Gentry Says Rotation Will Be a Work in Progress

SAN ANTONIO —  Coach Alvin Gentry said repeatedly during training camp that his rotation isn’t set. Now, it looks as if it might never be set.

Gentry said again Tuesday that he hopes to rely on his players to sort out the playing time. He also hopes to rely on his intuition, going with what he believes might be effective.

Against the San Antonio Spurs in the Clippers’ season opener Tuesday, for example, Gentry kept Darius Miles glued to the bench until using him to replace power forward Elton Brand two minutes into the second quarter.

Another example: Quentin Richardson was the first player off the bench, taking Eric Piatkowski’s spot at shooting guard.

Don’t expect to see the same sort of substitution pattern Thursday against the Rockets in Houston.

“It’s going to be a work in progress,” Gentry said. “Most of the year it’s going to be based on feel and sticking guys out there and seeing how it goes.”

It didn’t go all that well Tuesday. The Clipper reserves were outscored, 41-25, in a 109-98 loss to the Spurs at the Alamodome. Miles and Corey Maggette were the only effective subs, scoring 10 and nine points, respectively.

“It won’t be a set rotation,” Gentry said. “We have so many combinations we can use.... We’ve got a good, deep bench. Some games, they are going to earn the right to finish the games.”

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Some coaches might cringe at the notion of playing an NBA power like San Antonio on the road on opening night. But Gentry was OK with it. In fact, he thought it would be a good measuring stick.

“It’s a good thing for us to play one of the favorites in the league,” Gentry said. “Right away, we’ll see if we can compete. If not, we’ll see what we need to work on.”

After Tuesday’s loss, the Clippers have several things to work on in practice today in Houston.

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San Antonio is Gentry’s off-season home, so when he departed his in-season home in Southern California on Monday to return to Texas, his young son asked if he could bring him something back.

“Buzz Lightyear,” Gentry said, referring to an action figure from the movie “Toy Story.” “I had to drive 30 miles today to my place to get Buzz Lightyear out of the toy box.”

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For what it’s worth, the Clippers started the season as the NBA’s youngest team, with an average age of 24.8. The Boston Celtics are the next-youngest team at 25.1, followed by the New Jersey Nets at 25.6.

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This is the final season for the Spurs in the cavernous Alamodome, which is better suited to college football and truck pulls. The Spurs are scheduled to move to the new 18,000-seat SBC Center next season.... Cherokee Parks, a former Clipper who signed with the Spurs during the off-season, visited with several of his former teammates.... Tony Parker became the youngest Spur at 19 years, 5 months. He erased the mark of Mark Olberding, who was two months older when he debuted in 1975 .... L.A. fell to 7-47 against the Spurs in San Antonio, 24-82 overall.