Re: Training Camp/Preseason News

[TheNewEra]

Odom does look a little chubby in the latest pics. Look at Crawford trying to spit game at Madelyn

[og15]

Thought the same thing about Odom. He's kinda chubby

[mkwest]

Blake Griffin on PMS

Don MacLean is filling in for Petros.

- Believes that this summer shows that the Clippers are a destination.
- Excited about the depth and character of the team.
- Last season was a step in the right direction, but not satisfied.
- Believes that the team can contend for a championship.
- Worked on his shooting. It's a work in progress, but he wants to become a more well-rounded player.

Odom: Clips are deeper than championship Lakers

PLAYA VISTA, Calif. -- Los Angeles Clippers forward Lamar Odom says he thinks the current Clippers are the deepest team he has ever been on, and yes, that includes the Los Angeles Lakers teams he was on that went to three straight NBA Finals and won back-to-back titles.

"No," Odom said Friday when asked if he has ever been on a team as deep as this season's Clippers. "I've been on good teams. I've been on a team that went to the Finals three years in a row. You have to be pretty good to get to the Finals. But championships aren't won by just talking about a team and looking at a roster. We've all seen good rosters before and teams that we think should win, but this team is built to compete against the best teams in the NBA. If we were to play a seven-game series right now against the best teams in the NBA, I would expect us to compete."

"I spoke to a guy named Derek Fisher, one of the captains of my old teams, last night," Odom said. "And we just talked about winning and the mindset of winning. We spoke for about 45 minutes. Some of that conversation, I'm going to pass on to these guys as soon as we head into the locker room because it is a mindset and there's a certain way that winners think on and off the court."

"Sometimes in order to do what we want and do what we expect of ourselves and make good decisions, we have to be in that happy place," Odom said. "You have to be in the right place mentally and I'm in that place. I'm just going get the ball off the glass, eat the glass, and bring it up the court."

Arash Markazi, ESPN Los Angeles

Griffin "Feels Great" Heading into Camp

Griffin underwent surgery in July to repair a medial meniscus tear, and has been back on the court for several weeks.

He spent a significant portion of the summer, along with frontcourt mate DeAndre Jordan, under the tutelage of new Clippers shooting coach Bob Thate. While Griffin improved his field goal percentage in year two (50.6% in 2010-11 to 54.9% last season), his free throw numbers unexpectedly fell. The two-time All-Star said his time with Thate was divided between work on the perimeter and the line.

“I spent a lot of time on my shot,” he said. “I really kind of changed some things up and I’m hoping to keep improving on those results. It’s not one of those things where I think I’m going to be a great shooter over night, but I think I have the tools and I’ve got to working and keep practicing the right way.”

Thate, who previously spent four seasons as the shooting coach for the New Jersey Nets, helped make Griffin’s shot more consistent.“We changed some stuff to kind of streamline it and be less error prone,” Griffin added. “Really, just making sure that I’m doing the same thing every single time.”

So far Griffin’s work has paid off. Veteran forward Grant Hill was among several teammates who said they noticed improvements in Griffin and Jordan this summer.

“I think first of all, when you’re a young player, if you work hard and you’re dedicated, you’re going to get better,” Hill said. “From what I’ve seen they’ve [Jordan and Griffin] improved. Blake is shooting the ball better from range and from the perimeter, his moves in the post look better.”

Eric Patten, Clippers.com

Clippers: At media day, things seem different

"You know you're in a good spot when you can sense the excitement and enthusiasm from the players," he said. "And I would say that this is the best team we've every put together."

The roster reads like a laundry list of rock-solid NBA veterans mixed in with Paul and Griffin — two of the league's most dynamic players.

Roeser, Coach Vinny Del Negro and newly promoted vice president of basketball operations Gary Sacks added veteran after veteran.

"I think this is the deepest team since I've been around, certainly in terms of veteran players — guys who have a high level of experience, played in the playoffs and won championships," Sacks said.

