`WE CAN'T BE A MILLI VANILLI.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

Where do our little upstarts go from here?

There's a certain giddiness, an almost euphoria when something grand is accomplished for the first time. Think Snoopy with paws pattering so quickly he seems to float.

Of course, when you carry the kind of baggage the Clippers have since the dawn of the 3-point shot, there's a lot of grand first-time accomplishments out there to be had.

That the Clippers would still be playing if not for some strange postseason decisions by coach Mike Dunleavy is easily lost by the simple realization they had arrived to that point at all.

Clippers in the postseason, a rare enough declaration, but to maintain they should have won a second-round series and currently be playing for the Western Conference title says a lot about the new expectations.

And that's what quickly happens. That was great, nice job, we're all just so happy for you ' now what can you do?

``We can't be a one-hit wonder,'' said Sam Cassell. ``We can't be a Milli Vanilli. We have to be the Jacksons.''

In another great upset of our times, the Clippers are actually in position to make this a regular happening and not some fluke phenomenon.

They are either young, or in the case of cornerstones Elton Brand and Corey Maggette, entering their prime.

They have a pair of veterans that need to be re-signed in Sam Cassell and Vladimir Radmanovic. In still another indication of what at new Clippers universe this is, both want to come back. And perhaps almost as shocking, Donald Sterling claims he will pay the going freight to bring them back.

The Clippers, your new NBA destination for players who want to win.

Sterling matched to keep Brand and Maggette, spent big to sign free agent Cuttino Mobley, and then stepped up to take on the final $6.7 of Sam Cassell's contract.

If it wasn't a new era, it was at least a new moment.

``We had some new guys coming in and the chemistry was great,'' center Chris Kaman said. ``I'm hoping we can keep pretty much this same core of guys around because we have a good group of guys here.''

That's the shocker - the team doesn't need some major addition. It can and should be tweaked, but for the first time in memory, nothing of true significance awaits in the offseason.

There will be no Sterling draft lottery party this year. The Clippers don't even have a first-round pick. And it's OK. The main pieces are in place. As young players, as a group, they simply have to improve, to build on this past season and not let it stand as a high-water mark for the franchise.

``For our team it was a great experience,'' Dunleavy said. ``We were disappointed (Monday), but we know we can bounce back. ``We have a lot of young guys that can take the next step in this offseason to get better, and hopefully we will be making these visits every year.''

Dunleavy, too, is an issue that will have to be resolved. He is given rightful credit for turning the franchise around, even if he has left something to prove as a postseason coach. The Clippers have an option on Dunleavy next season for another $2.5 million, a true bargain they will undoubtedly pick up. What he wants, and deserves, is a contract extension that should double his salary.

Dunleavy, too, wants to come back. Sterling, again, claims to be on board.

Cassell, Dunleavy, Radmanovic all want back - the days seem distant since Ron Harper compared playing for the Clippers in the Sports Arena to being in jail.

Cassell will turn 37 before next season, but will likely only seek a two-year deal. That should prove doable.

``I promise you I will be playing somewhere,'' Cassell said. ``Hopefully it's in a Clippers uniform, but who knows? I'd like to be a part of this whole turnaround thing.''

Who knows, indeed. One wonderful offseason by Sterling doesn't erase 20 years of turmoil, of going on the cheap so badly players had to be traded for just to get the payroll up to the salary cap minimum, if only then to be released.

Yet they have arrived to a new point as a team and a franchise. Now they must keep raising the bar, act determined to make the 2005-06 season a grand building block and not the last stone on a new ceiling.

``It was a coming out party for myself and my teammates,'' Brand said.

These have been some interesting times for the Clippers, even if now it seems all sunshine and better times ahead.

``It's not like the old Clippers no more,'' Cassell said.

This is their new world, one without restrictions. They cannot be lured into getting carried away by last season's success, believe continued success is suddenly a given.

There are steps still to take, and now fresh expectations that they be taken.