Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 10:30 am  |  44 responses

Tension Between Baron Davis and Mike Dunleavy (Already!)

by Marcel Mutoni

When Baron Davis was in Oakland, he was the ring leader of a loose, at times wild hoops team. And his coach loved him for it. Don Nelson put the ball in Diddy’s hands, and more or less let him do his thing.

It was madness, a sort of controlled chaos if you will, but it produced wins and a memorable Playoff trip in 2007.

Well, Baron’s not in Kansas Oakland anymore, and his new boss is a lot less willing to let him “freestyle”. Predictably, this is leading to some friction. The LA Times has the details.

Said Davis: “There’s definitely a disconnect there. I’ve never had so many plays in my entire career.”

Said Dunleavy: “We’re working through it right now.”

Said Davis: “I have to figure out how to fit more into his system, and he has to figure out how to relax his grip.”

Said Dunleavy: “I’m confident everything will be fine.”

That reads like a script to a terrific sitcom. What remains to be seen is if Clipper fans will be laughing or crying by the end of it.

According to eternally wise Chris Kaman, this Davis/Dunleavy partnership is going to be either “the greatest thing ever, or it’s going to be a disaster.” I don’t know about you, but I’m leaning towards the latter.

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  • BigWalt206 Posted: Nov.13 at 10:31 am
    Well that sure took a long time…

  • slamfan4life Posted: Nov.13 at 10:31 am
    damn, i hope this doesnt make the clippers any worse

  • dpak Posted: Nov.13 at 10:33 am
    why did dunleavy sign him?
    why did he not realize their styles wouldn’t fit together?

  • Justin Walsh Posted: Nov.13 at 10:34 am
    oh joy. bdavis and dunleavy have tension, that makes his jersey movie tht better

  • TADOne Posted: Nov.13 at 10:34 am
    Welcome home, Baron.

  • Holly MacKenzie Posted: Nov.13 at 10:38 am
    “That reads like a script to a terrific sitcom. What remains to be seen is if Clipper fans will be laughing or crying by the end of it.” That made me laugh.

  • Holly MacKenzie Posted: Nov.13 at 10:38 am
    The sitcom, not the fans laughing/crying.

  • niQ Posted: Nov.13 at 10:57 am
    shoulda stayed in Golden State.

  • Ben Osborne Posted: Nov.13 at 10:58 am
    So predictable. I was watching the game last night and while I didn’t see any outright beef between them there were a couple instances where Baron was leaving the court before they went to a timeout and the TV cut to commercial where he and Mike D were not thrilled with each other.

  • underdog Posted: Nov.13 at 11:04 am
    It’s so awful to see how Baron destroyed his own carrier when he decided to sign with the freakin’ Clippers. They won’t win more than 20 this year.

  • Mo Charlo Posted: Nov.13 at 11:57 am
    I destroy carriers all the time, underdog.

  • Allenp Posted: Nov.13 at 12:12 pm
    Um, haven’t we seen this movie before with Baron?
    Higher than Iverson.

  • ciolkstar Posted: Nov.13 at 12:18 pm
    So obvious. I said this would happen after watching the 1st quarter of their season opener. This team’s only cahce will be to have baron run wild with thornton and eventually Gordon. Slowing it down and getting te ball into Kaman is what Dunleavy wants, but the rest of their offense turns completely stagnant and they really don’t have the shooter to spread the floor.

  • ciolkstar Posted: Nov.13 at 12:22 pm
    ^^typo city. Sorry to say this but, this won’t end well if Baron doesn’t get his way. Dunleavy’s alegiance to Kaman could be the downfall. Free BDiddy!

  • underdog Posted: Nov.13 at 12:34 pm
    Career. :)

  • Breeze Posted: Nov.13 at 12:41 pm
    well it has to go baron way for this to work..dun- should run teh offense thru him and let everyones else tag along..they can be a better golden state…

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Nov.13 at 1:47 pm
    Who’s done better in the playoffs lately, Baron Davis or Mike Dunleavy? I’ll wait.

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Nov.13 at 1:49 pm
    Also, if we’re going to re-hash Baron/AI for the quadrillionth time, last I checked only one of them got traded this season.

  • Allenp Posted: Nov.13 at 2:25 pm
    Russ, no chance of a rehash from me.
    I will just post my snide remarks whenever possible. Feel free to ignore them.

  • Allenp Posted: Nov.13 at 2:26 pm
    Russ, I would say Mike Dunleavy has done better in the playoffs. At least teh Clippers took the Suns to seven that one year. The Warriors got out of the first round, but got smoked by Utah. Both guys missed the playoffs two of the past three years.

  • TADOne Posted: Nov.13 at 2:32 pm
    I actually don’t know the answer and i’m too lazy to look it up, so i’ll wait for Russ’s response.

  • Spaceship Jay Posted: Nov.13 at 3:00 pm
    In the end, they both lose. What would the league be like if everybody was trying to win a championship?

