Chris Paul cleared to play after thumb surgery

09 Oct 2012

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Just in time for their two exhibition games against the Miami Heat in China, the Clippers have announced that Chris Paul has received medical clearance to participate in full-contact basketball activities.

According to Clippers.com’s Eric Patten, the news came before Tuesday morning’s practice in Beijing.

“Chris practiced today pretty much the whole practice that obviously changes things when he’s out there,” Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro said. “He played well. He’s just got to get in better game condition. He’s been out for a while, but there’s no question he’s a factor when he’s out there no matter what kind of shape he’s in.”

Paul has been sidelined since August after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. Although he has gradually taken part in team workouts over the last two weeks, he has been limited to walkthroughs and non-contact situations.

“It felt great [to practice],” Paul said. “I actually felt like I was part of the team. I was a little winded out there, but it felt good to get back out there and get in the mix.

“I felt fine because I haven’t done anything for so long. I’m pretty well rested, so I was excited to get out there and play.”

While medically cleared, Paul is not expected to play in Thursday’s game. Still waiting for sources to confirm that this is a move by the Chinese government to get more playing time for Eric Bledsoe.

Apostolos

The pre-season couldn’t be going any better to start (aside for the loss to the Nuggets but still) the two players that aren’t playing or can’t play yet (Cp3/Billups) are the two players that really don’t need much practice. By Chris Paul resting ,it also allows the team to start playing more without depending on Chris Paul for everything (which was the case last year). And also as you mentioned Widdoes it Forces VDN to Have to play Bledsoe who without CP3 looks like our best player.

And I wonder if DemoteDeandre saw the Nuggets game where Deandre Jordan was a beast.
Pingback: Clippers G Chris Paul medically cleared after thumb surgery – CBSSports.com (blog) | Cosmetic Surgery
Chandler

Let’s get a clipperblog fantasy basketball rollingggg!!!
ClipperBlog Spirit

A real blessing in disguise affording Bled to show that he deserves big minutes on the court. He and DJ making jumps are the key to the team being elite. 22 DAYS and counting!
http://clipperblog Tim

Gentlemen, Eric Bledsoe is a point guard, a dynamic athlete, but still a point guard. He is 6’1, which is a good size for a point guard. He is an incredibly talented defensive player, and with the speed, and quickness, coupled with the desire, and talent to play defense, his skill set translates nicely to the 2 guard spot, but Eric Bledsoe is still just a point guard. His first couple of years in Clipperland, he’s received an uneven distribution of minutes due to the log-jam situation at his position. Now however, he is in the perfect position to log meaningful minutes at his given trade, which is point guard, albeit, in the back-up role. He has a well-rounded NBA back-up point guard skill set at this point in his career. Bledsoe has earned this status through his hard work, and by putting on display his unlimited potential. To quote Mr. Bledsoe himself, he has “worked his minutes”, and it’s time for the reward. Bledsoe does not deserve to be played out of position any longer. Bledsoe is probably the best shooting(2) guard on the roster. He is arguably the 2nd best guard on the roster. Regardless, it’s time for Bledsoe to obtain the training for his given trade, which is point guard. The back-up position affords him the very best opportunity to grow and mature as an NBA player. Its time they stop gerking around with his career, and allow him the minutes to become the best point guard he can be, because thats his trade. That’s his best skill set. I know a lot of people say team 1st, but Bledsoe has put team first plenty of times during this early portion of his career. Bledsoe has the best opportunity to become an All-NBA player, playing the point, and will never be an All-NBA player, playing the 2 guard position. I’m all for Bledsoe finishing games sharing the back-court with CP, if he gives us the best chance to win, if Bledsoe is consistently outplaying Billups, Green, and Crawford, from his back-up point guard position. Bledsoe should be guarding the point, playing the point, executing the offense from the point, and giving CP those valued minutes of rest during the course of games, so if CP has to go hero mode down the stretch, he’ll have something left in the tank. Bledsoe should not be the starting 2 guard, having limited experience in his given trade, the point. Bledsoe needs a larger sample size at point, so a proper evaluation can be made. The talent and skill is currently present, and he has earned the trust of the coaching staff to be given back up point guard responsibilities. Promote Bledsoe to back up point, that is the logical move at this point in his career. Sorry for the long winded rant.
- griffin
  
