THE NBA /MARK HEISLER : Clippers Seem to Be Dropping the Ball on Turnover

It’s not easy being Larry Brown, whose mission is to take over Los Angeles with a 300-pound center whose idea of a good game is double-figure minutes, and a small forward who gives new dimension to his position.

Of course, it wasn’t easy being Larry Brown in his dozen or so prior engagements, but he has always triumphed to some degree.

Likewise, Brown’s Clippers remain respectable while teaching Shamu and Namu to walk on land. If he can get Stanley Roberts to the promised land of 285 pounds and John Williams to a medium-firm 265, what a wonderful world it could be.

Call it extended training camp, call it a warm-up for next season’s greatness, call it a longshot.

But how did it come to this?

When the curtain descended last season, the Clippers were comers. They ran a gorgeous motion offense in their half-season under Brown, shot 51% and had no starter older than 28.

When the curtain ascended this season, they were younger but heavier. The consensus explanation was one word-- Clippers! --but this was not insanity at work, merely tradition.

In the bad old days, the Clippers had a problem parting with the requisite jack. They dangled key players until free agency approached, then traded them under the gun.

General Manager Elgin Baylor actually did well--under the circumstances. With time running out on the Benoit Benjamin era, he parceled him off for a usable center, Olden Polynice. Polynice turned out to be a closet pain in the neck, himself, but currently logs more minutes than Benjamin, albeit in Detroit.

When Charles Smith one-upped them and signed his qualifying offer, making him eligible for unrestricted free agency in a year, Baylor turned him into Roberts and Mark Jackson.

There is one overriding problem here besides the drag effect on their talent level:

It’s still happening.

A season from the end of his contract, Danny Manning, the franchise, vows to stick to the plan he outlined four years ago in the wake of his harrowing rookie negotiations: He will sign a qualifying offer, become an unrestricted free agent in 1994 and only then listen to Clipper offers, along with everyone else’s.

The Clippers would love to talk long-term deal, but Manning says he would listen only out of manners.

“You’d have to listen,” Manning said. “But I’m not ready to make a commitment of any sort now.

“You can never forget. You try not to judge people by the past but. . . . “

Says Manning’s agent, Ron Grinker: “There’s not enough money to sign Danny now. Danny Manning is one thing and only one thing: Danny Manning will sign a qualifying offer next July 1. This isn’t a new story. This is the same old story.

“This in no way precludes us from staying here. We have no intention of leaving at this moment. If this is a first-class organization and Danny is enjoying playing here, he’d be silly to leave, wouldn’t he?”

Manning wants to see if the Clippers can create what Grinker calls “a first-class relationship” with their players. It was only two years ago, when Manning was still an injury-plagued disappointment, that Grinker said owner Donald Sterling told him his client “can’t shoot the ball and is not a very good rebounder and . . . maybe he was just a good college player.”

Even in today’s warmer climate, Grinker notes that Manning, unhappy with the location of the players’ complimentary tickets, pays $200 for four seats a few rows behind Sterling every game.

The bad old days lead to thorny new ones. Not every cellar escapee with good, young players transcends mediocrity. Some mistakes you can’t make, to say nothing of making them annually.

It’s time for the Clippers to start wooing their Danny in earnest.

If prostrate is the proper posture, they’d better get to it.

SMALL PEOPLE HAVE

NO REASON TO LIVE

This may not be a surprise, but tall players have an advantage in this game.

Golden State’s resident romantic, Don Nelson, enlivened recent seasons by cheating the odds while his dwarfs pried up 7-footers in the post and turned them into fulcrums.

But Nelson says the new determination to clean up post defense “has just about put us out of business with a small team.

“Whatever good things we’ve been able to do that enabled us to win games, it’s almost impossible to do now. They’re almost forcing us to go big against big and it’s a shame because there’s room for small teams in the NBA.”

There’s another possible interpretation: Nelson, protesting while he wanted a big man, waited too long to pull the trigger for one.

Not only did last season’s No. 1 pick go for a mid-size player, Latrell Sprewell, so did next season’s in a trade for Byron Houston.

When Nelson learned that Houston, listed at 6-7 at Oklahoma State, was really 6-4, he must have said:”Under 6-5? I’ve got to have him!”

