Was it just barely two years ago when the Clippers were within grasp of going to the Western Conference finals? And who knows what could have happened if that had occurred.

The shambles of the 2007-2008 season make that glorious ride of 2005-2006 almost seem like a dream. Did it occur? Yes, it did but the Clippers this season resembled a train wreck.

Hope, probably false hope, was posed when star forward Elton Brand went down in August, with a ruptured left Achilles' tendon. The talk at that point was that if the Clippers could play close to .500 basketball up to the All-Star break, Brand and his fellow rehabilitating teammate, Shaun Livingston, would return to lead a second-half season charge to the playoffs.

Pipe dreams, they turned out to be. Brand did not return until the final eight games of the season and Livingston did not play a game at all.

Every team in the Western Conference -- that is headed for the playoffs -- tweaked their rosters in one way or another to improve. Aside from rookie forward Al Thornton, the Clippers did not add any significant pieces -- either in the off-season or before the trading deadline in February -- to bolster the squad.

So, where do they go from here?

Certainly, the Clippers need to address the backcourt situation, particularly at point guard. Either they must somehow acquire an established veteran point guard -- not a journeyman stopgap type -- or they must draft a guard that can step in and play right away, like Deron Williams did for Utah and like Chris Paul did for New Orleans.

The Clippers also need to go shopping for a shooter. They will not be able to contend for a playoff berth next season, if they finish next-to-last in field-goal shooting percentage and three-point field-goal shooting percentage, like they did this year.

It is all but certain that the Clippers won't trade the rights to their first-round draft pick, although a high lottery pick, combined with forward Corey Maggette in a sign-and-trade deal, would be enticing to some rival teams.

In all likelihood, the Clippers will stick to their status quo of drafting the player that they have rated highest on their board, return to training camp with the core group of Brand, Thornton and Chris Kaman, fill out the roster with returnees like Cuttino Mobley, Tim Thomas and Brevin Knight, and then add in others.

But unless some wholesale changes and improvements are made, the Clippers will be looking at another non-playoff season next year.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT
Without a doubt it was the Clippers' 4-0 season start that elicited what turned out to be false hope of competing for the playoffs. In retrospect, those victories turned out to be hollow because none of those four teams -- Golden State, Seattle, Chicago or Indiana -- ended up making the playoffs this year.

TURNING POINT
After a home win over a talented Denver Nuggets team, the Clippers' record stood at 6-4. However, that subsequently was followed by a seven-game losing streak and the Clippers never reached the .500 mark again.

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