  I agree with you but it just makes bledsoe so much more vauled that he can play both guard spots so well. On that note bledsoe can start for most rosters and learning from cp and billups will continue to make him better. Bledsoe could be the best pg in his prime one day which is amazingb considering he is a back up
- Clips4
  
  Tell that to VDN. If VDN screws with Bledsoe again this year, I would rather we trade him for a piece that would contribute right away than to waste Bledsoe’s talent away on the bench. VDN needs to realize what he has in Bledsoe and utilize him.
- Cassellmania
  
  I don’t care that he’s 6-1. A whopping 2 inches shorter than Billups, yet Bledsoe has longer arms and bigger muscles which makes up for the difference. Bledsoe played SG in college, so its not like its uncharted territory for him.
  
  Look, I think Bledsoe as starting 2 could turn the CLippers into a juggernaut on both ends of the court. I do like the idea of him coming off the bench THIS YEAR, especially if everyone is healthy, but he needs more than just backup PG minutes. He needs minutes playing next to CP, and in the playoffs, when those two were on the court together the Clippers outplayed the opposition (check the +/- numbers). CP likes having another playmaker in the lineup with him to take pressure off. Not to mention his defensive prowess. If you don’t think he can handle SGs, I watched him lockdown James Harden at Staples last April.
  
  Bledsoe eventually needs starters minutes to reach his full potential. If he keeps playing like he has, he will demand a contract we cannot afford for a backup PG to Chris Paul. Promote him to starting SG after Billups is gone or trade him for a young wing who will be a long term starter.
  - JaySee
    
    I agree!
    
    Bledsoe IS the 2nd best guard on the roster, he’s the 2nd best PG, and he is the best SG on the roster. He deserves a starting spot and starters minutes. There is nothing wrong with playing 2 point guards. Doesn’t anyone remember the bad boy Pistons backcourt of Thomas/Dumars? They were 2 point guards.
    - http://clipperblog Tim
      
      Joe Dumars is like Chauncey, 6’3, and played in an era where shooting guards, like Joe Dumars, Byron Scott, Andrew Toney, were by-in large 6’3. The 6’5 types like Michael Jordan, came along to dominate later in the late 80’s and 90’s. Bledsoe is 6’1, and playing in an era where most shooting guards are 6’6-6’7. Look, I realize that Bledsoe is the best 2 guard on the roster, but once Chaucey gets back, Dumars and Thomas is a closer comparison to Billups and Paul, not Bledsoe and Paul. Bledsoe needs more time in grade at the point. Back up is a good promotion for the young man. For the record, Joe Dumars was not a point guard, and once Thomas retired, that got exposed. Joe Dumars was a typical shooting guard from his era, but if my memory serves me, he turned out to be a horrible point guard. Nice shooter though, no doubt, and clutch, kinda like Chauncey. Can we get a moratorium on Demote? No troll deserves that much run.
      - Cassellmania
        
        I agree that this year, Billups should start and Bled should come off the bench in a COMBO guard role, but you can’t deny him deserving minutes next to CP during the game. It makes no sense to only play him as a backup to CP, whether you are for keeping him or trading him, he is too talented to be limited to backup PG.
        
        If you are in the camp that wants to keep him long term? Then you have to consider him as future starting SG. In the new CBA, no way are we paying Bled big money to be the backup to a in-his-prime-hall-of-fame PG like CP who will be playing 35 mins per game for the foreseeable future.
        
