When it comes to the Clippers and injuries, nothing surprises me.

There’s definitely nervousness in the air. The early stretch of games looks tough, but we’re actually quite fortunate if you break down the first ten games. We play 8 of 10 at home, with one “road” game at the Lakers and the other a home-and-home against Utah. Melo (bonehead) is suspended for G2, Deron Williams (second-degree ankle sprain) is unlikely to play in either G3 or G4, Ellis (moped) is out for G9, and Manu (ankle surgery) is out for G10. Are injuries breaking in our favor?

That’s what the other teams are asking themselves, at least the teams we’re playing in the first week. Camby is doubtful for the opener and may miss at least the first week. Boom is questionable for the opener (50/50 or so) and that may carry over through the first week as well. And even if they do play it’ll be an unfamiliar group.

Hey, it’s the Clippers, shouldn’t we be used to it by now? Hollinger’s fingers must be itching to type “i t-o-l-d y-o-u s-o.”

…as always, for Clipper fans. As I was driving into work I was pondering the same issues that CS raises here. And my conclusion about the absence of Camby, let alone BD, is that this is not a Kerry Kittles situation. We’re not even close to an 07-08 Brand situation, nor an 04 Brand situation. When was that one, and what happened? We haven’t ever talked about it around here, to my recollection, so it may be worth looking at now—when Brand was hurt in the first game in Japan, Rashard Lewis went for 50 in one of those games, and Chris Wilcox was a “capable” starter for 15-20 games—and I don’t even remember the specific bad impact on the season.

This is just the way it goes. If Camby doesn’t play in games 2 or 3, he will play by game 5. Eric Gordon tweaked his ankle, after hurting his hamstring, but he came back strong and is ready to go. We dodged a bullet on BD’s finger injury, and his status (along with TT’s) is better than Camby’s. Not perfect, but the season is going to start and they’re all going to be playing sooner, rather than later. The injuries to look out for are the semi-major and major ones, as Baron’s finger would have been, Kaman’s ankle towards the end of last season, Davis3’s knee, not to mention the others.

On top of this, the Clips should be stronger with their backups. PG is of course very tough, and BD really isn’t replaceable, especially when you’re going up against the elite teams. But part of the trick here is that the Clips have been without 3 of their top 8 rotation players in these preseason games, and one of their guys is a 19-year-old rookie. If BD proves fragile—which he well might not—it appears that Eric Gordon is going to be an important part of the backup plan. Along with the emergence of Mike Taylor, who is probably going to get better with experience, it could be worse, and it doesn’t seem like Rick Brunson, Doug Overton territory. And the situation with the bigs is much better. Thomas, Davis3, Skinner, Novak and DJordan are all there behind Camby. However they may have played and gelled (or failed to) in the preseason, it will be different in the real games, and it will be different with Baron Davis on the court. The trick is to have only one of the top 8 guys on the shelf, rather than 3, or none at all, and for BD to be healthy, followed by Camby and everybody else. The Clips can do it, and they can easily get there by the end of the week.

Patience. The kind of patience that’s required when Tim Thomas is the opening day starter against the Lakers. When Kaman-Camby haven’t played a single minute, while Bynum-Gasol are on day 25 of forming their new partnership. Let’s remember that the Warriors lost their first 7 games last year, with an inferior lineup, and BD led them to 48 wins. Let’s get through this week and the election and see where things stand for the second half of the first 10.

….than to be hopeful, but we are Clipper fans for a reason. Every year we start off with so much hope and nearly every year we have been disappointed. Just when it seems like things are going for us, something always happens.

I’m hopeful, but nervous at the same time.

I’ll be at the opener, section 105. Say hi if you see me.

Davis will play, I dont know about Camby.

We are clipper fans, everything has happened to us and it never amazes me

NBC had an article related to a charity event Baron was hosting today. He was wearing his splint, but he was also carrying heavy boxes of full of bottled water without any pain using both hands. His smile was as big as ever. Can’t wait for the opener.

Not sure if I read this here, but Camby had a cortizone shot in his heel. I had a friend that had this done and he said the pain was excrutiating. Camby must be serious if he is willing to go through with that.