Monday, June 16th, 2003

7-4 Pavel Podkolzine and 6-9 Sofoklis Schortsanitis dive for a loose ball during their workout on Monday.

Ka-boom! That, or a reasonable facsimile, was the sound that was heard shortly after 10AM Monday at the Clippers training site at L.A. Southwest College.

7-4, 300 pound Russian Center, Pavel Podkolzine, went up to contest a shot by 6-9, 313 pound Greek power forward Sofoklis Schortsanitis. Sofoklis went down and stayed down for 10-minutes, while Pavel grasped his lower back and retired to the sidelines shortly after their pre-draft workout resumed. It was not a wasted day, but a disapointing one for General Manager Elgin Baylor and his staff.

One thing for sure about Podkolzine: He is big! He needs to work on his strength, but once his 18 year old frame matures, he will be a physical monster. He has some skill and some athleticism on his side, but he's clearly a project.

Schortsanitis is known as Baby Shaq. Physically, he looks more like former Clipper Rodney Rogers' big brother. He's an unbelievable physical specimen and is not yet 18 years of age. He's played more basketball than his Russian counterpart and seems to possess a soft shooting touch. He also showed some toughness by resuming his workout after recovering from that crash landing. Both Euro teens are possible lottery picks, and we'll find out where they land on June 26th.

After the draft hopefuls completed their work, big Wang Zhi Zhi took the court and dazzled everyone with his shooting prowess. "Dodger" as he was called by his Clipper teammates last year, has been one of the team's hardest workers during the early off-season.