        If you are in the keep him now trade him later camp, then you need to give him a bigger role to showcase his talent.
      - JaySee
        
        Sorry, but your view on history is wrong. Dumars played in the 80s and 90s, exactly when 6’6″ Jordan played. He often guarded Jordan. He played from 85-99 to be exact. Joe Dumars was a good point guard. His stats had no change post-Thomas’ retirement. After Thomas retired he again shared ball handling and distributing duties with some Rookie of the Year named… Grant Hill.
      - http://clipperblog Tim
        
        Ok, history shows that Dumars, although he guarded Jordan, he could not guard Jordan. Jordan dropped 61 on Dumars, and had 9, 40 plus games vs Dumars. So move Dumars to the point, right? Well, Thomas didn’t retire until 94, so most of Dumars career a dominate point controlled the back-court. So, what happened after 94? The Pistons drafted Lindsey Hunter, and Grant Hill, and they controlled most point guard duties, leaving Dumars by-in-large at the shooting guard position, so no, Dumars did not play the point for any extended period during his career. Ask yourself this simple question. On nights when MJ is dropping 40, or Kobe or D-Wade drop 40, who is better equipped to still make plays, and not get completely demoralized by that situation, a player like Dumars, and player like Billups or Bledsoe? From a maturity standpoint, I just don’t think Bledsoe is ready for guys 5 inches taller than him, shooting over him, posting him up, and getting isolated in one on ones night in night out in the NBA. Bledsoe might be able to stand up to an Eric Gordon type, but if Bledsoe has to guard Mano, or say Joe Johnson, or a D-Wade, or the guy in Portland they’ll just rise up and shoot over him all night, and there’s nothing he can do. I think that would affect his overall game more-so than Billups. I think Billups would still find ways to help the Clippers win, and I think Bledsoe would eventually get tired of getting torched every night, and start trying to do too much, getting all the other starters out of sync with what they’re trying to get done. Bledsoe is not ready to start at the 2 spot in the NBA at this point in his career, plain and simple.
http://barmapla.com FD

I don’t know what happened to DeMote. He must have been hired by some NBA team as GM or assistant GM and can’t post due to his contract.
- griffin
  
  No due to the new rules here on clipperblog he cant troll anymore. And everyone knows how much he used to troll. Im glad we get some peace know let him stay under that rock. Dont want him crawling back out
  - http://barmapla.com FD
    
    What? What did he say that turned out not to be true? He might have gone a tiny bit far sometimes and gotten a few of the stats wrong, but his basic points were correct. Barron Davis turned out to be a big failure and DeAndre was even worst than Demote predicted last year.
    
    Anyone know where he’s posting these days?
    - Bongstradamus
      
      He only looked at scoring. He got player names wrong. He dodnt understand roles and his analyses ignored half the stat sheet.
      
      Baron wasn’t a failure. He still averaged 8 assists. DJ gets 5 shots a game, the most points he can get are 10 + ft’s. He was still one of the best boarders and blockers in the league. It’s really a sign of stupidity to harp on someone’s offensive game when all they get is second chance points and no plays called for them.
      
      He thought forwards were centers and guards were forwards. He couldn’t even spell players names right. He looked at points scored and +/- that’s it. It was half assed analysis biased to make the same exact point over and over again
      
      Play a cd on repeat if you miss the same thing every day.
      - http://barmapla.com FD
        
        Baron himself admitted his time here was a failure.
      - WammyGiveaway
        
        Demote wanted DeAndre Jordan gone and Dwight Howard in his place. He felt that having Dwight was the only way to dethrone the Los Angeles Lakers and truly take over L.A. He didn’t care if it meant giving up Blake Griffin and Eric Bledsoe. But he failed to understand that the Clippers cannot work under the Lakers model. Instead, they are following the examples of the San Antonio Spurs (chemistry) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (drafting).
    - Clips4
      
      Time and time again, I proved DeMote wrong with researched stats and he still trolled us all by being selective stats to make useless points on why DJ was bad when he overall wasn’t as bad as he says he was. Sure he’s no Dwight Howard or Andrew Bynum, but he was not the worst center in the league. VDN replacing him with K-Mart in the 4th quarter sapped whatever confidence he had at the beginning of the year. There is equal blame to DJ’s game regressing with VDN screwing with his confidence. You could say the same with how VDN treated Bledsoe too. VDN’s rotations were weird and inconsistent last year and you had players complaining about minutes. DeMote does not understand how that can affect a player’s psyche aside from looking at the full stats. Even looking at the stats, numbers will lie. He never even watched games so his understanding was very rudimentary.
      - http://barmapla.com FD
        
        I agree DeMote had the stats and names wrong, but his basic premise that DJ wasn’t worth the money and the Clippers need to get a center if they want to win a championship. Start or end of the year, the fact that DJ had to be replaced by a power forward in the 4th quarter is a failure. He was supposed to be ready. That’s why the Clippers didn’t sign Chris Kaman.
        
