pass out if it quicker, and make decisions faster. I'm ok with the rebounding effort; He DID play with Camby most of the year afterall, and since he's able to stretch the floor a bit with his shooting, hes often not in position to get Offensive rebounds.

As for baron, I couldn't really tell if he cut back on the 3's after the coaching change or not; i cringe every time he chucks one up. The rest i concur, he did seem to improve/try harder after the change.

[scoobs07]

Ok, this concerns me. They really need to get a first option at small forward then. Kaman, Baron, Gordan and Griffin are not first options. Who the hell are the Clippers going to get to be the first option. The only ones that probably could be attainable in free agency are power forwards like Stoudamire and Boozer, but the Clippers are in love with Griffin so I dont see why they would do that, unless they want Griffin coming off the bench?

[thanumba2clippersfan]

MK you have really been posting some gems for us, you gotta be one of the best Mods right now. I really enjoyed listening to the podcast of the Ramona Shelburne and Kim Hughes interview. Since I am so far away from So Cal it's hard for me to find things like this. I really do like Hughes' honesty and I really hope we can turn it around. One thing I really don't like is that the guys didn't always give maximum effort and I'm sure that's why we lost a number of games we should have won and got blown out. But I guess that's the risk we take when we are trying to have cap space for this summer and have a lot of free agents. Everyone cares mostly about getting paid.

[pageC4]

Kim Hughes hit the nail on the head. Kaman has finally turned into the player he was meant to be this year, but I agree that he should not be our main offensive weapon. Also Baron has talked quite a good game and not necessarilly backed it up on the court. I'm not sure what is going to happen with Baron. This year was a slight improvement over last year, but I think the improvement was more attributed to such a bad first year on the Clipppers that anything would seem like a step up. Either way something must be done to shore up the point guard position. Who knows how Baron will play next year

[TheNewEra]

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