CLIPPERS NOTEBOOK: JARIC DEBUTS AFTER LONG WEEK.

Byline: Joe Stevens Staff Writer

Marko Jaric didn't set a goal to play in the NBA before age 24, but he accomplished it - barely - Friday in an exhibition game against Seattle.

Jaric made his NBA debut Friday, and today he turns 24. He played despite a painful week in which he strained his left groin and had an incisor pulled.

``I won't smile for the next few days,'' Jaric said as he displayed a gap in the upper-left part of his mouth.

Jaric had been chomping at the bit to get into an NBA game, but the Clippers guard has had repeated setbacks. Early this year, he cracked his tooth eating popcorn. On Wednesday, he needed emergency oral surgery in Portland to extract it.

``My face is still swollen,'' he said.

As a member of Yugoslavia's national team, Jaric helped his country win this summer's World Basketball Games. He also averaged 15.2 points and 4.9 rebounds for Kinder Bologna of the Italian A1 league last season before signing a three-year deal with the Clippers.

At 6-foot-7, Jaric considers point guard his best position, but coach Alvin Gentry said he also could play shooting guard or small forward. With point guard Andre Miller on the roster, Jaric might have to play those positions to get more playing time. In fact, when he was inserted in the game Friday, he played alongside Miller.

``He's going to be a good player,'' Gentry said of Jaric. ``Anyone who works that hard and has a work ethic like that cannot fail. I haven't seen anyone like that fail in my 15 years in the NBA.''

But Gentry cautioned not to make too much of Jaric by his successes or failures in the exhibition season.

``I'm not going to judge him because of a preseason game,'' Gentry said. ``We just want to get him out there and see how he responds. I mean, he hasn't ever played in the NBA, and he has the strained groin, so I'm happy just to see Marko get out there.''

--Up to 11: The Clippers have 19 players in training camp, but eight, including Elton Brand (right knee surgery), Lamar Odom (sore right ankle) Michael Olowokandi (left knee tendinitis) and Quentin Richardson (sprained right knee), remain out.

Rookie Chris Wilcox, who has a strained right quadriceps, might play Sunday. The Clippers' other rookie from this summer's draft, Melvin Ely, is expected to be out about two weeks with tendinitis in his left foot.

--Odds and ends: Cherokee Parks turned 30 Friday. ... Miller is a native of Watts and has a lot of friends in Los Angeles but had to leave only two sets of tickets Friday night. ``I haven't had a chance to catch up with everyone yet,'' he said.