CLIPPERS NOTEBOOK: WELCOME RECOVERY.Byline: Joe Stevens Staff Writer The opener is just a day away, and as the Clippers fiddled and trimmed their roster Monday, coach Alvin Gentry Alvin Gentry is an American professional basketball coach, and college basketball player, who has led three different NBA teams. He served as an interim coach for the Miami Heat at the end of the 1995 season, and later coached the Detroit Pistons and the Los Angeles Clippers. slipped in a line of optimism about starters Elton Brand Elton Tyron Brand (born March 11, 1979 in Peekskill, New York) is an American All-Star professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers and the USA National Team. , Quentin Richardson Quentin Richardson (born April 13 1980 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American professional basketball player, currently playing for the National Basketball Association's New York Knicks. He is a swingman. and Michael Olowokandi Michael Olowokandi (born April 3 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria), nicknamed The Kandi Man is a Nigerian professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association. He currently is a free agent. . ``Elton will play, and Q will play,'' Gentry said. ``And with Michael, I'm assuming he'll play.'' Those three has battled injuries all through training camp, and only Richardson, who played in the final exhibition game, participated in the exhibition schedule. Brand had right-knee surgery the week before camp, and Richardson sprained a ligament in his right knee. But perhaps the biggest surprise of the three to be available is Olowokandi, who has a strained left-hip flexor flexor /flex·or/ (flek´ser) 1. causing flexion. 2. a muscle that flexes a joint. flexor retina´culum see entries under retinaculum. . ``It's feeling better, but it's not to the point where it's 100 percent,'' Olowokandi said. ``I have problems when I'm flat-out sprinting on the floor or stretching out or with sharp lateral movement Lateral movements are movements made on a horse that are used for training purposes, that involve the horse moving in a direction other than straight forward. They vary in difficulty, and should be used in a progressive manner, according to the training and physical limitations of . That gives me a problem, but other than that, everything else is all right. I'm able to function in a way to help out the team.'' Mentally, Olowokandi is fine, too. He has been critical of management, which did not give him a contract extension this offseason. But he has opted to stop the critiques with the season about to start. ``We have good players right down the line,'' he said. ``Everyone's good. So I'm sure looking forward to this season. It should translate to a successful season. That's all you can think about, really, one season at a time.'' --Batiste, Stith waived: The team cut its opening-day roster to the league-maximum 15 by waiving free-agent forward Mike Batiste Michael Batiste was born in the city of Yonkers, in Westchester County, New York. He was formerly a semi-pro paintball player, but since 2004, he has been working at WXPK (107.1)The Peak, a radio station based in White Plains, New York. and veteran guard Bryant Stith. Batiste ba·tiste n. A fine, plain-woven fabric made from various fibers and used especially for clothing. [French, from Old French, perhaps after Baptiste of Cambrai, 13th-century textile maker. , a Long Beach Wilson High graduate, was third among rookies in scoring in the exhibition season with 14.4 points a game. But he didn't have a guaranteed contract and would have been low on the team's depth chart had he made the squad. --Injured reserve set: Lamar Odom, Melvin Ely and Tremaine Fowlkes all were placed on the injured list. Odom still has a sore right wrist and sore right ankle and isn't expected to be ready to play until Christmas. Ely has a sprained left foot, and Fowlkes is listed with a sprained right knee. Each will be forced to miss at least five games because of being put on the list. --Tickets released: The Clippers are expected to release 1,000 tickets for Wednesday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers and 1,000 tickets for Friday's game against the Lakers. Those tickets originally were set aside for season-ticket holders and will be released today at 10 a.m. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: MICHAEL OLOWOKANDI Clippers center is available to play after rehabilitating an injured left hip. |
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