CLIPPERS CUT FORD LOOSE AIDE TODD TAKES OVER TEAM, WHICH HAS LOST 16 OF LAST 18.Byline: Randy Hill Staff Writer Tuesday's 31-point loss to Golden State and Wednesday's 46-point collapse at Phoenix have added up to Chris Ford's dismissal as head coach of the Clippers. But other crucial numbers led to this bottom-line decision on Ford, who was fired Thursday afternoon, two days short of the one-year anniversary of his Clippers coaching debut. Elgin Baylor Elgin Gay Baylor (born September 16, 1934 in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American basketball player who played 13 seasons as a forward for the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers/Los Angeles Lakers. Baylor was a gifted shooter, a strong rebounder, and an accomplished passer. , the Clippers' vice president of basketball operations, said the team arrived at its decision to terminate Ford by doing the math. ``If you look at the last 18 games,'' Baylor said, ``we're 2-16. I just think it was time to make a change.'' This season's 11-34 record includes losing streaks of nine and 10 games. ``I really don't have anything to say, except that I'm happy to be going back to my family,'' said Ford, who directed the Clippers to just 20 victories in 95 games since joining the team after last season's lockout lockout, intentional closing up of a company, factory, or shop by an employer to prevent employees from working during a strike or labor dispute. The term lockout . His family has kept its permanent residence in the Boston area since the Clippers hired Ford on Jan. 13, 1999. He will be replaced on an interim basis by top assistant Jim Todd For the baseball player, see . Jim Todd is a professional basketball coach. He was the coach at Salem State College for nearly ten years, and coached the Los Angeles Clippers for half a season in 2000, replacing Chris Ford. His focus was power forwards and centers. , who directed the Clippers to a pair of victories in December when Ford was suffering from back spasms. ``I just wish Jim Todd the best,'' said Ford, who passed on his opportunity to criticize the Clippers organization while praising his successor. ``He's been everything you'd want in an assistant coach; I'm sure he'll do a great job.'' For Todd, who coached under Ford with the Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The current franchise owner is U.S. Senator Herb Kohl. in the two seasons that preceded their Clipper run, Thursday's developments were bittersweet bittersweet, name for two unrelated plants, belonging to different families, both fall-fruiting woody vines sometimes cultivated for their decorative scarlet berries. . ``It's definitely difficult,'' said Todd, who was a head coach at Salem State (Mass.) for nine seasons before joining Ford in Milwaukee. ``He's the one who gave me the shot to go to the NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= . ``Of course, everybody says, `It's all part of the business and we all understand,' '' Todd added. ``So I'm happy for myself, but I'm unhappy for Chris.'' Todd will be the franchise's 19th coach since its 1970 inception as the Buffalo Braves and 11th since its move to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . Ford, whose five-year tour as head coach of the Boston Celtics made him an attractive choice for owner Donald T. Sterling as the successor to Bill Fitch William Fitch (born May 19 1934 in Davenport, Iowa) is a former NBA coach who has been successful in making teams playoff contenders throughout his coaching career. Before entering the professional ranks he coached college ball at the University of Minnesota, Bowling Green State (who was fired after the 1998 season), had signed a two-year contract with a club option for a third. He will be paid the balance of the $1 million due this season under terms of that initial agreement. Assistant coach Rex Kalamian will remain on the bench with Todd, who hopes to add another assistant soon. As interim head coach of the NBA's youngest, least-experienced team, Todd inherits a team that seemingly quit on Ford weeks ago. ``Everyone here pretty much likes Chris as a person,'' said one Clipper, who spoke on condition of anonymity, ``but the guys really stopped listening to him a while back. He didn't really get on us enough when we screwed up, so when you have a lot of young, immature players, they can take advantage of that.'' Ford also had to deal with two of this top three players - Maurice Taylor Maurice De Shawn Taylor (born October 30, 1976 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American professional basketball player at the power forward position. He was most recently with the NBA's Sacramento Kings, released on January 23, 2007. and Derek Anderson
Derek Lamont Anderson (born July 18, 1974 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Bobcats. - competing as free agents-in-waiting who are longshots to return next season. But the addition of rookie Lamar Odom Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6 1979, in South Jamaica, Queens, New York) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays power forward (also plays both forward spots and is a "point-forward") for the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers. and the expected development of second-year center Michael Olowokandi Michael Olowokandi (born April 3 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria), nicknamed The Kandi Man is a Nigerian professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. He currently is a free agent. had many league observers expecting marked improvement from the Clippers this season. ``Obviously, you can't predict how many wins a young team might have,'' Baylor said, ``but we thought that we'd be a lot better record-wise than we are now.'' Taylor, who missed 10 of 13 field-goal attempts Wednesday at Phoenix, only missed practice Thursday. He also didn't phone anyone associated with the team to explain why he seemingly played hooky. ``It's an unexcused absence that will be handled internally,'' said Joe Safety, the team's vice president of communications. HALL OF LAME Clippers coaches and their records since the move to Los Angeles from San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. : CHRIS FORD 1998-00 20-75 BOB WEISS 1993-94 27-55 MACK CALVIN 1991-92 1-1 DON CASEY 1988-90 41-85 DON CHANEY 1985-87 53-132 BILL FITCH 1994-98 99-229 LARRY BROWN 1991-93 64-53 MIKE SCHULER 1990-92 52-75 GENE SHUE 1978-80; 87-89 105-179 JIM LYNAM 1984-85 22-39 CAPTION(S): 11 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) Chris Ford was fired as coach of the Clippers on Thursday, two days shy of one year on the job. He was 11-34 this season, 2-16 in his last 18 games. Edna Trunnell/Staff Photographer (2 -- 11) (Clippers coaches) Box: Hall of Lame (see text) |
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