Commentary: Happy days in Clipperland

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- It isn't often that Los Angeles Clippers fans show up at Staples Center with visions of sweeping a home stand dancing in their heads.

The team that has long been a poster child for futility in the NBA beat Milwaukee 93-83 to win the fourth and final game their of their latest home stand and pull to within one game of .500.

The Clippers next take their newfound confidence on the road for three games in Texas and an opportunity to gain a new measure of respect in the NBA.

"You know what?" Elton Brand said after the game when asked if the Clippers were better than the fans across the country give them credit for. "I don't even want any credit right now. We've got a long way to go."

"We're still in the process of getting better," said Brand, who scored 15 points and was one of five Clippers in double figures. "I don't want us to think that because we've won four games, we're OK, because we're not. We're still on the bottom and we've got a long way to go."

The Clippers aren't the most athletic team in the NBA and certainly don't generate the highlights their Laker cousins do on a nightly basis, but they have gelled of late and have found success playing under Coach Mike Dunleavy's system.

"We're playing with some confidence and I think we're playing the way we want to play," Dunleavy said after the game. "We hope we'll be able to continue it on the road."

"We did what we want to do by defending well and controlling the boards," he explained. "We also made our free throws. That's the formula we have been talking about since the first day of training camp."

Dunleavy is a veteran coach who preaches sound fundamentals and discipline at all times. He understands that in the NBA, momentum has nasty habit of switching directions quickly and he isn't about to let his guys' attention drift.

When the Clippers began to coast in the final minutes of Wednesday night's game, Dunleavy put two of his starters -- Brand and Marko Jaric -- back on the floor despite holding a 10-point lead with a little more than a minute to play.

"I don't look at any time as garbage time," Dunleavy insisted. "I look at it as valuable time to use. It's not a situation in which we jack up shots and fool around. I'm looking for execution."

That may be the best news for Los Angeles basketball fans -- the Clippers are looking for a fundamentally solid team when the temptation from a marketing standpoint might be to go for a run-and-gun style in order to produce the flashy dunks that might catch the eyes of the region's many Laker fans.

The Clippers would also seem to be the most likely team in the NBA to pull out of Los Angeles and seek greener pastures in a smaller yet growing city where they wouldn't be considered the poor cousin of the beloved Lakers.

Despite the seeming logic of such a move, the Clippers appear to be entrenched in downtown L.A. for the long haul.

Donald Sterling, the real estate tycoon who owns the Clippers, appreciates the concept of location and liquidity. Some critics might say he treats the team as an asset instead of a labor of love -- in other words being too tight with the checkbook to go after premier draft choices or high-priced free agents.

He didn't nail down Brand and Corey Maggette until the last minute and allowed Michael Olowokandi and Andre Miller to sign with other teams. The seemingly offhanded attitude dragged down the morale of what had been considered an up-and-coming young team. The local sports media that had been getting excited about witnessing a Clipper playoff run disappointedly chalked it up to the "same old Clippers."

Sterling, however, is in a good position and is unlikely to either sell the Clippers or move them out of Los Angeles unless he has to. In the Clippers, Sterling has an asset that would make any land baron proud. The team's value has appreciated tremendously since he purchased the San Diego Clippers in 1981 and moved them to Los Angeles in 1984.

If by chance the Southern California real estate market tanks, and there isn't any indication it will, Sterling would easily be able to sell the team. Should the new owner decide to move the franchise, it would be an easy exit. Most Angelinos might not notice unless it was announced at halftime of the Lakers game, and the media would probably not give Sterling a hard time. It is also likely the city and Staples Center would take no legal action.

In short, don't expect anyone to lie down in front of the moving vans. But if the Clippers continue to improve and play respectable basketball, they'll be right where their fans want them to be.