It was a suprise that it took this long, but Clippers coach Alvin Gentry was finally shown the door today in Los Angeles after yet another disappointing season. Dennis Johnson, one of Gentry's assistants, will take over in an interim role.

Despite having one of the leagues youngest and most talented rosters, Gentry again has his team on track for another lottery pick. With the majority of the team eligable for free agency or extensions this offseason things only appear to by getting worse for the Clippers, the team most renouned for not opening its back to its own free agents.

"These decisions are never easy and this one is especially tough, because Alvin and I had a very good working relationship," team vice president Elgin Baylor said.

"But I reached the conclusion Sunday night that the players simply were not responding and I believe a change is necessary at this time."

"At times, I think Alvin was too nice," General Manager Baylor added during an afternoon news conference at Staples Center. "Dennis is more aggressive. I told him he's got to go kick butt and do what's necessary."

Johnson played 14 seasons in the NBA and was most famous for his time spent on the great Boston teams of the 80's.

"I'm going to react to situations," he said. "I can't tell you I'm going to jump in somebody's face. I can't tell you I'm not going to jump in somebody's face. I would like to sit here and promise you everyone on the floor is going to work hard. I'm going to be pushing and prodding. I'm not going to be afraid to yell."

With players not buying into a team concept with free agency looming on the core the Clippers had struggled all season, so much so that Gentry had referred to the season as the "season from hell." Baylor said he gave Gentry every opportunity to turn around a season gone wrong.

"I do believe we have good people and good players on this team," Gentry said in prepared statement. "I think the players must try to make something positive out of the remainder of the season."

"When you have guys fighting for contracts, they think numbers are going to get it for them," said Johnson. They were selfish to a point. When a team is winning and everything is OK, it's different than if they're losing.... I want to get the guys to be aggressive. That's what I want to accomplish."

"No one expected this," Baylor said of the Clippers' poor record. "We looked at our team and felt we had a playoff-caliber team. I think Dennis will do a good job. I think he'll get the players to play hard."

For what it is worth the Clippers' playing personnel believe the problem lies with themselves rather than their coach, but the reality of the situation is that it will always be the coach who will be fired and not the players, especially when that coach is already in the final year of his contract.

"For the most part, it's the players' faults," guard Eric Piatkowski said.

Said Corey Maggette: "Everybody has put it on the coach. We're the ones out there playing. We need to come together as a team. You can't blame the coach."