Crawford said the new Clippers are willing to do anything to get there.

"CP's going to have the ball, and Blake's a superstar. We all know that," Crawford said.

"Everybody else is going to do what's asked, sacrifice and play the right way."

Crawford called this year's Clippers "the most talented team" he's ever been a part of, and he wasn't the only one oozing with genuine excitement.

"At this stage in our careers, you want to win a championship," Hollins said. "Everybody knows you kind of start salivating at the opportunity. The NBA is a business and you don't get these opportunities very often."

Dan Woike, OC Register

[mkwest]

Clippers Open Camp with High Expectations

“I really like our team this season,” said Roeser. “I don’t see any limit to what we can accomplish as a team. I think the additions with Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford and Grant Hill help us at all the positions. I think we come back with a great mix of veterans, young players, experience and savvy and a lot of depth at every position. I can’t wait to see us play.”

“I’ll be 100 percent healthy [once rehabilitation is complete],” said Billups, “But I won’t be 100 percent of where I’ve always been as far as my game, my rhythm, basketball. It will probably take me a couple of months to get those kinds of things back. As far as my health and my body, I’ll definitely be 100 percent back.”

“Gary’s the right guy to run our basketball operations,” said Roeser. “I’ve worked with Gary for close to 20 years. Our roster, right now, reflects a lot of his views, not just from the additions we made this summer, but also in the last couple of years.”

“If you want to win, you’re going to have to sacrifice at times,” said Sacks. “I think when you’re under the mindset that you want to win and that’s the most important thing, I don’t necessarily think that playing time is a bad thing. You never want a player to be happy about not playing. I mean, I wouldn’t be.

“The difference is they’ll channel it the right way. They’ll come out in practice, work hard and make our team better. I think playing time will never be an issue.”

Eric Pincus, HoopsWorld

Clippers' spirits high with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, new depth

"I know every night we're going to have an opportunity to win a basketball game with this team," Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro said. "And that's a good feeling."

When the Clippers start the first of two-a-day practices Saturday, they'll get a chance to see just how good their bench will be.

"As far as being deep all the way through, it'll be the deepest team that I've ever played for," said Billups, a 15-year veteran who has played on seven NBA teams.

Billups is still recovering from surgery on his torn left Achilles' tendon. As for the prospect of his playing on opening night, Oct. 31, Billups said, that is "not going to happen, I'm sure."

He hasn't been cleared yet to play five-on-five. But Billups said he expects to take part in limited team drills Saturday and to be playing sometime in December.

"I'm going to listen to my body," Billups said. "When it tells me I'm ready to get back out there, that's when I'll be back out there."

Brad Turner, LA Times

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouSt4FOohs0[/youtube]
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[og15]

Billups said he won't be back till about December, so Crawford and Bledsoe will definitely be getting some good minutes early on

[mttwlsn16]

Thought Chauncey was shooting for opening day? Maybe I'm wrong.
LO looks fat

[mkwest]

Thought Chauncey was shooting for opening day? Maybe I'm wrong.
LO looks fat

Perhaps he's not as close to returning as he thought he was, but it's better for him to ease back into it. The fact that he's able to start taking part of some of the drills is encouraging. We have enough depth to get by.

[mkwest]

CLIPPERS HAVE “PRODUCTIVE FIRST DAY”

"The communication was pretty good for the first practice, since the veteran guys have been around and know what to do,” he said. “It was good to get the group together, and I thought it was a very productive first day.”

Odom felt like the newcomers looked particularly strong in the scrimmage against the starters, already showing signs of making the right reads and knowing where each player likes the ball. On a few plays, Odom hit Hill cutting backdoor for layups, and Turiaf and Odom were able to feed off of each other in the post.

It finally set in to Chris Paul that he had a couple more accomplished veterans wearing the same jersey as him, ready to compete for a championship.