        As for confidence, these are professional athletes. If he’s hurt that much by not starting, than that is a weakness as much as poor free throw shooting. DeAndre was useless against Memphis. Imagine if the Clippers had Kaman last year (and a coach that knew how to use him).
        
        He might not technically be the worst center in the league, but he’s the worst fit for the Clippers because he makes it harder for Blake Griffin cus teams can double team him without worrying DJ will hit a jumper.
      - Clips4
        
        DJ is actually a really good fit for the Clips. Compared to when Kaman and Blake played together, both need to operate on the low block. When DJ is in there, he can get out of Blake’s way. That being said, when there are plays being run where Blake is out on the wing, DJ’s newly refined post game will be an asset come this season. Confidence does a lot to a player’s psyche. Ask Dirk in 2006 against the Heat. Ask Lebron James every year in the postseason until last year. Coaches like Phil Jackson, Gregg Poppovich, and Doc Rivers will let players keep playing even if they make mistakes to learn from them in order to instill in them the trust that they need to improve. By VDN yanking DJ at crucial times in games when he needs to experience of staying in during crunch time will sap his confidence and he will not understand the importance and gain the seasoning he needs to gain during crunch time. You cannot say that K-Mart and Reggie Evans were better players than DJ. They were better at individual areas, but overall they were not better players than DJ.
        
        Like I said in previous posts, DJ’s shooting mechanics weren’t that bad to begin with. He needed minor tweaks. Blake’s on the other hand, were atrocious. DJ will be fine. Centers take 4 to 5 years to develop. Plus, you cannot possibly count last summer as an offseason because of the lockout. He could not even talk to the coaching staff to come up with a plan of how to attack his development and improvement. He could only work on a few things and there was a definite improvement last year that we did not see before in where he was not finding himself getting into foul trouble as often. This year, if he can average 10/10/2, while playing good team defense, he will earn his money.
http://clipperblog Tim

Billups makes more sense as the starter when he gets back, because he has the experience and champions pedigree. Bledsoe is long on talent, and short on experience. Lock him in as the back-up point, get him some consistent minutes, and let his talent take him to the next level. As a starter, E-Bled is great for defending, but too short on the kind of calming influence that a Chauncey Billups can bring to the table when Blake and DJ are running around trying to make plays. We can’t have Bledsoe flying around getting everyone discombobulated. He’s a nice change of pace guy, and coupled with Jamal, and LO, Bledsoe will be the X-factor, but off the bench fellas. At least this year, and next year, we’ll see where he’s at.
mikelipert

Man months ago we were begging demote to get off this blog now you guys want him back! Haha
- The Blakers
  
  not us, just FD
  - Clips4
    
    I concur. Nobody but FD wants DeMote back here. I’m glad he hasn’t trolled for months. It feels quite refreshing.
brain cook

wjat is this demote banter all about.
Mv22

It takes big men up to 5 years to reach full potential. This is dj’s 4thor 5th year coming up and it looks like he’s ready to be a legitimate starting center in the nba. Centers get big bucks. Golden state set the market for him so it was a great re-sign for 10 million a year. Demote was a pure negative vibe. Glad he’s no longer a voice on this blog. As for all the Vdn bashing, he took the clippers to the second round of the playoffs. Not bad. He had to deal with 9new players joining the team at various points in the season. There was no preseason, a condensed season with almost no practice time during the year. With Chris Paul running the point, the best coaching under these circumstances, pick and roll offense is the basic basketball play and that was what they did.n that and some isolation plays. Give the guy a break. The players like playing for him. He earned a shot at a full season with a preseason and a full complement of players to work together from the start. Every loss is not caused by del negro as some posters suggest. He’s a developing coach and this is his year just as it is our 3 young guys. It’s make or break for all of them and I’m betting on all 4 of them
http://barmapla.com FD

VDN didn’t know how to use Kaman with Griffin when they played together. For the record, I wouldn’t have signed either though.

