Clippers Bent Out of Shape

Training camp was a disaster, plain and simple.

Unless you happen to be a fan of hard-working trainers, that is. If so, then Jasen Powell is your hero. Powell was the busiest man in Clipperdom during October, tending to the sick and injured morning, noon and night.

Perhaps that’s what accounted for the uncharacteristically frosty reception Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry gave reporters Tuesday afternoon. Clearly, he understands his injured-riddled team is nowhere near ready to open the season tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Staples Center.

After all, small forward Lamar Odom will be spending at least the first month of the season on the injured list because of a badly sprained right ankle. Power forward Elton Brand underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Sept. 26 and sat out almost all of camp. Center Michael Olowokandi sat out all eight exhibitions because of tendinitis in his left knee. Now he has an injured left hip.

Asked if Olowokandi was fit to play tonight, Gentry said tersely, “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him. He practiced [Tuesday].”

Gentry then excused himself and had a short discussion with Olowokandi after practice concluded at Los Angeles Southwest College. When he returned, Gentry’s mood lifted slightly.

“He looked OK,” Gentry said of Olowokandi. “His conditioning will be a factor. We’re going to play him as many minutes as we can.”

Olowokandi said his participation would be determined after this morning’s shoot-around, after he gets a chance to stretch the strained flexor, which is located near where the leg attaches to the pelvis.

Gentry refused to guess at a starting lineup, although it’s a good bet Brand, Olowokandi, Corey Maggette, Quentin Richardson and Andre Miller will have their names introduced to the crowd tonight. Of those five, only Miller made it through camp without incident.

Maggette suffered a sprained right thumb in the Clippers’ last exhibition last week against the Milwaukee Bucks, but he has been working out with his teammates and is expected to face the Cavaliers tonight.

Richardson sprained his right knee while running laps in the first few days of camp and played in only one of eight exhibitions.

“I know what it’ll be, but I’m just not telling you guys,” Gentry told reporters when asked for his starting five.

Working another angle, someone asked about the Cavaliers facing Miller, their old point guard, and the Clippers playing against former reserve forward Darius Miles for the first time since the July 30 trade between the teams.

Gentry again was unusually grumpy.

“They have no advantage in having had Andre on their team and we have no advantage in having had Darius on our team,” he said. “I think both teams benefited from the trade. That’s what good trades do.

“We’ll look to try to take advantage of his weaknesses. It’s the same thing they’ll try to do to Andre. This isn’t about Darius and Andre, it’s about Cleveland and the L.A. Clippers.”

Of Miles, 20, Gentry added, “We’re still close to Darius. We’ll pull for him to do well except for the two games they play against us. We want him to have a great year. Why wouldn’t we? He’s a great kid. He did a lot for our franchise during the two seasons he was here.”

Gentry then excused himself a second time, speaking to General Manager Elgin Baylor at length on the other side of the gym. He did not return.

Miller said he was less concerned about sticking it to his old teammates than helping his new ones get off to a good start.

“There’s no pressure at all,” he said. “If we play good team basketball, it should lead to wins.”

After the Cavaliers, the Clippers face the Lakers on Friday, then the Detroit Pistons on Sunday before starting a four-game trip to Philadelphia, New Jersey, Orlando and Miami next week. It’s no time to be at anything less than top form.