Korolev Is Starting to Feel Much More at Ease

Yes, in the beginning, for 18-year-old Yaroslav Korolev of Moscow, an NBA rookie, everything was scary, all right.

“Yeah, it was,” he said before Tuesday’s game. “First of all, NBA and all the big guys who go on the court. And I’m nervous. A lot of people, big crowd and everybody’s looking at you, what you’re going to do. You got to do something good.... It’s just nervous. You can ask anybody when they’re young.”

Korolev says he began getting over it in his last game against Charlotte, when he played 14 of his career total of 25 minutes, scored seven points and made his first three-point basket.

“I think right now I’m OK,” he said. “You just score some points, like in the game against Charlotte and after that, you feel much better.”

When a team suffers injuries, as the Clippers have, everyone else is supposed to step up. However, Chris Kaman, who is known to beat himself up in the best of times, is trying not to approach it that way.

“We have a good team,” Kaman said. “Our guys are all supportive of each other. We know we’re short-handed right now and we have to keep pressing on.... I don’t get any pressure. If I get pressure, I try to put it on Elton [Brand] or Sam [Cassell] or Cat [Cuttino Mobley] or someone else. I’m still learning and I’m still young, and I want to take advantage of every opportunity I get....

“I get mad at myself. Like I’ll have an easy shot and I’ll miss it and I’ll take myself out of the game for the next three, four minutes. I’m real self-conscious of when I shoot and what shots I take. I want to make sure they’re good shots.... After he [Coach Mike Dunleavy] is done getting on me, I get on myself.”