Clippers gearing up for player-led training camp

[mkwest]

Dribbles

"It'll be one a day, like it's supposed to be," Williams said, referring to his hopes of getting his L.A. Clippers together in the next couple of weeks for what he hopes will be a full-blown training camp.

Obviously, there will be no real coaches present, but Williams expects -- hopes -- to have everything else in place, from referees to cue cards with the Clippers' written down. The Clippers have been working out in bunches informally during the summer, both at Loyola Marymount University and at a Manhattan Beach high school. But this will be more intense if Williams has his way.

"The season's going to start back, and if we have one, it's going to start in the middle of the season," he said. "If we miss the first part and start in the middle we're going to be playing three games back-to-back-to-back. Maybe a practice. (But) you can't practice that day, because you're too tired and you've got to get your rest. So we've got to get as much in as you can, especially if there's a (prolonged) lockout...

"Once the lockout's over, it ain't gonna be enough time to teach. And we've got a really, really young team. It's going to very valuable, crucial and critical for us to get together and get some of these sets down for these young guys that's going to play a lot of minutes. With the rookies (Travis Leslie and Trey Thompkins) we have, they need to get back into the gym and get back into basketball, just not pick up (after the lockout) and work it out."

David Aldridge, NBA.com

[thanumba2clippersfan]

Mo makes some good points. I really like the idea of a player led training camp. It realy benefits the younger guys who still need to work on things. I don't know how many teams will actually try this, but I really think it would benefit the young teams in the league and the teams that need to build chemistry.

[mkwest]

Just spoke to Mo Williams--said full Clippers team is having a training camp next week.

Zach Lowe via Twitter

[mkwest]

Mo Williams talks Clippers, lockout, more

SI.com: You and some of the Clippers had a mini-camp about a month ago. Any plans for something like that going forward?

Williams: Obviously, we all hope the lockout ends soon. But next week, we’re getting together for our own training camp. All of us will be there. Blake and I got together and we set the whole thing up in L.A.

SI.com: And the whole team will be there?

Williams: Absolutely. Everybody. We won’t have our coaches, but we will have quote-unquote coaches, and they’ll be running a real practice for us.

SI.com: What are the details? Where’s it going to be?

Williams: It’s going to be at a guy’s house — Steven Jackson’s house in Los Angeles. [Ed. note: Jackson is the head of the L.A. Gear shoe company, and he has a replica Staples Center court at his Bel Air home. Several teams have worked out there before.] He loves the game. He’s a fan, and he’s been kind enough throughout the lockout to give us this opportunity.

Zach Lowe, Sports Illustrated

He also talks about the importance of DeAndre, Lockout, comparison of Offensive/Defensive systems, etc.