CRITICAL MASS CLIPPERS COACH DUNLEAVY TIRED OF SECOND-GUESSING.Byline: JOE STEVENS Staff Writer EL SEGUNDO El Segundo (ĕl sēgŭn`dō), industrial city (1990 pop. 15,223), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1917. Its products include navigation and computer systems, aircraft parts, office machines, telephone apparatus, and - Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy Mike Dunleavy is the name of two notable persons in basketball, father and son:
His team's season is one game away from ending, and he is annoyed with constant needling about his coaching moves from television commentators and newspaper columnists. The facts are this: --The Clippers are down 3-2 to the Phoenix Suns and need to win tonight to prevent their season from ending. --The Clippers are in the Western Conference semifinals and are enjoying by far their best season since the franchise moved to California in 1978. --Dunleavy has been instrumental in getting the Clippers where they are, yet after each loss in this series, many of his coaching moves have been second-guessed. The coach tries not to care about critiques from the media, but Wednesday he sure sounded ticked off. ``I could care less,'' he said about the criticism. ``I have one goal in mind, and that's to win games. When it's all said and done, everybody can think and write whatever they want. I know when I came here three years ago where this team was, and I know what this team is doing now. I know what people thought this team was going to be at the beginning of the season, and the only one who thought this team was going to be where it is today is me.'' Regardless, Dunleavy has gone through second-guessing after every loss, especially the double-overtime thriller in Game 5. Raja Bell Raja Bell (born September 19, 1976 in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands) is a basketball shooting guard who currently plays for the Phoenix Suns. Bell grew up in the greater Miami area attending Miami Killian Senior High School. made a 3-point shot with 1.1 seconds left in the first overtime to force another extra session. Bell's shot hurt on many levels. Obviously, if he misses the shot, the Clippers are up 3-2 and a win tonight would have meant a trip to the Western Conference finals. But it also hurt because of how it happened. The Clippers had a foul to give, so they could have fouled the Suns and burned time off the clock, which started at 3.6 seconds, without sending them to the free-throw line free-throw line n. See foul line. . Plus, Bell's shot came over little-used rookie Daniel Ewing George Daniel Ewing, Jr (born March 26, 1983 in Milton, Florida), is an American professional basketball player. He is currently a player of Russian Khimki BC, most recently having played with the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association. A 6'3", 185 lbs. , who played just 21 seconds in the game. TNT TNT: see trinitrotoluene. TNT in full trinitrotoluene Pale yellow, solid organic compound made by adding nitrate (−NO2) groups to toluene. analyst Charles Barkley This article is about the basketball player. For the politican, see Charles E. Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. , in particular, was critical of Dunleavy. He questioned why the Clippers didn't foul and why Ewing was in the game. Dunleavy answered the criticism by saying the play didn't unfold how he wanted, in part because Cuttino Mobley Cuttino Rashawn Mobley (born September 1, 1975 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA who currently plays for the Los Angeles Clippers. , who was defending against the inbounds in·bounds adj. 1. Basketball Involving putting the ball into play by passing it from out of bounds to a teammate on the court. 2. Sports Within the designated boundaries. pass, was supposed to cut off a pass to the sideline, where Bell caught the ball. The coach said Ewing belonged on the court because the rookie had been used in that type of defensive role throughout the season. Although the way the scenario unfolded might have prohibited Ewing from fouling, it appeared to be an obvious mistake, and team leader Sam Cassell Samuel (Sam) James Cassell (born November 18, 1969 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays point guard for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. did not try to spin it much differently than that. ``We had a young guy in the game,'' Cassell said. ``It wasn't his fault that Raja made the shot, but we've got to know better in that situation. We've got a foul to give. We've got to put Raja in the fifth row with the popcorn man, but we didn't do it.'' Part of Dunleavy's ire has to do with the fact that what the Clippers did well to get back in the game from being down 19 points has been forgotten, and even what the Clippers have done well to become a competitive franchise is being obscured. ``I don't play for you guys,'' he said to reporters. ``I play for me. I analyzed this job before I came in, and people said it was a suicide job and why would you take it. You know what? I'm good at analyzing things. ``The job has been exactly how I expected it to be. I'm not one bit shaken by anything that has happened here. I'm totally cool, calm and collected and totally confident that we can win.'' joe.stevens@presstelegram.com (562) 499-1286. CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy, below, has grown weary of the constant criticism of his decisions, such as the one that allowed the Suns' Raja Bell, above, to make a 3-pointer over Daniel Ewing to force a second overtime in Game 5, which Phoenix went on to win. Kirby Lee/Special to the Daily News Michael Owen
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