--Rookie guard Eric Gordon, who missed the bulk of the summer-league session in Las Vegas because of an injury, was shelved with a high ankle sprain that could sideline him for two weeks.
--F-C Marcus Camby missed a couple of days because of flu-like symptoms. --Getting early training camp raves from coach Mike Dunleavy was rookie center DeAndre Jordan, whom the Clippers drafted in the second round.
Dunleavy also has been impressed with rookie guard Mike Taylor, whose chances to make the team improved immensely when veteran Jason Williams announced his retirement.
--Make-do contracts appear to be the lot for several Clippers who finished the 2007-2008 season on the roster. Most surprising was the lack of interest shown this summer in swingman Quinton Ross, who signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. Although his offensive game was erratic and at times non-existent, Ross was the Clippers' best perimeter defender the previous four seasons.
--The Clippers' practice-ending scrimmage on the third day of training camp was a lively affair. Three times, guard Jason Hart and newly signed forward Steve Novak helped bring their unit back from seemingly impossible deficits in the last half-minute of play with lightning drives to the basket by Hart and three-point bombs by Novak. Dunleavy finally signaled an end to the scrimmage after a Novak three-pointer forced a triple overtime.
--The Clippers' long-awaited, multimillion-dollar private practice facility is everything that it was proposed to be and more. Unlike most NBA teams' practice sites, the Clippers' gymnasium features not one but two regulation full courts. The spacious open weight room faces out to the gym, and there is ample space and equipment for athletic trainer Jasen Powell and strength and conditioning coach Rich Williams. Coaching offices and executive offices are upstairs.
"Now, you don't have to ask me anymore about the practice facility," team president Andy Roeser said at the team's media day session.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "You don't shoot 'em if you can't make 'em. You have to be able to make 'em. We can't make 'em." -- Coach Mike Dunleavy, responding to the question of why the Clippers annually have ranked near the bottom of the league in three-point field goals attempted and made during his five seasons as head coach.
