PLAYA VISTA – As the Clippers opened training camp Saturday at their practice facility, guards Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups were able to take part in large chunks of the team’s first workout.
Billups, who is recovering from surgery on his Achilles tendon, and Paul, who is coming back from thumb surgery, weren’t available to participate in full-contact drills.
But when Paul was on the sidelines, there were plenty of things to notice.
“I caught myself watching on the sidelines. I got excited,” Paul said. “And I hate to watch basketball; obviously, I love to play.”
Players like Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford and Grant Hill making their Clippers debuts had Paul giddy.
“It’s kind of cool because I’m sitting there watching Jamal Crawford, Lamar Odom and all these great players on the court,” Paul said of his new teammates. “I’ve never really seen that.”
Maybe even more impressive than the talent on the floor during the Clippers’ first workout was how all the pieces already started to fit together.
Odom said a unit with himself, Hill, Matt Barnes and Willie Green already started to gel on the court on the first day.
“We just read each other and were able to make plays. It’s our first day. …The game is played up here first,” Odom said as he pointed to his head. “And this team has a high I.Q.”
But it wasn’t just the veterans.
Because of Paul’s injury, third-year guard Eric Bledsoe is getting chances to run the point with the first team, and he’s set on making the most of the chances.
“I’ve been preparing for it,” Bledsoe said. “I’m feeling confident. I feel older. I feel like my game got older. I know more.”
And that knowledge has helped Bledsoe become more assertive, even when it comes to giving instructions to the vets.
“Basketball is basketball at the end of the day,” Bledsoe said. “The point guard has to do his job.”
Bledsoe earned high praise from Paul, who saw him playing pick-up games over the summer.
“Bled looked like the best player,” Paul said. “He’s just that more confident and making all the right plays.”
CHANGES AT THE LINE
When the doors opened near the end of Saturday’s practice, reporters got their first look at shooting coach Bob Thate and his work with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
Griffin’s free-throw motion hasn’t undergone drastic changes, but the hitch at the peak of his release has been eliminated.
Jordan, who looks more comfortable than Griffin, completely re-tooled his shot.
“They’re both tweaking some things, no question, which is good,” Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro. “But there’s a process involved there. Like anything, you can’t shortchange it.”
NOTES
With Chauncey Billups likely out until sometime in December, Vinny Del Negro said Jamal Crawford, Grant Hill or Matt Barnes could start at shooting guard until Billups is healthy. After admitting that he was a little caught up with the emotion involved in coming back to the Clippers, Lamar Odom said it felt good to let go and get out on the court. “I just kind of threw myself in there and tried to go get it,” Odom said. …Eric Bledsoe said he added 10 pounds of muscle this offseason. …The Clippers will practice again Sunday afternoon.
Contact the writer: dwoike@ocregister.com