Yeah, it usually does take centers 4-5 years to develop and DeAndre might be an average center in a few years. That’s a few years too late though. When he reaches that point then give him then give him 10mil a year. The Clippers need a center that can box out, rebound and hit a 15 foot jumper. They don’t need a center that can do a spin move which only Denver would have trouble guarding.
- LobCityPD
  
  The decision to pay DJ $10 mil was not made in a vacuum. Who else was available? Golden State went from DJ to Kwame Brown last year (yikes) after we matched their contract. DJ is much more durable with higher upside than the oft injured Kaman. The clippers took a gamble that he would develop and paid a premium.
  
  Rebounding 15ft jumper centers/PFs that play center: Garnett, Duncan, Pau/Marc Gasol, Joakim Noah, Gortat, Bosh, Horford, Al Jefferson.
  
  Again. Who else was available as all of these guys are were not options for the Clips.
  
  Chris Paul repeatedly said that signing DJ long-term was one of the reasons he believed the organization wanted to win. Without signing DJ, possibly no CP3.
  
  So yes, DJ was overpaid last year but given the alternatives, the Clips did what they had to do to improve the team.
  - http://barmapla.com FD
    
    The CP3 thing I’ve heard, but I think CP3 still would have signed. That’s very hard to tell. I think if CP3 wanted DeAndre to play in the 4th quarter he would have been though.
    
    The Clippers did have alternatives. KMart and Reggie Evans. They could have gotten someone in the D league to fill up the rest of the minutes if they needed. Chauncy Billups even mentioned they’re not using KMart the right way.
    - Clips4
      
      FD, you proved LobCityPD’s point about 15ft. jumper centers. All the centers that could hit the 15 ft. jumper are not available. The alternatives that you spoke of K-Mart (on his last legs and wants starters minutes when nobody will give them to him) and Reggie Evans (rebounding machine) were very limited and only specialized in one area. DJ is a better overall player than the both of them are and at the age that he is at has more upside than either K-Mart or Reggie.
      
      Centers in the NBDL are not necessarily the solution. The only time NBDL centers get called up is if NBA teams need bodies to take fouls. Usually the centers NBA teams look at are in college and overseas. With Chauncey saying that K-Mart was not being utilized correctly, that is a product of the coach (VDN). VDN did not use many players correctly last year (Making K-Mart a center, Pulling DJ in the 4th and making him useless while sapping his confidence, not giving Bledsoe more minutes to develop). VDN did a ton of things wrong last year especially with the inconsistent rotations.
      - http://barmapla.com FD
        
        If DeAndre was better than K-Mart and Reggie, why did he lose his job in the 4th quarter to them?
        
        I’d have no problem if DeAndre was making 3-5 mil a year. Not many people with this new salary cap make 10 mil a year.
        
        And if we’re just talking about last year. You could take a good D-league center and replace DeAndre with him and give Reggie a K-Mart a few more minutes. Then they could have had more room to get someone this year.
      - joeluis323
        
        DJ was just not the answer on the 4th for VDN. The decision was made for bad or worse VDN saved his job by keeping DJ out of the 4th and that’s what mattered for VDN.
        
        I just hope he can find a way to share the minutes efficiently.
        I’m not saying VDN is a bad coach, he’s just proven to be an average coach so far. But hey.. if the Heat can win w/o a coach then so can the Clips!
        
        has anybody found out what E-bled did to piss VDN off? There was that one game last season where he was sent back to LA and then the next game the whole team refused to play.( They got blown). I just hope all that drama is put behind. E-bled needs his minutes. If CP3 does not sign.. well… He is the future.

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Chris Paul cleared to play after thumb surgery

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