FACES AND FIGURES

Proving he can draw a line in the sand, too, like fellow Texans Jim Bowie and George Bush, Dallas owner Donald Carter is refusing Jim Jackson’s demand for a six-year contract and is offering a four-year deal, calling it a matter of principle. The other top picks get six-year deals and Jackson is a certified blue-chipper, ranking this on the dunderhead scale with the Mavericks’ first draft in which they declared they wanted a good citizen and took Mark Aguirre ahead of Isiah Thomas and Buck Williams.

Charles in Charge (Part II): The Suns’ Charles Barkley, smarting from a pasting at home by the Bulls, declared: “If you’re going to play like puppies, you shouldn’t be on the floor with the big dogs. . . . With the exception of Frank Johnson and Dan Majerle, everybody on this team needs to go home and take a long look in the mirror. We live in a desert, so it’s 90 degrees, so we can play golf every day, so we don’t fear losing. It’s not about physical toughness. It’s about mental toughness.” . . . Just asking: If good weather drains motivation, how do you account for the Laker dynasty?

The Pistons love Coach Ron Rothstein’s new scheme, staying overnight after road games and flying their chartered jet out the next morning. “I like this a lot better,” Joe Dumars said. “You go back to your room, you get a good night’s sleep and you’re ready for the next day.” . . . The Pistons are 1-6 on the road. . . . Darrell Walker, waived by the Pistons, said team morale is nonexistent. “They’ve got so many unhappy players that everything is going to come back on them.” Walker said. “You see how badly they’re playing. They’re getting trashed.”

Move it on over: Getting his first tests against super centers, Orlando’s Shaquille O’Neal outscored Patrick Ewing, 18-15, in a defeat, then was outscored, 22-12, by Hakeem Olajuwon in a Magic victory. “I still think there are only three great centers,” O’Neal said. “It’s not my day yet. A couple of years from now I want to be the best. I want to be the man.”

The Boston Celtics are still making no effort to sign their mystery No. 1 pick, Georgia Tech guard Jon Barry, and of course are vilifying him. “He’s made his bed and now he has to sleep in it,” said honcho emeritus Red Auerbach. “He refused to come to rookie camp. He refused to come to training camp. He’s not a superstar player. He’s not Alonzo Mourning or Shaquille O’Neal. He’s not that good.” . . . Talking about making your bed: The question everyone has been asking since draft day is why the Celtics, with good guards and a geriatric front line, took Barry in the first place.

No More Mr. Nice Riles: After the Clipper-Knick fracas in which John Starks threw a cup of water at Mark Jackson and there were assorted acts of hooliganism by Anthony Mason and Greg Anthony, Pat Riley benched all three. “If they feel ostracized, that’s their problem,” Riley said. . . . Forget the whales, save Tark the Shark: San Antonio Coach Jerry Tarkanian, 62, suffered chest pains, underwent an EKG, but was declared healthy: “I know there’s stress, but I went through worse the last seven-eight years,” Tark said. “Losing is hard but I had people following me, for crying out loud.”

. . . Charlotte’s emergency pickup, David Wingate, after scoring 40 points in three games: “People tend to forget that in high school, I was a scorer.”

Miracle cure: Dennis Rodman of the Pistons, fined $85,974 for missing three games because of a feigned injury, grabbed 20 rebounds in 33 minutes of his first game back. Piston General Manager Billy McKinney says when he challenged Rodman’s injury, the player told him, “ ‘I don’t feel like playing now.’ ” . . . Mr. Piston, Thomas, is said to want Rodman traded, so Detroit insiders are still coloring him gone. Best offer to date: Miami’s Grant Long and Brian Shaw. . . . Since Thomas has all that pull with owner Bill Davidson, maybe he can get himself traded, instead.

Michael Jordan, drained by his Olympic summer to the point where he said he had lost his enthusiasm for basketball, averaged 42 points on the Bulls’ 4-1 West Coast swing, posting games of 35-32-54-40-49. “I’ve found it again,” Jordan said. “My love and desire for this game is very, very strong.” . . . Chicago insiders suspect that early-season scoring challenges by Dominique Wilkins and Karl Malone and the publicity boom for O’Neal haven’t hurt, either. . . . Referee Derrick Stafford answering Miami Coach Kevin Loughery’s complaints: “You know Kevin, all the good coaches coach and all the bad coaches referee.”