  • Breeze Posted: Nov.13 at 3:06 pm
    i wonder that also jay ..it would be less money talk and more play

  • Phil Posted: Nov.13 at 3:31 pm
    Is baron’s first comment directed towards the warriors or clippers? Because if it’s directed to the warriors then my guess is he is happy with the way coach dunleavy is calling the players

  • BETCATS Posted: Nov.13 at 4:10 pm
    The Clippers lack of chemistry is terrible.

  • Phil Posted: Nov.13 at 4:24 pm
    Correction plays not players.

  • ciolkstar Posted: Nov.13 at 5:28 pm
    Baron has had more playoff success. Does anyone else remember that Hornets team where he and Jamal Mashburn got healthy for one season and Mash only shot turnaround jumpers (and never missed) That team got to the second round and (I think) took the Pierce and ‘Toine celtics to 7 games. Plus Baron’s Warriors gave EVERY NBA fan lots of enjoyment, playoffs or none, while all Dunleavy gave us is Lil Dunn’ making weird faces/getting kicked in the head.

  • MoMONEY Posted: Nov.13 at 5:48 pm
    Come back to tha bay

  • DD Posted: Nov.13 at 6:20 pm
    baron is a great player but he needs to be more disciplined, one of the reasons gstate never got to the finals the last couple years was that they did not run an organized offense

  • TD Posted: Nov.13 at 6:43 pm
    @slamfan4life How do the Clippers get worse than 1-7

  • Gov Posted: Nov.13 at 8:17 pm
    Fire Mike Dunleavy. He needs to go, now. He’s awful, just an awful coach.

  • ClydeSays Posted: Nov.13 at 8:25 pm
    Hey Baron, You wanted a raise. Now you’ll just have to put up with a new, lousy boss.

  • KB 4 MVP! Posted: Nov.13 at 8:44 pm
    In fairness to Baron he probably thought elton brand would be there when he signed and that was a great fit for him coming back to LA but when EB left than everyone out here knew it was gonna be disastour

  • chintao Posted: Nov.13 at 9:30 pm
    To me, it seems that not enough is made of matching a coach’s style to that of his players. Some coaches coach talent (Fil Jax). Most coaches coach systems (JVG). Some coaches can do both (the tuft of greased hair formerly known as Pat Riley). Dunleavy seems like a “system” guy. If Baron’s not a “system” player (or willing to try to be a “system” player), then the Clips shouldn’t have brought him in.

  • DD Posted: Nov.13 at 11:53 pm
    i think baron can learn to be a system player, the problem is that he is to obsessed with “style” shots instead of playing efficient team basketball. He needs to recognize that long 3s are not high percentage shots (especially for him 26% from the 3 pt line !?!??!) but layups and short range are. He also needs to learn to pass to post-players, he has alot to learn but i think that he can improve himself and the team. I WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU GUYS THINK OF THIS, PLEASE RESPOND

  • Ballinpro24 Posted: Nov.14 at 1:09 am
    the clippers have been an nba disgrace…for ever…just join the lakers bandwagon…

  • Allenp Posted: Nov.14 at 1:51 pm
    ciolkstar
    Have you forgotten that HOrnets team regular lost to a Sixers team led by Allen Iverson? Including one year where Iverson dropped 55 points on Baron to get his team to advance. The Sixers and Iverson beat Baron in the first round two or three years.

  • The Promise Posted: Nov.14 at 6:33 pm
    I had a feeling he would get sick of being a Clipper fast. No Brand, no help. Gettin old fast for him, and I cant blame him. But he should have never signed with the Clippers in the first place. Go to a winning team man!

  • Gmoney Posted: Nov.15 at 8:07 am
    Cant clippers management see the real problem hasn’t been the team……its their coach, look how long dungleavy has been clips’s coach, and aside from the 05-06 playoff trip how many winning seasons have they had? None, so FIRE HIS ASS!

  • j-zone Posted: Nov.15 at 1:13 pm
    He wanted to make films on the side and be near home so he went back to LA…Should have stayed in Oakland and used his frequent flyer miles. This won’t work and its a shame because he’s a baller…when healthy he might be the second best PG in the league.

  • Yknot Posted: Nov.16 at 10:26 am
    If it was really about winning you’d have guys take less money for a year and get with a contender. You should have like 4 or 5 all star laden teams fighting for a chip, then go get your money after you win.(James Posey)

  • jaymes Posted: Nov.16 at 5:33 pm
    Bdiddy will get back to playing a more structured game in no time, after all he didn’t play his entire career under Nellie.

  • TRUTHSPEAKER Posted: Nov.18 at 7:12 am
    SEND HIM TO THE OTHER LA TEAM FOR ODOM FARMAR AND A PICK.. IM NOT A LAKER FAN BUT THAT WOULD BE SICK.

  • kent hoddle Posted: Nov.20 at 5:26 pm
    Had troubles with Scott in N.O.. Killed Montgomery at Golden State. showed up 30 lbs overweight. he waits for 2.5 seconds on shot clock before initiating plays. Out of Golden State because Nelson would not go through a Chris Webber incident again. Best thing for the
    Golden State Warriors. He was not wanted. Badd
    defense too, also. Anyone can throw up a 3 and lose his man.

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