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PAUL EAGER FOR SEASON TO START

PLAYA VISTA–Chris Paul seemed anxious as he watched a 5-on-5 pickup game near the edge of the practice court Thursday at the Clippers Training Facility.

Relegated to the role of onlooker, he stood on the sideline in the left baseline corner with several of his teammates and a number of other NBA veterans racing up and down the floor. He stared in a way that explained how desperately he wished to join them.

Among other things, Paul is eager to see how the revamped Clippers gel after an offseason that netted Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford, and Grant Hill, among others.

“I’m excited about this season,” Paul said. “Our locker room is filled with a lot of veterans and guys that know what it takes to win.

“It starts with training camp. Fortunately, we have a great group of guys and fortunately they got here early, extra early, and guys have been in for workouts and getting to know each other as well as you can.”

Several Clippers players have been in town throughout the summer, and most of the other members of the 15-man roster have arrived this week to get a head start on their first official practice Sept. 29.

“That’s what’s fun about being here with our team because we genuinely like each other,” he said. “I think this team has the opportunity to be the same way [as last season], and hopefully we can just go a little further.”

Eric Patten, Clippers.com

Chris Paul says he'll be ready

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul went through basketball drills without a protective brace around his right thumb for the first time Monday, and said he anticipates playing in at least one preseason game and being ready for the Clippers' season opener Oct. 30 versus the Memphis Grizzlies.

"Today was the first day they actually allowed me to shoot layups, so today was the best day ever," Paul told ESPNLosAngeles.com. "I hope I get a preseason game in before the season. I probably have to start off the season wearing a brace, but I get to wear the brace less and less. I wear it when I go to sleep, but I'm on track. I go to rehab every single morning at 6:30 a.m."

"I just get excited thinking about it," Paul said. "I don't think I've been this excited going into a season in a long time. Not just from a basketball aspect, but I love the guys. These are genuinely great guys, and I'm excited."

"It's no secret; everybody in my family knows I wanted to go to the Clippers," Paul said. "I may be different in a way, but I've always jumped at the opportunity to do something that's never been done, and here with the Clippers with Blake and DJ and adding these pieces and stuff like that, I'm excited about the opportunities there."

Arash Markazi, ESPN Los Angeles

Mats272-GOAT wrote:I may be there to catch OKC @ LAC on March 3rd

Chris Paul is convinced the Clippers have the secret to beating the Lakers

With the backing of head coach Vinny Del Negro, Paul instigated a series of informal meetings in which players congregate to watch NFL games and eat together with their families. Though it might seem a simple step, it is a process the 27-year-old believes will transfer directly into more victories over the course of the upcoming campaign.

"The [Lakers] have definitely added some pieces, but the good thing about our team is that we are good enough and tight enough that we only have to worry about us," Paul told Yahoo! Sports at an event in Hollywood hosted by Hennessy to celebrate Paul being featured on the cover of GQ magazine. "The thing about us, we are like a family. When you are all in and competing and you genuinely care about your teammates, it means something. It does something for your team and the camaraderie."

"You want your guys to be close, but that is not something you can force upon them," Del Negro said. "When you see stuff or hear stuff as a coach about your guys getting together and looking out for each other away from basketball, it kind of warms your heart and it makes your job a little easier.

"As soon as I signed I felt like there was something cool going on and that this was a close group," he explained. "We will see, but it seems to me that it could be the closest [team] I have played on. The guys hang out and you immediately feel welcome. L.A. is home, but the Clippers organization already feels like home, too, and I owe the players for that."

Martin Rogers, Yahoo! Sports

CARON BUTLER HEALTHY HEADING INTO CAMP

Three days away from the opening of training camp, small forward Caron Butler is as fresh as he’s ever been.

“This is probably the first time in four or five years that I’ve entered a season without at least some kind of nagging injury, so I feel great,” Butler said Wednesday at the Clippers’ Playa Vista Training Center. “Last year, coming off the lockout and my knee injury, and kind of getting ‘thrown’ into it I felt like I was pretty successful, averaging 12 points and doing a lot of little things to make a contribution. And only missing two games [due to injury].”

“The last offseason was about building up strength in my knee,” he said. “This year I could really focus on my strength and conditioning.”

And while he entered camp last December at close to full-strength, he was far from where he is now. Among other things, he’s leaner; thanks to a cycling regimen that consisted of riding up to 20 miles per day in the hills of Virginia. It also helped that his broken hand did not require surgery, allowing him to work continuously throughout the summer.

“[Coach Calhoun] taught me a lot,” Butler said. “He taught me how to be a man; how to act like a professional on and off the basketball court. He was probably the only coach from a major program that was willing to take a chance on me because I had gone through some adversity [early in life]. He came up to Maine Central Institute (Butler’s high school) and told me that [UConn] was like a family.”

More than a decade later, Butler brings the same thing to the Clippers; his summer of work, serving as evidence.

Eric Patten, Clippers.com