Making Second-Chance Points

Nobody was more surprised than his teammates when the Clippers made Quinton Ross one of their last preseason cuts a year ago.

They thought he was a keeper.

And, after he’d put aside his disappointment and signed to play in Europe, nobody was more surprised than Ross when Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy showed up at his door in Oostende, Belgium, in the spring.

During a European scouting excursion, Dunleavy went out of his way to tell the 6-foot-6 guard face to face that he wanted to give him a second chance.

“I was shocked,” Ross said.

Instead of Ross, the Clippers last year kept a 7-foot center named Josh Moore, a project that literally never got off the ground, the barely motivated Moore spending the entire season on the “injured” list before he was cut.

But they never lost track of Ross, checking in periodically last season with his agent, Mark McNeil, while Ross’ play in Europe -- he averaged 16.7 points and 4.8 rebounds -- drew interest from other NBA teams.

When Dunleavy turned up in Belgium to invite Ross to dinner, his message to the player might as well have been, give us a second chance.

By then, six or seven other NBA teams also were interested.

Dunleavy said he made the trip “just to say, ‘Here’s how much I like you.... What other coach is flying all the way to Belgium to have dinner with you?’ ”

Ross was impressed -- “I wouldn’t think he would come way over to Belgium just to talk to me, so that shocked me,” he said -- and agreed to play for the Clippers’ summer league team in Long Beach.

In August he signed a three-year contract with the team.

“He thought it was important to go somewhere where he knew that they really wanted him,” McNeil said last week. “It wasn’t just talk. They showed it with actions. Dunleavy going over there definitely gave them an edge.”

After finding a reliable reserve last season in previously unheralded Bobby Simmons, Dunleavy hopes to catch lightning in a bottle again.

Ross, who as a Southern Methodist senior two seasons ago was the Western Athletic Conference player of the year, is some 35 pounds lighter than the 6-6 Simmons but mirrors his teammate’s work ethic and smarts.

“I think people will just love the way he plays,” Dunleavy said. “He plays the game the way it should be played: totally unselfishly. He’s a very good defender, knows what he’s supposed to do at all times, very smart, active player.

“In many ways he reminds me of a young Michael Cooper. He’s a long guy, really gets after it. He doesn’t say much; he just plays hard -- like Bobby did last year.”

Ross, who averaged 20.3 points as a senior at SMU, is only too willing to make the adjustment to bit player with the Clippers.

“You get to the next level,” he said, “you’ve got to find your role. And right now I think my role to help this team is on the defensive side of the ball.”

Last year Ross was in agreement with his would-be Clipper teammates: He thought he’d shown enough to stick with the team.

This year he knows it.

Dunleavy didn’t make the trip to Belgium for the waffles.

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At the end of nine practices over five days, the Clippers were “really at the end of their gas tank,” Dunleavy said. They’ll practice once today and again Monday morning at Santa Barbara City College before breaking camp and returning to Los Angeles.... Starters Kerry Kittles, Marko Jaric and Corey Maggette, along with backup center Zeljko Rebraca, continued to sit out because of injuries. “Of course, it’s not what I’d like it to be because you think you’d be better with those guys playing, obviously,” Dunleavy said. “But we have time.” The first of eight exhibitions is Wednesday night at Phoenix. The Clippers open the regular season Nov. 3.