“I caught myself really excited on the sidelines watching guys like Jamal Crawford and Lamar Odom, all these great players out there on the court,” he said. “It was really cool to see that now they’re actually on my team.”

Paul, who underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb in August, participated in non-contact drills, and Chauncey Billups, who underwent surgery to repair a torn left Achilles tendon in February, also lightly participated. Though the two couldn’t scrimmage with the team, Paul was excited to see his backcourt mate Billups back on the floor.

“It was really nice to see Chauncey out there with us,” Paul said. “When Coach [Del Negro] called the starters to go out and go over things, me and Chauncey went out there like normal. Then when they started scrimmaging, we went off to the side to shoot some jumpers together.”

Mirin Fader, Clippers.com

[mkwest]

DeAndre Jordan's work with Bob Thate already looks like it's paying off. Shot looks way different.

Dan Woike

Got first look at Blake Griffin's new FT stroke. More fluid, no more hitch at the top. Still doesn't look natural. #Clippers

Dan Woike

Lamar Odom: "this team is athletic, can do a lot of different things, can cause a lot of matchup problems" #Clippers

Madelyn Burke

[mkwest]

1st day of training camp NEVER gets old...like the first day of school, had my clothes layed out last night n been up since 5am!!! #CLIPPERS

Chris Paul

#1stDayOfCamp.. So excited I could hardly sleep, PRAYING for a FUUULL season of health, INCLUDING the "playoffs"to silence all the critics.. #CLIPPERNATION

Matt Barnes

Training Camp....

Caron Butler

Training Camp - Day 1.

DeAndre Jordan

1st day of training camp... Lets Go

Grant Hill

Apparently, Hill was running with the first team in practice. I think he would be a good choice to start. We need Crawford's scoring off of the bench.

The team had it's first practice of the day at 11am and will pick things back up at 5 this evening.

[TheNewEra]

great stuff hopefully Butler plays up to par and can keep his starting spot or maybe they will try to put Butler at the 2?

Paul/Bledsoe
Butler/Crawford
Hill/Barnes
Griffin/Odom
Jordan/Turiaf

[awaywehappened]

Don't understand why our guys can't stay in great shape over summer if they really want to win.
Especially when they are paid big money.

A bunch of our guys look like Z-Bo.

[mkwest]

Don't understand why our guys can't stay in great shape over summer if they really want to win.
Especially when they are paid big money.

A bunch of our guys look like Z-Bo.

I think the only player that really looks out of shape is Odom. Outside of him, who looks bad in your opinion?

[mkwest]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzdT6ByZYfo[/youtube]

[mkwest]

Paul likes what he sees from newest Clippers

As the Clippers opened training camp Saturday at their practice facility, guards Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups were able to take part in large chunks of the team's first workout.

"I caught myself watching on the sidelines. I got excited," Paul said. "And I hate to watch basketball; obviously, I love to play."

Players like Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford and Grant Hill making their Clippers debuts had Paul giddy.

"It's kind of cool because I'm sitting there watching Jamal Crawford, Lamar Odom and all these great players on the court," Paul said of his new teammates. "I've never really seen that."

Because of Paul's injury, third-year guard Eric Bledsoe is getting chances to run the point with the first team, and he's set on making the most of the chances.

"I've been preparing for it," Bledsoe said. "I'm feeling confident. I feel older. I feel like my game got older. I know more."

Griffin's free-throw motion hasn't undergone drastic changes, but the hitch at the peak of his release has been eliminated.

Jordan, who looks more comfortable than Griffin, completely re-tooled his shot.

"They're both tweaking some things, no question, which is good," Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro. "But there's a process involved there. Like anything, you can't shortchange it."

Dan Woike, OC Register

Also, Bledsoe said that he has added 10 pounds of muscle over the summer. The only positive to having Paul and Billups sit out of preseason games is that Bledsoe gets a chance to run the show with the starters. The more confident that both he and his teammates become in his abilities as a point guard, the better.

[og15]

great stuff hopefully Butler plays up to par and can keep his starting spot or maybe they will try to put Butler at the 2?

Paul/Bledsoe
Butler/Crawford
Hill/Barnes
Griffin/Odom
Jordan/Turiaf

I saw Butler at the 2 before, and this was back when he was younger and more mobile and athletic, and he wasn't very good at that spot. Might be best to start Crawford for the 3PT shooting and ball handling next to Paul

[mkwest]

Just left @LAClippers 2nd practice of the day. They're gonna be a very good team when everyone gets healthy

Brian Levy

One day down, this team deep boy!!! "Pause"

Matt Barnes

Ronny Turiaf compared DeAndre Jordan to Bill Russell. Interesting.

Jovan Buha

Day 1 of training camp is over. We got a lot covered today... It's pretty amazing how much depth we have. Should be a fun year #GoClippers

Grant Hill

@realgranthill33 I second that

Ryan Hollins

BIG THINGS ON THE HORIZON FOR JORDAN

He’s vivacious, enthusiastic, and genuinely well-liked.

Chris Paul referred to him as “my guy” during Friday’s Media day session. And Jordan’s new teammate and seven-year NBA veteran Ronny Turiaf said, “Working with him [Jordan] and talking to him, you can tell that he has the ‘it factor’ because he has something special in him.”

“Dude [Jordan] is a monster, that’s all I’ve got to say,” Turiaf added. “He’s very athletic, he runs very fast. He’s a great rebounder, a great defender. To me, and I know I’m going out on a limb, but he reminds me a lot of the Bill Russell type of player that blocks shots with his left hand and can impact a game so much on both ends of the court.”

The Clippers coaching staff has exceedingly high expectations for him heading into 2012-13, though. And according to Jordan’s teammates, he’s put in the man-hours over the summer to make a larger imprint on the game, particularly on the offensive end.

Paul said, “DJ [DeAndre] developed a lot during the summer and I’m excited to get out there and see what it’s all about.”

After spending about a month with his family and working with former NBA head coach John Lucas in his hometown of Houston, Jordan returned to Los Angeles for good. “[I was] working with our coaches on my offensive game, just feeling comfortable, getting up as many reps as possible with my back towards the basket and facing up.

“I’d get as many reps up and then [transfer] it to pickup games, and play one-on-one against Blake [Griffin], Ryan Hollins, Ronny Turiaf, and guys like that which is good because it’s not going against dummy defense.”

He’s had a great summer, he’s in great condition,” Del Negro said. “A lot’s expected of him, and it should be, and he knows that, so now it’s a matter of getting out there and doing the work. I was pleased with his conditioning coming into camp. He passed his conditioning test easily. He’s worked on his game a lot over the summer especially with Marc Iavaroni, our staff, and Dave Severns, so big things, I think, are in store for DeAndre.”

Eric Patten, Clippers.com

Clipper Steve says that the blue team consisted of Blake, CP3, Butler, Billups, EB, DJ, Crawford and Thompkins. Thompkins is still nursing himself back to health, so his role of training with the starters shouldn't be read into. Crawford and Bledsoe on the other hand are a different story. Bledsoe will be asked to lead the team through the preseason games that Paul misses and Crawford has a strong chance to start the season at the 2 until Billups is capable of supplanting him. If Crawford doesn't get the nod, it may very well go to Willie Green or possibly Hill. He also said that Paul feels that Bledsoe has been the best player on the court during the offseason scrimmages.

It's very encouraging to hear such great things about both Bledsoe and DJ. They're very important to this team's success for what they can provide on the defensive end.

[mkwest]

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Some more media day interviews.

[mike3]

I love seeing Media day photos/interviews from our guys. Just something about it excites me for the season.

I'm really liking what I'm seeing and hearing about all our guys. DJ especially, but all our guys seem to be really clicking together, love seeing that.

[scratch21]

I would like Wille to start at the 2 for the injured Billups and save Jamal & GH for the 2nd unit